What I love most of all is the envelope handbag in black crocodile. Its clasp is engraved with a ‘W’ and an ‘S’, with the numbers ‘30 x 1934’ alongside, denoting the date October 30, 1934. This bag was given to Wallis Simpson by the besotted Edward VIII — but the precise significance of the date — two years before he abdicated the throne to marry her — has never been identified. The label inside says ‘Dior’. Inside, in a tiny crocodile pouch, is a comb. While I sit, with the relics of an incredible life scattered around me in...