Royal knickers finally returned to ex-West Brom chairman's daughter

The long-lost underwear and other items belonging to Wallis Simpson, the woman whose marriage to King Edward VIII led to the 1936 abdication crisis, have been retrieved from a rubbish bin and handed back to Mrs Sally Simmonds.

Mrs Simmonds, daughter of former West Bromwich Albion chairman Sir Bert Millichip, said publicity over their disappearance led to their recovery.

The mementos of 'the love affair of the 20th century' were lost about 10 years ago when the late Lady Barbara Millichip moved house from Barnt Green, near Bromsgrove, Worcestershire.

A box with two long silk night-dresses; two pairs of silk French knickers, one in peach, the other cream; a peach-coloured silk negligee; two pairs of full-length kid gloves and two pairs of shorter kid gloves was later found by the new home-owner Mr Raymond Gibbs.

But Mr Gibbs refused to hand them over and claimed they had been thrown away. Mrs Simmonds, who lives near Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire, was set to sue him for their return or their estimated value of £5,000.

Mrs Simmonds said: "Mr Gibbs's daughter and son-in-law came to my house, apologised for all the trouble and said that, after he threw them way, unbeknownst to him, their mother retrieved them.

'"t's just so nice that something mum really loved has come back, thanks to the Express & Star."

Mrs Simmonds, who is suffering from cancer, now plans to emulate her mother and exhibit the collection to raise money for St Richard's Hospice in Worcester and will then give the collection to her niece Jenny Clayton.

For years the collection was preserved in tissue paper and a blanket together with a letter of authentication from Wallis Simpson's lady's maid, Frenchwoman Pauline Armitage who worked for the Duke and Duchess of Windsor in Paris in the 1950s after the King's abdication in 1936.

Lady Millichip, who died last year aged 88, was given them after befriending Mrs Armitage.

Mr Gibbs claimed he threw the clothes away in a fit of temper.

Wallis Simpson was an American socialite who was twice divorced before marrying the King.

Edward VIII was forced to choose between Mrs Simpson and the throne because Parliament would not allow him to marry a divorcee.

The couple, who became Duke and Duchess of Windsor, lived in Paris before World War Two and returned after 1945. The Duke died in 1972 and the Duchess in 1986.

Sir Bert Millichip, became chairman of West Bromwich Albion in 1974 and remained president until his death in 2002. He was chairman of the Football Association from 1981 to 1996.