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17 Carnations: The Windsors, The Nazis and The Cover-Up

Page 35

by Andrew Morton


  in defence of Mrs. S.: Herman Rogers to Sara Delano Roosevelt, from the estate of Lucy Livingston Rogers.

  could not possibly get away with it: Adrian Fort, Nancy, 248.

  must make even Judas queasy: William Shawcross, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, 393.

  Absolutely brilliant: Ibid.

  study of her and her friends: William Shawcross, Counting One’s Blessings, 285–86.

  the battle could have been won: Colin Cross, The Fascists in Britain (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1963), 165.

  wanted Edward to stay on the throne: Martha Schad, Hitler’s Spy Princess, 64.

  Especially if one is king: Ibid., 63.

  details orally to my Führer: Christopher Andrew, Defend The Realm, 199.

  in the face of this nonsense: Ibid., 199.

  tenuous connection with his official post: Gerhard L. Weinberg, Hitler and England, 1933–1945: Pretense and Reality, German Studies Review 8, no. 2 (May 1985): 299–309.

  important details miscarried: Ian Kershaw, Making Friends with Hitler, 190.

  unalloyed gain for Britain: Ibid., 189.

  most prescient statesman then living: Patrick J. Buchanan, Churchill, Hitler, and the Unnecessary War (New York: Crown, 2008), 357.

  forbade Prince Lu to attend: Jonathan Petropoulos, Royals and the Reich, 160.

  lovely to look forward to: Letter from Duke of Windsor to Herman Rogers, December 22, 1936, from the estate of Lucy Livingston Rogers.

  a monarch’s service: “Sir Dudley Forwood, Bt” (obituary), Daily Telegraph, January 27, 2001.

  They were always made for me: George S. Messersmith papers, MSS 109 2017-00.

  a constant anxiety to me: H. Montgomery Hyde, Walter Monckton (London: Sinclair-Stevenson, 1991), 93.

  kings don’t take tricks, they only abdicate: Alan Truscott, “Bridge; No Tricks for a King,” New York Times, July 18, 1982.

  impediment in his speech: H. Montgomery Hyde, Walter Monckton, 80.

  hanging about doing nothing: William Shawcross, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, 388.

  arts and graces that please: H. Montgomery Hyde, Walter Monckton, 94.

  definite ideas as to dictatorship: Charles Higham, The Duchess of Windsor, 180.

  right to return to it—for all time: Stephen Bates, “Edward Forced to Stay in Exile or Risk Income,” Guardian, January 30, 2003.

  without my approval: Paul Reynolds, “Royals Kept Windsors in Exile,” BBC News, January 30, 2003.

  an extremely difficult situation: President Roosevelt to Edmund Rogers, from the estate of Lucy Livingston Rogers.

  proper backing would mean so much: Michael Bloch, The Duchess of Windsor, 111.

  the wife—who hates us both: Ibid.

  one of the most dangerous of Nazi spies: Charles Higham, The Duchess of Windsor, 102.

  “So degrading,” noted the queen: William Shawcross, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, 424.

  many German business contacts: Jonathan Petropoulos, Royals and the Reich, 211.

  those who still believe in this ideal: Kingston Daily Freeman (Kingston, NY), October 27, 1937.

  we could meet it side by side: Michael Bloch, The Duchess of Windsor, 117.

  the ‘other one’ wouldn’t have done: Mary Soames, Clementine Churchill: The Biography of a Marriage (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1979), 274.

  a fine wedding present: Philip Ziegler, King Edward VIII, 311.

  automatically on marriage: William Shawcross, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, 422.

  your own future happiness: National Archives, file NA PRO HO 144/22945. Released January 2003.

  alienating us from my family: H. Montgomery Hyde, Walter Monckton, 83.

  none of the family is going to the wedding: William Shawcross, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, 422.

  nail in the coffin of monarchy: Ibid., 421.

  he was deeply, deeply hurt: Charles Higham, The Duchess of Windsor, 206.

  no interest at all in politics: Helena Normanton, “Intrigue Is Denied by Mrs. Warfield,” New York Times, June 1, 1937.

  I think I can make him happy: H. Montgomery Hyde, Walter Monckton, 86.

  I did step into the breach: William Shawcross, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, 423.

  increasingly suspicious of the duke’s behavior: Conversation with Edward after his abdication, George S. Messersmith papers, MSS 109 2017-00.

  Chapter Eight: Hitler’s Good Queen Wallis

  dominated by his fine, dark eyes: Janet Flanner, “Annals of Collaboration,” New Yorker, September 22, 1945.

  make the arrangements with Hitler: “Sir Dudley Forwood, Bt” (obituary), Daily Telegraph, January 27, 2001.

  value to any universal—not political—world cause: Herman Rogers to Dr, Peabody, October 23, 1937, from the estate of Lucy Livingston Rogers.

  more than anything else is peace: Michael Bloch, The Secret File of the Duke of Windsor, 109.

  a “more sinister” figure: Jonathan Petropoulos, Royals and the Reich, 212.

  the Windsors, Bedaux, Solbert, and Watson reveals this thinking: Author interview.

  bombshell and a bad one: William Shawcross, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, 425.

  private stunts for publicity purposes: Michael Bloch, The Secret File of the Duke of Windsor, 115.

  a bite of luncheon: Ibid.

  bombshell after bombshell: Ibid., 116.

  respect felt for an equal: Gerwin Strobl, The Germanic Isle: Nazi Perceptions of Britain (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 109.

  so-called guests of the Third Reich: Jonathan Petropoulos, Royals and the Reich, 209.

  where they store the cold meat: “Sir Dudley Forwood, Bt” (obituary), Daily Telegraph, January 27, 2001.

  trophies at an exhibition: Bryan and Murphy, The Windsor Story, 362.

  quarrelsome, a four flusher: Ibid.

  What a shame! What a terrible shame: Gerwin Strobl, The Germanic Isle, 109.

  could have saved Europe from her doom: Charles Higham, The Duchess of Windsor, 225.

  I did salute Hitler: Bryan and Murphy, The Windsor Story, 364.

  He was frank and friendly with Hitler, and displayed the social charm: R .H. C. Steed, ed., Hitler’s Interpreter (London: Heinemann, 1951), 75.

  peculiar fire: Bryan and Murphy, The Windsor Story, 362.

  Nazi salute that the Duke returned: Jonathan Petropoulos, Royals and the Reich, 209.

  would have made a good queen: Ibid.

  she was most ladylike: Martha Schad, Hitler’s Spy Princess, 67.

  a devoted admirer, on the British throne: Jonathan Petropoulos, Royals and the Reich, 206.

  distinction and success: Philip Ziegler, King Edward VIII, 339.

  strong pro-Fascist sympathies: Ibid., 209–210.

  royalty’s warm feelings for the Nazis: William Stevenson, Spymistress: The Life of Vera Atkins, the Greatest Female Secret Agent of World War II (New York: Arcade, 2007), 57.

  the Weimar Republic, which had been extremely socialist: “Sir Dudley Forwood, Bt” (obituary), Daily Telegraph, January 27, 2001.

  popular appeal which the Duke of Windsor possesses: Charles Higham, The Duchess of Windsor, 235.

  semi-fascist comeback in England: Ibid., 221–22.

  movement could be found than in the Duke of Windsor: Sarah Bradford, King George VI, 255.

  recalled to the throne as a dictator: Sol Bloomenkranz, Charles Bedaux: Deciphering an Enigma (Bloomington, IN; iUniverse, 2012), 50–53.

  “delayed” so . . . they would miss the sombre ceremony: Charles Higham, The Duchess of Windsor, 238.

  diplomatic complications: Cornelius Vanderbilt to Herman Rogers, June 18, 1937, from the estate of Lucy Livingston Rogers.

  the problems of labour or the poor and needy: Charles Higham, The Duchess of Windsor, 237.

  regime’s hold on the working classes: Michael Bloch, The Secret File of the Duke of Windsor, 117.

  quit public life: Charles Higham, The Duchess of Windsor, 269.r />
  a sharp and salutary lesson: John Vincent, ed., The Crawford Papers, 585.

  lovely innocent trip: Michael Bloch, The Secret File of the Duke of Windsor, 119.

  accept the presidency of the English Republic: Philip Ziegler, King Edward VIII, 342.

  like a small boy at Christmas: Bryan and Murphy, The Windsor Story, 378–79.

  delivered from the fears that beset us: Michael Bloch, The Secret File of the Duke of Windsor, 137.

  to choose such a moment: William Shawcross, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, 453.

  discreet political missions: Jonathan Petropoulos, Royals and the Reich, 192.

  betterment of Anglo-German relations: Ibid., 201.

  private domain of royal cousins: Tom MacDonnell, Daylight upon Magic: The Royal Tour of Canada, 1939 (Toronto, ON: Macmillan of Canada, 1989), 43.

  not the purview of the royals: Jonathan Petropoulos, Royals and the Reich, 193–94.

  if war came: Philip Ziegler, King Edward VIII, 345.

  Complete strangers embraced in the streets: Gerwin Strobl, The Germanic Isle, 130.

  Chapter Nine: The Game of Thrones

  YOU talk of your PRIDE: Anne Sebba, That Woman, 227.

  He might not even exist: Michael Bloch, The Secret File of the Duke of Windsor, 144.

  Admit that man has charm: Diana Mitford, The Duchess of Windsor, 155.

  they HATE her: William Shawcross, Counting One’s Blessings, 279–80.

  she should not be here in wartime: William Shawcross, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, 494.

  babble out state secrets without realizing: Charles Higham, The Duchess of Windsor, 300.

  victors of the contest will be the Soviet: Duke of Windsor to Herman Rogers, October 16, 1939, from the estate of Lucy Livingston Rogers.

  visiting the French front: Michael Bloch, The Secret File of the Duke of Windsor, 147.

  Go ahead sir, I will back you: Philip Ziegler, King Edward VIII, 357.

  source of any intelligence: Jonathan Petropoulos, Royals and the Reich, 212.

  He knows too much: John Costello, Mask of Treachery, 413–14; Bryan and Murphy, The Windsor Story, 418.

  peace with the Nazis on any terms they could: Author interview with Gerhard Weinberg.

  favourable circumstances might acquire a certain significance: Charles Higham, The Duchess of Windsor, 308.

  source of military intelligence: John Costello, Mask of Treachery, 415; Sarah Bradford, King George VI, 434–35.

  Did the duke know what this person was doing?: Author interview with Gerhard Weinberg.

  information made its way into German hands: Charles Higham, The Duchess of Windsor, 302–6.

  a whole nation against one lone woman: Bryan and Murphy, The Windsor Story, 418.

  betrayed military secrets to Hitler: Ben Fenton, “Lies and Secrets,” Financial Times, May 3, 2008.

  marry her and maintain the throne: FOIA, FBI file of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Edward Tamm to J. Edgar Hoover, September 13, 1940.

  not just to his fellow countrymen: Philip Ziegler, King Edward VIII, 375.

  wasn’t completely out of character: Neill Lochery, Lisbon: War in the Shadows of the City of Light 1939–1945 (New York: Public Affairs, 2011), 61.

  arriving in Barcelona on June 20: Michael Bloch, Operation Willi: The Nazi Plot to Kidnap the Duke of Windsor, July 1940 (New York: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1984), 23.

  please confirm that I am acting correctly: Ibid., 48.

  establishing contact with him: German Foreign Ministry (Auswärtiges Amt) document AA-B15/B002531, Stohrer to Ribbentrop, June 23, 1940, Documents on German Foreign Policy, 1918–1945, Series D, 1937–1945 (London: H.M.S.O., 1949–; Washington: US Government Printing Office, 1949–), cited in Michael Bloch, Operation Willi.

  suggestion came from Germany: German Foreign Ministry document AA-B15/B002532, Ribbentrop to Stohrer, June 24, 1940, Documents on German Foreign Policy.

  appealed directly for peace: Frances Donaldson, Edward VIII (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson), 385–86.

  if reasonable conditions could be obtained: Donald C. Watt, ed., Contemporary History in Europe: Problems and Perspectives (London: Allen & Unwin, 1969), 197.

  nebulous peace overtures were made: Jonathan Petropoulos, Royals and the Reich, 189.

  England’s destiny after the war: Rob Evans and David Hencke, “Hitler Saw Duke of Windsor as ‘No Enemy’ US File Reveals,” Guardian, January 24, 2003.

  no quarter was given: Michael Bloch, The Duchess of Windsor, 149.

  ensure that such an error never occur again: Michael Bloch, The Duke of Windsor’s War (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1982), 75.

  using the duke and duchess: Alan Palmer, Crowned Cousins, 221–22.

  military uprising. Nothing came of it: John Colville, The Fringes of Power: Downing Street Diaries 1939–1955 (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2004), 57.

  Good God, no: Neill Lochery, Lisbon, notes, 28.

  give the duke a naval command: Philip Ziegler, King Edward VIII, 364.

  when everything can be considered: Michael Bloch, Operation Willi, 62.

  no conditions, about the Duchess or otherwise: John Colville, Fringes of Power, 176.

  only fitted to be a café society royal: Kenneth de Courcy papers, Hoover Institution Archives, Stanford University.

  brinkmanship of an appalling kind: Bryan and Murphy, The Windsor Story, 434.

  any need for a prompt return: Michael Bloch, Operation Willi, 57–58.

  following developments from afar: Ibid., 58–59.

  governments after the war: German Foreign Ministry document AA-490/232262, Memorandum by the State Secretary Ernst von Weizsäcker, June 30, 1940, doc. 65: 68, Documents on German Foreign Policy.

  prolonged destruction and suffering: Michael Bloch, Operation Willi, 59.

  very pleasant, very genial, and very witty: MSS 1W4126cFA2, Weddell, A.W., Box 4, Elizabeth W. Weddell, Weddell Collection, Virginia Historical Society.

  any peace party that may emerge: Michael Bloch, Operation Willi, 60–61.

  a cowardly and rapacious vulture: Paul Preston, The Politics of Revenge: Fascism and the Military in 20th Century Spain (London: Routledge, 1995), 57.

  against Churchill and against the war: German Foreign Ministry document AA-B15/B002538, Stohrer to Ribbentrop, July 2, 1940, Documents on German Foreign Policy.

  Chapter Ten: Plot to Kidnap a King

  wishes of the government: Martin Gilbert, Winston S. Churchill Vol. 6, Finest Hour, 1939–1941 (London: Heinemann, 1983), 698.

  as he had been in December 1936: Roy Jenkins, Churchill: A Biography (London: Macmillan, 2001), 561.

  before arranging the day and time: Lord Moran, Churchill: The Struggle for Survival, 1940–1965 (London: Constable, 1966), 97.

  forestall flight out of the country: Bryan and Murphy, The Windsor Story, 431.

  Not as much as his brother will: John Colville, Fringes of Power, 184.

  embarrassing both to HM and the Government: Martin Gilbert, Finest Hour, 700.

  pretty freely criticized: John Barnes and David Nicholson, eds., The Empire at Bay: The Leo Amery Diaries 1929–1945 (London: Hutchinson, 1988), 631.

  lowest of the low: William Shawcross, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, 520.

  my brother has behaved disgracefully: Jonathan Petropoulos, Royals and the Reich, 217.

  arch beachcombers of the world: Sybil Eccles and David Eccles, By Safe Hand: Letters of Sybil and David Eccles 1939–42 (London: Bodley Head, 1983), 128, 133.

  done your best for me in difficult circumstances: Michael Bloch, Operation Willi, 79.

  exile to St. Helena: Michael Thornton, “The Queen Mother? That Spiteful Old Soak Dedicated Herself to Making Our Lives Hell,” Daily Mail, September 19, 2009.

  European ally to be kidnapped: Author interview with Douglas Wheeler.

  until four in the morning: Jimmy Burns, Papa Spy: Love, Faith, and Betrayal in Wartime Spain (New York: Walker, 2009), 124.
/>   heavy bombing will make England ready for peace: German Foreign Ministry document AA-B15/B002549 (GD D/X/152), Hoyningen-Huene to Ribbentrop, July 10, 1940, Documents on German Foreign Policy.

  President of the Great British Republic: Michael Bloch, Operation Willi, 95.

  Operation Cleopatra Whim: Bryan and Murphy, The Windsor Story, 435.

  A prince does not ask favours: Michael Bloch, Operation Willi, 133.

  suitable for a king: German Foreign Ministry document AA-B15/B002549–51 (GD D/X/152), Ribbentrop to Stohrer, July 11, 1940, Documents on German Foreign Policy.

  planned a public declaration: German Foreign Office document AA-B15/B002582-3, Stohrer to Ribbentrop, July 23, 1940, Documents on German Foreign Policy.

  the duchess in particular became very thoughtful: German Foreign Office Document AA-B15/B002588 (GD D/X/290), Stohrer to Ribbentrop, July 25, 1940, Documents on German Foreign Policy.

  cantankerous and maddening: Philip Ziegler, King Edward VIII, 369.

  messed about quite long enough: Ibid., 370.

  we shall be alright: Ibid., 369.

  Cordell Hull, in Washington: National Archives, Diplomatic Branch 841.0011.102 1/2, Herbert Claiborne Pell to Secretary of State, 4:00 p.m., July 20, cited in Philip Ziegler, King Edward VIII, 366.

  Frenchmen in his company: Philip Ziegler, King Edward VIII, 366.

  She has great influence over the duke: Michael Bloch, Operation Willi, 144.

  every step has to be watched with care: Ibid., 174.

  how can we be of any use to them?: H. Montgomery Hyde, Walter Monckton, 104.

  you should not be too far away: Neill Lochery, Lisbon, 82.

  disregarded or allowed to be destroyed: Michael Bloch, Operation Willi, 206.

  the expected invasion of Britain: Martin Gilbert, Finest Hour, 709.

  Germans could keep in contact: German Foreign Office document AA-B15/B002617-18 (GD D/X/265), Ribbentrop to Hoyningen-Huene, July 31, 1940, Documents on German Foreign Policy.

  almost able to touch it: Michael Bloch, Operation Willi, 201.

  admiration and sympathy for the Führer: German Foreign Office document AA-B15/B002632-3 (GD D/X/276), Hoyningen-Huene to Ribbentrop, August 2, 1940, Documents on German Foreign Policy.

  German intrigues with the duke: John H. Waller, The Unseen War in Europe: Espionage and Conspiracy in the Second World War (New York: I. B. Tauris, 1996), 172.

 

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