by Roland Perry
The duke married Wallis Simpson in a private ceremony on 3 June 1937 at Chateau de Cande, near Tours, France. In October 1937, David and Wallis visited Germany against the advice of the British government and the king. George VI was chain-smoking more than ever and his brother’s behaviour was not helping his health. Like his father and grandfather, George VI was susceptible to lung and heart problems.
The duke created further concern in the royal family when he visited Chancellor Hitler at his Obersalzberg retreat.The German media captured the meeting, particularly the moments when the duke gave his version of the stiff-armed Nazi salute. The former king justified his unofficial diplomacy by quietly endorsing German fascism as a bulwark against communism. He favoured a German alliance with the UK. His views were influenced by his German heritage, which he held more dear than his British heritage. He also hated and feared Communists after the assassination of his uncle Nicky in Russia in 1918. The duke spoke of the need for appeasement; anything in his mind that would avoid the calamity of another war and ‘the never ending scenes of horror’.
Hitler believed that the duke was well disposed towards him and the Nazis, and the German chancellor had been irritated by the abdication, believing that Edward VIII would have been good for Anglo-German relations. ‘His abdication was a severe loss to us,’ Hitler told fellow Nazi Albert Speer. He wanted to reinstate the duke as a regent, if not king of England, in a fascist Britain.
But Hitler’s plans for Britain were still a little way off. First, he had plans in Europe, and in 1939, Germany invaded Poland, sparking World War II.
Aware of the Nazi sympathies of David and his wife, the British government installed him as Governor of the Bahamas. This move depressed him in a similar way to when he was sent from gay Paris to corroded Cairo in 1916 to be on the staff of the Australian General John Monash. The duke did not help his cause by describing the Bahamas as a ‘third-rate British colony’. Neither did he distinguish himself with his anti-black and anti-Jewish observations, which demonstrated a susceptibility to Nazi propaganda.
Through this period, the duke and Wallis Simpson continued to be in correspondence with Nazis, especially with German royalty associated with the fascist movement in the early war years.
Soon England was in Hitler’s sights. George VI and wife Elizabeth stayed in London during some of the German bombing raids. The first, on 7 September 1940, killed more than 1000 civilians, mostly in London’s East End. On 13 September, the Luftwaffe struck again. Two bombs exploded in a courtyard at Buckingham Palace and narrowly missed the king and queen.This drew out Elizabeth’s strength.
‘I am glad we have been bombed,’ she said. ‘We can look the East End in the face.’ Her remark and defiance marked a moment in the nation’s morale at the most difficult time in its history.The royal family took the solidarity with the most oppressed a step further by making it known they were receiving no special favours with rations, heating at the palace or restrictions in the use of bathwater.
In May 1940, Churchill replaced Neville Chamberlain as prime minister when George VI preferred Lord Halifax. The king was dismayed when Churchill appointed Max Aitken (Lord Beaverbrook), the influential Anglo-Canadian media mogul, to his war cabinet but that was as far as their differences went. George VI soon fell under the spell of the determined Churchill who believed he was fulfilling a destiny at this critical time. The two met for lunch every Tuesday from September 1940 and grew to respect and like each other as they discussed war issues in secret.
On 3 June 1941, Kaiser Wilhelm II died of a pulmonary embolism in Doorn, in the Netherlands. He was 82. German soldiers had been guarding his estate, which annoyed Hitler, but his political expediency and feverish clinging to symbols overrode his animosity. He wanted to give Willy a state funeral to take advantage of the kaiser’s image, which had been strong in the mind of the German nation for most of World War I. But Willy had made sure he would have a small military funeral in the Netherlands. He wanted nothing to do with Hitler and the Nazis, whom he hated for their ignoring his claims to a rejuvenated monarchy, but he could not stop German occupying authorities making sure that Nazi swastikas and other regalia were on display when he was buried.
Willy’s family decided to preserve his Netherlands home as a temporary shrine of sorts.Tucked away in a large safe were a cupboard full of letters. Scores were from Victoria and the rest were from his mother, Vicky.
Throughout the war, George VI and Elizabeth visited bomb sites, munitions factories, hospitals for the wounded and British military forces at home and abroad. Their courage, grace, humility, dedication and warmth built support for the monarchy to an all-time high. No royal couple in a thousand years had endeared themselves more to a galvanised public in need of national symbols. Churchill’s leadership, determination and riveting speeches were vital, yet a set-upon nation needed a balance of pure humanity from those at the pinnacle of society and the royal couple provided it. Forgotten were reminders of the first family’s German heritage and the houses of Hanover and Saxe-Coburg Gotha. The Windsors appeared the epitome of the best of the British and they provided continuity when prime ministers came and went.
Allied victory over fascist forces (primarily Germany and Italy) in May 1945 after an exhausting war left Britain as an impoverished nation further in need of morale-boosting and continuity. The high-profile images of the king and queen had been associated with national resistance nearly as much as the prime minister.They were cheered by a huge crowd on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during Victory Day celebrations and were hailed again when they invited Churchill to be with them.This erased the ‘error of judgement’ in inviting Chamberlain onto the balcony when he returned to England in 1938 after apparently drawing from Hitler a promise not to go to war with the UK.
It seemed that nothing could go wrong for the image of royalty after the monarchy’s existence had been threatened less than a decade earlier by the antics of Edward VIII.
A few days after the capitulation of Germany and the end of the war, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth met for tea in the well-manicured gardens of Buckingham Palace.
The two women sat quietly sipping their drinks before Mary spoke of her concerns about the letters in the attic at the castle in Kronberg.
‘Oh, you mean the Victoria–Vicky letters?’ Elizabeth asked, ‘King George told us about them. There are those also with Willy in the Netherlands.’ Apparently he tricked his mother into divulging the Elphinstone affair.’
‘Not just those letters,’ Mary said archly. ‘I also wrote much to my relatives. In my teen years I made many trips to the Hesse castles near Frankfurt.’ She shuddered and added grim-faced: ‘The whole area is now an American-occupied zone. I worry all the time that the letters could fall into unscrupulous hands.There may well also be incriminating correspondence between David and that woman, and the Nazis.’
‘Perish the thought!’
‘Yes.You must ask George to do something, before it’s too late.’
‘What do you suggest?’
‘I know where most of the letters are to be found. They’re not all at Friedrichshof.’
‘Then you should tell him.’
‘I could brief Morshead [the Windsor Librarian] but he is not expert in how to go about such a difficult mission.’
‘Then Anthony Blunt should go with him.’
‘Blunt, the picture expert?’
‘Oh, he is alright.’
‘A Marxist at Cambridge, wasn’t he?’
‘Weren’t they all? He taught French. Did his graduate research in French art history.’ Elizabeth paused and added,‘He is a very nice person. Bit lost. He has no family to go home to. Hence he is always willing to play games with us. Anthony does a wonderful elephant when we do charades.’
‘But why send him?’
‘Didn’t you know? He’s an intelligence officer. Very, very good at his job too, I’m told.’
‘Good. No time to waste. Suggest to your husband that he s
ends them off on a letter-finding mission as soon as possible.’
49
BLUNT’S MISSION
A week later, in June 1945, George VI called a secret meeting in the library of Windsor Castle. Present were Sir Owen Morshead, 55, the royal librarian, and Anthony Blunt, 38, art historian and adviser to the king. The tall, lean and lugubrious-looking Blunt, with steel-grey eyes, was believed to be distantly related to George VI, who favoured him. He also was an espionage agent working for MI5 and, secretly, a traitor controlled by Soviet intelligence, the KGB.The king wanted the courtiers to travel to Kronberg, where his German relatives lived.
‘It is v-v-vital that all these let-letters are retrieved,’ George VI said. The return of his stutter, which he mostly had under control in recent years, revealed deep concern.
‘If there were trouble on this mission, majesty,’ Blunt said, ‘what would be the priority amongst all the correspondence?’
George VI glanced at Morshead before answering:‘The letters from Victoria to Vicky.’
Blunt nodded.
‘B-but you must endeavour to obtain them all,’ George VI said gaining confidence. ‘It will be no less embarrassing if any of my brother’s communications with Hitler are taken by the Americans. If their press got hold of anything, I sh-shudder to think of what would happen.’
George VI detailed what they should look for concerning Edward VIII: ‘Any letters and memoranda of conversations between him and Hitler and top Nazis. Transcripts of telephone calls made by David while he was in Germany in 1937 are also of further interest.’ He paused after putting his stutter aside for a sentence and added firmly: ‘I repeat that it is essential these sensitive communications do not fall into American hands. It may be a difficult mission. They now c-c-control a militarised zone that includes the area you visit. Take whatever guard you need.’
Blunt and Morshead handpicked four British soldiers to accompany them first on the flight to Frankfurt in late July 1945. They then drove a two-tonne army truck to Kronberg, where they found the US occupying forces using the nineteenth-century palace as an army camp. The British party drove past it about 3 kilometres to the dark tower of Schloss Friedrichshof, which seemed to hang over the wooded slopes of Taurus Mountains.The castle’s stone portico entrance was emblazoned with Tudor roses. Blunt left the truck and entered the large entrance hall. He was struck with how similar the castle, built by Vicky, was to Queen Victoria’s beloved Balmoral Castle. It was wooden-beamed in Scottish baronial style and its entrance and corridors were cluttered with paintings of Vicky’s royal relatives.
Blunt was greeted by Captain Kathleen Nash of the US Women’s Army Corps. She was in command of the rest camp. Blunt asked where he could find the Hesse family, the king’s German relatives. Nash redirected him to a townhouse in the grounds of the old Kronberg Castle. The Hesse family was a bit taken aback when Blunt produced a letter signed by George VI and carrying the royal seal. It requested permission to remove the royal letters and ‘other communications’ to England for ‘safekeeping’. The problem for the Hesses was that they were technically leaderless. The titular head, Prince Philip, had been a senior Nazi. His twin brother, Wolfgang, explained that Philip had fallen from favour with Hitler and was in Dachau concentration camp.
‘Are you not the head of the family in your brother’s absence?’ Blunt asked.‘We need permission to take the documents.’
The family asked Blunt to wait while its members conferred.They emerged after an hour with a letter from the mother of Wolfgang and Philip, the 72-year-old Princess Margaret, who was Victoria’s granddaughter and Vicky’s youngest child. She gave her permission for the removal of the more than 5000 documents in question. They were marked in packing cases.
‘They’re stored in the attic of Schloss Friedrichshof,’ Wolfgang confirmed to Blunt.
In the evening, the British party drove back up the winding road through the Hesse estate to the castle. The six men entered and were again greeted by Nash. Blunt accompanied her down a passage to an office. He produced the two letters from George VI and Princess Margaret. Nash asked Blunt to sit in a chair while she read the letters.
‘What papers are you wanting?’ she asked.
‘They are private letters between the Windsors and Hesse family.’
‘Windsors?’
‘Yes, the royal family.The British royal family.’
Nash shook her head. ‘I don’t have the authority to relinquish control over any papers.’
Blunt nodded at the letters. ‘That is all the authority you need.’
‘What?’
‘The king—the head of the UK, empire and dominions—has signed that letter.’
‘Major, anything here is the property of the US army.’
‘Not royal correspondence.’
‘Everything. I have orders.’
Nash was intractable.
‘I would appreciate you calling US Army headquarters in Frankfurt,’ Blunt said, remaining his glacial self.
‘Why?’
‘So that I can speak to your superior.’
‘Look, major, I am in charge of this camp. I have my orders.’
There was stalemate. Blunt stood, excused himself and moved to the door. ‘I must consult with my colleague,’ he said. He hurried to the entrance hall where the other five were waiting. Blunt was aware of Ponsonby’s action in February 1901 in using a truck to remove all Vicky’s letters from the same attic.
‘She’s refusing to let us take them,’ Blunt told Morshead. He glanced at the stairs. ‘Take the men to the attic, find the papers, and load them on the truck. I’ll stall her.’
Blunt returned to the office. Nash had lit herself a cigarette.
‘You’re wasting your time, major,’ she said.
‘I really do think it would be in your interest to phone HQ,’ Blunt persisted. He then uttered the British name that Nash would recognise. ‘Churchill himself supports our mission.’
Nash stared at him. She knew nothing about the royal family or Windsors. But she was alerted with the mention of Churchill. She did not know if Blunt were bluffing. She had met a variety of types from both sides in the war, ranging from the imprisoned German paratrooper commandos to the toughest American leaders, including General George Patton. But this languid, ice-cool British officer with the long face and cutaway mouth was a different animal altogether. He was polite, yet remote. He behaved as if he had real, if obscure, authority. She remained firm, yet inside she was a fraction insecure. What if Churchill was behind it? His name was not on the letters. But would she be reprimanded by her commanding officer in Frankfurt if she did not acquiesce to Blunt’s wishes? The argument continued. Blunt put his case more forcefully, saying his acquisition of the documents was of paramount importance. Nash relented and phoned Frankfurt, asking Blunt to leave the office. He hastened to the entrance just as Morshead and the soldiers came down the stairs with two packing cases.The party hurried to the truck, loaded it and drove off.
Nash could not reach her commanding officer. She stepped out of the office and walked to the front entrance in time to see the truck disappearing down the winding road and into the night.
Two days later, the Hesse family entertained Blunt and Morshead at a small castle at nearby Wolfsgarten. The twenty present dined in style with a sumptuous six-course meal served by liveried footmen behind every chair. A different wine accompanied each course. Just before midnight, Blunt retired to a room in the castle’s guest quarters. He had placed the cases of documents and letters in the room with a guard outside, on the off chance that the Americans should dare to steal them back. Blunt removed the lids and began to sift through the letters, most of which were unsealed. He was thrilled to find one from Karl Marx, who had been called upon by a German court official in 1847, but the correspondence that riveted Blunt was between Victoria and her daughter. He soon understood why George VI was so nervous about retrieving their letters. Blunt found himself sitting and reading all night. He
discovered that Victoria had used her beloved and trusted daughter as the person in whom she confided her deepest feelings about Elphinstone, her attitude to her husband and to her mother, her disappointment about Bertie (Edward VII), her scathing comments about Wilhelm and her thoughts about all the intimates in her life.
Blunt was stunned to also find there were the messages between Edward VIII (when prince and later king), his youngest brother, the Duke of Kent, and their German cousins, Philip of Hesse and Karl Eduard, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. The letters showed that David and the Duke of Kent had been keen to ingratiate themselves with Hitler when he became German Chancellor and with the Nazi regime. Philip had been the link with David before, during and after he was king ( January to December 1936). More damning was strong evidence that Edward VIII had collaborated with the Nazis during the war. In effect, the documents and letters demonstrated that the former King of England and Wallis Simpson had passed information secretly to Hitler from at least 1934 to 1943. This meant, whether they perceived their intentions as good or not, that they were technically traitors from 1939 to 1943 when Britain was at war with Germany.
Blunt now fully realised King George’s anxiety about all the material. The KGB double agent was astonished at the extent of Edward VIII’s links.There was clear evidence that he had been preparing to be placed back on the throne as prince regent if the Nazis took power. It would have been a pay-off for his support and a reward from Hitler for heading the so-called ‘international peace movement’ on behalf of the Nazis, which assisted Hitler’s plan for taking Europe, piece by piece. Blunt reckoned that if these letters were revealed publicly it would mean the end of the house of Windsor. The British, not to mention the empire, had just been through a horrific war against fascism in Europe, Asia and the Pacific, which had taken an enormous toll on people and lives. If the king’s tens of millions of subjects were now informed that his brother—the former king—and his wife had been Nazi collaborators it would never be tolerated.The huge goodwill that George VI and Queen Elizabeth had built up over nearly eight years would be wiped out in a series of press headlines.