August 24 2000 BRITAIN Was Simpson a lady who lunched for Hitler? BY GRAHAM STEWART THE tone is snooty, misogynistic and occasionally hysterical. But the anonymous informant whose memorandum has now come to light in the Special Branch files believed he knew a scheming dominatrix when he saw one, and he saw one in Wallis Simpson. Advising him on gardening and making him wrap-up warm when playing golf may not now be considered conclusive proof of her designs to ensnare the future King Edward VIII as it did to the informant but, for historians, the more important contention concerns allegations about her malign political influence. The document insists that Mrs Simpson was friendly with Nazi agents and was surrounded by a social set that every Cabinet member knew to be closely identified with a "certain foreign power". The Cabinet records concerning the Abdication period remain closed to public scrutiny under a 100-year rule, but it is well-known that Mrs Simpson's association with Joachim von Ribbentrop, the German Ambassador to Britain, created talk at the time. It was his blandishments that mattered, rather than those of supposedly sympathetic German-Americans referred to in the file. "Brickendrop", as society wags dubbed the gaffe-prone ambassador, who became Hitler's Foreign Minister, had deduced that the British social and political elite were one and the same. He sought to further the cause of Anglo-German friendship through attempts to make the German Embassy, off The Mall, the centre of a social world. Instead, his charm offensive soon attracted only the hangers-on and social alpinists, of which Mrs Simpson was the prime example. At least in her case he had a route to the heir to the throne and it was reported that he had taken to having her sent flowers by the armful. In fact, politicians were fussing needlessly that Mrs Simpson was being used to cement pro-German sentiments in her royal lover's mind. But the extent of her psychological control on him naturally led to fears that she was a latter-day Mata Hari, who had learnt unusual practices during a suspiciously ill-documented period in the red-light area of Shanghai. All the evidence suggests that Edward had come to the same political conclusions even before he became fixated with Mrs Simpson. His decision in 1937, after his abdication, to visit Germany and take tea with Hitler showed the direction in which he wanted to see British foreign policy moving. In 1939 his views and those of the British Government parted company. While the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were in Spain and Portugal in 1940, Ribbentrop expressed an interest in taking them back to Germany from where they could be installed as puppet-rulers of Britain after its defeat. Churchill's assessment, that they were caught up in the "backwash" of Nazi intrigues, could equally describe the cocktail politics that enchanted Mrs Simpson. http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/tim/2000/08/24/timnwsnws01036.html <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
