Today in History, June 20th, 1894
Sex, Lies, and Nazi Spies. The Secret History of The House Of Windsor
Birth of Wallis Simpson, aka, "The Duchess of Windsor"
Here I go again, with another seemingly obscure and eclectic choice of Historical events to commemorate. Many things happened on this date, in the Civil War, Defeat of Napoleon, WWII, etc, but I picked this. Why, you ask.
I look for events that meet certain criteria. One, do I know something about it? Two, is it relevant to our situation today? Three, is it a "teaching moment"? What I mean by the last is, " is the story here an opportunity for me to surprise my friends with the "story behind the story", regarding something they thought they knew about, but in fact, had only a redacted, sanitized, and politically neutral version of, that was not covered this way in school or in the media for the most part. For me, this is the most fun, using Historical anecdotes to explode some myths, popularly accepted truisms, and cover stories which have been used to mask reality. It helps people to sort out what is happening now.
You see, there IS an Oligarchy. I hope my saying that doesn't make you think I'm paranoid. The Oligarchy consists of a grouping of sometimes old and powerful wealthy Families, Corporate Interests, institutional figures, and makers of policy and public opinion, who are by no means unified on their goals, except for one thing. To perpetuate themselves and their common interest, which is to function as virtual Olympian gods, and maintain certain controls over human affairs, within limits. They are preoccupied with their Bloodlines and inherited Family Fortunes. Sometimes in history, the Oligarchy fucks up. They pick the wrong front men and women as leaders, they choose destructive policies which cause Great Depressions, and make strategic blunders that lead to Wars by miscalculation. Then, they face losing control, and normal people start questioning whether they need Oligarchs to run things at all, which makes things unstable. Oligarchs hate and fear instability. So, every once in a while, when they make a mess of things, they start to experiment with things, like Fascism, and other forms of Dictatorship to try to maintain their grip. That is a sort of prelude for our little vignette on Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor.
So, starting from there, I will state from the outset, that as much as I try to be a "woke" older Boomer Male, sensitive to others feelings, moderate in my language, and tempered in my assertions, Wallis Simpson was one of the most accomplished sluts in modern History. Her actual Vagina was not merely a "road well travelled", but it was the 20th Century's first version of a Super highway. Usually in history this means very little. If someone feels the need to impale themselves on the Washington Monument every July 4th to validate themselves, my response is usually pffffftt! However, in the case of our Duchess, her Sexual Prowess and accomplishments almost resulted in the complete Fascist takeover of Europe by Adolf Hitler's Germany. That means I have to break with convention and call her out for being a slut. But, to be historically accurate, it might be more precise to describe her as a Courtesan.
She was born in Pennsylvania Bessie Wallis Warfield, to a prominent but not wealthy family which moved to Baltimore, where she grew up to become a debutante. The family had some British Aristocratic lineage in their background, and coming from "old Bloodlines" she was socially prominent. Ambitious, aggressive, flirty, and manipulative, she began her lifelong project of social climbing, snaring her first Husband, Win Spencer, a dashing Naval Officer from an old Family line. Spencer was an officer of US Naval Intelligence, (ONI) whose missions involved much travel. While away, Wallis enjoyed a very.very active social life, if you get my drift, which was fine with her Husband. At a certain point, her personality and awareness impressed Spencer enough that she was used as a Courier for ONI, and began to acquire some skills in the intelligence world, such as blending in. During that time, WWI, American Intelligence was a much more informal arrangement, consisting of enlisting educated wealthy people coming from the Social Register and the Ivy League Upper Crust. Undersecretary of the Navy at that time, Franklin Roosevelt, used the same recruitment strategy during WWII, including the use of Hollywood Actors.
During her time in the Washington DC political/military milleu, she had several torrid affairs with Foreign diplomats and officials. I'll spare you the details.
Soon, she made a career decision of dumping Spencer to marry a rich older businessman, American born British Shipbuilder Ernest Simpson, since she had plans for Travel and Entertainment, and Spencer couldn't provide her the money and wherewithal she needed.
Somewhere in here, she used her ONI connections to make a move to Shanghai China, which was supposedly for the travel experience. The social life of the Westerners in China was High Society partying, but the environment was a hotbed of Intelligence Warfare involving internecine conflict among Communists, Fascists, Soviet Intelligence, agents of Japan and also the Kuomintang, British Intelligence, and the Americans. It was not clear in the beginning who she was working with or for.
What is known, according to files declassified by the British Official Secrets Act in the 1980's, is that she took up residence in a Bordello for foreigners, and was actually running it as an intelligence gathering center. Most people are not aware, that in the world of the Oligarchy, going back to the Old Venice of the Doges, Bordellos were always centers of espionage. Hence the term, Courtesans, highly educated and refined, trained, beautiful women who were working as Prostitutes, to gather information through pillow talk, or as "Honey Traps" for political Blackmail.
Soon, Wallis began an intense love affair with Count Galeazzo Ciano, Italian Diplomat, politician, and later to become the Son-in Law of Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini, for whom he served as Foreign Minister of Italy from 1936 to 1943. She became pregnant by Ciano, had a botched Abortion, and was ill for several months until she could recover and resume her "activities". During this time Wallis became a full on convert to the cause of Fascism, and a major part of her operation was harvesting sensitive information from US and British Naval personnel who came through her Bordello, which she passed along. She also undertook an extended training program in the practice of Tantric Sex, and used her skills to extract subservience and dependency from the regular clientele she was servicing. To be blunt, she was a "Dom". Later, the infamous "Shanghai Dossier" on our Duchess' activities at this time was used by Stanley Baldwin and others as leverage to force the Abdication of Edward VIII, but we will get to that later.
At a certain point, she bailed out of her Shanghai deployment and moved to England to use her Husband's social and business connections to gain prominence in British High Society. During this interlude, there are two things I would highlight about how she used her time. First, another torrid Sexual Affair, this time with Germany's later Nazi Foreign Minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop, who at the time was Germany's ambassador before Hitler's ascension. This actually continued for years, even after she took up with the Prince of Wales. von Ribbentrop had a dozen roses delivered to her door daily while she lived in England. (I can see you all shaking your heads in disbelief)
Secondly, she began a year long project of profiling, intelligence gathering, and the stalking of one Man. The future King of England, the Prince Of Wales, Edward Windsor.
She spent her time clipping every printed article, reading every account of his public events, networking various circles and gathering info on his habits, hobbys, demeanor, insecurities, etc. The Prince was known to be reckless in his lifestyle, and was a very visible Playboy, and was the first of the British Royalty to become fodder for tabloids, as it was, after all, the Roaring 20's. There was no shortage of information or public visibility. She had a large scrapbook in which she collected everything, and added to it daily, while fighting for access into the Prince's social circle to climb her way into his environment.
Secondly, she began a year long project of profiling, intelligence gathering, and the stalking of one Man. The future King of England, the Prince Of Wales, Edward Windsor.
She spent her time clipping every printed article, reading every account of his public events, networking various circles and gathering info on his habits, hobbys, demeanor, insecurities, etc. The Prince was known to be reckless in his lifestyle, and was a very visible Playboy, and was the first of the British Royalty to become fodder for tabloids, as it was, after all, the Roaring 20's. There was no shortage of information or public visibility. She had a large scrapbook in which she collected everything, and added to it daily, while fighting for access into the Prince's social circle to climb her way into his environment.
I should interject that it was well known that the Prince was fanatically proud of his German lineage, remembering that the name "House of Windsor" was changed from "Hannover" during WWI due to anti-German sentiment. He was thrilled with the experiments in Fascism in both Mussolini's Italy, and Hitler's Germany. Ultimately, this was Wallis' hook, for reeling him in. That, and Sex, if you want to call what they did Sex.
After a year of profiling, networking, and stalking, Wallis finally made a connection with Lady Furness, then a Mistress of the Prince in January of 1931 and gained an introduction to the Prince at an event at Burrough Court. In an infamous description of what transpired, Wallis, at a Dinner Party attended by the Prince, did the opposite of what you would expect of someone who wanted to ingratiate themself with Royalty. She began insulting him. She ribbed and poked at him in the most undeferential way possible, literally humiliating him in front of everyone. Afterward, he asked Lady Furness,"who was that extraordinary American Woman"? You see, Wallis had accurately sized up the Prince as a "Sub". Meaning a submissive. This is where her training in Shanghai paid dividends. He wanted to be humiliated and dominated. There was something in his personality that made him literally prepared to crawl in order to have that Woman. And he did. They connected, started an affair, and she brought him into a whole New World of Fascism, Tantra, and Submission. He became dependent on her because up until then he suffered Impotence, due to his big shortfall in the equipment department, (a seeming problem for Pro Fascist Leaders) and had difficulties "finishing", according to accounts by former Mistresses. Wallis of Shanghai was trained for that too, and became his virtual controller. She was still married to Edward Simpson this entire time. And she was still embroiled with von Ribbentrop.
They carried on in this manner for some time, and at a certain point Edward begged her to divorce Simpson and marry him. This created a politically explosive scandal, as she was American, a commoner, (though in her family tree were some Montagues) and twice divorced. Everyone knew she could not be Queen to Edward, not even aware of her covert activity. But, he was hooked.
They carried on in this manner for some time, and at a certain point Edward begged her to divorce Simpson and marry him. This created a politically explosive scandal, as she was American, a commoner, (though in her family tree were some Montagues) and twice divorced. Everyone knew she could not be Queen to Edward, not even aware of her covert activity. But, he was hooked.
Most people are aware that she and the Prince had a very highly publicized personal visit with Adolf Hitler in Germany, in a huge PR stunt that sent the worst possible signal, legitimizing Hitler's government further, fueling pro Fascist support in England, and raising the frightening question of what Edward would do when succeeding to the Throne. This at a time when the Monarchy still ruled, and were not figureheads.
The PR visit was far from all. They visited France, and toured the French emplacements along their "Maginot Line" defenses. There is no doubt in the mind of Biographer Charles Higham, (Duchess of Windsor, the Secret Life") that those observations found their way to the German High Command. She also delivered messages from Pro Hitler British Political leaders to von Ribbentrop and others. The full extent of her espionage is still not known, but the effect she had on Edward in consolidating his pro Hitler leanings is immeasurable but well known. This was all after they were married and Edward had abdicated, when they were able to travel and appear together.
As Hitler became more belligerent, the anti-appeasement shift in England toward Churchill gained momentum, and in January of 1936, King George V died, with a fatal injection of Morphine in the neck to Euthanize him. Edward was on deck, ready to step in, when a mobilization of British Elites pulled out all the stops to prevent it. The Shangai Dossier was produced. The von Ribbentrop documentation was brought out, and Edward was told it would be made public if he didn't abdicate. Of course, the public story was that Wallis was unacceptable as Queen, and that is why the King went on Radio and announced he was abdicating to be with "the Woman I Love" . It sold as a romantic Love Story, and everyone bought in. What the Elites were worried about, was that a Monarchy of Edward and Wallis would aid Hitler's takeover of Europe, form an alliance with Germany, and would then rule over the British Empire as a Quisling King. This meant of course, Hitler would effectively control the British Navy, putting the entire Western Hemisphere at immediate risk.
The Coronation was reworked to Crown Edward's Brother, George VI, the Waleses took the new title Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Churchill had them exiled to the Bahamas, where he served as a "do-nothing" Governor. Because of their known Fascist involvement, FDR banned them from entering the US. Stripped of influence and freedom to travel, they remained there until after the War, when they moved to the US and circulated in New York Society. He drank himself to death, probably under the stress of intense abusive behavior by her, and she lived in obscurity until the 1970's, until Richard Nixon invited her to a White House Gala, to rehabilitate her and bring her in to his political circles.
So, a little long, but not what you remember hearing or reading about her, I'll bet.
I hope this little bit of Celebrity Gossip gives you all a window to look through, to get some added insight on how the World really works. Ta ta.
I hope this little bit of Celebrity Gossip gives you all a window to look through, to get some added insight on how the World really works. Ta ta.
