I NTRODUCTION
I strongly believe in the motto: Never explain; never complain Princess.
Stephanie von Hohenlohe
The populace get angry with fervent admirers of the arch-villain.
Collin Brooks, on Lord Rothermere
I learned to admire the excellence of British propaganda. I am convinced that propaganda is an essential means to achieve one’s aims.
Adolf Hitler
I felt compelled to write this book for a number of reasons.
First, by any standards, and whatever view one takes of her motives or her actions, Her Serene Highness Princess Stephanie von Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst was a fascinating character. The so-called ‘personal ambassador’ for Lord Rothermere, one of Britain’s foremost newspaper owners, yet at the same time Hitler’s ‘ lieber Prinzessin ’, ‘dear Princess’. As the world moved inexorably towards world war, hers is a story of intrigue, manipulation, espionage and duplicity in Britain, the United States and Europe. She carried this off with charm, intelligence and undoubted political skill. If it suited her cause, and it frequently did, she exercised the attributes of temptress and seducer.
Second, her exploits during the 1930s encompass an absorbing cast of characters at a crucial time in history, when the policies of influential people in Europe and America were being played out against the receding shadow of one terrible world war, and in the gathering storm of another; in a climate of misunderstanding, appeasement and the dangerous blooming of fascist dictatorship.
Third, an intriguing thread runs through the narrative of links to my own family. Indeed, much of this story might never have happened had my Great-Aunt Annabel not made the fatal introduction that threw Lord Rothermere and the princess together, which led to her passionate love affair with Adolf Hitler’s closest adjutant, and made Stephanie, born a Jewess, the Führer’s ‘dear Princess’.
Without access to secret British intelligence files, only derestricted and released to The National Archives in 2005, and a large collection of Princess Stephanie’s own papers now held in the Hoover Institution Archives at Stanford University in California, it would not have been possible to tell her story.
Finally, my thanks to my wife Judith for her loving support and her patient forbearance.
Jim Wilson OBE
Norfolk
7
T HREAT FROM THE S KY
An objective commentator might have concluded that Hitler had far more to gain from any association with Princess Stephanie than Rothermere. But the press proprietor believed that the opportunity to give wide-scale publicity to Hitler’s policies was in fact a patriotic duty. In British political circles Rothermere was not universally liked. Some regarded him as a maverick, unreliable in certain of his judgements and apt to be dominated by impulse. He was passionately anti-communist and it was his firm belief that by offering friendship to Hitler, and allowing him the freedom to confront and destroy Bolshevism, was in Britain’s national interest. He regarded it as the only policy that would avoid another disastrous war in Europe. Rothermere was also a passionate proponent of British rearmament, particularly the strengthening of the country’s air force.
He may not have had the general support of most mainstream politicians in Britain, but he was a good deal more far-sighted than many who held office in Parliament and public life at the time. His apprehension about Europe’s lack of stability, threats from Communism and fear of the possibility of war devastating Europe once more were genuine, and they contrasted with a lack of concern being expressed about these issues in government. To someone with Rothermere’s insight, who frequently visited the countries of central Europe and was well-acquainted with their history, it was clear Hitler and those around him in 1933 represented a significant new force. He regarded them as resolute men who felt deeply the degradation of their
I strongly believe in the motto: Never explain; never complain Princess.
Stephanie von Hohenlohe
The populace get angry with fervent admirers of the arch-villain.
Collin Brooks, on Lord Rothermere
I learned to admire the excellence of British propaganda. I am convinced that propaganda is an essential means to achieve one’s aims.
Adolf Hitler
I felt compelled to write this book for a number of reasons.
First, by any standards, and whatever view one takes of her motives or her actions, Her Serene Highness Princess Stephanie von Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst was a fascinating character. The so-called ‘personal ambassador’ for Lord Rothermere, one of Britain’s foremost newspaper owners, yet at the same time Hitler’s ‘ lieber Prinzessin ’, ‘dear Princess’. As the world moved inexorably towards world war, hers is a story of intrigue, manipulation, espionage and duplicity in Britain, the United States and Europe. She carried this off with charm, intelligence and undoubted political skill. If it suited her cause, and it frequently did, she exercised the attributes of temptress and seducer.
Second, her exploits during the 1930s encompass an absorbing cast of characters at a crucial time in history, when the policies of influential people in Europe and America were being played out against the receding shadow of one terrible world war, and in the gathering storm of another; in a climate of misunderstanding, appeasement and the dangerous blooming of fascist dictatorship.
Third, an intriguing thread runs through the narrative of links to my own family. Indeed, much of this story might never have happened had my Great-Aunt Annabel not made the fatal introduction that threw Lord Rothermere and the princess together, which led to her passionate love affair with Adolf Hitler’s closest adjutant, and made Stephanie, born a Jewess, the Führer’s ‘dear Princess’.
Without access to secret British intelligence files, only derestricted and released to The National Archives in 2005, and a large collection of Princess Stephanie’s own papers now held in the Hoover Institution Archives at Stanford University in California, it would not have been possible to tell her story.
Finally, my thanks to my wife Judith for her loving support and her patient forbearance.
Jim Wilson OBE
Norfolk
7
T HREAT FROM THE S KY
An objective commentator might have concluded that Hitler had far more to gain from any association with Princess Stephanie than Rothermere. But the press proprietor believed that the opportunity to give wide-scale publicity to Hitler’s policies was in fact a patriotic duty. In British political circles Rothermere was not universally liked. Some regarded him as a maverick, unreliable in certain of his judgements and apt to be dominated by impulse. He was passionately anti-communist and it was his firm belief that by offering friendship to Hitler, and allowing him the freedom to confront and destroy Bolshevism, was in Britain’s national interest. He regarded it as the only policy that would avoid another disastrous war in Europe. Rothermere was also a passionate proponent of British rearmament, particularly the strengthening of the country’s air force.
He may not have had the general support of most mainstream politicians in Britain, but he was a good deal more far-sighted than many who held office in Parliament and public life at the time. His apprehension about Europe’s lack of stability, threats from Communism and fear of the possibility of war devastating Europe once more were genuine, and they contrasted with a lack of concern being expressed about these issues in government. To someone with Rothermere’s insight, who frequently visited the countries of central Europe and was well-acquainted with their history, it was clear Hitler and those around him in 1933 represented a significant new force. He regarded them as resolute men who felt deeply the degradation of their
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