17 Carnations; The Royals, The Nazis & The Biggest Cover-up In History

It's really too bad that the late Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth, could never let go of her vendetta against Wallis Warfield Simpson, or "That woman", as she always referred to the American Duchess of Windsor.  After reading Andrew Morton's non-fiction account 17 Carnations: The Royals, The Nazis & the Biggest Cover-up In History (#491) it seems very clear that Wallis Simpson did Britain the immeasurable favor of distracting the king from ruling at a critical juncture in history.  George VI stepped in and did his duty, firmly steering England away from the Axis powers. 

Edward VIII comes across in this book as charismatic, popular, respected by most, but also vain, self-centered and more in tune with his own pleasures and interests than he could ever have been with the kingdom's welfare.  Wallis Simpson wasn't far behind him in putting her desires before everything else, even to the point of sending her maid from the relative safety of Spain to Nazi-occupied Paris to fetch a favorite green swim suit!  This was definitely a couple meant for each other who couldn't be bothered doing anything worthwhile for anyone or anything else unless there was an angle in it for them.  No wonder Hitler himself was interested in kidnapping the pair and re-installing Edward on the throne of England after the Nazis crushed the British.  Edward himself didn't hesitate to tell everyone around him that England didn't stand a chance against the Nazis, and that if he had stayed on the throne, Britain would never have gone to war, but negotiated a peace instead. 

Probably the most interesting material in the book was the existence of the "Windsor File" in the German Foreign Office documentation captured after the fall of Berlin.  "Operation Willi", the German kidnapping plot, was documented in the files, along with other potentially damaging materials in the dossier.  The British, in collusion with high-ranking Americans, tried to retrieve and  physically destroy all copies of this incriminating file, lest they harm the image of the Royals.  A most unlikely hero in the person of an American historian prevented that from occurring, and the historical records stand.  What suffered in the tug-of-war over whether to maintain or destroy the Windsor File, was evidence vital to the prosecution in the Nuremburg War Crimes Tribunal, and the loss of trust between former allies Britain and the United States.  History truly is written (or unwritten!) by the victors.