I had to read this three times to decide it wasn't a wind-up. "Wallis Simpson ordered a top level diplomatic mission to rescue her swimming costume she had left behind at her luxury villa at the height of World War II. The US-born wife of King Edward VIII made the American Minister in Lisbon and the American consul in Nice find the Nile green outfit at the property in the South of France. The diplomats opened up the shuttered rental property even though that part of the coast was occupied by the Nazis at the time. Andrew Morton, the biographer of Princess Diana, writes in his new biography of Edward that the task became known privately as ‘Operation Cleopatra Whim’. Morton is scathing of the Duke of Windsor and Mrs Simpson in: ‘17 Carnations: The Royals, the Nazis and the Biggest Cover-Up in History’, which is also about their close ties to the Nazi regime. He writes that after Edward abdicated in December 1936 he and his wife ‘acted as if World War II was simply a minor inconvenience to their lifestyle’ and that their ‘self-indulgence knew no bounds’. Despite millions being slaughtered in the conflict, in 1940 Mrs Simpson had ‘other pressing concerns’, notably her missing swimming costume. Morton writes that it was ‘vital it be returned’ so she enlisted the American diplomats to ‘repatriate the garment’. He writes: ‘Even though their rented villa was locked and shuttered and that part of the coast occupied by the enemy, the diplomats duly did her bidding. ‘In the midst of war the swimsuit was found and dispatched safely to the grateful duchess.’ Morton also writes that Edward and Mrs Simpson were in regular contact with high level Nazi commanders to beg them to protect their homes in Paris and the South of France. At the time the couple were hiding out from the row over his abdication in Spain and Portugal. Morton writes: ‘The duchess was most concerned that their bed linens be protected from damage." http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2975058/The-World-War-II-operation-save-Wallis-s-swimsuit-Duchess-Windsor-ordered-consul-fetch-costume-height-war-left-luxury-French-villa.html#ixzz3TFBcTkB7
Reminds me of that "Friends" episode. "Oh My God! Now I have heard it all!" Nice catch Pillboxologist. Tnx! FriedEd. <===<-: (A Smiley that is about to Tie One On!)
Somebody in the State Department must have been told to keep her happy, otherwise I'm not sure how Wallis Simpson could order anybody to do anything.
