GREAT BRITAIN THE KING'S WORD THE NAZI DUKE OF COBURG MADE SEVERAL 
VISITS DURING THE MID-1930S TO HIS SECOND COUSIN, BRITAIN'S NEW KING 
EDWARD VIII . ONCE, THE ROYAL COUSINS CHATTED " WITH PIPE 
AT THE FIRESIDE " IN WINDSOR CASTLE, ANOTHER TIME AT TEA 
IN BUCKINGHAM PALACE WITH MARY, THE QUEEN MOTHER . THE TALKS 
ROUSED LITTLE INTEREST AT THE TIME, AND WERE SOON OVERSHADOWED BY 
THE MELODRAMA OF EDWARD'S ABDICATION IN ORDER TO MARRY " THE 
WOMAN I LOVE " THE TWICE-DIVORCED AMERICAN SOCIALITE, WALLIS WARFIELD SIMPSON 
. SINCE THEN, THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF WINDSOR, GROWING PALER 
AND FRAILER WITH THE PASSAGE OF YEARS, HAVE DRIFTED FROM PORTUGAL 
TO THE WEST INDIES, FROM MANHATTAN TO PARIS . THEIR PASTIMES 
HAVE BEEN THE TRIFLING ONES OF SHOWING UP AT BALLS, GROWING 
ROSES . IS KING HERE ? " BUT LAST WEEK THE 
LONG-FORGOTTEN CHATS OF THE DUKE OF COBURG WERE MAKING HEADLINES IN 
LONDON NEWSPAPERS AS THE GERMAN ARISTOCRAT WAS ALSO REVEALED AS A 
SPECIAL EMISSARY SENT BY HITLER TO BRITAIN BECAUSE OF HIS FAMILIAL 
CONNECTIONS WITH THE ROYAL FAMILY . THE REVELATIONS APPEARED IN THE 
LATEST BATCH OF CAPTURED NAZI DOCUMENTS PUBLISHED JOINTLY LAST WEEK BY 
THE BRITISH, FRENCH AND U.S . GOVERNMENTS . COBURG'S " STRICTLY 
CONFIDENTIAL " REPORT WAS ADDRESSED " ONLY FOR THE FUHRER AND 
PARTY MEMBER V . RIBBENTROP (NO COPY), " AND SAID OF 
EDWARD VIII THAT " FOR HIM A GERMAN-BRITISH ALLIANCE IS AN 
URGENT NECESSITY AND A GUIDING PRINCIPLE OF BRITISH FOREIGN POLICY . 
" COBURG EAGERLY SUGGESTED THAT DISCUSSIONS ABOUT FUTURE RELATIONS BE HELD 
BETWEEN HITLER AND BRITAIN'S PRIME MINISTER STANLEY BALDWIN . THE KING, 
SAID COBURG, " REPLIED IN THE FOLLOWING WORDS : " WHO 
IS KING HERE, BALDWIN OR I ? I, MYSELF, WISH TO 
TALK TO HITLER AND WILL DO SO HERE OR IN GERMANY 
. TELL HIM THAT, PLEASE . " BRITAIN'S INTERESTS . THE 
CHARGE OF PROGERMAN SYMPATHIES HAS OFTEN BEEN MADE AGAINST THE GERMAN-DESCENDED 
DUKE OF WINDSOR, MOST NOTABLY AFTER THE PUBLICATION OF OTHER CAPTURED 
NAZI DOCUMENTS FIVE YEARS AGO . THE LONDON DAILY EXPRESS DISMISSED 
THE LATE DUKE OF COBURG'S ACCOUNT AS HAVING NO VALUE AS 
EVIDENCE BECAUSE " HE WAS A NAZI, SPREADING NEWS HE KNEW 
WOULD BE WELCOME IN BERLIN . " BUT THE DAILY MIRROR'S 
COLUMNIST CASSANDRA SEEMED CONVINCED OF WINDSOR'S " CLOSE AND CORDIAL RELATIONSHIPS 
WITH THE NAZI REGIME . " AT WEEK'S END THE DUKE 
OF WINDSOR, NOW 68, DENIED MOST BUT NOT ALL OF THE 
PUBLISHED REPORTS . " THEY GIVE A GENERALLY FALSE IMPRESSION, " 
HE DECLARED IN A STATEMENT ISSUED BY HIS SECRETARY IN FRANCE, 
ADDING : " IT MUST BE REMEMBERED THAT THE DUKE, WITH 
THE MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE WHO HAD THE INTERESTS OF GREAT 
BRITAIN AT HEART, WAS STRIVING FOR SOME UNDERSTANDING WITH GERMANY . 
