17 Carnations
Andrew Morton

17 Carnations chronicles the entanglement between Edward VIII, his American wife Wallis Simpson, and Hitler, starting with the Fhrer's attempts to matchmake Edward with a German noblewoman. While the German foreign mininster sent Simpson seventeen carnations daily, each one representing a night they had spent together, she and Edward corresponded regularly with the German elite. From alleged affairs to the discovery of top secret correspondence about the man dubbed "the traitor king" and the Nazi high command, this is a saga of intrigue, betrayal, and deception suffused with a heady aroma of sex and suspicion.



For the first time, Andrew Morton reveals the full story behind the attempted cover-up by Churchill, General Eisenhower, and King George VI of the duke's relations with Hitler. 17 Carnations exposes those damning letters and diagrams: the daring heist ordered by King George VI, the smooth duplicity of a Soviet spy as well as the bitter rows and recriminations among the British and American diplomats, politicians, and academics. Drawing on FBI documents, exclusive pictures, and material from the German, Russian, and British royal archives, as well as the personal correspondence of Churchill, Eisenhower, and the Windsors themselves, 17 Carnations is a dazzling historical drama, full of adventure, intrigue, and startling revelations, written by a master of the genre.