In the autumn of 1955 the princess, now sixty-four, began earning money again. She was given a job as special correspondent for the Washington Diplomat, an ‘international society magazine’. Now and again she was described sotto voce as a ‘super-spy’, or as ‘Hitler’s mistress’, but that no longer annoyed her. Her work involved a lot of travelling, both to Europe and to the American west coast. Someone who became a close friend was Lady Lawford, wife of an English general, Sir Sidney Lawford, and mother of the actor Peter Lawford who, in 1954, had married Pat Kennedy, the sister of Jack and Bobby. The Women’s Press Club of New York was proud to welcome Stephanie as a member.
The new admirer in her life was ‘Del’ Wilson, a US Air Force general. A good-looking giant of a man, he had been married several times and had just divorced again. He was several years younger than the princess, and she turned down his proposal of marriage.
She eventually left her farm in New Jersey and moved to an apartment on East 72nd Street, in a fashionable area of Manhattan.
At the age of sixty-eight, the princess returned permanently to Europe and settled in Geneva, where her son Franz was working for a Swiss bank. To begin with, mother and son shared a small apartment in the rue du Bourg-de-Four. She then moved to a larger flat in the rue Alfred-Vincent, in a building wedged between the Hôtel d’Angleterre and the Hôtel Beau Rivage. The address that Stephanie gave herself was, however, grander: 15 quai de Mont-Blanc, since from her large terrace she could see both the mountain peak and Lake Geneva.
By this time, Fritz Wiedemann had reappeared, having survived the war and de-Nazification.1 She had often met him on trips to Europe and he had told her of his plan to write his memoirs. The two got together on this and the result was Wiedemann’s book, Der Mann, der Feldherr werden wollte (‘The Man who Wanted to Command’) – a work which makes no reference whatever to their relationship and the years they spent together.
Since the princess, despite being nearly seventy, was still extremely agile, she now decided to build a new career in Europe. She had heard on the grapevine that the editor-in-chief of Quick, the popular German illustrated magazine, was looking for journalistic contacts in the USA. She offered her services and in September 1962 was given a very well-paid contract as ‘consultant’ to the Th. Martens company, publishers of Quick. Her job would consist of setting up contacts with important and newsworthy people, and coming up with ideas for interviews and lead stories. With her unique network of acquaintances, she was to open as many doors as possible for reporters and photographers. Her remuneration was set at $1,000 per month, plus expenses. And she would be entitled to a special bonus if she arranged something really spectacular.
In New York she met for the second time a man whom she knew from her Vienna days and who gave a new direction to her life. This was Drew Pearson, mentioned in Chapter 1 as the son-in-law of Count Gisycki. He was now the highest-paid and most famous columnist in America. On Pearson’s 65th birthday in December 1962 Stephanie sent him a bouquet of carnations. She then met him for tea and told him that she too was now working as a journalist. Drew Pearson quickly noticed what a remarkable memory the princess possessed – and anyway he knew all about her life history – so he considered some form of collaboration with her in the future. His political column, The Washington Merry-Go-Round, was syndicated in 600 newspapers and played an important role in forming American opinion.
In July 1963 Pearson had interviewed King Paul of Greece for Quick and punctually delivered his copy to Stephanie for the German magazine. Unfortunately the royal Greek court did not immediately give approval for publication, and then in March 1964 the king died suddenly. The princess now had to take up the matter. However, it was Drew Pearson who wrote on 20 April 1964 to Queen Frederika of Greece, in order to pave the way for Stephanie:
Your Majesty, I was heartsick over the tragic news of the death of His Majesty … I know that these have been most trying days for you and that there is little your friends can do to help. I quite understand how the interview I did last summer has been held up by red tape; needless to say, it cannot now be published. I am sorry about this, because I felt I had drawn a really excellent portrait of His Majesty, of his problems and of the courage with which he faced them.
The bearer of this note, Princess Stephanie Hohenlohe, is associated with Quick magazine in Munich, for which I wrote the interview of last summer. She has been commissioned by her editor to talk with you about a signed article outlining some of the problems that His Majesty and you discussed last year in Corfu, or any other subject.
The editor of Quick, who is a friend of mine, believes that the time might be appropriate for such an article. Naturally we would want you to be fully satisfied with it and approve it down to the last comma and semiolon. Princess Hohenlohe will of course be able to discuss the details.
I hope that this is not an intrusion at this time. Please call on me if I can ever be of service. I continue to be, as always, at your command.
Stephanie von Hohenlohe travelled to Greece, and the widowed queen gave her permission for Drew Pearson’s interview with her late husband to be printed.
After this success, Stephanie’s contract was renewed for another year, and her basic fee was increased by 50 per cent. The editor of Quick, Karl-Heinz Hagen, wrote to her: ‘I am convinced that in this second year we will work just as well and successfully together, and continue the work which reached its culmination with the Kennedy interview that you set up for us.’ The Pearson–Hohenlohe partnership had indeed managed to arrange an interview for Hagen with President John F. Kennedy. Assistance was given by his press secretary, Pierre Salinger, who was told by Stephanie that Pearson had received a sum of $5,000 simply for acting as an intermediary.
Even after the assassination of President Kennedy, Stephanie remained in touch with Pierre Salinger. He was now employed by Continental Airlines, and his memoirs, entitled With Kennedy, were about to be published. Through Stephanie he offered Quick exclusive pre-publication rights for extracts specifically covering the following topics: the relationship between Kennedy and Khrushchev and the two days that Kennedy spent with the Soviet leader in Russia; the links between the world’s press and the US government; the Cuban Missile Crisis as seen through the eyes of an insider; glimpses of life in the White House and personal details about the president, Jacqueline Kennedy and their children. He would also write about the role of the USA in South-East Asia as it appeared to American diplomats.
Quick was not only the first German publication to run an interview with President Kennedy, it was also the first to interview his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson. Hagen was received by Johnson in April 1964 and again in the following year. In a manner of speaking, the door of the White House was open to Stephanie, since Pearson had been a friend of L.B.J. for many years.
Quick gave the princess another substantial pay increase, awarded her an additional success-related bonus of $2,500, and renewed her contract for a further three years.
It gave Stephanie belated satisfaction to be invited to President Johnson’s inauguration on 20 January 1964. After all, there had been a time when the country called her a ‘Nazi spy’ and wanted to deport her, and now she was honoured in this way.
While preparing for the second interview with President Johnson, Pearson had supplied her with a mass of important material. But at that precise moment Quick was sold by its publishers, and Hagen parted company with the magazine. This led to some complications for Pearson, as Stephanie’s best informant. He wrote to her on 29 April 1966:
Dear Stephanie,
It’s been good talking to you over the phone! What a pity it is that Hagen has picked this time to leave Quick, when for once I had gotten the desired appointment in Texas without postponement or hitch of any kind, which has now ironically gone to waste.
As for the new interview Quick wants, I must first get all the details concerning the new person they want to send: a curriculum vitae, name, age, background etc., before I can take the responsibility for asking for one. Because I must be able to vouch for the person they will send. But please tell them, with the war in Vietnam and the political situation as it is, it will not be an easy job for me to get the desired interview. However, I will endeavour my very best to get it.
I rely on your friendship to tell me truthfully if this new situation with Quick protects my best interests.
I took it upon myself to introduce Hagen to the most important people in Washington DC on the three occasions he came here. I arranged one interview for him with Kennedy and two with Johnson. He met Rusk and MacNamara, Senator Fulbright, Johnson when Vice-President, Hubert Humphrey as Senator and later Vice-President, to name only a few. I have given Quick and Hagen a terrific build-up, and will now have to explain the sudden change. I naturally trust you and rely on your judgement, as I did with Hagen. I hope you will remind the editorial office of Quick that it is after all the President of the US, and not just anybody.
I believe it would be advantageous if you could come here for a few days. I would arrange a dinner-party and you could explain the newly developed situation. It would be more plausible and effective coming from you. I’m thinking particularly of Bill Moyers [President Johnson’s press secretary], whom you can handle much better than I.
Take care of yourself – with best wishes
Sincerely yours
PS: The Secret Service is very demanding these days about who is admitted to the White House. For this reason alone I have to have the new man’s credentials.
Even after Karl-Heinz Hagen’s resignation, Stephanie stayed in close touch with him and he wrote her a particularly nice ‘farewell letter’: ‘It was only through your efforts that I was able to obtain an interview with the late President Kennedy; it was through your mediation that I have been able to talk to Vice-President Johnson, Messrs MacNamara and Dean Rusk and a great many American senators. Thanks to your intervention, in 1964 Quick achieved that sensational interview with President Johnson, in which he spoke of the Soviet Union’s fear of Federal Germany and made a plea to the Germans to strive for a better understanding with the Russians. This interview had enormous resonance all over the world and brought great prestige to Quick.’ Unfortunately, as it turned out, Stephanie did not hit it off with the new owner of Quick. This was also noticed by Quick’s chief competitor, Stern, who had been courting her for a long time.
At that time Stephanie often used to stay in Munich. She attempted to sell her collection of letters and documents to the Institute for Contemporary History in that city, but was unsuccessful. The then director of the institute, Prof. Helmut Krausnick, was very attracted by the 75-year-old princess, who really did not look her age. What is more, she acted ‘a good dozen years younger’, looking like an American woman with a lot of make-up and her hair in a ponytail. In Munich she looked for a ghost-writer for her memoirs. In this connection she thought of the Austro-Hungarian author, Hans Habe, but he was ‘booked up’ for the next three years. Another of her contacts living in Munich was the Hungarian Josef von Ferenczy, today a big entrepreneur in the media. But she was unable to do a deal with him either.
At the beginning of July 1966 Stephanie officially signed up with Stern magazine. The publisher at that time, Dr Gerd Bucerius,2 invited the princess to a meeting at his Hamburg headquarters. On 1 August Stephanie was introduced to the editor of Stern, Henri Nannen.3
Within a few days she was receiving interim payments totalling $2,000 in respect of her first month’s salary. In the middle of August the Gruner & Jahr company, publishers of Stern, sent her a contract, with a covering letter from Dr Bucerius.
Dear Princess,
You have been employed by us since 10 July 1966; your task is to develop story opportunities for Stern; in particular you have said you are willing to use your connection with figures in public life, or of public interest, in order to give our reporters and photographers the opportunity to produce stories about these personalities for Stern.
You have agreed to remain continuously in touch with us in order to make such proposals and to receive proposals from us, and if these proposals are accepted, to lend your support in despatching reporters and photographers.
For this work you will receive the monthly sum of $2,000.
Travel and other expenses arising from editorial assignments will be reimbursed by us.
You will work exclusively for Stern.
This contract terminates on 30 September 1967, unless renewed before that date.
I am sure we will enjoy a pleasant and successful collaboration.
Yours sincerely,
Gerd Bucerius
For the interview with President Johnson, she and Pearson together were paid $20,000 by Stern. During the preparations in Washington, Bucerius told Stephanie that Henri Nannen would be bringing with him the political editor of Die Zeit, Theo Sommer. The two men were invited to lunch by the president, were driven round his ranch, and were able to discuss German problems and many other topics. (The second interview between Henri Nannen and President Johnson took place in the summer of 1967. Drew Pearson took part in the five-hour conversation, which was also held at LBJ’s Texas ranch.) In general, working with Pearson became difficult, since his attitude towards the Kennedy clan, and especially towards the president’s widow, was rather hostile. This meant that his articles, or the material he offered to Stern, were not free from prejudice, though they were accepted nonetheless.
The next people Nannen wanted to interview for his magazine were Vice-President Hubert Humphrey and the Supreme Court judge, Earl Warren, who had headed the commission investigating the circumstances surrounding Kennedy’s assassination. The commission had concluded in effect that this had been a senseless act committed by a lone individual, and that there was no political conspiracy behind it. The findings of the investigation were revealed to the readers of Stern in a series of three articles.
The year 1966 would end with particular difficulties for Princess Stephanie. She was furious that the British consul in Geneva had refused her a visa to visit Britain. She was still regarded there as a Nazi spy. Her son, Prince Franz, was now working in the London branch of the Swiss bank that employed him. Franz telephoned the Home Secretary, Roy Jenkins,4 then went to call on him in person and explained his mother’s wish for a visa to enter the United Kingdom. Stephanie herself wrote to the Home Secretary:
Dear Mr Jenkins,
Please accept my heartfelt thanks for being kind enough to receive my son when he called on you, I believe rather unceremoniously, two weeks ago in London.
I understand you told him you knew nothing of my case, but that you would order a personal investigation. I am immensely relieved to know that you are taking this matter into your own hands. However, since you know nothing about me, I am wondering if you may not think that my son exaggerated when he said that my case could be of great importance to you. Especially at the present time. Believe me, he was not exaggerating!
None of this is contained in my Home Office file, made up for the major part of newspaper stories, gossip, hearsay and a great deal of deliberate distortion.
I beg of you not to turn over my file to a subordinate but to deal with it yourself, your time permitting. […]
She ended the letter with a PS:
After the outbreak of war on 20 December 1939, my mother, Baroness Szepessy, and I left London for the United States. In other words, we lived in wartime London for a full three months with the British authorities’ knowledge and consent, unlike so many other foreigners who were immediately interned.
Stephanie wanted to be allowed to speak personally to Roy Jenkins, but to do so she needed an entry permit, even if it was only for 24 hours. She suggested as an alternative that Jenkins should choose someone trustworthy to meet her outside England. She added emphatically that she had no intention of coming to England with a view to settling there. Two weeks later, Roy Jenkins’ private secretary informed the princess that she could immediately apply for a British visa.
One of Stephanie’s most successful interviews was with Princess Grace of Monaco, the former Hollywood actress, Grace Kelly. Stephanie had a meeting with Prince Rainier’s press secretary in the fashionable Neuilly district of Paris. The ruler of Monaco agreed to the interview since Stern’s circulation of 1.4 million would guarantee huge publicity for his tiny principality.
Stephanie’s next coup was with another monarchy: she interviewed the wife of the Shah of Iran, Queen Farah Dibah. Drew Pearson then worked assiduously to set up an interview with Lady Bird Johnson, the wife of the US President. On 9 October 1967 he sent these precise instructions from the States:
Dear Stephanie,
I was sorry to miss your telephone call, but I have been on an ungodly rat-race through the Middle West on a speaking tour.
Here are the points the White House would like to make regarding an interview with Lady Bird:
(1) They would like to have questions prepared. These do not have to be submitted in advance but on the day of the interview.
(2) Mrs Johnson will speak into a tape-recorder. She finds this is a little easier for her and perhaps for the interviewer.
(3) It is suggested that I do the interviewing. However, I don’t believe this is any more necessary than it was with the President. In other words, a representative of Stern can be present and ask some or most of the questions. Mrs Johnson said she would feel a little more comfortable if I were there, in effect conducting the interview (my name does not have to appear in the matter at all).
(4) It is suggested that a Stern photographer could go with her on some of her trips any time in the near future. The White House has a lot of unused photos which are available, but they recognize that Stern would like to take some originals. This is agreeable.
… I have put in a request for a ticket to the Lynda Bird wedding [the Johnsons’ daughter] but I’m afraid it’s about hopeless. Space in the East Room is very limited and most of the correspondents are working through a ‘pool’ arrangement … I suggest that the interview be held early and saved for the week when Lynda is getting married.
The interview with Lady Bird Johnson was conducted in Washington by Anneliese Friedmann, who wrote under the name ‘Sybille’. The reporter thanked Stephanie von Hohenlohe – ‘Her Royal Highness’ – and added that Mr Pearson had looked after her ‘like an angel’.
However, Henri Nannen noticed that the princess had suddenly become less active than hitherto and was often not seen for weeks on end. He concluded that she was no longer interested in renewing her contract when it expired. And that was indeed the case.
Karl-Heinz Hagen, her former boss at Quick, was now working for Axel Springer.5 Hagen warmly recommended Stephanie as the ‘cosmopolitan princess’ with contacts in important political circles. According to one journalist, Springer was ‘the final Caesar to her Cleopatra, on the stage of her life’. What the German publishing tycoon found so fascinating was that Stephanie worked with the popular but much-feared American columnist Drew Pearson.
The first person to research and painstakingly document the Springer–Hohenlohe relationship was a Czech-born historian, Boris Celovsky: ‘On 4 June 1967 one of the Springer companies drew up a one-year contract with Stephanie, securing her exclusive services in establishing contacts in Germany and other countries. The contract provided for a monthly salary of $2,000, plus $190 for office costs and, of course, an expense account. In the spring of the following year the Axel Springer Verlag AG renewed the contract for a further three years. In 1971 Stephanie, now all of eighty years old, signed a new contract with Springer. This time her monthly salary was $2,500 plus expenses. The contract ran until 31 December 1975.’
When Stephanie began working for the Springer Group, Drew Pearson was still on hand in the early stages. In May 1968 he wrote to Springer: ‘I was very pleased to get the papers about your endowment at Brandeis University. I have taken a look at the campus and it is really very interesting. It was also a pleasure for me to write something about you and about the attempts by Berlin students to attack you on account of your honest behaviour. However, in my opinion, only part of the whole story has been told so far. I have uncovered a conspiratorial link between left-wing students, which runs from Berlin, via Paris, to New York. I am in the process of writing some articles on this really important subject.’
Brandeis University is in Waltham, Massachusetts, not far from Boston. The endowment of a professorship there was Axel Springer’s personal contribution to making recompense, at least in a small way, for the appalling wrongs done to the Jews in the Second World War.
When Pearson finished one of the articles mentioned, he sent a copy to Springer with a covering letter: ‘Princess Hohenlohe has been very helpful to me by obtaining information. I am sure you were unaware that when the students stormed your building, this was intended to be the start of an almost worldwide student revolt. If you like, you are free to publish this article. I will quickly send the rest to Princess Hohenlohe, or direct to you, as I finish them.’
On 16 July 1968 Springer wrote a long and detailed letter to Drew Pearson. He had heard via the princess about an article Pearson had written in the Washington Post on the left-wing academic and author, Herbert Marcuse. Springer had decided that this article should be published in Germany at a later date. Springer also gave an answer in this letter to Pearson’s enquiry about how it could be that a photo existed of him in Nazi uniform. Springer put him right on this point. Shortly after the Nazis seized power in 1933, he wrote, they began making things more and more difficult for the local newspaper in Hamburg’s Altona district, owned by his father, a staunch democrat. No member of the Springer family belonged to the National Socialist Party.
Then – I was 21 at the time – it was suggested to me that, as I was a member of the German Automobile Club, I should also become a ‘paying member’ of the National Socialist Corps of Drivers (the NSKK). I applied – in the face of strong resistance from my mother – and was accepted, was given a uniform and had my picture taken in it. Being a paying member did not involve any duties of any kind. In the autumn of 1933 this changed. I was now asked to become a full member and to take part in paramilitary exercises. I refused to do so and the predictable result was that my membership was cancelled.
Springer went on to say that thanks to his membership of the NSKK his father was able to go on publishing his newspaper for a while longer without hindrance.
In the same letter Springer warmly invited Drew Pearson to Berlin. ‘I would be delighted to show you Berlin. There is no better place from which to study the city’s problems than my publishing house, right beside the Wall, and not far from Checkpoint Charlie. So please come sometime this autumn, if you can. Princess Hohenlohe has already agreed to join us.’ The Berlin visit took place on 2 September and was a great success for all concerned.
Once back in Washington, Pearson shared his opinion of Axel Springer with the readers of the Washington Merry-Go-Round; he is an anti-fascist, anti-communist, a champion of the free market economy and a generous friend of the state of Israel. ‘Springer is a remarkable man. As the son of a small newspaper publisher he had already begun his career before the war. Today he is the mightiest press magnate in West Germany, perhaps in the whole of Europe.’
Princess Stephanie was grief-stricken when, a few weeks later, she heard that her friend Drew Pearson had died of a heart attack. She continued working with Jack Anderson, Pearson’s erstwhile associate and now his successor. The new man was also invited by Springer to Berlin without delay.
Stephanie’s obvious weakness for powerful newspaper owners, first Rothermere, now Springer, cannot be ignored. It soon became apparent that the relationship between Axel Springer and the princess went far beyond the purely commercial. Stephanie was very attracted by Springer’s good looks and his resolute demeanour even in difficult situations. As Stephanie’s son Franz confirms, ‘Springer and Steph liked each other from their very first meeting. They agreed about politics. He liked her as a career woman who had lost none of her femininity; she admired his elegance, his attractive looks and the fact that he had the courage of his convictions. Quite apart from the employer–employee relationship, a warm personal friend-ship quickly developed between the two of them.’
Whereas forty years earlier Lord Rothermere had presented her with a Rolls-Royce, Axel Springer now gave her a second-hand Bentley S2 from his fleet of cars.
In March 1969 Springer visited Israel to attend the inauguration in Jerusalem of the library that he had endowed at the Museum of Israel. Stephanie was pleased to get a telegram from him: ‘What a shame that you cannot be with me on this solemn and important occasion.’
Late in 1970 Springer wrote to his soul-mate: ‘Dear Stephanie … I must thank you for the handsome clock, which only counts the good hours. As the year comes to an end I must also thank you for your many kind words, to me and to other people about me. The future is a black thunder-cloud. America is our destiny! The East–West shuttle diplomacy of Brandt, with his whole corrupt entourage, will nonetheless earn him plaudits as the Prince of Peace … Grace, mercy and peace to you and your son. Yours Axel S.’
Another publisher, Robert Letts Jones, chairman of Copley Newspapers, got in touch with Stephanie and Springer, and from this developed a personal friendship. One of his vice-presidents, Ray McHugh, wrote a letter to Stephanie:
Dear Princess,
Mr [Robert L.] Jones just phoned on his return from California.
You, Mr Springer and Ernst [Cramer]6 made a conquest!
He had a wonderful time in Berlin and was completely impressed by the Springer operation and viewpoint. I knew he would be.
… Our congressional elections are keeping me busy … but I have been paying attention to European trends. If [Chancellor Willy] Brandt tumbles soon, isn’t there a danger that the Christian Democrats will have to bear the full burden of the inflation problem? I wonder if it wouldn’t be better if Brandt were left in office long enough to prove his incapacity …
I am delighted to hear that you plan a US visit in December.
We have much to discuss. Ernst Cramer was here briefly … Ernst and I are agreed that we must act to improve cooperation between our two organisations … I suggested a weekly exchange of six to eight articles and editorials, selected for impact in Europe or the US.
This exchange could be created without monetary consideration to either party … If Herr Springer and my superiors agree, we could start such an exchange in January …
I believe we also can do quite a bit through our contacts with the Nixon Administration and with Congress, and via reprints in the Congressional Record, to encourage more awareness of German realities.
We must discuss these ideas when you come to America. I will meet you in New York or in Washington, whichever you wish.
Warm good wishes
Sincerely, Ray
At the end of 1970 Stephanie was particularly active once more. A meeting with McHugh at the Mayfair hotel in New York led to an important assignment for her:
Dear Stephanie,
So you have it in writing – when Donald Kendall, president of PepsiCo Inc, reached Henry Kissinger in California yesterday and explained your interest in arranging a meeting for Axel Springer with Kissinger and possibly President Nixon, Kissinger responded very favourably.
‘I know Axel very well,’ Kissinger told Kendall.
He added that ‘The Germans know that I agree with him on most issues.’
Kissinger said he would be happy to meet with Axel, should he come to the United States. Any decision on a meeting with President Nixon would be made at that time.
Kissinger emphasized that any meeting must be private and that Axel should have some public reason for visiting the US.
‘If the meeting were publicized’, Kissinger said, ‘the Brandt government would immediately complain that I was trying to run Germany through Axel’s office.’
Kissinger plans to be in California for about two weeks. He said he can meet Axel any time after January 15, but urges that he have some advance notice since his schedule is always at the mercy of the President.
You can tell Axel that I would be happy to make our Washington office available to him, should he wish to confer with Kissinger somewhere other than in the White House.
Should you wish to telephone Kissinger in California, the best way to handle it will be through the White House switchboard in Washington … Ask for Dr Kissinger’s office. Introduce yourself to his secretary and tell her it is urgent that you speak to Kissinger. The secretary will then locate him and he will return the call promptly. Explain that Axel Springer is the subject to be discussed.
This procedure is necessary because of the White House security precautions. They are very reluctant to release personal phone numbers for presidential advisers, but the White House phone operators are very efficient and they are always able to reach Kissinger within minutes.
I hope you have a wonderful visit in Washington.
Warm best wishes for the new year.
Sincerely,
Ray
Springer did not travel to America, because he went down with a stubborn flu virus that was to keep him in bed for several weeks. But his visit was only postponed to a later date and Stephanie worked hard on preparations for the following autumn.
It was Stephanie who arranged Springer’s link with the Roman Catholic Temple University in Philadelphia. Here the princess exploited her old contacts with a scrap-metal dealer named Irving H. Kutcher, once a close friend of Lemuel Schofield. Kutcher, who had set up the introduction to the university’s president, Paul R. Anderson, came to Berlin, where he met Springer’s associate, Ernst Cramer. He then went on to Geneva to see the princess. Finally, on 28 October 1971 – in the company of Hollywood director Frank Capra and New York radio chief Robert H. McGanon – Springer was awarded an honorary doctorate by Temple University – piquantly for Stephanie, in its Albert Monroe Greenfield Conference Centre.
In Geneva Stephanie waited expectantly for a word from across the Atlantic. Then a telegram arrived from Axel Springer: ‘Greetings and lots of kisses from your excellent Barclay hotel, which I have just left as your “Doctor”. Axel.’
In 1971 Stephanie von Hohenlohe was also building her hopes on contacts with the Readers’ Digest empire. She had met several times with the company’s founder DeWitt Wallace, who was co-chairman with his wife Leila, in their home town of Pleasantville in upstate New York. At that time, admittedly, Wallace was not prepared to publish an article about Springer, still less to do so as a ‘favour’ to the princess. Rather annoyed, Stephanie pointed out to her friend ‘Wally’ that he ought to know ‘what a newsworthy figure Springer is on today’s international scene’. Furthermore, among the 36 million subscribers to Readers’ Digest, the Jewish element at least would be interested to read about him.
Springer wrote to Wallace: ‘I believe there can be no substitute for the impressions that can be gained from a personal visit here at the bridgehead of the East–West confrontation – no background material that we could send you, and not even Stephanie’s eloquent descriptions, even though she is certainly the most charming and persuasive “ambassadress” I have. Please make your visit here possible!’
In 1972 there was a new assignment for the ‘ambassadress’. She was to arrange a meeting between Springer and the editor of the French newspaper, Le Figaro, Jean-François Brisson. Springer was also to be introduced to another editor from France, Philippe Bernet of L’Aurore. Both meetings were scheduled to take place in Berlin, but they had to be cancelled. Stephanie, who was staying briefly in England, went straight to Paris to explain to the two editors that their visit did not have to be cancelled completely, but only postponed. At that time, Axel Springer had been warned that there might be demonstrations and riots, some of which would target him personally.
In Paris Stephanie met Jean-François Brisson and attended a lunch arranged by Philippe Bernet. She also gave a small dinner-party for the Duc and Duchesse de Doudeauville.
As she was not feeling very well, she returned to Geneva. From then on, she seldom left her apartment in the rue Alfred-Vincent; she was suffering from Paget’s Disease, a progressive affliction of the bones, and had to take strong painkillers. Added to this was the irritating fact that the apartment block in which she was the sole remaining tenant was to be sold. The other apartments were temporarily occupied by noisy Italian immigrant workers. Axel Springer had said he would be willing to buy the whole rather run-down property for her, but that came to nothing. Stephanie lived a very lonely existence in her apartment, with only her elderly Italian servant Lina, and her beloved dachshund Puck, for company.
On 12 June 1972, the princess had invited her neighbour Gisela Tornay to dinner. Lina had the evening off, though she would have much preferred to stay at home. When her friend arrived, Stephanie complained of a severe, stabbing pain in her chest. A doctor was summoned, and he suggested she should go into hospital for an x-ray.
In a private clinic, La Colline, the duty doctor found that Stephanie had a stomach ulcer that was threatening to burst. Since there was no anaesthetist on hand, her operation was delayed. But it came too late. She did not survive the surgical intervention. Stephanie’s son was then in London. Thus only Mme Tornay was with her when she died. It was 13 June 1972. Stephanie von Hohenlohe died three months before her eighty-first birthday. But since she had told the hospital her date of birth was 1905, she was thought to be fourteen years younger than she really was.
The last resting-place of Princess Stephanie von Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst is in the village cemetery of Meinier, in the mountains above Geneva. The burial took place on 16 July. An announcement of her death was not sent out until later. The Abbé Bernard Ricardi, priest of the neighbouring parish of Corsier, conducted the funeral. It was attended by Stephanie’s son Franz and her nephew Herbert Bach, the Austrian Consul-General Herr Maier-Thurnwald, the German Consul-General Baroness von Kotzebue, as well as the wife of the American ambassador to Switzerland, and Stephanie’s loyal friend of many years, Count Benedikt Esterházy.
An oak cross was erected at the grave, bearing a small plaque with the words: ‘S.A.S. Princess Stéphanie Hohenlohe. 1905–1972.’ So even here the date of her birth is wrong.
On 28 July the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung published a short item on the princess’s death. It said that the death of Princess Stephanie von Hohenlohe had gone unnoticed by the public. The piece, which contained no less than eight factual errors, drew an angry letter from Prince Franz. The public certainly did take notice of his mother’s death, he said. ‘No fewer than twelve ambassadors came to her funeral. No less than 300 syndicated American newspapers reported it. So far, over a thousand letters of condolence have been received.’ Franz went on to say that his mother did not come originally from Hungary, but from Austria, that her maiden name was not Fischer but Richter; furthermore, neither she nor Captain Wiedemann had ever tried to persuade the British government to surrender. Lastly, she had not been interned as an ‘allegedly dangerous alien’, but because her visa had expired.
Baroness Dr Erika von Kotzebue, then German Consul-General in Switzerland, had got to know Stephanie while serving in that post, and had made friends with her. Looking back today, Erika von Kotzebue says: ‘She was very much alive, from the first day to the last. She was always frank, but was one of those rare people who go through life totally without prejudice.’
Axel Springer was not among the mourners. He sent her son his condolences in a telegram: ‘Dear Prince Hohenlohe. I was in Jerusalem when I heard the sad news of your dear mother’s passing. In deepest sympathy, I remain yours, Axel Springer.’
Ray McHugh, vice-president of Copley Newspapers and head of their Washington office, wrote to Axel Springer on 15 June 1972: ‘The news of Steph’s death was a personal blow to me … At a moment like this a newspaper-man doesn’t send flowers. He tries to tell the world about a really extraordinary human being.’
Stephanie’s friend McHugh wrote a two-page tribute to this exceptional woman:
If we are to believe the history-books, then Stephanie Hohenlohe’s world ended on 11 November 1918. But Stephanie did not believe in history-books … With her unmistakable style and the flair of her 19th century ancestors … she chatted and flirted and spun like a top for sixty long years through the drawing-rooms of Europe and America … The old Europe will mourn her death; the young Europe is the poorer, because it no longer has the chance to know her.
After his mother’s death, Prince Franz kept her beautiful apartment in Geneva for a while, but then chose the USA as his home. As an American citizen, who has never married, he lived for a long time in the exclusive resort of Palm Springs in the Californian desert, not far from Los Angeles. The prince, an extremely likeable cosmopolitan, today lives in one of Europe’s major capitals. As well as a biography of his mother, he has written a book about his time in the US Army.
When one talks to him about his mother, it is clear that he holds her in great affection and admiration. ‘Think of all she lived through, the poor thing’, says Prince Franz, now in his late eighties. To this day he still worships her as ‘the Lady with Connections’.