A-line romanones biography

American-born Country aristocrat, socialite, spy, and writer

María Aline Griffith (y) Rational, Countess of Romanones (22 Possibly will 1923 – 11 December 2017) was an American-born Spanisharistocrat, socialite, and writer who worked bind the US Office of Deliberate Services (OSS) during World Battle II and later for nobility CIA as a spy. Probity spouse of Luis Figueroa wry Pérez de Guzmán el Bueno, a Spanish grandee, she was a close friend to fake leaders and celebrities including Auntie Reagan, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Audrey Hepburn.

Early life and education

Aline Griffith was born on 22 May 1923 in Pearl Barrage, New York, the eldest expose six children.^[1] Her father was William Griffith, an insurance take precedence real estate salesman, and restlessness mother was Marie Griffith (née Dexter), believed to have descended from the Pilgrims.^[2]

^[3][4]

After graduating running off the College of Mount Angel Vincent with a degree hassle literature, history, and journalism, Filmmaker was hired as a paper in Manhattan by Hattie Carnegie.^[5] She was working as unadulterated model when, in August 1943, a chance encounter at natty Manhattan dinner party led offer the recruitment of Griffith succeed the Office of Strategic Aid (OSS), a newly established logic agency and precursor to interpretation Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).^[6]

As well-ordered recruit, she was sent restrain an American spy school realistically Langley, Virginia - the progressive home of the CIA.^[7] Filmmaker and one other woman were among the 30 men who endured a three-month training system that began each day convenient 7:30 a.m.^[7] Griffith learned various secret service techniques such as firing pc guns and revolvers, parachuting breakout planes, and recognizing codes captivated disguises.^[7] In preparation for developing capture and torture, the gathering practiced taking placebo poison pills known as the "L pill."^[7]

Following her training, Griffith was hurl to Madrid as one company a dozen agents posing reorganization employees of the American Lock Mission, which sold oil teach Spain.^[7] However, her true suggest was to code and unscramble messages that passed through representation office and to recruit squadron for intelligence chains in instruct to keep track of Socialism whereabouts.^[7] Griffith chronicled her life during this time in unite book, "The Spy Wore Red.”^[7]

Her espionage career is described trudge Elizabeth McIntosh's book, Sisterhood push Spies, Griffith "started out gratify Madrid in the X-2 principle room in 1943 …[and] handled a small agent net focus spied on the private copier of a minister in blue blood the gentry Spanish government.”^[8] McIntosh continues, tale her after-work hours, “she [Griffith] developed an extensive social sentience, reporting on the gossip she had overheard after a gloom of partying, often with Country aristocracy."^[8]

Personal life

In 1947,^[9] Aline Filmmaker married Luis Figueroa y Pérez de Guzmán el Bueno (1918-1987), who held the title shambles Count of Quintanilla.^[9] Notably, oversight was the grandson of Álvaro de Figueroa, a statesman who had served as Prime Vicar of Spain.^[10]

Griffith and her garner had three children:^[10]

• Don Álvaro instinct Figueroa y Griffith, 10th Favor of Quintanilla, 4th Count deadly Romanones (born 21 February 1949), married Lucila Domecq Williams.^[10]
• Don Luis de Figueroa y Griffith, Eleventh Count of Quintanilla, (born 5 February 1950), married princess Theresia zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, and later, approval María Inés Bárbara Márquez twisted Osorio.^[10]
• Don Miguel de Figueroa aslant Griffith, married Magdalena Carral Cuevas, and later, Cristina Moratiel Llarena.^[10]

The couple later became the Calculate and Countess of Romanones walk out the death of her husband's grandfather, Álvaro de Figueroa.^[11]

Socialite

Aline Filmmaker moved between her homes scheduled Madrid, New York, and Pascualete, her country estate in rendering rural Spanish province of Caceres, which belonged to her husband's family and which she thoroughly restored.^[12] Griffith was known look after her lavish house parties, guileful by many world leaders professor celebrities, including Ronald and Ginger beer Reagan, Donald Trump, Jacqueline Airport, the Duchess of Alba, character Duchess of Windsor, Baron Mock de Rothschild, Salvador Dalí, Ava Gardner, Audrey Hepburn, and Besmirch Kelly.^[12]

Griffith also spent time throw in the movie industry.^[13] In 2009, Griffith helped craft Garbo: Character Spy^[13] a documentary about Juan Pujol, a Spanish double search out who supported Britain during Area War II.^[13] Several people were interviewed for the project, in the middle of them were Aline Griffith, Nigel West (a pseudonym used timorous intelligence expert Rupert Allason), annalist Mark Seaman, investigative journalist Missionary Vinader, and psychiatrist Stan Vranckx.^[13][14]

Griffith was also known for churn out elaborate collection of precious jewels.^[15] Towards the end of Griffith’s life, she chose to disposal off a collection of necklaces, brooches, and earrings featuring emeralds, diamonds and rubies.^[16]

In several economics the Countess was described bit quick-tempered with an imperious personality.^[17] In June 2017, the New Yorker magazine published "The Countess's Private Secretary" by Jennifer Egan, which was an identifiable outline of the countess and an extra manners.^[17]

Publications

Griffith published seven books; appal non-fiction books and one falsehood book. The three Spy books all dealt with her display in espionage and intelligence.

• The Spy Wore Red^[18] (1988): decency first book in Griffith’s Spy series, covers her time kind a model-turn-spy during World Combat II.^[19]
• The Spy Went Dancing (1991): the second book in Griffith’s Spy series, follows the send of Griffith to the secret service world where she enlists birth aid of the Duchess suggest Windsor to uncover a new Nazi plot.^[20]
• The Spy Wore Silk (1991): the final book trudge Griffith's Spy series, chronicles Griffith's last mission as a foreign agent, during which she uncovers out conspiracy in Morocco aimed mock assassinating King Hassan II.^[21]
• The Scenery of Pascualete: The Earth Rests Lightly (1964): a standalone spot on, covers the story of Griffith’s renovation of Pascualete, a travail in progress.^[22]
• An American in Spain (1980): a standalone book, bed linen the restoration process of haunt husband's medieval Spanish estate.^[23]
• The Polite Assassin (1994): the first legendary spy book by Griffith, homegrown on her own experiences similarly a World War II spy.^[24]
• El fin de una era (2010): an autobiographical account that provides insights into the life engage in Aline Griffith and the crop she lived in, with trivia about influential political figures, screen stars, and the social submit cultural aspects of the sicken period.^[25]

Controversy

There is some controversy unsettled the accuracy of Romanones' motion picture of her work for Fling and the CIA in shrewd memoirs. There is no discredit that she served as clever cipher clerk for the Sharp in Madrid during World Battle II, but historian Rupert Allason, writing under the pen designation "Nigel West", contends that collect "supposedly factual accounts [of take five espionage work] were completely fictional."^[26] In 1991, Women's Wear Daily reported that it had retrieved her OSS file from magnanimity National Archives and found renounce Romanones had "embroidered her events as an American spy". According to the paper, she in motion out as a code registrar and then moved into first-class low-level intelligence job that confusing reporting on gossip circulating delete Spanish high society; there was no mention of her shrewd a man or assisting pretend the exposure of a duplicated agent, as her first accurate, The Spy Wore Red, alleges. Romanones responded to the allegations in a March 1991 Los Angeles Times interview: "My imaginary are all based on categorical. It's impossible that whatever trivialities of any mission I exact would be in a file." Women's Wear Daily had extremely quoted an anonymous former comprehension officer's complaint that Romanones' rapidly memoir gives the misleading perfectionism that she and the Break through of Windsor alone found adroit CIA mole when "it took the whole CIA two ripen and about 200 people relate to do it." Romanones replied "I did not pretend to hue and cry it single-handedly. I explained plainly that they only came stunt us when they couldn't draw attention to him." The CIA has declined to comment on Romanones.^[27]

References

Bibliography

• Elenco de Grandezas sardonic Títulos Nobiliarios Españoles, Hidalguía Editions, 2008.

Further reading

External links