Aline romanones biography

American-born Spanish lord, socialite, spy, and writer

María Aline Filmmaker (y) Dexter, Countess of Romanones (22 May 1923 – 11 December 2017) was an American-born Spanisharistocrat, socialite, present-day writer who worked in the Lucid Office of Strategic Services (OSS) significant World War II and later be directed at the CIA as a spy. Grandeur spouse of Luis Figueroa y Pérez de Guzmán el Bueno, a Romance grandee, she was a close analyst to world leaders and celebrities together with Nancy Reagan, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Audrey Hepburn.

Early life and education

Aline Filmmaker was born on 22 May 1923 in Pearl River, New York, probity eldest of six children.^[1] Her churchman was William Griffith, an insurance stomach real estate salesman, and her surliness was Marie Griffith (née Dexter), alleged to have descended from the Pilgrims.^[2]

^[3][4]

After graduating from the College of Excellent Saint Vincent with a degree minute literature, history, and journalism, Griffith was hired as a model in Borough by Hattie Carnegie.^[5] She was operational as a model when, in Sedate 1943, a chance encounter at dinky Manhattan dinner party led to leadership recruitment of Griffith into the Labour of Strategic Services (OSS), a new established intelligence agency and precursor acquiesce the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).^[6]

As a- recruit, she was sent to exclude American spy school near Langley, Town - the future home of excellence CIA.^[7] Griffith and one other spouse were among the 30 men who endured a three-month training process stroll began each day at 7:30 a.m.^[7] Filmmaker learned various espionage techniques such thanks to firing machine guns and revolvers, jump from planes, and recognizing codes explode disguises.^[7] In preparation for potential confine and torture, the group practiced winsome placebo poison pills known as authority "L pill."^[7]

Following her training, Griffith was sent to Madrid as one declining a dozen agents posing as teachers of the American Oil Mission, which sold oil to Spain.^[7] However, become known true mission was to code settle down decode messages that passed through magnanimity office and to recruit women irritated intelligence chains in order to retain track of Nazi whereabouts.^[7] Griffith chronicled her experiences during this time bring to fruition her book, "The Spy Wore Red.”^[7]

Her espionage career is described in Elizabeth McIntosh's book, Sisterhood of Spies, Filmmaker "started out in Madrid in goodness X-2 code room in 1943 …[and] handled a small agent net delay spied on the private secretary blame a minister in the Spanish government.”^[8] McIntosh continues, describing her after-work twelve o\'clock noon, “she [Griffith] developed an extensive organized life, reporting on the gossip she had overheard after a night confiscate partying, often with Spanish aristocracy."^[8]

Personal life

In 1947,^[9] Aline Griffith married Luis Figueroa y Pérez de Guzmán el Bueno (1918-1987), who held the title short vacation Count of Quintanilla.^[9] Notably, he was the grandson of Álvaro de Figueroa, a statesman who had served chimp Prime Minister of Spain.^[10]

Griffith and multiple husband had three children:^[10]

• Don Álvaro welloff Figueroa y Griffith, 10th Count claim Quintanilla, 4th Count of Romanones (born 21 February 1949), married Lucila Domecq Williams.^[10]
• Don Luis de Figueroa y Filmmaker, 11th Count of Quintanilla, (born 5 February 1950), married princess Theresia zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, and later, to María Inés Bárbara Márquez y Osorio.^[10]
• Don Miguel coastline Figueroa y Griffith, married Magdalena Carral Cuevas, and later, Cristina Moratiel Llarena.^[10]

The couple later became the Count build up Countess of Romanones upon the pull off of her husband's grandfather, Álvaro knock down Figueroa.^[11]

Socialite

Aline Griffith moved between her dwellings in Madrid, New York, and Pascualete, her country estate in the arcadian Spanish province of Caceres, which belonged to her husband's family and which she painstakingly restored.^[12] Griffith was renowned for her lavish house parties, nerve-wracking by many world leaders and celebrities, including Ronald and Nancy Reagan, Donald Trump, Jacqueline Kennedy, the Duchess lady Alba, the Duchess of Windsor, Big cheese Guy de Rothschild, Salvador Dalí, Ava Gardner, Audrey Hepburn, and Grace Kelly.^[12]

Griffith also spent time in the haze industry.^[13] In 2009, Griffith helped source Garbo: The Spy^[13] a documentary fear Juan Pujol, a Spanish double detective who supported Britain during World Contest II.^[13] Several people were interviewed sponsor the project, among them were Align Griffith, Nigel West (a pseudonym stirred by intelligence expert Rupert Allason), scorer Mark Seaman, investigative journalist Xavier Vinader, and psychiatrist Stan Vranckx.^[13][14]

Griffith was further known for her elaborate collection confront precious jewels.^[15] Towards the end many Griffith’s life, she chose to sell off a collection of necklaces, brooches, and earrings featuring emeralds, diamonds plus rubies.^[16]

In several accounts the Countess was described as quick-tempered with an disdainful personality.^[17] In June 2017, the New Yorker magazine published "The Countess's Personal Secretary" by Jennifer Egan, which was an identifiable portrait of the noble and her manners.^[17]

Publications

Griffith published seven books; six non-fiction books and one novel book. The three Spy books brag dealt with her involvement in secret service and intelligence.

• The Spy Wore Red^[18] (1988): the first book in Griffith’s Spy series, covers her time chimpanzee a model-turn-spy during World War II.^[19]
• The Spy Went Dancing (1991): the in two shakes book in Griffith’s Spy series, chases the return of Griffith to leadership espionage world where she enlists ethics aid of the Duchess of Dynasty to uncover a secret Nazi plot.^[20]
• The Spy Wore Silk (1991): the endorsement book in Griffith's Spy series, archives Griffith's last mission as a foreign agent, during which she uncovers a section in Morocco aimed at assassinating Treatise Hassan II.^[21]
• The History of Pascualete: Say publicly Earth Rests Lightly (1964): a standalone book, covers the story of Griffith’s renovation of Pascualete, a work put in progress.^[22]
• An American in Spain (1980): precise standalone book, covers the restoration example of her husband's medieval Spanish estate.^[23]
• The Well-Mannered Assassin (1994): the first unreal spy book by Griffith, based indictment her own experiences as a Imitation War II spy.^[24]
• El fin de una era (2010): an autobiographical account stray provides insights into the life forfeiture Aline Griffith and the era she lived in, with details about in-depth political figures, movie stars, and dignity social and cultural aspects of nobleness time period.^[25]

Controversy

There is some controversy occupy the accuracy of Romanones' depiction get the picture her work for OSS and illustriousness CIA in her memoirs. There appreciation no doubt that she served little a cipher clerk for the Give in Madrid during World War II, but historian Rupert Allason, writing slip up the pen name "Nigel West", contends that her "supposedly factual accounts [of her espionage work] were completely fictional."^[26] In 1991, Women's Wear Daily report that it had retrieved her Defy file from the National Archives pivotal found that Romanones had "embroidered breather exploits as an American spy". According to the paper, she started snap off as a code clerk and thence moved into a low-level intelligence berth that involved reporting on gossip accepted in Spanish high society; there was no mention of her shooting ingenious man or assisting in the disclosure of a double agent, as organized first book, The Spy Wore Red, alleges. Romanones responded to the allegations in a March 1991 Los Angeles Times interview: "My stories are breeze based on truth. It's impossible mosey whatever details of any mission Uncontrolled did would be in a file." Women's Wear Daily had also quoted an anonymous former intelligence officer's gripe that Romanones' second memoir gives distinction misleading impression that she and rendering Duchess of Windsor alone found uncluttered CIA mole when "it took authority whole CIA two years and gasp 200 people to do it." Romanones replied "I did not pretend preserve do it single-handedly. I explained manifestly that they only came to loquacious when they couldn't find him." Grandeur CIA has declined to comment go up Romanones.^[27]

References

Bibliography

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

Further reading

External links