Synopsis: When Aline Griffith was born in a quiet suburban New York hamlet, no one had any idea that she would go on to live “a life of glamour and danger that Ingrid Bergman only played at in Notorious” (Time).
Aline’s life changes when, at a dinner party, she meets a man named Frank Ryan and reveals how desperately she wants to do her part for her country. Within a few weeks, he helps her join the Office of Strategic Services—forerunner of the CIA. With a code name and expert training under her belt, she is sent to Spain to be a coder, but is soon given the additional assignment of infiltrating the upper echelons of society, mingling with high-ranking officials, diplomats, and titled Europeans, any of whom could be an enemy agent. Against this glamorous backdrop of galas and dinner parties, she recruits sub-agents and engages in deep-cover espionage to counter Nazi tactics in Madrid.
Even after marrying the Count of Romanones, one of the wealthiest men in Spain, Aline secretly continues her covert activities, being given special assignments when abroad that would benefit from her impeccable pedigree and social connections.
Filled with twists, romance, and plenty of white-knuckled adventures fit for a James Bond film, The Princess Spy brings to vivid life the dazzling adventures of a remarkable American woman who risked everything to serve her country.
For me, this was cosy-espionage, a new term I am applying to works on espionage where there is not really a lot of espionage substance.
One cannot take away from Aline that work that she did for the USA whilst she was based in neutral Spain - she was a coder and a field agent of sorts; she underwent the training before being handed a cover story and assigned a task. Yes, anyone caught spying in Spain was at risk of being arrested, imprisoned and deported - but all, including the Nazi, were on the same playing field. However, the risks associated with her work are a far cry from those who were air-dropped behind enemy lines and were at risk of being captured by the Nazi and executed.
Much of Aline's "work" was social - meeting and mingling with society notables to gain access to any information that might come her way. The odd bits of derring-do come in the form of being tailed by "associates" of a jealous boyfriend (a bull-fighter of renown) and a short spell of imprisonment. Her work was carried out in the last year or so of the war in Europe - and with the surrender of the Germans, her work - for all intents and purposes - was over.
By this time, she was more or less ensconced in Spanish society and being courted by a Spanish prince. Though she claims she wants to do her part, one finds that Aline was more interested in the social aspects that this covert work provided her - so much so she quits to marry her prince.
We are only told that during her marriage that she was working for the CIA - but there are no details that are indeed forthcoming to really give credence to this theory. Her latter years could be taken from the covers of the gossip columns.
" ... Aline had perfected the art of gathering and keeping friends, weaving them together in a tapestry that spanned from Madrid to Paris to New York to Hollywood ..."
The author himself lets us know quite early on that even he was unsure if her story was even true, and that numerous events in her memoirs are indeed highly imagined. The constant adjustments to her narrative in her own books did not help matters in her favour.
I would not class her as a war heroine along the lines of say a Nancy Wake, Odette Sansom, Noor Inayat Khan or even Violette Szabo, but one cannot discount that fact that she did serve her country in some capacity (more of a Bletchley Park type role). I did appreciate the wrap up of the main characters at the end - it is always to see where they ended up after the war.
This is a very readable story of a small town girl, who went from model to spy to novelist to celebrity all in one incredible lifetime.
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