GERMANY: Herzogin von Windsor

If it had been possible for me to talk to King Edward VIII for just one hour, the abdication of His Majesty could have been avoided. He had a responsibility not only to Britain but to Europe of which he did not seem to be aware.—Adolf Hitler

German intimates of the Realmleader have repeatedly heard him make various versions of the above remark, and last week they were not surprised when Der Führer, having welcomed the Duke & Duchess of Windsor to his Bavarian château, drew royal Edward aside and was seen to engage him for 20 minutes in heated conversation. "The tour of our Fatherland which the Duke and Duchess have now completed," remarked one of the Dictator's aides, "has shown how right Der Führer was in judging that King Edward's abdication would be a serious blow to German interests." With ladies Herr Hitler is always the pink of effusive German politeness, took both the Duchess of Windsor's hands in his own as he warmly said good-by to her, snapped a good-by Nazi salute at the Duke of Windsor who snapped one back.

Slumberous and soporific as the drone of a bumble bee is the atmosphere of German feudalism in which dwells with dignity Der Obergruppenführer Herzog von Coburg. The Herzog or Duke of Coburg is the Head of the Family of Saxe-Coburg und Gotha. This was the name of the British Royal Family before it was changed to Windsor in 1917. Therefore last week European socialites were agog to see what kind of dinner the Duke of Coburg would give in Nürnberg for the Duke & Duchess of Windsor. Would the greatest ladies of the House of Coburg and of German society be invited to meet the Duchess, and would the Head of the House treat her as having the rank of Royal Highness—a rank King George VI has not yet bestowed on his American sister-in-law. Der Obergruppenführer Herzog von Coburg steered a middle course. He gave a dinner of 18 covers. Seventeen of those at the table were men. The 18th place card read "Ihre Koenig-liche Hoheit der Herzogin von Windsor" —Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Windsor.

To the Duke's credit, as he and the Duchess returned to Paris this week before sailing for Manhattan, were 14 dawn-to-dusk days of the most intensive inspection of German industry and housing (TIME. Oct. 18). Three days of much less strenuous royal inspecting in England last week caused the 43-year-old Duke of Windsor's 34-year-old brother the Duke of Kent to quit for a few days' rest with the words "I'm all in" (see p. 25).