Received via British Legation Stockholm, 17 April 1946, from W. Schellenberg, formerly SS-Brigadeführer, SD Ausland. Authenticated by Foreign Office German Section, 29 May 1946. Translation by GCCS German Service. Original German text retained in Foreign Office Registry, file PO/SD/1946/12.
GEHEIMER VERMERK
Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS — Amt VI (SD Ausland)
Betreff: Unternehmen WILLI — Abschlussbericht und gesicherte Verpflichtungen
5. August 1940
Von: SS-Brigadeführer W. Schellenberg, Amt VI E
An: Chef des Sicherheitsdienstes
SUBJECT: OPERATION WILLI — FINAL ASSESSMENT AND COMMITMENTS SECURED
The following sets out the results of six meetings conducted between 24 July and 2 August 1940 at a property at Cascais, near Estoril, Portugal, arranged through the intermediary of [NAME REDACTED: Foreign Office file PO/PT/1940/4]. The Duke of Windsor was present at all six meetings. The Duchess of Windsor was present at four.
First commitment. The Duke will decline the appointment to the Governorship of the Bahamas, citing personal health grounds and the inadequacy of the post to his standing. He will not depart the Iberian Peninsula. He has indicated willingness to remain in Portugal or Spain for an indefinite period. He understands that his continued presence on the continent is a condition of the arrangement.
Second commitment. The Duchess will permit the continuation of existing intelligence flows through her social contacts in London, Washington, and Lisbon. These contacts include [NAMES REDACTED: see annex, classified Most Secret]. The Duchess is fully aware of the nature of the arrangement and is, in my assessment, the more operationally reliable of the two principals. The Duke believes what he wishes to believe. The Duchess understands precisely what she is doing.
Third commitment. The Duke will make a public broadcast calling for a negotiated peace at a moment to be determined by the Reichsminister for Foreign Affairs, subject to my operational confirmation that conditions are suitable. The Duke has reviewed the broad parameters of what such a broadcast would contain. He does not regard this as collaboration. He regards it as mediation. I have not discouraged this view.
Payment arrangements have been established through a third-party mechanism in Lisbon. Details are held under separate cover in the financial annex to this report.
Assessment. The Duke is a vain man who wishes to matter. The Duchess is an intelligent woman who wishes to recover what the abdication cost them. The arrangement satisfies both requirements at acceptable operational cost. I assess the probability of full compliance at above ninety percent, provided the broadcast is timed before British political and legal pressure can be brought to bear through family or institutional channels.
I recommend immediate preparation of broadcast materials and the establishment of transmission arrangements through Madrid at the earliest opportunity.
W. Schellenberg
SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Polizei
5 August 1940