21 Aug 2011

Coco Chanel: Nazi agent?

She was one of the most remarkable women of the 20th Century, but Coco Chanel's reputation is again under scrutiny over allegations that she was a Nazi agent in WWII France. To millions of people around the globe Chanel stands for style, opulence and understated elegance, from haute couture worn by the few to ready-to-wear treasured by the masses.

Her achievements are undeniable. Chanel's instantly recognisable suits have been sported by stylistas from the Duchess of Windsor to Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. Jackie Kennedy was wearing a pink version when JFK was assassinated in Dallas in 1963.

Coco Chanel

Like many luminaries, including the singers Edith Piaf and Maurice Chevalier, the writer Jean Cocteau and the late president Francois Mitterrand, Chanel remained in her native country following its occupation by German forces in the summer of 1940.

And since the war's end, rumours have abounded about the real nature of her association with the Nazis. Now according to Hal Vaughan, author of the new book, Sleeping with the Enemy, Chanel is revealed as having actually worked for German military intelligence during the war.

Being a Nazi agent was "part of her daily life" in Paris during the occupation, he says. "Chanel was a consummate opportunist. The Nazis were in power, and Chanel gravitated to power. It was the story of her life.

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