A Conspiracy of Crowns: The True Story of the Duke of Windsor and the Murder of Sir Harry Oakes

by Alfred de Marigny

Offers an account of the crime, a look at expatriate European aristocrats, and a portrait of the Duke of Windsor

Genres: Nonfiction, History, True Crime, Crime, Memoir

308 pages, Hardcover

First published May 5, 1990

Reviews

[Patricia Gulley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very clearly written telling of what happened by the man framed for the murder. Good details about Windsor. Recap of what happened to all involved at the end of the book was very interesting.
I've often wonder what might have gone in some of these areas during WW2, and this brought some of those places to light. Not one mention, during the chapters of the story, of Pearl Harbor and the US getting into the war.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn't put this book down. It was a crazy retelling of a trial that still doesn't have closure. I loved it.

[Cathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasantly surprised with this one... it was a fascinating read. The two chapters that included palling around with the volatile and immature Ernest Hemingway -- oh excuse me, "Ernie" (rolls eyes emoji) -- were cringe, but the rest of it was utterly absorbing.

[Kurt Rackman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compelling auto/biography of an extraordinary life.

Excellent warts and all account of the life of Alfred de Marigny, scion of a Mauritian sugar cane family who became a celebrated yachtsman and bon viveur, gracing the high society and high mischief of 1930s and 1940s New York and Bahamas elites.

Although the centrepiece of the story is the notorious and unsolved murder of Sir Harry Oakes and the subsequent trial, the book delivers a whirlwind picaresque journey through the excesses, hedonism, machinations and corruption of the high born elite world of the Caribbean during a time of war and deprivation for the rest of the world.

Eminently readable, with a rogue you can't help but root for, this is an excellent account and highly recommended.

[Jkwilos · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the overlap of characters with The Paris Wife which I had just read. I enjoyed reading the end which summarized what had happened to the main players after the trial and up to their death. It all seemed rather futile in the end.

[Dvora Treisman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't much like it in the beginning, for quite a few pages in fact, but when I was about to put it down and pull the bookmark, I read some other reviews and decided to soldier on. Overall it turned out to be quite good. It's clear he didn't do it. But it isn't clear to me that de Marigny needn't be taken with a pinch of salt. Was he really such a good, brave man? a man of such integrity? Well, maybe so. Probably so.

The mystery is engaging, and I see no reason to doubt his conclusions. The cast of characters is colorful. Once you get past the romantic story of the Duke of Windsor giving up his kingdom for the woman he loved, and you start to read more about him (not just in this book), you start to find a man who turned his back on service and duty to his country, a man who was a fascist, and a man who was set on lining his own pockets in order to live the life to which he had been born, but which he had rejected.

Is there a movie of de Marigny's story? There should be.

On a personal note, I noticed towards the end that de Marigny lived in the Dominican Republic when I also was living there. I was born in June, my mother already being pregnant when they arrived, and he left in September of that same year to go to the U.S. Does that mean it's a small world?

[Heather Ames · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up while on vacation, visiting a writer friend who had just relocated to another state. We were perusing the local used bookstores, and this looked intriguing. I wasn't disappointed. To me, this was a fascinating look at the times I only heard about as a small child, when people still spoke in somewhat hushed tones about the abdication of the throne by Edward VIII so he could marry a thrice-divorced American woman. Alfred de Marigny's own story intersects with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor during the time they spent in the Bahamas, where the duke became the wartime governor during WWII. Plenty of absorbing details prior to the war show de Marigny in Europe, where he sees Hitler rising to prominence. Alfred de Marigny's life was a true roller-coaster. Perhaps he portrays himself as a larger than life character, but his story was never dull, and the outcome was truly bitter-sweet.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently read Beatriz William's The Golden Hour which uses this historical event as its backdrop.

Oh wow ! To read from the (perhaps biased) perspective of the fall guy for the murder of Sir Harry Oakes, and we find a plausible reason as to why. I later went on to read parts of his earlier memoir, which slightly differnt, gave an even better rationale.

Interesting and fascinating read!!

[Drago Pšunder]

Hi to all,

with all respect to personal opinion and their feelings about, is there one can speak out who killed the canadian miner and who was behind it? I haven't read the book. I am interesting in the plot, namely.

Regards, Drago

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unexpected and interesting read

Very interesting book on a subject I knew nothing about. Well handled by the ghost writer. What an amazing life the subject led.

[Marianne Shaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of a ramble, but the author led a very interesting life and dropped names all over the place. A real-life mystery intertwined with events in Europe before WWII and after. Worth the interesting perspective on historical events.