Espionage, kidnappings and celebrity parties. The life of American model-turned-spy Aline Griffith, Countess Romanones, already reads like the plot of a Hollywood thriller.
Now the late socialite who died in 2017 at the age of 94 may soon bring her wonderful story to the big screen.
In conversation with Hola! author Larry Loftis explained that he is in talks with two separate parties to adapt his Spy Princess book, although he admits that such projects are expensive and difficult to complete.
Griffith, who was friends with Jackie Kennedy and married a Spanish count, was the author of several books full of stories about her antics. By her own account, she tracked down Nazi art, was kidnapped outside a country club, and shot a man at point-blank range, although she claimed she never knew if she killed him.
The books were bestsellers and attracted the attention of readers and reviewers at the time of their release. But the Countess has long faced accusations that her reports were heavily embellished, if not outright fabricated.
Spy society: espionage, kidnappings and celebrity parties. The life of American model-turned-spy Elin Griffith (pictured) already reads like the plot of a Hollywood thriller.
Famous Friends: The Countess of Ramonanones with Elizabeth Taylor at a party in Tangier, 1989.
Communication with members of the royal family: Jackie Kennedy (center) with Aline Griffith (left) and right, Cayetana Fitz-James Stewart, Duchess of Alba, at a bullfight in Seville, Spain, April 1966.
Red carpet: The late socialite who died in 2017 at the age of 94 may soon bring her wonderful story to the big screen. Aline is pictured at the film’s premiere in September 2014.
Spy Princess, published last year, revisits Griffith’s own memoir of her time as a secret agent during World War II.
“The question I wanted to answer,” writes Loftis in the preface, “was whether she invented or embellished all or most of her exploits.”
He defines most of her stories as “historical fiction”.
In a way, this makes sense, given that the Countess worked as an undercover agent for several years. As Loftis notes, “In most cases, a spy cannot survive without being a liar.”
And it certainly wouldn’t matter when it came to getting the story across to Hollywood. If anything, an “extended” version of the Countess’s events will make the viewing experience even better.
Disputes over the details of Alina’s life begin from birth.
Family life: Aline met Spanish heir Luis de Figueroa y Pérez de Guzmán el Bueno, Count of Quintanilla and later Romanones (pictured), in Madrid and the couple married in 1944.
Family: The couple had three sons (pictured with mother in 1964). Louis died in 1987.
A dark start: Mary Alyn Griffith, daughter of a printing press manufacturer, was born in Pearl River, New York, but there is disagreement over the date of birth. Griffith claimed she was born on May 23, 1923, but some records indicate that she was born in 1920. Pictured in 1973.
Mary Alyn Griffith, the daughter of a printing press manufacturer, was born in Pearl River, New York, but there is disagreement over the date of birth. Griffith claimed to have been born on May 23, 1923, but some records indicate that she was born in 1920.
She attended a Roman Catholic school in the Bronx and graduated in literature, history, and journalism.
Classically beautiful, with a lithe physique that she maintained throughout her life, Aline was hired as a model by Austrian fashion entrepreneur Hattie Carnegie, who moved to Manhattan and adopted the name of America’s richest businessman.
She claimed her life changed when she went on a date with an agent for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency, who helped her find a job.
After extensive training in intelligence gathering, she was sent to Madrid, the capital of so-called neutral Spain, to infiltrate the small but privileged social elite that surrounded the Franco regime, many of whom had close ties to the German Nazis.
Public figure: The Countess (right) with magazine editor Grace Mirabella and socialite Jerry Zipkin at a party in 1989.
She arrived in 1944 when she was 21, posing as the daughter of a wealthy American family who got a job at the US Embassy.
She booked a room at the Ritz and soon became a familiar figure in the city in the latest New York fashion, mingling with aristocrats, bullfighters, singers and actors.
Her mission, codenamed “Tiger”, was to identify the Nazis and their role in the Spanish capital.
In a later interview, she explained why being a socialite was the perfect cover, saying, “That being said, no one will think you’re doing anything worthwhile other than putting on makeup or something like that.”
In 1944, she was the victim of an attempted kidnapping. Alyn wrote that she was attacked when she left a dinner with high-ranking Nazis at a country club in Madrid. She shot one of the men, but did not know if she had actually killed him.
Business Woman: In 1987, Alyn published her first memoir, The Spy in Red: My Adventures as an Undercover Agent in World War II. For the first time, her exploits were made public.
Other capers included “assault in Switzerland” and “imprisonment in Malaga”.
After the end of the war, Alyn claimed she continued to share information and worked a variety of jobs, from searching for art stolen by the Nazis to working with the Duchess of Windsor to track down a suspected Soviet agent in NATO.
By this time, she was also married. She met the Spanish heir, Luis de Figueroa y Pérez de Guzmán el Bueno, Count of Quintanilla and later Romanones, in Madrid and the couple married in 1944.
She claimed that she only told him about it the night before the wedding and vowed to quit her job as a spy.
She and her husband later met her former operative and, to her surprise, the two men knew each other.
The Earl and Countess welcomed their three sons and attracted the attention of celebrity friends including Ava Gardner, Audrey Hepburn and Deborah Kerr. Aline also interacted with world leaders and royalty: Grace Kelly, Jackie Kennedy and Ronald Reagan are said to have been her partners.
Wedding bells: Aline Griffith attends the wedding of Pepito Marquez y González de Gregorio, son of Duchess Fernandina, and Edina Zichy, daughter of Count Zichy, in 2010.
City girl: Alyn Griffith outing in Madrid, her adopted hometown, April 2014
Her husband died in 1987. That same year, she published her first memoir, The Spy in Red: My Adventures as an Undercover Agent in World War II. For the first time, her exploits were made public.
In an author’s note, she admitted that she changed the names of many of those mentioned because they were still alive and “could be embarrassed”, and even “sometimes omitted or changed minor incidents … and the sequence of events.”
But she added, “The gist of the story is true.”
Three years later, she published a sequel, The Spy Went Dancing, followed by The Spy in Silk (1991) and The End of an Era (2015).
The Countess, who became a grandmother of 13, continued to lecture on international affairs and also published a novel.
She adopted Spain as her homeland and died in Madrid. She has been treated for emphysema for many years.
Later years: The Countess, who became a grandmother of 13, continued to lecture on international affairs and also published a novel. She adopted Spain as her homeland and died in Madrid. She has been treated for emphysema for many years.