Vera Bate Lombardi, born Sarah Gertrude Arkwright,[1] (1885–1948) was a British socialite and close associate of Coco Chanel. The mother of Bridget Bate Tichenor, she may have been the illegitimate daughter of Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge. A British citizen at birth, she became a citizen of Italy after marriage to her second husband and was arrested there in 1943 under suspicions of spying for the British during World War II. After her release, she made her way to Madrid, where she denounced Chanel for collaborating with the Nazis.
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Lombardi was born in London in 1885. Her biological parents are officially recorded as Frank Wigsell Arkwright and Rose Frederica Baring.[2] It is believed that in actuality she was the illegitimate daughter of Adolphus Cambridge, the 1st Marquess of Cambridge.[3] Lombardi was subsequently raised by Margaret Evelyn Grosvenor Cambridge, Marchioness of Cambridge. The Marchioness was the daughter of the 1st Duke of Westminster, Hugh Lupus Grosvenor,[4] and related to King Edward VII and Winston Churchill.[1] This association assured Lombardi a place in the highest strata of British society.
Lombardi was hired to act as a trendsetter by Chanel, wearing Chanel's clothing lines.[3] In 1920, at the age of 35, Lombardi became the public relations representative of the House of Chanel in London and Paris.[1] It was said of Lombardi that “No one was more keenly appreciated by London high society…”,[1] a status Chanel recognized as an aid to her own business success. Hal Vaughan’s book, “Sleeping With the Enemy, Coco Chanel’s Secret War,” describes how Lombardi’s long association with Chanel, which spanned many years, inspired the Chanel “look.” The upper crust British penchant for hunting, fishing and sailing and the clothing customarily worn for the sportive life were adapted by Chanel. Lombardi served as a walking advertisement for Chanel’s creations, playing no small part in popularizing a revolutionary casual look for the fashionable woman.
Lombardi in addition afforded Chanel entree into —and social acceptance by— the highest levels of British aristocracy. It was in Monte Carlo in 1923 that Chanel was introduced by Lombardi to the vastly wealthy 2nd Duke of Westminster, Hugh Richard Arthur Grosvenor, known to his intimates as “Bendor.” [5] She also subsequently introduced Chanel to The Prince of Wales, Edward VIII.[1]
Lombardi’s first marriage was to Frederick Blantford Bate in 1916.[6] Bate was an American military officer whom she had met while volunteering as a nurse in an American hospital in Paris. They had one daughter, Bridget born in 1917. Lombardi divorced Bate in 1929.[7] She then married Italian Calvary Officer, Prince Alberto Lombardi, a member of the Italian Fascist Party and held in high esteem by Benito Mussolini. Archival documents show Lombardi joined her husband in Rome after 1929, taking Italian citizenship, and joining the Fascist Party.[8] In Rome, Lombardi and her husband lived the grand life, residing in his villa on via Barnaba Oriana, situated in one of the most exclusive sections of Rome.[8]
Lombardi’s English habits, her highborn affiliations and her frequent presence at social functions held at the British Embassy in Rome, made her a person of interest to the Fascist police and various intelligence agencies. Her activities were monitored by the Italian Political Investigation Service, the Italian Interior and the War Office. In 1936, the surveillance of Lombardi produced an official report, which stated in part: “This lady’s mysterious and varied lifestyle makes us suspect that she is in the service of Great Britain without the knowledge of her husband, who is a highly respected person and sincere patriot…” The continuous surveillance was suspended on the basis of two factors. No evidence was ever uncovered that proved Lombardi was an espionage agent and her husband's military status and loyalty to the Fascism put any accusations against her into question. Nevertheless, in the coming years, and throughout World War II, suspicions surrounding Lombardi would continue. In addition, her association with Chanel, would later bring Lombardi to the attention of British Military Intelligence, M!6.[9]
In 1943, she was arrested and held for a week in a women's prison in Rome under suspicion of having been spying for the British Secret Service for a decade.[10] She was released on orders of the German police in Rome.[10] According to 1991's Hitler's Intelligence Chief: Walter Schellenberg, the Germans expected her to work as an agent for them, intending to bring her to Paris to rendezvous with Chanel.[11] Joining Chanel and Dinklage in Paris, Lombardi was subsequently issued a passport, by order of the Paris Gestapo chief, Karl Bömelburg, allowing her to travel to Spain.[12]
Lombardi unwittingly became embroiled in political intrigue involving Chanel and her lover Hans Günther Von Dinklage, and orchestrated by SS Nazi intelligence at the highest levels. In late 1943 or early 1944, Chanel recruited her old friend, Lombardi, to travel with her to Madrid to act as intermediary, delivering a letter penned by Chanel to be forwarded to Winston Churchill through the British Embassy. The plan, code named “Operation Modellhut,” was an attempt to press England to end hostilities with Germany. Lombardi was led to believe that the forthcoming journey to Madrid would be a business trip exploring the possibilities of establishing the Chanel couture in Madrid. The mission ultimately proved a failure as Lombardi on her arrival in Madrid, denounced Chanel and others as Nazi spies.[13] No evidence exists that Lombardi herself was ever involved in actual espionage activity, though it is acknowledged that she was an informer.[14]
In March 1944, and stranded in Madrid, Lombardi wrote an appeal to her aristocratic contacts in England to intercede with Churchill, and have him use his influence to reunite her with her husband in Rome.[15] It was not until early in January 1945, that Lombardi was finally permitted leave Madrid. The British Foreign Office had notified the embassy in Madrid: “Allied Forces have withdrawn their objection and the lady is free to return to Italy…” Churchill had ultimately come to Lombardi’s rescue, as verified in a classified communication written to Churchill four days later from Allied Headquarters in Paris.[16]
Lombardi remained separated from her husband, who was still in Italy.[17] Both Chanel and Lombardi wrote to Churchill to appeal to his help in getting back with her husband.[17][18] Although Churchill initially rebuffed Lombardi's request, he did eventually intercede on her behalf, reaching out to Rome in 1944.[19] In April or May 1945, she was reunited in Italy with her husband,[8] who, by World War II's end, had managed to rehabilitate his reputation and obsure his past loyalty to Mussolini and enthusiasm for fascism by aligning himself with the Allies.[8] Lombardi herself died in Rome in 1948.[2]