Wallis Simpson ordered a top level diplomatic mission to rescue her swimming costume she had left behind at her luxury villa at the height of World War II. The US-born wife of King Edward VIII made the American Minister in Lisbon and the American consul in Nice find the Nile green outfit at the property in the South of France. The diplomats opened up the shuttered rental property even though that part of the coast was occupied by the Nazis at the time. Scroll down for video . What war? While Mrs Simpson and the Duke of Windsor were safe in Portugal, she made two U.S. diplomats find the green swimsuit she had left behind at her luxury villa in Nice at the height of World War II . Andrew Morton, the biographer of Princess Diana, writes in his new biography of Edward that the task became known privately as ‘Operation Cleopatra Whim’. Morton is scathing of the Duke of Windsor and Mrs Simpson in: ‘17 Carnations: The Royals, the Nazis and the Biggest Cover-Up in History’, which is also about their close ties to the Nazi regime. He writes that after Edward abdicated in December 1936 he and his wife ‘acted as if World War II was simply a minor inconvenience to their lifestyle’ and that their ‘self-indulgence knew no bounds’. Despite millions being slaughtered in the conflict, in 1940 Mrs Simpson had ‘other pressing concerns’, notably her missing swimming costume. Morton writes that it was ‘vital it be returned’ so she enlisted the American diplomats to ‘repatriate the garment’. Nautical couple: This photograph of King Edward VIII and Mrs Wallis Simpson was taken during their 1936 Adriatic cruise in the yacht Nahlin . Beloved suit: A replice of the infamous green swimsuit made it into the 2012 film, 'W.E. ', starring Andrea Riseborough as Wallis Simpson & James D'Arcy as The Duke of Windsor . He writes: ‘Even though their rented villa was locked and shuttered and that part of the coast occupied by the enemy, the diplomats duly did her bidding. ‘In the midst of war the swimsuit was found and dispatched safely to the grateful duchess.’ Morton also writes that Edward and Mrs Simpson were in regular contact with high level Nazi commanders to beg them to protect their homes in Paris and the South of France. At the time the couple were hiding out from the row over his abdication in Spain and Portugal. Morton writes: ‘The duchess was most concerned that their bed linens be protected from damage. Honoured guests: Edward and Wallis depart Hitler’s mountain retreat in October 1937, after meeting the Fuhrer . The book claims that the Duke, center, was angered at being forced to abdicate the throne in 1936  and was willing to work with Adolf Hitler, right, to regain it . He was angered at being forced to abdicate the throne in 1936 because he wanted to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson, left, and was willing to work with Hitler, right . The Duke of Windsor chats to Hitler’s propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels at a party in Berlin in 1937 . ‘Even the diplomat brother of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco was horrified by the duke’s behavior. (He said): ‘A prince does not ask favours of his country’s enemies. To request the handing over of things he could replace or dispense with is not correct.’ In extracts already made public Morton writes that Mrs Simpson was viewed with deep suspicion by palace courtiers and that she had been described as a ‘witch, a vampire and a high-class blackmailer’. Just weeks after her husband took the throne in January 1936 some even thought that she could be a spy. Morton says that in his view Edward was ‘a man who was disaffected with his position, disloyal to his family and unpatriotic towards his country.’
Wallis Simpson made diplomats fetch her swimsuit during WWII . Duke of Windsor and Mrs Simpson were staying in Portugal . Made diplomat find swimsuit in France property and send it to her .