Culture | Sexual politics

In the second world war, some diplomacy was done between the sheets

Pamela Churchill Harriman, daughter-in-law of the prime minister, ran an effective charm offensive

Pamela Churchill talks to a man at the Corviglia Club in St. Moritz, Switzerland
Photograph: Conde Nast via Getty Images

Perhaps it was the red hair, alabaster skin and the figure-hugging couture, or her way of stroking an interlocutor’s forearm, just so, as he talked. Or maybe it was her name. As the daughter-in-law of the prime minister, Pamela Churchill enjoyed the mystique that comes with being close to power. Flattered by her attention, powerful men became pliable.

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