23. Princess Marie Bonaparte was a former patient of Freud’s
Princess Marie Bonaparte was a descendant of Lucien Bonaparte, brother of Emperor Napoleon I of France. A woman of great wealth, she consulted Freud on a matter of sexual dysfunction, and her treatment had been unsuccessful. Nevertheless, Princess Marie began the practice of psychoanalysis herself, and maintained a correspondence with Freud. It was her wealth, and feminine guile in dealing with Nazi officials, which bought Freud his escape from Austria in 1938. Princess Marie also bought several of Freud’s most damning letters, including his private correspondence concerning cocaine, and much of his art collection.
Princess Marie intervened personally with officers of the Gestapo and SS in helping Freud to obtain the visas necessary to leave Austria and enter Great Britain, at a time when the movement of Jews was becoming problematic on many levels. The princesses’ activities included sexual intrigues and the exchange of cash, for the most part, her own and that of her husband, Prince George of Greece. Freud left Austria via train for Paris, accompanied by his daughter Anna and his wife Martha, as well as some servants. From Paris, they crossed to London, while Princess Marie delayed the Gestapo search of his Vienna residence until most of his papers could be removed.