(the equivalent of £200,000 today) to promote Germany and to develop support for it among her influential connections. He also hoped that she would introduce him to Nazi inner circles. As war approached, Rothermere pushed for British rearmament, their association deteriorated and Rothermere stopped paying her. Princess Stephanie took him to court, alleging in a lawsuit that he had promised the retainer for life. She lost the case. During visits to Germany, she had become closely acquainted with members of the Nazi hierarchy, including Adolf Hitler, who called her his "dear princess". She developed a close friendship with Hermann Göring, and Heinrich Himmler declared her an "honorary Aryan". In a 1938 MI6 report, British intelligence said of her, "She is frequently summoned by the Führer who appreciates her intelligence and good advice. She is perhaps the only woman who can exercise any influence on him".(That was part of a release of MI6 records in 2005 under a declassification of documents.) In 1937 she arranged for Lord Halifax to travel to Germany and meet Göring. In 1937 Princess Stephanie began an affair with Fritz Wiedemann, a personal aide to Hitler. When Wiedemann was appointed to the post of German Consul-General in San Francisco, she joined him in the United States in late 1937 and stayed for a time, returning to Europe the following year. In 1938, the Nazis confiscated the property of Austrian Jews, including the Leopoldskron castle in Salzburg, which had been owned by theatre director Max Reinhardt. It was there that she received and entertained Walter Runciman, the author of the Runciman Report, which argued for handing Sudetenland over to Germany. He is reported to have spent several delightful days there. Some reported that Göring gave Princess Stephanie the property; other sources say that she leased it or was charged by Göring with developing the estate as a guest house for prominent artists and to serve as a reception facility to Hitler's Berghof home. She managed to get close to Hitler despite her Jewish origin. On June 10, 1938, he decorated her with the NSDAP's gold medal of honor. Second World War Princess Stephanie returned to Britain in 1939, but after war was declared later that year, she left the country for fear of being arrested as a German spy. She travelled to the United States, returning to her former lover Fritz Wiedemann, then German Consul in San Francisco.