As the new year, , began, Göring was noticeably unwell. By
January his normally cherubic features were gaunt and drawn,
and on the doctors’ advice he was trying to lose weight.
By the time that Sir Nevile Henderson saw him on Febru-
ary , he had shed forty pounds and hoped to reduce even
more.
Something of the old Hermann Göring still remained,
however, because when Henderson told him of his new
G.C.M.G. (Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St.
George), tears of envy came into the field marshal’s eyes. In-
deed, as Henderson dwelt innocently upon the tantalizing de-
tails of the splendid ermine-lined robes and insignia, Göring
murmured in response, “Such orders are never bestowed on
foreigners are they?”
This powerful awe of the British and their empire led
Göring into conflict with Foreign Minister Joachim von Rib-
bentrop. Göring had persistently meddled in foreign diplo-
macy. Between Göring and Ribbentrop’s predecessor, the sedate
and gentlemanly Baron von Neurath, there had been a pro-
found mutual respect: Neurath had indulged Göring’s flights of
diplomatic activity. But not Ribbentrop. Now Göring had to
rely on the Forschungsamt’s Brown Pages to find out what Rib-
bentrop was up to. Forgetting that he himself had greeted the
pope in with the Nazi salute, he told Hitler that Ribbentrop
had done the same with King Edward when presenting his
credentials in . “Mein Führer,” he persisted, when Hitler
seemed undismayed, “suppose Moscow sent a goodwill ambassa-
dor to you and he came and greeted you with” and he raised
his clenched fist in salute “Long live the Communist revolu-
tion!”
“I understand,” remarked Nevile Henderson, jousting