 Hathaway was much respected by the islanders as well as the Germans, whose language she spoke perfectly, for the leadership she gave during this period, and the British Home Secretary Herbert Morrison observed that she remained "almost wholly mistress of the situation" throughout the occupation. Hathaway was on friendly terms with Eugen Fürst zu Oettingen-Wallerstein, the German commander stationed in Guernsey, as indicated by their warm correspondence. She wrote of him as a "charming man" and noted "that they had many friends in common".
