Bernhard Leopold Frederik Everhard Julius Coert Karel Godfried Pieter of Lippe-Biesterfeld (29 June 1911 in Jena, Germany - 1 December 2004 in Utrecht, Netherlands) was a German person and the partner of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands he was Prince consort of the Netherlands from 1948 till 1980, he was the father of Princess Beatrix (Queen from 1980-2013).
Background
Prince Bernhard was born in the German city of Jena (in the former duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach) he was the son of Prince Bernhard of Lippe sr. (1872–1934).
Nazi collaborating
Prince Bernhard was a member of the Reiter-SS an department of the Schutzstaffel army of Hitler, he also joined the Nazi Party, however in 1940 he fled to England and he called Hitler a tyranny. After a publishment in 2010, several news stories tells about Bernhards collaboration with the Nazis, after disclosed documents.
Bilderberg group
Bernhard was the co-initiator of the Bilderberg group since 1954, strictly secret annual meeting of businessmen, politicians and royal members, he was the chairman of this meeting until 1976 in due to The Lockheed scandal.
Lockheed scandal
In 1976 it was announced that he had accepted more than $1.1 from the United States aircraft manufacturer Lockheed Corporation to influence the Dutch Government's purchase of fighter aircraft for the Dutch Air Force, after an interview with news reporters he answered I am above such things .
After the consort
When Juliana abdicated in 1980 for her daughter Beatrix, he was succeeded by Prince Claus as consort, the years after he went on the background and was engaged in charitable actions like the Prince Bernhard Foundation (Prins Bernhard Fonds) a donor for nature and wellness. He died on December 1, 2004 after a long illness from cancer.
References
- The Daily Telegraph 05 Mar 2010
- Browne, Anthony (4 December 2004) From beyond the grave, Prince finally admits taking $1m bribe. Timesonline.co.uk. Retrieved on 23 April 2014.