Shaken, not stirred!
De naam is Bernhard, prins Bernhard!
"Ik doe nooit iets op de moeilijke manier"
Als ik geen koningin was geweest, was ik ook republikein. - Juliana
Thinktank: people who are paid to think by the makers of tanks.
"Men have forgotten this truth," said the fox. "But you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose..."
Above illustration: the Prince and his Ferrari 212, with his trademark the AA-13 licence plate!
During the war, Crown Princess Juliana and their children lived in Ottawa. Prince Bernhard made several visits to Canada and it was in Ottawa that their third daughter, Princess Margriet, was born in 1943.
Intimates have always known that Ian Fleming and Prince Berhard, were wartime friends in London, sharing the same passions, women, fast cars and espionage, so it is not at all surprising that the 007 character is partially based on the Prince of the Netherlands. He also inspired Fleming's other more shadowy character Count Lippe! (Bernard's real name was zur Lippe-Biesterfield). Bernhard, womanizer, payboy, bon-vivant, opportunist, manipulater, military man...
In his defense it should be said that he was immensely popular within the Dutch military(Commander-in-Chief of Dutch Armed Forces) and members of the Dutch resistance and veterans. So although his private life was to put it mildly rather controversial, Bernhard was generally regarded as a charming and popular figure by the majority of the Dutch for his performance as a pilot and activities as a liaison officer during World War II, his work during post-war reconstruction, and for assisting specific individuals. (Veterans Day is celebrated on his birthday i.e. 29 June 1911).
Surprising to many might be the fact that Prince Bernhard already had his own faith healer back in 1937, after he had a serious car accident. A certain Hiranmaya Gosh a.k.a. Pranananda, a man with a highly questionable reputation. Pranananda's presence at court is of course remarkable, since it does not reflect the image of Prince Bernhard as a rather cool and down-to-earth person, who would have nothing to do with alternative healers such as later Greet Hofmans and who so often accused Juliana for being too soft. The famous pot and the kettle issue. Of course the prince denied that he’d ever met this man. But there are witnesses…
King of the World; a New World Order…
Though the idea came mostly from Joseph Retinger, Prince Bernhard took the initiative for the annual Bilderberg Conferences, named after the Bilderberg Hotel in Oosterbeek.
The Bilderberg club is regarded by financial and business elite, as the high chamber of the high priests of capitalism. You can't apply for membership. Each year, a mysterious "steering committee" devises a selected invitation list with 100 names. The location of their annual meeting is not necessarily secret, but the meetings are shrouded in the utmost secrecy.
Security is managed by military intelligence and everybody pledges absolute secrecy on what has been discussed. The Bilderberg Conference hosts central bankers, defence experts, press barons, government ministers, prime ministers, royalty, international financiers and political leaders from Europe and America.
Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands was the first president of the Bilderberg Group, and he continued to serve as such until 1976, the year of his involvement in the Lockhead Scandal. That year there would be no Bilderberg conference...
The 2008 conference took place in Chantilly, Virginia (near Washingon) United States.
On 7 February 2004 Bernhard in an open letter to the Volkskrant newspaper wrote "with respect to the so-named Hofmans affair, I recall that the Beel Commission in 1956 conducted an exhaustive investigation. The report of this commission is for formal reasons still not public, therefore I express here my confidence that the eventual publication will place all those involved in this complex affair in the correct light".
On 11 November 2008 the secret Hofmans file (officially report of the Beel commission) was finally released, as a supplement of the book of Prof.dr.mr. (C)ees Fasseur, "Juliana & Bernhard, Verhaal van een huwelijk", but it did not reveal much that we didn't already know. Since Cees Fasseur was the only author/historian authorised by Queen Beatrix, to research this file and perhaps due to this prerogative, this book paints a rather one-sided view of the Hofmans Affair in my opinion and to which I won't ever subscribe. Despite the above mentioned shortcoming, the beautifully bound and printed book is a great read nonetheless...
The book portrays the Prince as the rogue, who saved our constitutional monarchy by going public with an affair, which was basically his marriage crisis. A crisis which he wrongly but very cleverly presented to the outside world as the Greet Hofmans Affair. It pictures Queen Juliana as the benevolent lunatic with in the background Greet Hofmans as the evil genius behind the throne. This simply does not do justice to neither Greet Hofmans nor Queen Juliana.
"Juliana was immensely wronged". - Elsbeth Etty
Dutch news show EénVandaag of 10 November 2008 with rare footage on the Hofmans Affair:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6126731661435856692
The article in "Der Spiegel" wich aired the Hofmans affair and made it public: DER SPIEGEL 24/1956 vom 13.06.1956
http://wissen.spiegel.de/wissen/image/show.html?did=31882319&aref=image039/2008/11/17/cqsp195624031-P2P-036.pdf&thumb=false
to be continued in Part III
http://www.netwerk.tv/data/files/prana068.pdf
