A Royal Scandal
When I got in late on the 11th, I turned on the radio and fell partway into something about Bernhard and Juliana. I turned on the TV: Bernhard and Juliana. Next morning's front page: Bernhard and Juliana. I detected a trend.
People seem to like this story, so... The background: Juliana was Queen before Beatrix and had trouble finding a husband. Juliana's mother toured her round Europe for 7 years before finding someone acceptable to her shy daughter and her country. Enter Bernhard, a member of the lower nobility keen to marry rich.
Now, a historian has been given unprecedented access to the royal archives (excepting Juliana's diaries) and has published a book giving new details on the well-known constitutional crisis involving the royal pair and a faith healer in the 1950's. This "Rasputina" had a lot of influence with the Queen. Juliana's new pacifist ideas were anathema to Bernhard and almost caused a divorce.
Bernhard took his grievances to Der Spiegel resulting in the ban of that issue in the Netherlands. Shortly after, a government commission forced Juliana to give up her advisor. The Dutch press all kept quiet, so the public knew something wasn't quite right, but not what. Thus the monarchy was preserved.
Of course, Juliana might also have had a bone to pick with Bernhard over the fact that he did things like take his mistress on holiday with his family... And then there was the Lockheed affair. But that, and further royal scandals, was beyond the scope of this book.
Other royal news on the Dutch telly involved quite a bit of coverage of Prince Charles's 60th birthday. The general theme was "poor Charles".
People seem to like this story, so... The background: Juliana was Queen before Beatrix and had trouble finding a husband. Juliana's mother toured her round Europe for 7 years before finding someone acceptable to her shy daughter and her country. Enter Bernhard, a member of the lower nobility keen to marry rich.
Now, a historian has been given unprecedented access to the royal archives (excepting Juliana's diaries) and has published a book giving new details on the well-known constitutional crisis involving the royal pair and a faith healer in the 1950's. This "Rasputina" had a lot of influence with the Queen. Juliana's new pacifist ideas were anathema to Bernhard and almost caused a divorce.
Bernhard took his grievances to Der Spiegel resulting in the ban of that issue in the Netherlands. Shortly after, a government commission forced Juliana to give up her advisor. The Dutch press all kept quiet, so the public knew something wasn't quite right, but not what. Thus the monarchy was preserved.
Of course, Juliana might also have had a bone to pick with Bernhard over the fact that he did things like take his mistress on holiday with his family... And then there was the Lockheed affair. But that, and further royal scandals, was beyond the scope of this book.
Other royal news on the Dutch telly involved quite a bit of coverage of Prince Charles's 60th birthday. The general theme was "poor Charles".