Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld was the consort of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and father of her four children, including the former Queen of the Netherlands, Princess Beatrix.
Background
Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld was born 29 June 11, he was christened Bernhard Leopold Frederick Everhard Julius Coert Karel Godfried Pieter of Lippe-Bisterfeld. He was the elder son of Prince Bernhard of Lippe (younger brother of Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe, the reigning Prince of Lippe) and his wife, Armgard von Cramm. Because his parents marriage did not properly conform with the marriage laws of the House of Lippe, it was deemed morganatic, so Bernhard was only granted the title of "Count of Biesterfeld" at birth. He and his brother could only succeed to the Lippian throne if the entire reigning House became extinct. In 1916, the Reigning Prince of Lippe, Leopold IV, raised Bernhard and his mother to "Prince / Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld" thereby retroactively according his parents' marriage regal status. The suffix Biesterfeld was revived to mark the beginning of a new cadet line of the House of Lippe.
Career
During World War II the German-born prince was part of the London-based Allied war planning councils and saw active service as a Wing Commander (RAF) flying both fighter and bomber planes into combat. He was a Dutch General and Supreme Commander of the Dutch Armed forces, involved in negotiating the terms of surrender of the German Army in the Netherlands.
For proven bravery, leadership and loyalty during his wartime efforts he was appointed a Commander of the Military William Order, the Netherlands' oldest and highest honour. After the War he was also made Honorary Air Marshal of the RAF by Queen Elizabeth II. In 1969, Bernhard was awarded the Grand Cross (Special Class) of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Bernhard helped found the World Wildlife Fund (later renamed World Wide Fund for Nature), becoming its first President in 1961, and in 1970 establishing the WWF's financial endowment "The 1001: A Nature Trust". In 1954, he was a co-founder of the international Bilderberg Group, which has met annually since then to discuss corporate globalization and other issues concerning Europe and North America. He was forced to step down from both groups after being involved in the Lockheed Bribery Scandal.
Politics
Prince Bernhard was a member of the "Reiter-SS", a mounted unit of the SS and joined the Nazi party. He later also joined the National Socialist Motor Corps.
Various members of his family and friends were aligned with the Nazis prior to the Second World War, a number of whom attended the royal wedding. Protocol demanded that the prospective Prince-Consort be invited to an audience with his head of state, who at the time was Adolf Hitler. Hitler himself gives an account of the conversation he had with Bernhard in his Tischgespräche (Table Conversations). Table Conversations was a collection of monologues, remarks, and speeches Hitler gave during lunch or dinner to those invited to the table by him. Bernhard himself called Hitler a tyrant in a public speech on the BBC on 25 June 1940 after France fell to Germany.
Personality
Although his private life was rather controversial, he was still generally regarded as a charming and popular figure by the majority of the Dutch for his performance as a combat pilot and his activities as a liaison officer and personal aide to the Queen during World War II and for his work during post-war reconstruction.
Connections
Bernhard met then-Princess Juliana at the 1936 Winter Olympics at Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Juliana's mother, Queen Wilhelmina, had spent most of the 1930s looking for a suitable husband for Juliana. As a Protestant of royal rank (the Lippe-Biesterfelds were a sovereign house in the German Empire), Bernhard was acceptable for the devoutly religious Wilhelmina. Wilhelmina left nothing to chance, and had her lawyers draft a very detailed prenuptial agreement that specified exactly what Bernhard could and could not do. The couple's engagement was announced in 1936, and they were married at The Hague on 7 January 1937. Earlier, Bernhard had been granted Dutch citizenship, and changed the spelling of his names from German to Dutch. Previously styled as Serene Highness, he became a Royal Highness by Dutch Law. His appropriateness as consort of the future Queen would later become a matter of some public debate.
Prince Bernhard was father of six children, four of them with Queen Juliana. The eldest daughter is Princess Beatrix, former Queen of the Netherlands, (1938). His other daughters with Juliana are Irene (1939), Margriet (1943) and Christina (1947).