Historians quarrel about prince's role in Indonesia coup
The late prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, husband of former queen Juliana, was party to an attempted coup against the government of the young Indonesian republic in 1950, a book published this Monday asserts.
The Dutch writers, historian Harry Veenendaal and journalist Jort Kelder, base their conclusions on evidence that has been available to other researchers: archived diaries of a court secretary and military police reports describing the attempted coup d'état which mention the prince’s name in relation to the coup.
Prince Bernhard, the father of the reigning queen Beatrix, has always been a source of controversy. In 1976, after being accused of accepting bribes from the American aeroplane manufacturer Lockheed, he was stripped of his military titles. He also fathered two children with women other than his wife during their marriage.
The charges now levelled at Bernhard are the latest in a string of more and less substantiated claims concerning his supposedly unprincely conduct...
Read entire article at NRC Handelsblad
The Dutch writers, historian Harry Veenendaal and journalist Jort Kelder, base their conclusions on evidence that has been available to other researchers: archived diaries of a court secretary and military police reports describing the attempted coup d'état which mention the prince’s name in relation to the coup.
Prince Bernhard, the father of the reigning queen Beatrix, has always been a source of controversy. In 1976, after being accused of accepting bribes from the American aeroplane manufacturer Lockheed, he was stripped of his military titles. He also fathered two children with women other than his wife during their marriage.
The charges now levelled at Bernhard are the latest in a string of more and less substantiated claims concerning his supposedly unprincely conduct...