9.12.2004
On
Wednesday, December 1 2004 our beloved Prince Bernhard died at the age
of 93. In the next few weeks there will be lots of publications and
media hype about his life and the things he did (some perhaps wrong).
For me he was a very remarkable man, not only because he loved Ferraris,
but also as the founder of the Word Wildlife Foundation. In my mind's
eye, he’s either behind the wheel of one of his Ferraris, or in
a tropical outfit with a camera, stalking an elephant. He was an epicure,
a man who for whom things seemed effortless and someone who'd never
show off his interests.
Born on the 28 June 1911 in Jena, eastern Germany, as Bernhard Leopold
Frederik Everhard Julius Coert Karel Godfried Pieter, Prince of Lippe-Bisterveld,
he first came to the attention of the Dutch people on September 8, 1936,
when his engagement to our Princess Juliana was officially announced
They were married on 7 January 1937.
Before the war he was rather unknown, but when it ended he was a famous
hero - for us that was when he became a true Dutchman. After being an
active participant in the Royal Family's escape from Holland, the few
things that we heard about our Prince were enough to make him a very
popular man. On 19 June 1940 there was the first day of a large protest
against German Occupation; many Dutchmen appeared with a white carnation,
the emblem of the Prince.
He had become the symbol of resistance, but also a man with an extensive
network of friends and relations all over the world. After he had received
his flying certificate from the British Royal Air Force he was no longer
regarded with suspicion by the Intelligence Services, despite being
a German. Bernhard would later fly thousands of hours in all kind of
planes until 1994. He became head of the Dutch mission with the British
War Office and after a while he also got a similar function with the
joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States. He was promoted to the rank
of Vice-Admiral and Lieutenant-General and Eisenhower made him Commander
in Chief of the Dutch armed forces.
Bernhard stayed out of politics, preferring to leave that to Mother-in-Law
Queen Wilhelmina and later his wife Juliana. He travelled around the
globe to do business for our Army and our Country, using his power,
goodwill and the fact that he was a royal Prince and a man of great
distinction. In 1976 all this ended, because of some affairs you won’t
read about here. He had to relinquish all his commands, but he kept
in touch with the military personnel who served with him, even ringing
them on their birthdays. He was for us a great and respected man, in
spite of the mistakes he made in his life and this was reflected when
he took the salute at the 50th anniversary of our Liberation in 1995.
He was, of course, a life-long Ferrari enthusiast, his first being a
212 Inter Coupé Ghia in 1951 (s/n 0139 E). He drove them in the
company of friends from all over the country and beyond; it was not
a publicised activity, but I once saw him by accident in Wageningen
in 1964. He was a very good friend of Enzo Ferrari and visited him several
times, Italy being one of his favourite countries.
The Dutch people didn’t often see the Prince in one of his Ferraris,
but did see him in a documentary about the foundation of the World Wildlife
Foundation, filming elephants and lions in Tanzania. He ranged himself
on the side of the action groups against the culling of baby seals and
in 2004 he paid the fines of two shop assistants convicted because they
were found to have handled a shoplifter too roughly. This and many other
dare-devil and controversial actions meant that he was never far from
our thoughts and our debates - what a Prince he was!
The funeral ceremony will take place on Saturday 11th December.
