Posted on 03/06/2006 11:36:48 AM PST by Alouette
Queen Elizabeth's husband admits family had 'inhibitions about Jews,' sympathized with Nazis early on
Queen Elizabeth II’s husband, Prince Philip, broke a long silence about his family link to the Nazis, Britain’s Daily Mail reported on Monday.
In a rare interview, the prince said his family found Hitler’s plans to bring Germany at the helm of European power were “attractive” and admitted they had “inhibitions about the Jews.”
The comments were published in a book called “Royals and the Reich,” which describes the German royalty’s acquiescence to the Nazis.
The book, written by American historian Jonathan Petropoulos, includes pictures never published before. One picture from 1937 shows Prince Philip aged 16 with relatives at his sister Cecile’s funeral in dressed in SS and Brownshirt uniforms. Lord Mountbatten, his uncle, is seen wearing a German Navy hat.
Another photograph shows his sister Sophia sitting opposite Hitler at the wedding of Hermann and Emmy Groening, the Daily Mail said.
'Trains ran on time'
The 84-year-old Philip told Petropoulos about his family’s sympathy to the Nazis: “There was a great improvement in things like trains running on time and building. There was a sense of hope after the depressing chaos of the Weimar Republic.
“I can understand people latching on to be something or somebody who appeared to be appealing to their patriotism and trying to get things going. You can understand how attractive it was.”
He added that there was ‘a lot of enthusiasm for the Nazis at the time, the economy was good, we were anti-Communist and who knew what was going to happen to the regime?’
Philip said that he was never ‘conscious of anybody in the family actually expressing anti-Semitic views,’ but acknowledged that that there were ‘inhibitions about the Jews’ and ‘jealousy of their success.’
Philip was born Prince of Greece and Denmark on Corfu in 1921, the youngest of five children and the only son of Prince Andrew of Greece and Princess Alice of Battenberg.
Three of his sisters – Sophie, Cecile, and Margarita – became members of the Nazi party. All his sisters married German princes. Sophie’s husband, Prince Christoph of Hesse, became the head of the secret intelligence service in Germany under Goering.
Philip fought for the Allies in WWII and married the young princess Elizabeth in 1947. She was coronated Queen of England in 1953.
Although his sisters and brothers-in-law are now dead, he keeps in touch with his German relatives.
Prince Philip is an unbearable snob, but I think he's reasonably smart. Prince Charles is an idiot.
Lord Mountbatten's family was orginally named Battenberg. They changed their name after the first war with Germany broke out.
Victoria and Albert were certainly more fluent in German than English. At WWI a lot of teutonic names were changed to fool the innocent. For instance, Battenberg became Mountbatten. Sachse-Hesse-Coburg became Winsor.
Your Norman friends should talk.
The last true English King died in 1066 when Edward the Confessor left this world.
Normans, French Euro-trash.
Will it be the house of Mountbatten?
(With the death of Victoria the house changed from Hanover to Saxe-Coburg-Gotha after Prince Albert's and his son Edward's house.
Comments?
bump
I think it is exceptional that Philip admits these things. That is far, far more than most of the Nazi-sympathizing elite Germans of that era have done. How many actually admit that much of anti-semitism is flat out, vicious jealousy?
Thanks for filling a gap in my knowledge of history. It explains a lot of why the Communists held such sway in Greece and in deposing their rulers.
Actually, the Normans had Germanic roots as well.
Along with Viking blood but it's fun to call them French.
No, Hanover became Windsor. Queen Victoria spoke quite the proper English, from all I have read about her. She was born and raised in England.
The Normans were NORSEMEN .... NORTHMEN. They were Viking stock and looked the part.
William I, the Conqueror was over 6ft 4 inches tall with red hair. I saw his armor in Caen, France... his hometown over 20 years ago.
I also heard another one mentioned - something like "Goelph," (Gwelf).
Do you have any enlightenment on that one?
Yes, Princess Alice, mom to Prince Phillip, founded an Orthodox order of nuns after her husband died. Interestingly, she was born deaf.
By the time Phillip was born, late in his parents' lives, the family was pretty chaotic. They were always getting kicked out of Greece and threatened with death by Greek revolutionaries.
Alice and her husband separated at some point, and he ended up as a gambler in Monaco, I think. Phillip got sent to England to live with the Mountbatten relatives, there. He really had nothing when he met and married Elizabeth. He really needed to make a good (monied) marriage, and he sure did!
He is rather smarter than the Windsors and does not suffer fools gladly.
No, I meant Diana... Prince William looks much ilke her riding instructor, who she acknowledged having an affair with,
Hey AM so Queen Betty family name is really Saxon Gotha or Hanover
HOw did nice family like Bush family get related to Queen Betty wacky family LOL!
She married Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who brought the Wettin/Wipper surname into the family.
< g >
I seeee so Queen Betty real name is if you really think about it Saxon Gotha Mountbatten or Battenberg
I am so badddd LOLOL!
So Chuck will be Charles Mountbatten-Windsor, of the House of Windsor.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.