Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld - Scandals and Insinuations - The Hofmans Affair

The Hofmans Affair

In the middle of the 1950s, Prince Bernhard was involved in what some considered a personal vendetta against Greet Hofmans, a faith healer and layer-on of hands. For nine years she was a friend and adviser of Queen Juliana, often residing at Palace Soestdijk. Originally, Hofmans was introduced to Queen Juliana on the initiative of Prince Bernhard in 1948 to treat the eye sickness of Princess Marijke Christina. This illness arose because Juliana was infected with rubella during pregnancy. Hofmans developed a great influence on the Queen, encouraging pacifist ideas. In the period of the Cold War this caused a crisis in the royal household. Reputedly it reached the point where it threatened the marriage of Juliana and Bernhard.

Outside the Netherlands, a great deal was written about the Hofmans affair. On 13 June 1956, an article appeared in the German magazine Der Spiegel with the title Zwischen Königin und Rasputin—"between the queen and her Rasputin", which painted a less-than-flattering picture of Hofmans. Later, Bernhard admitted that he personally provided the information for the article. It is thought that by doing this he hoped to have Hofmans removed from the court. The Prime Minister, Willem Drees, had to act and appointed a committee of "three wise men" (elder statesmen) to advise the royal couple. The Prince got what he wanted; Hofmans was banished, and various friends and supporters of the Queen in the Royal Household had to give up their office.

In 2008 the report of the "three wise men" has been made public and is part of the book "Juliana & Bernhard" by historian Fasseur, who was also granted access to the private royal archive by the Queen. Bernhard was reprimanded for leaking confidential information to the international press, but although both Juliana and the Queen Mother Wilhelmina mention their fear of a "German putsch" (i.e. Juliana's abdication followed by Bernhard's rule on behalf of their adolescent oldest daughter and successor to the throne) Juliana was forced to break all relations with Hofmans.

The book attempts to rehabilitate Bernhard, describing how the prince only resorted to bringing in the international press after repeated, desperate and often dramatic pleading with his wife to distance herself from the Hofmans clan. Fasseur said: "Bernard was obviously a free spirited chap, who independently went about his business. But he was still very much a family man. I got the feeling he was the only one that was seeing things were getting completely out of hand and tried to salvage the situation as much as he could."

The royal family did not edit the book, nor did they have a preview before its printing. But after reading it they endorsed its accounts of the developments that led to Hofmans’ dismissal.

Read more about this topic:  Prince Bernhard Of Lippe-Biesterfeld, Scandals and Insinuations

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