The Lockheed Affair: Prince Bernhard taking bribes

[Marengo]

As posted by Joris on the Benelux Royals MB:

It never stops, eh. What a mess. The late Prince Bernhard, again.

From a biography, also thesis, about former (Social Democratic) Dutch Prime Minister Joop den Uyl by Annet Bleich it now appears (rumours had been "singing around" for years) that Prince Bernhard been again involved in illegal corruption practices. After the Lockheed affair had been dealt with with the utmost care and with all consequences for Prince Bernhard (stripped from military functions and uniform), it was proven that Bernhard (and consorts) also received money from Northrop (US$ 750,000, in portions).
Surely the Prince would be sued for this at Court.
BUT the Prime Minister decided not to deal with this matter and "verdonkeremaande" this. How do I translate this? Stifle this? Put the evidence in a drawer for ever...
Princess Beatrix was desperate and feared for all the cans of worms... and was visisted by Wim Duisenberg (Minister of Finances) several times at Drakesteyn.
Queen Juliana showed her gratitude in a letter to him (also published in the biography). Was signed: Uw oude praatpaal (Funny word for Your confidante, someone you complain to in confidence).


It gives me a dirty taste in my mouth.
That my present monarchy is rescued by the mere fact that something was hidden because it was too bad to be true...

Either the Dutch monarchy would have come to an end or we would perhaps have had a Queen Margriet (she is known for her personal sense of duty?)(Princess Beatrix not willing to succeed under such circumstances: becoming Queen because Juliana had to abdicate for being married to someone who would have been condemned guilty in criminal acts.)...

Still surviving politicians think indeed that the Prince would have been sued if things had become known then.

What an incredible mess.

 

[Marengo]

From Dutchnews.nl:

Former PM saved Dutch monarchy - Volkskrant

Thursday 21 February 2008
The Dutch monarchy was saved from falling apart in 1976 when prime minister Joop den Uyl covered up a second bribery scandal involving prince Bernhard and by soing so, enabling queen Juliana to stay on the throne, the Volkskrant reports on Thursday.

One of the paper's journalists, Anet Bleich, today publishes a biography of the Labour prime minister and bases her claims on his personal archives.
Documents relating to the Lockheed affair – in which prince Bernhard was accused of accepting $1.1m in bribes - show he was also embroiled in a similar scandal involving plane builder Northrop, says Bleich.
But by keeping this secret, Den Uyl was able to protect queen Juliana's position and keep Bernhard out of jail, she claims.

Read the entire article here.

 

[Marengo]

Fokke & Sukke have the awnser:

'Fokke & Sukke know why he hushed it up'

'Prime Minister den Uyl wasn't able to pronounce Northorp'

(image can be used freely)

 

[Marengo]

Some reactions:

Green Left party wants the papers about Northorp to be made public (In Dutch here) The Chritian Democrats called it 'old news', which it is of course as we knew longer that Bernhard didn't only commit fraud with Lockheed but also with Northorp.

For those who can read Dutch, here the Lockheed affair summarised int he Volkskrant.

And read more about the Lockheed bribes here:

The Lockheed bribery scandals encompassed a series of bribes and contributions made by officials of U.S. aerospace company Lockheed from the late 1950s to the 1970s in the process of negotiating the sale of aircraft.
The scandal caused considerable political controversy in West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Japan. In the U.S. the scandal nearly led to the corporation's downfall, as it was already struggling due to the commercial failure of the L-1011 airliner.

Read the entire wikipedia article here.

---
And from Benrhards wikipedia page:

Scandal rocked the Royal Family in 1976 when it was revealed that Prince Bernhard had accepted a US$1.1 million bribe from U.S. aircraft manufacturer Lockheed Corporation to influence the Dutch government's purchase of fighter aircraft. He had served on more than 300 corporate boards or committees worldwide and had been praised in the Netherlands for his efforts to promote the economic well-being of the country. Prime Minister of the Netherlands Joop den Uyl ordered an inquiry into the Lockheed affair, while Prince Bernhard refused to answer reporters' questions, stating: "I am above such things".
The Dutch and international press headlined the stories for months, providing proof of Prince Bernhard's Reiter SS membership and his numerous extramarital affairs, including the purchase of a luxurious Paris apartment for his mistress, Hélène Grinda, with whom he had an illegitimate daughter, Alexia. (Bernhard has a second illegitimate daughter, Alicia, in the USA.)
On August 26, 1976, a toned-down, but nonetheless devastating, report on Prince Bernhard's activities was released to a shocked Dutch public. The Prince's own letter in 1974 to Lockheed Corporation that demanded "commissions" be paid to him on Dutch government aircraft purchases was damaging evidence of improper conduct. Criminal charges were not laid by the government due to threats by Queen Juliana that she would abdicate if her husband were prosecuted.
In February 2008 it was disclosed that the official report investigating the bribe scandal found proof that the Prince had also accepted money from airplane maker Northrop. However, this was not made public by the then current Prime Minister, to protect the royal family.
Prince Bernhard resigned as Inspector-General of the Dutch armed forces and he was given an "honourable discharge."
The Prime Minister, Joop den Uyl, made a statement in Parliament and told the delegates that the Prince would also resign from his various high profile positions in businesses, charities, and other institutions. The States-General voted against criminal prosecution. Prince Bernhard turned over the presidency of the international World Wildlife Fund to the British Duke of Edinburgh. The Dutch Royal family worked hard to rehabilitate the Prince's name, but other scandals were to be revealed in later years.

 

[lucien]

Ofcourse those Green Left Little Red Ridinghoods love this,they revel in it.But to no avail.It really all is old news.Northrop is/was never ever fully proven,not to this day and it never will.Lockheed,oh man,that was a real shocker at the time.But hey,the Prince had carte blanche in doing business abroad by the subsequent dutch goverments since the early 1950's to get dutch industry etc back on the road,so all of 'm had butter on their heads.What happened wasn't/isn't unusual in the corporate world,it never was,it still isn't and it never will be.He should have just been more carefull due to his position.

 

[gogm]

Northrop's Involvement

What was Northrop doing? For what product? The F/A-18?

I recall Northrop developed a "Cobra" design in the early 70s for The Netherlands. Northrop didn't sell it then, but the design became the F-17 that was built and flown, lost to the F-16 in the US Air Force/Norway/Denmark/Belgium/Netherlands fighter competition dubbed "sale of the century." The US Navy liked the F-17 and (McDonnell-Douglas) grew it into the F-18 "Hornet" that flies today (cheating Northrop out of royalties).

I'm also trying to recall what the Lockheed business was about. The P-3 sub-hunter? C-130? Or did it go back to the F-104 in the 1960s?

 

[lucien]

What was Northrop doing? For what product? The F/A-18?

I recall Northrop developed a "Cobra" design in the early 70s for The Netherlands. Northrop didn't sell it then, but the design became the F-17 that was built and flown, lost to the F-16 in the US Air Force/Norway/Denmark/Belgium/Netherlands fighter competition dubbed "sale of the century." The US Navy liked the F-17 and (McDonnell-Douglas) grew it into the F-18 "Hornet" that flies today (cheating Northrop out of royalties).

I'm also trying to recall what the Lockheed business was about. The P-3 sub-hunter? C-130? Or did it go back to the F-104 in the 1960s?

Must have been the F-104,as all of this played in the mid sixties.
We were not interested in the sub-hunter nor the C-130,as for the
first we had Orions and the second didn't come into service of the
Royal Netherlands Airforce until the 90's.

 

[Elspeth]

Either the Dutch monarchy would have come to an end or we would perhaps have had a Queen Margriet (she is known for her personal sense of duty?)(Princess Beatrix not willing to succeed under such circumstances: becoming Queen because Juliana had to abdicate for being married to someone who would have been condemned guilty in criminal acts.)...

I don't entirely understand the thinking here. If Princess Beatrix wasn't involved in the scandal, why would anybody think she might step aside in favour of a younger sister? That would surely suggest that she was tainted by the affair in some undisclosed way, or that Prince Claus was also involved but they weren't saying so, and it would only serve to make matters worse.

 

[Marengo]

Not realy, it is said that Juliana said she would abdicate if her husband would end up in prison, and it is generally thought (don't remember on what grounds) that Beatrix would have refused to succeed under such circumstances, out of loyalty to her parents for example. I think in theory such a thing would mean the next in line, Willem-Alexander, would have succeeded under a regency. I am not sure if it is possible in the Netherlands to renounce on behalf of your children.

 

[lucien]

Not realy, it is said that Juliana said she would abdicate if her husband would end up in prison, and it is generally thought (don't remember on what grounds) that Beatrix would have refused to succeed under such circumstances, out of loyalty to her parents for example. I think in theory such a thing would mean the next in line, Willem-Alexander, would have succeeded under a regency. I am not sure if it is possible in the Netherlands to renounce on behalf of your children.

If Queen Juliana would have abdicated due to that situation,which thank God didn't happen,Beatrix would have automatically been Queen,until she would have renounced too ofcourse.All of that didn't happen,but had it happened Alexander would have been King immediatly.The law/Constitution does not have a clausule/rule that one can abdicate/renounce the rights of the next in line.
Henri would know I'm sure,so,get back here please.

Elspeth dear,you've been watching too many B movies again....

 

[Thomas Parkman]

Much as we dearly love the Royals, or at least most of them, truth to tell this little scandal-a mere couple of million dollars-does show up one fatal flaw, inherent in the condition, and common elsewhere, the position goes to people's heads and they think they can get away with and do anything. Bernhard really was a prize idiot. And not only about the money.

As for She Who Must Be Obeyed watching B movies, perish the thought.

 

[gogm]

P-3 Orion

Must have been the F-104,as all of this played in the mid sixties.
We were not interested in the sub-hunter nor the C-130,as for the
first we had Orions and the second didn't come into service of the
Royal Netherlands Airforce until the 90's.

The P-3 was designated "Orion."

 

[lucien]

The P-3 was designated "Orion."

Bingo!They have been in use until a few years ago.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge in the matter.

Oh Thomas,about the B movie bit.She Who Must Be Obeyed mentioned Prince Claus and any possible involvement in this whole thing.Prince Claus!!Dear Claus.The very epithome of integrity,if there ever has been one.Totally,absolutely totally the opposite of his father-in-law.

 

[Elspeth]

If Queen Juliana would have abdicated due to that situation,which thank God didn't happen,Beatrix would have automatically been Queen,until she would have renounced too ofcourse.All of that didn't happen,but had it happened Alexander would have been King immediatly.The law/Constitution does not have a clausule/rule that one can abdicate/renounce the rights of the next in line.
Henri would know I'm sure,so,get back here please.

Elspeth dear,you've been watching too many B movies again....

Lucien dear, my husband worked for Lockheed for 30 years. I know a bit about how that company operates. As for movies, most of the time I don't even watch A movies (if such things even exist).

Seriously, though - if a situation like that had happened in the UK, the tabloids would have immediately deduced something along the lines that Queen A is abdicating because her husband is caught up in a scandal - some upstart German who let his royalty-by-marriage status get the better of him - and now Queen A's daughter is doing likewise, and she also has some upstart German husband, so of course all this fine talk about loyalty to her parents is just so much window dressing; her husband was probably in it up to the neck with his father in law, or else why wouldn't his wife have just succeeded her mother and stayed on the throne?

You must have some pretty boring tabloids over there...

 

[lucien]

Hmm,I don't read tabloids,I detest them,absolutely really do.The UK at times seems to be ruled by that filth,not even worthy for use in a cats litterbox imnsho.

All the words on how Trix would refuse to ascend the Throne had her mother abdicated over Bernhards actions,is speculation.No-one knows that for sure.

Claus was most certainly never up to his neck in anything regarding his father-in-law,ever,they were as different as the sun and the moon.With Claus being the sun,the other the moon and its dark sides.

If we had tabloids british style here,they would be sued to the very last penny,and rightfully so.Never understood what it is with these people that read,and worst,even believe what's printed in 'm.Freedom of press,alas,but abuse of that freedom to a british extent?Unthinkable here,and I think it's awful enough as it is here already with these creepy crawlies trying to make a living out of producing filth.