The CIA holds the key to the survival of the Dutch monarchy. ‘A bom is ticking away under the House of Orange", some papers even suggested. A former agent of the American intelligence agency claimed that all hell would break lose for the Dutch royal on March 17, 2008 - provided that Prince Bernhard and Queen Juliana had died by then.
Read also: CIA says it knows nothing about Prince Bernhard
On that particular day, he claimed back in 1982, the CIA would open its archives and make the "Holland Papers" public. "They will have great effect", the unknown CIA-man said.
So have the palace lights been on all night in fearful anticipation? Does the CIA even know it has these papers, and what is said to be in them? Nobody in The Hague is the least bit worried, a government spokesman said on Friday. There were no emergency meetings planned and the Dutch ambassador in Washington DC had not raised any alarm.
A spokesman for the CIA looked suprised when the Washington-based correspondent for the Netherlands Press Agency asked about the forthcoming releas of these documents. "Holland Papers? What are you talking about?". Of course, there was the slight problem of the CIA not being able to tell or confirm if such secret papers really exist, just because they are secret.
What is so important about these Holland Papers, that the CIA says it knows nothing about, but which could bring the Dutch monarchy down? Well, that is hard to tell, because nobody really knows what they contain - if they exist… And since the CIA-agent mentioned them, these Holland Papers have taken on a life of their own. They hold the key to every mystery surrounding the Dutch royal family.
Basically though they are thought to deal with Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands (1911-2004), husband of Queen Juliana (1909-2004, reigned 1948-1980). The German born prince is sometimes accused to have bet on two horses during the Second World War - helping the Allied cause on one side, and assisting the Germans on the other.
It has even been claimed, but never proven, that he asked Adolf Hitler to name him ‘stadholder’ of occupied Holland. There has never been any evidence of such treason, and the Prince at one time even offered a reward of 1 million to anyone who could proof such a letter existed.
Those who believe in cloak and dagger stories claim the CIA archives hold that letter. But there could be a lot more in those Papers, if they exist. About Lockheed and the financial dealings of the Prince, or, who knows. However, the CIA has not been very forthcoming. But there is still the odd chance the archive doors are opened on March 17, 2008.
© GPD Netherlands Press Association
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