Dutch Prime Minister Mr. Joop Den Uyl has saved the monarchy twice, it was disclosed through research for a dissertation published in the Netherlands on Thursday. The social-democrat Mr. Den Uyl did so in 1976 by keeping a damaging report on Prince Bernhard under wraps, Mrs Anet Bleich found out.
The report is still sealed today, but it contains information about bribes the than husband of Queen Juliana received through intermediaries for lobbying work on behalf of U.S. plane manufacturer Northrop. The report came on the heels of accusations in the U.S. Senate that Northrop’s competitor Lockheed had also paid the Prince to help it sell its Starfighter airplane to the Royal Dutch Air Force.
The government led by Mr. Joop Den Uyl (1973-1977) ordered a non-criminal investigation into the allegations against the prince, who was serving as inspector-general of all the military branches. As such he held some influence at the Ministry of Defense in The Hague, although it never led to the purchase of either military plane, neither Cobra nor Starfighter.
Prince Bernhard (1911-2004) vehemently denied having taken money. The investigators found no conclusive evidence linking the payments by Lockheed to the Prince; although money was paid to a non-existent "Mr Victor Baarn" - Baarn being the name of the town of Bernhard’s home Soestdijk Palace. However the Prince had been open to bribery, and he had to resign his military posts and was asked to no longer wear his uniforms.
By choosing a non-criminal investigation by a select commission of three members, Prime Minister Den Uyl prevented that the Queen’s husband would have to go to court, and possibly go to jail. Mr. Den Uyl (1919-1987) has always been credited for defusing a potential constitutional crisis, but it now turns out he did even more to save the monarchy.
The commission hand delivered a second report to Mr. Den Uyl, about bribes amounting to 750,000 US dollars possibly given to the Prince by Northrop. Den Uyl concluded that if that became known, he could no longer stop criminal proceedings against Prince Bernhard. In that case though Queen Juliana would abdicate and Princess Beatrix, his biographer disclosed, would have been reluctant to succeed her mother under those circumstances.
Mr. Den Uyl’s Labour Party could also face the wrath of the public, which greatly respected Queen Juliana and their were fears of possible military action as well, due to the popularity of Bernhard in conservative army circles.
Mr. Den Uyl decided to keep the second report in his personal safe., since Northrop was not part of the original investigation. Rumours about it reached parliament, but Mr. Den Uyl evaded questions about the report. In later years more became known about Northrop’s attempts, and in interviews published after his death, Prince Bernhard admitted to asking money "for good causes" from the manufacturers.
On his death bed the than former PM received a very warm, hand written personal letter from (than) Princess Juliana, thanking him once again for the 'surgery' he performed on her husband, which eventually led to his full recovery.
© RB/GPD Netherlands Press Association; Photos of Mr. Den Uyl by © GPD Roland de Bruin
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