In Memoriam
Bernhard Leopold Friedrich Eberhard Julius Kurt Karl Gottfried Peter zur Lippe-Biesterfeld was born in 1911 in Jena, Germany to Prince Bernhard of Lippe and Baroness Armgard von Cramm. He was dubbed Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld by his uncle, Leopold IV, the Reigning Prince of Lippe.

Prince Bernhard was a spirited lad, indulging in fast cars, horses, and hunting. As a young man he trained as a fighter pilot and became an officer in the German SS. In 1935 he went to work for IG Farben, the German chemical giant whose directors financed the rise of Adolph Hitler and the German war effort thereafter.

In 1937 Prince Bernhard married Princess Juliana, daughter of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. This surprised and annoyed many Dutch because of his Nazi ties. He redeemed himself somewhat by helping the Dutch Royal Family escape to England as German tanks rolled into the Netherlands at the outbreak of WWII.

Bernhard then flew for the British Royal Air Force until 1944, when he became commander of the Dutch armed forces. At war's end, he annoyed his countrymen once again by expressing sympathy for the Germans.

After the war, Prince Bernhard was made a board member for KLM, Royal Dutch Airlines, Fokker Aircraft, and many international corporations. His extensive traveling ultimately led him to (1) help found the Bilderberg Group, a secret international organization of government leaders, rich industrialists, media barons, and other members of the power elite; (2) help found the World Wildlife Foundation; and (3) cheat on his wife the Queen with several mistresses.

In 1976, the press discovered that Prince Bernhard accepted a $1.1M from Lockheed to promote the sale of fighter planes to the Dutch government. Humiliated, the Prince resigned all his high-profile public and private offices.

In 1991, the press discovered that Prince Bernhard had hired a small army of merecnaries to fight poachers in South African wildlife preserves. Unfortunately for the Prince, the mercenaries entered the poaching business themselves.

Prince Bernhard died of cancer on December 1, 2004, at the ripe old age of 93. He is survived by his four daughters, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and Princesses Irene, Magriet, and Christina. - served up by Oven @ 4:44 PM