Notes
The Royal Family is Britain's prize
1 possession. Even 40 years on, the taint of Nazism undermines it,' said the Daily Mirror on Tuesday, exulting in its second Nazi scoop of the week. The fact that Princess Michael of Kent's father was in the SS is not, of course, as momentous as the Daily Mirror would like. There have been Nazi members of the Royal Family Itself. The Duke of Coburg, brother of the much-loved Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, was a Nazi, and no one thought that this 'undermined' her or the rest of the family. Prince and Princess Michael are not on the Civil List, and Prince Michael, in marrying the then Mrs Troubridge, re- nounced his claim to the throne, so even if Baron von Reibnitz had been commandant of Auschwitz, this would not have been a matter of public importance, and the 'taint' Would have been unable to stain the throne of Britain. All the same, the story does reflect oddly on 'our prize possession' and People's attitude towards it. As usual, the press office of Buckingham Palace has behaved strangely. A statement put out by Mr Michael Shea, the Queen's press secretary, said: 'The newspaper inquiry Was the first the Princess had known about it. She was able to confirm that her father had been a member of the SS. . . If she did not know, how could she confirm? Mr Shea continued: 'There will be no further comment or statement from the Princess.' This was wishful thinking. On the same day, Princess Michael recorded an inter- view with breakfast television, this time admitting that she had known that her father was a Nazi, but not that he had been in the SS. Fortunately, he seems to have been a not terrifically wicked member of the SS, and Mr Norman St John Stevas, the unpaid spokesman for the Royal Family, has helpfully explained that the Baron was merely 'honorary' and that in Germany then it was only a teeny-weeny bit naughty to be a Nazi. But there remains the
question of who knew what. It is clear that Princess Michael was in a position to know the facts, even if she did not choose to use that positibn. It is possible, however, that the Queen did not know, at least at the
time of the wedding. This is because the arrangements were taken in hand by Lord Mountbatten, who was keen to further the
match. In his usual manner, he brushed aside side difficulties and rushed through what he wanted, with the present, embarrassing results.
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