Dutch Prince. Father of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. Born on June 29, 1911 according to official records, but commonly said to be June 29, as Count Bernhard Leopold Friedrich Eberhard Julius Kurt Karl Gottfried Peter zu Lippe-Biesterfeld in Jena, Thuringen, Germany, he studied law in Lausanne, Switzerland, Munich and Berlin, Germany. Met Crown Princess Juliana of the Netherlands during while he was a student on vacation in Holland; they married in the Haag in January 1937 and 11 years later she became queen. Demonstrated his decision to join Holland's resistance against the approaching Nazis with his trademark white carnation, fled the Nazis in 1940 with Juliana and lived at first in exile in England directing resistance; returned to Holland as commander in chief of the Netherlands resistance forces fighting with the Allies against Germany. Post WWII he became admiral, general and then inspector general of Holland's armed forces. He was co-founder of the World Wildlife Fund in 1961 and its president from then until 1977. Accused of accepting a bribe from Lockheed in 1976, he subsequently resigned his governmental positions and from the World Wildlife Fund.
Dutch Prince. Father of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. Born on June 29, 1911 according to official records, but commonly said to be June 29, as Count Bernhard Leopold Friedrich Eberhard Julius Kurt Karl Gottfried Peter zu Lippe-Biesterfeld in Jena, Thuringen, Germany, he studied law in Lausanne, Switzerland, Munich and Berlin, Germany. Met Crown Princess Juliana of the Netherlands during while he was a student on vacation in Holland; they married in the Haag in January 1937 and 11 years later she became queen. Demonstrated his decision to join Holland's resistance against the approaching Nazis with his trademark white carnation, fled the Nazis in 1940 with Juliana and lived at first in exile in England directing resistance; returned to Holland as commander in chief of the Netherlands resistance forces fighting with the Allies against Germany. Post WWII he became admiral, general and then inspector general of Holland's armed forces. He was co-founder of the World Wildlife Fund in 1961 and its president from then until 1977. Accused of accepting a bribe from Lockheed in 1976, he subsequently resigned his governmental positions and from the World Wildlife Fund.
Bio by: Fred Beisser
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