Queen Margrethe contradicts Nazi views in new book: 'It's rare for her to go on the offensive'

Queen Margrethe contradicts Nazi claims in new book: 'It's rare for her to go on the offensive'

Queen Margrether believes that descriptions of her parents in a new book are fundamentally incorrect and misleading.

In an interview with Kristeligt Dagblad, the Queen denies that the royal family had close ties to Hitler's Germany. She mentions that in the book, her parents have been described as calling top Nazi Hermann Göring "quite terrifying." (Photo: © Ida Marie Odgaard, Ritzau Scanpix)

Silas Bay Nielsen ([email protected]) Today at 09:45

Queen Margrethe disputes claims in a book about the royal family's connections to Nazi Germany.

The debate over the royal family's ties to Nazi Germany arose in connection with the book 'Riders in Velvet – the royal family's connections to Hitler's Germany.'

In the book, author and journalist Peter Kramer writes that King Christian X met Adolf Hitler several times in Berlin before World War II and that the then crown prince, Frederick and Ingrid, greeted Hitler's second-in-command, Hermann Göring, in 1937.

Among other things, the Queen's parents visited an opera festival in Bayreuth, Germany.

21Sunday interviewed Peter Kramer earlier, who said that the Danish royal family had maintained close contacts with Nazi Germany:

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Queen: Ingrid called Göring quite terrifying

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The book received harsh criticism upon its release in September from several experts. Among them was senior researcher and archivist at the National Archives Steen Andersen, who stated that there is no evidence that King Christian X, Queen Alexandrine, or the then Danish crown prince had any sympathy for the Nazi political project.

In the interview, Queen Margrethe speaks specifically about her parents' visit to Bayreuth, which she cannot remember the year of.

- But the essential thing is that my father was very happy that he didn't run into Hitler. She adds that there was no doubt where Ingrid stood when she, according to the Queen, called Hermann Göring quite terrifying.

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Royal expert: Rare counterattack

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Royal expert Thomas Larsen says that it is rare for the Queen to go on the offensive about something that has been reported in the press or in a book.

- I think she feels that the descriptions of her parents are so fundamentally incorrect and misleading that she felt it necessary to set the record straight, Thomas Larsen says.

He assesses that she primarily chose to speak about the book's content out of concern for the royal family and her parents.

Historians have previously criticized the book's claims. One of them is historian Bo Lidegaard:

Thomas Larsen has interviewed Queen Margrethe about the Nazi era, and here she also describes her parents as angry and ashamed when the Nazis invaded Denmark.

According to the Queen, Ingrid referred to the Nazis as "those scoundrels," and her parents were reportedly ashamed that Denmark was not able to defend itself when the Nazis crossed the border on April 9, 1940.

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Editor-in-Chief: No better sources than the Queen

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Editor-in-Chief of Kristeligt Dagblad, Jeppe Duvå, is one of those from the paper who interviewed the Queen.

He tells 'P1 Morgen' that, although the Queen was not born when the meetings took place and is a partial source, she is one of the best sources to describe how her parents viewed that period of history.

- If you want to find a source on how the later King Frederick IX and Queen Ingrid actually viewed that period of history, you cannot find a better source than their own daughter, Jeppe Duvå says.

Senior researcher Steen Andersen at the National Archives tells Kristeligt Dagblad that anyone can apply for access to parts of the archival material about Christian X at the National Archives. Since 2009, 29 applications have been granted, while three have been denied.

DR has so far been unable to obtain a comment from the book's author, Peter Kramer.

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