Of course people complained, pointed fingers, gossiped, spoke ill of Bernhard early on and he might even have given them a reason but I have yet to see proof of any serious attempts being made to set him straight or put him on a leash in those days. We can be stunned by the lack of support he gave his wife during her difficult times but Juliana had gone through a tremendous development herself during her time in Canada. This happened to many couples separated during the war and many found it difficult to find a way back to each other but these two managed to have two more children! Their failing marriage was in many ways not unique and perhaps represented many marriages at that time. The marriages of our grand-parents generation were not that harmonious either but their lives were not on display and not dissected 50 years later. People stay married for all sorts of wrong reasons. In that respect they were also a typical couple.
Bernhard had less and less control over Juliana and that complicated matters. Shortly after their separation she became a mother again, Regent for her mother and later Head of State with much on her plate he could not be involved in. Bernhard positioned himself as the foreign representative of Holland Inc with much encouragement by his wife, the government and the corporate world. Can we blame him that he didn't focus more on his wife? Perhaps but Juliana married a man who would not fit into a supporting role to begin with. There are not that many examples of well behaving male consorts out there. It seems to be a tough position to be in. Juliana was attracted to Bernhard because he was completely different to her and a rogue of sorts. A rather big cliché but many people are attracted to character traits that form the same reason for a divorce later in life.
--Previous Message--
: In The case of Juliana I agree with your
: conclusion, but in Bernhard's case less so.
: Much of Juliana's character & actions
: can be explained by her upbringing, far away
: from the everyday world. Bernhard however,
: lived in the middle of it and though I I
: found, at the time, that he was punished too
: severely after the Lockheed affair, I am
: slowly coming to the opinion now that he was
: a rogue indeed, even seen in the light of
: those times.
:
: --Previous Message--
: No big surprises but it adds to the bigger
: picture of Juliana and the marriage
: dynamics. That Juliana considered divorcing
: Bernhard on several occasions and not only
: once during their long and tumultuous
: marriage is not surprising. They both made
: some bad judgement calls during their lives
: and in their marriage. I think most of
: these could have been avoided had they had a
: proper support system to correct their
: thoughts and actions. I think both were
: surrounded by the wrong people during those
: critical moments and it impaired their
: judgement. And of course Bernhard was a
: highly opportunistic and self indulgent
: character but Juliana also had some serious
: flaws and seems to have been a religious
: esoteric from a young age. Juliana and
: Bernhard were products of her time and the
: circumstances in which they were born,
: raised and lived. Today we (also the
: author of the book on Juliana) act surprised
: and judge the foolishness, errors in
: judgement, incomprehensible behaviour and
: dealings that were going on but all of this
: occurred and indeed was only possible in a
: particular context and time. They were
: conditioned to make the choices and mistakes
: they made.
:
:
:
:
:
:
: --Previous Message--
: At 21.15 tonight on Dutch TV 2, a
: documentary
: is programmed on the late Queen Juliana
: supposed to include hitherto unknown facts.
:
:
:
:
:
:
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