Wikipedia information about Prince Bernhard:
https://en.wikipedia.org/...hard_of_Lippe-BiesterfeldNews:https://nos.nl/artikel/23...-gevonden-in-amerika.htmlScrapbook full of clippings and photos with Prince Bernhard found in America
A scrapbook full of clippings and photos of Prince Bernhard was found at an online auction on an international website. The book was made in the 1950s.
Journalist Lammert de Bruin, from radio and TV program EenVandaag, among others, came across the book during a search for the prince's first biography. It was written by an American journalist.
De Bruin bought the book unseen, from an antique dealer in Massachusetts for around sixty euros. "It came in yesterday, I opened it and almost fell off my chair," he told RTV Utrecht.
Dinners with heads of state
According to De Bruin, the book is full of photos, invitations and menus of dinners. "The program of a state visit by the French president, but also all menus of lunches and dinners with heads of state".
There are pictures of a dinner at the palace of the former Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie, but also of audiences with the Norwegian royal house and the then Japanese crown prince Akihito.
The Prince's Adjutant
The book has been compiled by Lieutenant Anton Elbers. He was Prince Bernhard's adjutant in the early 1950s and accompanied him on many official occasions.
The lieutenant, who was awarded the Bronze Cross for his actions during World War II, later moved to the United States with his American wife. He lived there until his death in 2006. How the scrapbook subsequently ended up with an antique dealer in Massachusetts is unknown.
Before his emigration Elbers lived in Soest, just like De Bruin now. "The book also contained a postcard of Prince Bernhard, sent to his house on Vredenhofstraat. I drive there every day when I go to work. It is strange to think that the scrapbook and that card are back in Soest. Almost as if it should have been. "
He does not yet know what De Bruin will do with the book. "First I want to find out what is in it and who is in the photos. And who knows what I'm going to do with it. Maybe write something about it or record a podcast."
