14 DAY TRIAL // In what is perhaps the most embarrassing and scandalous revelation about the Royal British family, a video has emerged of Queen Elizabeth doing the Nazi salute in front of a camera. The then-Princess was about 7 years old at the time, with reports online saying the video must have been shot either in 1933 or 1934.
The Daily Mail notes that the Palace is considering legal options against The Sun for releasing the 17-second footage (video below), but it might be without this recourse if it’s determined that they released it by accident.
Video emerges, Palace reacts
The video shows 7-year-old Princess Elizabeth and sister Princess Margaret, with the Queen Mother and uncle Edward (later Edward VIII), in the yard. Elizabeth is playing with a dog, but she turns to the camera, and apparently at Edward’s instructions, does the Nazi salute with her mother.
The Sun and the Mail note that Edward was a Nazi sympathizer who once described Hitler as “not a bad chap,” so this would add weight to the theory that he was teaching the ladies how to do a proper Nazi salute.
As you would imagine, the release of the video caused hysteria both in the UK and elsewhere in Europe, even though The Queen was only a child at the time.
In a statement, the Palace condemned the release, saying it was exploitative and misleading.
“Most people will see these pictures in their proper context and time,” the statement says. “This is a family playing and momentarily referencing a gesture many would have seen from contemporary news reels. No one at that time had any sense how it would evolve. To imply anything else is misleading and dishonest. The Queen is around six years of age at the time and entirely innocent of attaching any meaning to these gestures.”
It is believed that officials are looking into the possibility of suing The Sun for the release of the video. Obviously, they can’t do that until they determine how they may have gotten their hands on it - and here is where things get really tricky.
The Palace may have released the video by accident
According to the Daily Mirror, last year, the Palace released a bunch of private material for a Royal exhibition called Royal Childhood at the Buckingham Palace. This 17-second footage was not included in it, but footage from right after the salute, in the same garden and with the same people, was.
An insider claims that officials might have released the entire reel without paying attention to what was on it, and this controversial bit was cut from the exhibition and probably sold to The Sun, or someone from the tab got their hands on it through other means.
Dickie Arbiter, the Queen’s former press secretary, believes this is the likeliest option to explain what happened. He refuses to accept another popular theory, namely that the Palace has a mole that’s out to embarrass the Royal family by stealing and making public sensitive material.
