[danielsan]

The Sun

Queen's Nazi salute footage is matter of historical significance, says Sun

Tabloid’s managing editor, Stig Abell, says justification for releasing leaked footage, apparently shot in 1933 or 1934, is ‘relatively evident.

The managing editor of the Sun has defended his newspaper’s decision to release leaked footage, apparently shot in 1933 or 1934, showing the Queen perform a Nazi salute as a matter of “historical significance”.

The Sun front page showing a still of footage showing a young Queen performing a Nazi salute with her family at Balmoral.

The black-and-white footage shows the Queen, then aged six or seven, and her sister Margaret, around three, joining the Queen Mother and her uncle, Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales, in raising an arm in the signature style of the German fascists.

Edward, who later became King Edward VIII and abdicated to marry the American socialite Wallis Simpson, faced numerous accusations of being a Nazi sympathiser. The couple were photographed meeting Hitler in Munich in October 1937, less than two years before the second world war broke out.

Buckingham Palace said in a statement that it was “disappointing” the film – shot eight decades ago – had been “exploited”, while questions have been raised over how the newspaper obtained the clip, which is apparently from the monarch’s personal family archive.

But speaking to the BBC, Stig Abell, managing editor of the Sun, defended the move. He said: “I think the justification is relatively evident - it’s a matter of national historical significance to explore what was going on in the thirties ahead of the second world war.

The Sun was right to publish scoop of the Queen giving a Nazi salute.

“We’re very clear we’re not, of course, suggesting anything improper on the part of the Queen or indeed the Queen Mum.

“It’s very clear Edward VIII, who became a nazi sympathiser, in 36 after he abdicated he headed off to Germany briefly.

“In 37 to 1939, he was talking about his sympathy for Hitler and Germany, even before his death in 1970 he was saying Hitler was not a bad man.

“I think this is a matter of historical significance, I think this is footage that should be shown providing the context is very clear.

“We’ve taken a great amount of trouble and care to demonstrate that context at great length in the paper today. This is a matter of historical significance from which we shouldn’t shy away.”

The grainy clip, which lasts around 17 seconds, shows the Queen playing with a dog on the lawn in the gardens of Balmoral, the Sun claims, before she raises an arm to wave to the camera with Margaret.

The Queen Mother then makes a Nazi salute, and, after glancing towards her mother, the Queen mimics the gesture.

Palace criticises Sun over film of Queen giving Nazi salute as a child.

The Queen Mother repeats the salute, joined by Edward, and Margaret raises her left hand before the two children continue dancing and playing on the grass.

A Palace source said: “Most people will see these pictures in their proper context and time. 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.

“The Queen and her family’s service and dedication to the welfare of this nation during the war, and the 63 years the Queen has spent building relations between nations and peoples speaks for itself.

The footage is thought to have been shot in 1933 or 1934, when Hitler was rising to prominence as fuhrer in Germany.

In its leader column, the Sun said its focus was not on the young child who would become queen, but on her uncle, who was then heir to the throne.

The Queen’s former press secretary Dickie Arbiter said there would be great interest in royal circles in finding out how the footage was made public.

“They’ll be wondering whether it was in fact something that was held in the Royal Archives at Windsor, or whether it was being held by the Duke of Windsor’s estate,” he told the BBC news.

“And if it was the Duke of Windsor’s estate, then somebody has clearly taken it from the estate and here it is, 82 years later. But a lot of questions have got to be asked and a lot of questions got to be answered"

[Steve]

Anything I mean anything "The Sun" prints is to be taken with a pinch of salt. That so called newspaper is not fit to wipe a tramps arse with.
It's the English version of "The National Inquirer".

[TheVrist]

Edward had neutral relations with Hitler.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_VIII

Britain considered them "natural allies" up until '38
http://www.socialismtoday.org/37/chamberlain37.html

[Johnny Wadd]

They have ALWAYS been Nazi's and that won't change

She talks about austerity while wearing a £10m hat and she takes State benefit to the tune of £40m per year

So while families are struggling with benefits being cut,food banks,homelessness,zero hour contracts etc

Maybe she could help support "Her people",but guess what,no fucking chance

They are total parasites,now,how long 'til the Revolution

[TheVrist]

Maybe Israel should help the people. They just got 1.5-billion aid increase.

[BryanXavier]

This would fall into the "all of the people some of the time" category.

I saw the video in The Sun - sad and embarrassing for the royal family but hell, the Germans held the Olympics in Berlin in '36 before their true colors were shown.

[dan-b]

Here's a link to the article in question where you can also view the video: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...eilnesses.html

[Illusion]

[icheerthebull]

Originally Posted by Johnny Wadd ↗

They have ALWAYS been Nazi's and that won't change

She talks about austerity while wearing a £10m hat and she takes State benefit to the tune of £40m per year

So while families are struggling with benefits being cut,food banks,homelessness,zero hour contracts etc

Maybe she could help support "Her people",but guess what,no fucking chance

They are total parasites,now,how long 'til the Revolution

With regard to the first point thats misleading. The cost of £40m is just the 'sovereign grant'. Security, travel and accommodation (state visits ect) are not included in that.

It also does not include the maintenance and upkeep of property that is legaly owned by the crown, remember that any money made from those propertys stay in the crowns hands. The duchy of lancaster and the duchy of cornwall covers a lot of land.

The actual cost (not including lost revenue from the refusal to put profit made from publicly funded areas back into the 'treasury') is closer to £200m. Thats me cutting what some people claim in half.

With regard to the second point, how can she 'support her people' when her family have never even supported themselves?

ON TOPIC (i.e the photos) no one did a damn fucking thing about the rise of facism. The men and women who went to fight the fascists in spain were derided in their home countrys.

the english football team


I hate murdoch and dont believe in monarchys so this is a win win story for for me. The sun might have fucked up here

[TheVrist]

Gee, even if it was 400 million, match that to the billion a year it cost to keep our puppet in office.

400 million spread among "the people in need" probably would amount to a couple hundred bucks anyway.