death_date burial_date consort birth_date signature reign father house death_place spouse image name occupation caption succession birth_place issue religion mother burial_place article_title
01 december 2004 11 december 2004 yes 29 june 1911 bernhard of lippe-biesterfeld signature.jpg 6 september 1948 -- 30 april 1980 prince bernhard of lippe house of lippe university medical center utrecht , utrecht , netherlands juliana of the netherlands bernhard of lippe-biesterfeld 1976.jpg bernhard of lippe-biesterfeld military officer aviator conservationist prince bernhard in 1976 wearing his trademark carnation prince consort of the netherlands jena , saxe-weimar-eisenach , german empire beatrix christina alicia von bielefeld alexia grinda of the netherlands princess irene princess margriet princess protestant prev . '' dutch reformed church -lrb- 1937 -- 2004 church -rrb- '' prev . '' evangelical lutheran -lrb- 1911 -- in 1937 -rrb- the netherlands -lrb- 2004 -rrb- '' armgard von cramm nieuwe kerk , delft , netherlands prince bernhard of lippe-biesterfeld

prince bernhard of lippe-biesterfeld

prince bernhard of lippe-biesterfeld -lrb- prince bernhard leopold frederik everhard julius coert karel godfried pieter of lippe-biesterfeld -rrb- -lrb- born as : bernhard friedrich eberhard leopold julius kurt carl gottfried peter graf von biesterfeld ; 29 june 1911 -- 1 december 2004 -rrb- , later prince bernhard of the netherlands , was the husband of queen juliana of the netherlands and father of her four children , including the former queen of the netherlands , princess beatrix .
although his private life was rather controversial , he was still generally regarded as a charming and popular figure by the majority of the dutch for his performance as a combat pilot and his activities as a liaison officer and personal aide to the queen during world war ii and for his work during post-war reconstruction .
during world war ii the german-born prince was part of the london-based allied war planning councils and saw active service as a wing commander -lrb- raf -rrb- flying both fighter and bomber planes into combat .
he was a dutch general and supreme commander of the dutch armed forces , involved in negotiating the terms of surrender of the german army in the netherlands .
for proven bravery , leadership and loyalty during his wartime efforts he was appointed a knight commander of the military william order , the netherlands ' oldest and highest honour .
after the war he was also made honorary air marshal of the raf by queen elizabeth ii .
in 1969 , bernhard was awarded the grand cross -lrb- special class -rrb- of the order of merit of the federal republic of germany .
bernhard helped found the world wildlife fund -lrb- later renamed world wide fund for nature -rrb- , becoming its first president in 1961 , and in 1970 establishing the wwf 's financial endowment '' '' .
in 1954 , he was a co-founder of the international bilderberg group , which has met annually since then to discuss corporate globalization and other issues concerning europe and north america .
he was forced to step down from both groups after being involved in the lockheed bribery scandal .
