Prince Bernhard: Biography of a public role

In her biography Bernhard. Een verborgen geschiedenis [Bernhard: A Hidden History], Annejet van der Ziji strives to write unaffectedly about a controversial character, and to set out a human portrayal of Bernhard. But has this undertaking succeeded? This dissertation certainly demythologises the jovial prince with the carnation, making for an exciting read - but do we really get to know any more about the prince as a 'man'? A question all the more relevant as the biography pretty much gives up describing his life after 1945. By placing the emphasis on the revelations - and as Van der Zijl assumes that Bernhard must have changed little between 1945 and 2004 - the story of Bernhard's life takes on a hermetic quality. Which in turn means this is not so much the story of a human prince, but of a public role.