After the surfacing of the sensational photographs of the Queen as a seven-year-old throwing a Nazi salute (followed by a suitably annoyed reaction from the Palace) there seem to have emerged fresh photographs demonstrating the closeness of King Edward VIII to the Nazi top brass. Though there is no disguising the German connection of the Royals, which might have been the reason behind the regrettable bonhomie, there is still, till today, a pretence at trying to keep the blue blood looking British.
Or does this effort stem from the discomfort of seeing how close Edward VIII, the present Queen’s uncle, was to Hitler’s regime? Was it surprising at all? He himself pointed to his German ancestry and it is no secret that his mother, Queen Mary, was German. After all, it was not until 1917, (as we have just been reminded by the press) that the Royals changed their name from Sax-Coburg und Gotha to Windsor, and the Battenbergs became Mountbattens. The former sounded far too German for a country, which, from World War I onwards , treated the Germans as their arch foe.
So, why did King Edward VIII cosy up to the Nazis again, even teaching his niece the infamous salute? There is fresh speculation on how he could even have been brought to power by a ruthless German regime, had Hitler won the war. And there are also those who wonder whether his abdication was more to do with his Nazi connections than his desire to marry the American Wallis Simpson. It turned into a rather unpleasant week for the Royals when this bunch of photographs emerged for sale at an auction house!
Last Saturday, Louise Brown celebrated her birthday and there is an extraordinary reason why many of us should remember it as a historic occasion. Her successful birth 37 years ago, has facilitated over six million more births, as she was the first test-tube baby. But it was not an easy birth, largely due to the backlash Louise’s mother Lesley received from all over the world. As Louise recounts in her new book, My Life As The World’s First Test-Tube Baby, Lesley Brown had to endure hate mail from those who felt outraged by this “unnatural” birth. She got packets with blood-soaked notes and even a plastic foetus, but fortunately it was not all gloomy: many more letters poured in appreciating that this breakthrough would at last give a chance to those who longed to become parents.
While waiting for Louise’s book one wonders if some prejudice against test-tube babies still remains. It was not until 2010, that Robert Edwards, who pioneered in vitro fertilisation, finally received his Nobel Prize. Assisted reproduction has always been controversial and yet now we have more and more research being done in the field.
Move over chicken tikka masala, fish and chips are making a come back! I have to say it remains my favourite self-indulgence treat and I was cheered to learn that fans of this fast food get through 300 million portions of it every year. I love the one just down the road from our home in South London. It seems that the numbers of fish and chips outlets are less than half of the 25,000 that were there in 1914, but with the entrance of food entrepreneurs like Ranjit Boparan, who have bought the well known Harry Ramsden chain, we will hopefully become more fishy than ever before!
Kishwar Desai is an award-winning author
