Swedish Queen traces family’s links to Nazi regime
Queen Silvia was born in Heidelberg, Germany in 1943. The Queen consort of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden is the daughter of Walter Sommerlath. Her mother is a Brazilian named Alice.
Following controversial and recurring reports on the alleged links of her family to the Nazi regime, Queen Silvia of Sweden has agreed to conduct investigation on the matter in hopes to begin addressing such claims.
“The queen, along with the Sommerlath family has taken the initiative to gather the facts concerning the activities of Walter Sommerlath in Brazil and Germany between 1930 and 1940,” the Agence France Presse quoted a statement from the royal court.
Queen Silvia was born in Heidelberg, Germany in 1943. The Queen consort of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden is the daughter of Walter Sommerlath. Her mother is a Brazilian named Alice.
The Queen’s father has been repeatedly linked to the Nazi regime following an investigation conducted by a commercial TV station TV4 in 2010 which alleged that the Queen’s father “took over a German factory belonging to a Jew in 1939 as part of an "Aryanisation" programme”.
The Queen has also repeatedly claimed that her father, who died in 1990, was never involved in any political activities in those years.
The AFP also noted that the Queen said her father ‘was forced to comply’ to the Nazi regime, to save his career - - a move that was common and shared by many others during the Nazi period.
The palace according to AFP has already begun its investigation.
"The inquiry has already lasted several months but it has not been established when the results will be made available," the palace said, according to AFP.
