Greet Hofmans
Encyclopedia
Greet Hofmans was a faith healer
and hand layer. For nine years she was a friend and advisor of Queen Juliana
, often residing at Palace Soestdijk. She became the former Dutch queen’s confidante in the 1950s, but was removed from the royal court after an affair that in The Netherlands is often referred to by her name de Greet Hofmans affaire.
during the pregnancy. Hofmans developed a great influence on the queen, encouraging pacifist
ideas. In the period of the Cold War
this caused a crisis in the royal household. Reputedly it reached the point where it threatened the marriage of Juliana and Bernhard. This crisis, which lasted to 1956, split the Dutch court into two camps. On the one side were Juliana and other admirers of Hofmans. On the other side were Prince Bernhard, his supporters and the children of him and Juliana, including the later Dutch queen, Beatrix
.
Outside the Netherlands, a great deal was written and speculated about the Hofmans affair. On 13 June 1956 an article appeared in the German magazine Der Spiegel
subtitled Zwischen Königin und Rasputin
, literally meaning Between queen and Rasputin. Reportedly it was Bernhard who provided the information for the article, by which means he hoped to have Hofmans removed from the court.
banned the import of the edition of the German magazine and on 28 June 1956 appointed a commission of enquiry of former ministers Louis Beel
and Gerbrandy
and former governor-general of the Dutch East Indies
A. W. L. Tjarda van Starkenborgh Stachouwer, the Beel Commission. The outcome was the termination of Hofmans' contacts with the court and the reorganisation of the royal household.
Through the secrecy imposed on the official side and the self-censorship
of the Netherlands press, the Hofmans affair took on a life of its own. Some have speculated that the affair was simply a mask for a looming divorce of the royal couple.
Hofmans retained until her death followers of the higher circles, who saw in her the personification of the ideal life: sober, peaceful, free of self-interest, and directed at the fellow man. Others viewed her however as a charlatan, an intrigante and a dangerous witch, or at best a naive figure.
On 7 February 2004 Bernhard wrote in an open letter to the Volkskrant newspaper "with respect to the so-named Hofmans affair, I recall that the Beel Commission in 1956 conducted an exhaustive investigation. The report of this commission is for formal reasons still not public, therefore I express here my confidence that the eventual publication will place all those involved in this complex affair in the correct light".
groups had sent a letter to Queen Juliana’s mother, Wilhelmina, suggesting a violent solution for the crisis within the monarchy caused by the Hofmans’ closeness to Queen Juliana.
Author Fasseur said he did not know if Bernhard, who had close ties with the former resistance, knew about the liquidation threat – or if he perhaps gave the order to send such a threat himself. Fasseur was the first who was granted permission by the current Queen Beatrix to read files related to the affair, that had been kept in the royal archives along with the 1956 secret report of the Beel Commission. The long time secret report of the commission appeared as an appendix to Fasseur’s book in 2008.
The Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij
(Dutch association against charlatans, or quackery
) has ranked Hofmans in the 14th place of the top twenty charlatan
s of the 20th century in The Netherlands.
Faith Healer
Faith Healer is a play by Brian Friel about the life of faith healer Francis Hardy as monologued through the shifting memories of Hardy, his wife, Grace, and stage manager, Teddy.-Synopsis:...
and hand layer. For nine years she was a friend and advisor of Queen Juliana
Juliana of the Netherlands
Juliana was the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands between 1948 and 1980. She was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Henry...
, often residing at Palace Soestdijk. She became the former Dutch queen’s confidante in the 1950s, but was removed from the royal court after an affair that in The Netherlands is often referred to by her name de Greet Hofmans affaire.
Court crisis 1948-1956
Hofmans was introduced at the Dutch Royal Court on the initiative of Prince Bernhard in 1948 to treat the eye sickness of Princess Marijke Christina. This illness arose after Juliana was infected with rubellaRubella
Rubella, commonly known as German measles, is a disease caused by the rubella virus. The name "rubella" is derived from the Latin, meaning little red. Rubella is also known as German measles because the disease was first described by German physicians in the mid-eighteenth century. This disease is...
during the pregnancy. Hofmans developed a great influence on the queen, encouraging pacifist
Pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...
ideas. In the period of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
this caused a crisis in the royal household. Reputedly it reached the point where it threatened the marriage of Juliana and Bernhard. This crisis, which lasted to 1956, split the Dutch court into two camps. On the one side were Juliana and other admirers of Hofmans. On the other side were Prince Bernhard, his supporters and the children of him and Juliana, including the later Dutch queen, Beatrix
Beatrix of the Netherlands
Beatrix is the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands comprising the Netherlands, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and Aruba. She is the first daughter of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. She studied law at Leiden University...
.
Outside the Netherlands, a great deal was written and speculated about the Hofmans affair. On 13 June 1956 an article appeared in the German magazine Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
subtitled Zwischen Königin und Rasputin
Grigori Rasputin
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was a Russian Orthodox Christian and mystic who is perceived as having influenced the latter days of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, and their only son Alexei...
, literally meaning Between queen and Rasputin. Reportedly it was Bernhard who provided the information for the article, by which means he hoped to have Hofmans removed from the court.
Beel Commission 1956
The cabinet of Willem DreesWillem Drees
Willem Drees was a Dutch politician of the Labour Party . He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from August 7, 1948 until December 22, 1958....
banned the import of the edition of the German magazine and on 28 June 1956 appointed a commission of enquiry of former ministers Louis Beel
Louis Beel
Louis Joseph Maria Beel was a Dutch politician of the defunct Catholic People's Party now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal . He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from July 3, 1946 until August 7, 1948 and again from December 22, 1958 until May 19, 1959...
and Gerbrandy
Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy
Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy was a Dutch politician of the Anti Revolutionary Party . He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from September 3, 1940 until June 24, 1945. He was the Prime Minister of the Dutch government in exile during World War II...
and former governor-general of the Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
A. W. L. Tjarda van Starkenborgh Stachouwer, the Beel Commission. The outcome was the termination of Hofmans' contacts with the court and the reorganisation of the royal household.
Through the secrecy imposed on the official side and the self-censorship
Self-censorship
Self-censorship is the act of censoring or classifying one's own work , out of fear of, or deference to, the sensibilities of others, without overt pressure from any specific party or institution of authority...
of the Netherlands press, the Hofmans affair took on a life of its own. Some have speculated that the affair was simply a mask for a looming divorce of the royal couple.
Hofmans retained until her death followers of the higher circles, who saw in her the personification of the ideal life: sober, peaceful, free of self-interest, and directed at the fellow man. Others viewed her however as a charlatan, an intrigante and a dangerous witch, or at best a naive figure.
On 7 February 2004 Bernhard wrote in an open letter to the Volkskrant newspaper "with respect to the so-named Hofmans affair, I recall that the Beel Commission in 1956 conducted an exhaustive investigation. The report of this commission is for formal reasons still not public, therefore I express here my confidence that the eventual publication will place all those involved in this complex affair in the correct light".
Fasseur study 2008
In November 2008, the Dutch historian Cees Fasseur revealed in his book Juliana & Bernhard. Story of a marriage, 1936-1956 that Hofmans left the Dutch royal court in 1956 after receiving a letter warning that both she and Queen Juliana’s private secretary Walraven van Heeckeren would be "assassinated if she did not leave “voluntarily". The existence of the anonymous letter, signed by "the Action Committee", was kept secret until that publication. However, it was known that two members of former Dutch resistanceDutch resistance
Dutch resistance to the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands during World War II can be mainly characterized by its prominent non-violence, summitting in over 300,000 people in hiding in the autumn of 1944, tended to by some 60,000 to 200,000 illegal landlords and caretakers and tolerated knowingly...
groups had sent a letter to Queen Juliana’s mother, Wilhelmina, suggesting a violent solution for the crisis within the monarchy caused by the Hofmans’ closeness to Queen Juliana.
Author Fasseur said he did not know if Bernhard, who had close ties with the former resistance, knew about the liquidation threat – or if he perhaps gave the order to send such a threat himself. Fasseur was the first who was granted permission by the current Queen Beatrix to read files related to the affair, that had been kept in the royal archives along with the 1956 secret report of the Beel Commission. The long time secret report of the commission appeared as an appendix to Fasseur’s book in 2008.
The Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij
Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij
The Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij is a Dutch organization that investigates the claims of alternative medicine and opposes quackery. Ever since its foundation in 1881 the organization has published a magazine, currently titled Nederlands Tijdschrift tegen de Kwakzalverij...
(Dutch association against charlatans, or quackery
Quackery
Quackery is a derogatory term used to describe the promotion of unproven or fraudulent medical practices. Random House Dictionary describes a "quack" as a "fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill" or "a person who pretends, professionally or publicly, to have skill, knowledge, or...
) has ranked Hofmans in the 14th place of the top twenty charlatan
Charlatan
A charlatan is a person practicing quackery or some similar confidence trick in order to obtain money, fame or other advantages via some form of pretense or deception....
s of the 20th century in The Netherlands.