The Sun, The Queen, a nazi salute

[Goldcotton]

DM link as the Sun is behind a paywall

She was 7 at the time. Muck raking at its finest by the Sun

I have to question what the sun will gain by printing this picture in the paper this week. It doesn't actually mean anything. A child doing a nazi salute would be quite a common thing in the 1930s. As the association between it and later atrocities had not yet been made. I am not a royal apologist by any means (as I find the royal family completely out of touch with ordinary people and tend not to behave as you might expect them to) but do think it's a rather extraordinary thing to publish

I think it is disgraceful that they are making a big thing of a 7 year old action 80 years ago, although I do believe the Sun had the right to publish it.

However thank god for Edward's abdication, it was well known he was a Nazi sympathiser who claimed that German was his mother tongue.

It is not about the queen, but about the whole of her family and the ruling class of which she was a part, which had abominable attitude, powered by a fear of Communism and meeting a latent anti Semitism. I think it is good that this is finally being publicly discussed.

Because it's a private family film? Presumably it's been stolen by someone

Is that it? Is that a sufficient reason?

If an MP was caught today doing a Nazi salute using his own private camera and the footage was released, should it not be published?

Why do people still make the comparison with the private lives of average Joe and the private life of someone who has the power to shape policy and profoundly affect people's lives?

I have to question what the sun will gain by printing this picture in the paper this week. It doesn't actually mean anything. A child doing a nazi salute would be quite a common thing in the 1930s. As the association between it and later atrocities had not yet been made.

That's disingenuous. The royal family continued to support the Nazis well in to their campaign of fear and intimidation. They only 'switched' when it because apparent the Nazis were a threat to national and international security.

I agree with blacksunday. This isn't about the Queen, it's about the more senior members of the royal family (the future Edward VIII and the Queen Mother) who were apparently encouraging the children to give the Nazi salute. Edward was a well-known Nazi sympathiser, and yes, by 1933/34, people did know what the Nazis were about. I also doubt that children throughout the UK were giving the Nazi salute in mockery - I suspect that that happened much later when the Nazis became the enemy.

Ironic, the OP used a DM link. I wonder if Lord Rothermere took that picture ?

I knew before I saw the picture that Edward would be in it. He was a known Nazi sympathiser. (thanks, Wallis!)

the shame is not on the children in the picture, but the adults. Both of whom are long dead.

looks like our cuddly gin-swilling QM had her moments too, doesn't it?

I have a picture, if I have the courage I will put it on my page ...

It is of my granddad, aged 12, giving the Nazi salute in his scout's uniform as one of about 15 or so doing the same thing. Blond, blue eyes, the archetypical English Ayran. 1935.

Five years later, he was flying his Hurricane in the Battle of Britain. Thirty seven kills. Shot down twice, wounded 3 times, two trips to Buckingham Palace and finally invalided out of the RAF in 1941 with horrible injuries.

Just goes to show, what crap the newspapers try to peddle when they show photos taken right out of context, just to make a few pennies...