Truth about royal 'nazi salute': queen was just waving

Far from being a Hitler Sieg Heil, the gesture she was actually making was a playful royal wave. Stills from the 17-second silent film, made in 1933, show Prince Edward, the Queen Mother,

the six-year-old future Queen and her three-year-old sister, Princess Margaret, playing in the gardens at Balmoral. An expert lip reader has examined the footage and has been able to recount

the exact words used, which completely vindicate the Royals. “This film is definitely not about Nazi salutes,” said Jessica Rees. “The Queen Mother and Prince Edward are encouraging the

children to wave – the Queen then encourages her sister, Margaret, to wave.” On the film Princess Margaret says, “Oh la la la la la la,” as she sings and dances around. Her mother says: “Oh

look darlings, there she is!” referring to someone out of shot. Prince Edward says: “Yes, yes, come on, come on, give her a wave.” Princess Elizabeth shouts to Princess Margaret: “Wave!

Wave! Hellooooo.” She then says to her sister: “Now dance, dance, dance.” Their mother adds: “Yes hello, hello.” Prince Edward then shouts: “Heelllloooo!” Ms Rees, who was born deaf, is

Britain’s leading forensic lip reader. Her list of clients includes the National Crime Squad, The National Criminal Intelligence Service the Metropolitan Police and the FBI. She has spent

the last six months working for both the Imperial War Museum and the National Army Museum deciphering films taken during the First and Second World Wars to see what soldiers actually said.

Her intervention comes after claims that the footage showed the Princess and her mother were making Nazi salutes. Last night Ms Rees said: “I viewed this footage 23 times, and I am in no

doubt about what they are saying to each other. “This has nothing whatsoever to do with any Nazi salute. Anyone who says the contrary is simply wrong.” The film begins by showing young

Princess Elizabeth, aged only six, chasing after a dog. At one point she points in the air. She is then followed by her mother, and even young Margaret joins in, before her uncle, Edward,

then Prince of Wales, stretches his right arm into the air in what has been interpreted as a high Nazi salute. The suggestion drew fury and accusations of “exploitation” from royal circles

and members of the public, with the Queen’s cousin calling it “an aberration” while historian Hugo Vickers claimed it was a “deliberate attempt to besmirch all four royals”. The Queen’s

cousin, the Rt Hon Margaret Rhodes, said: “It is no secret Edward VIII was pro-appeasement but that was before the War. But we then had George VI on the throne and Queen Elizabeth (the Queen

Mother), who were very good throughout the war. And we know perfectly well she’s not a Nazi sympathizer. “People will reflect on that and think these suggestions to the contrary are an

outrage.” Royal author Margaret Holder, director of a documentary on the Queen Mother, said: “It just would make no sense for the family to be sharing a Nazi salute. They are clearly waving

at someone or something. Perhaps it’s a kite or a balloon. “Let’s not forget that, at the time, Edward was just the fun uncle who had no responsibilities and who would come to play with

them.” She added: “The Queen Mother’s sympathies were wholeheartedly with Britain and her allies against Nazi Germany – Hitler even called her the most dangerous woman in Europe, because of

the way she pulled together the national spirit. “She was pictured knitting blankets for troops in Buckingham Palace. They would walk around London after a bombing raid. “At one stage the

thought was that the she and her daughters would move to Canada, but she said ‘if the King stays, I stay and my daughters stay’. It was one of the things that helped pull the nation

together.” Royal author Mr Vickers said the leaking of the film was clearly aimed at “besmirching all four royals”. Edward was famously photographed performing a Nazi salute when he visited

Adolf Hitler in 1937. “I believe the Duke of Windsor was perfectly loyal to Britain,” he said. “If you want to criticise him, you can say he was stupid to go to Germany – misled by those who

invited him – and he had nothing to do and was therefore trying to make himself useful. “The only reason he went to Germany in 1937 to meet Hitler is because a man, Oscar Selbert, wrote to

him in London to see if could dissuade Hitler from his path. I’ve seen the papers in the Royal Archives.” Former Buckingham Palace press secretary Dickie Arbiter last night concluded that

palace officials would be investigating how the private film came to be leaked. He said: “A lot of questions have got to be asked and a lot of questions have got to be answered.”