Barbara Geier: Brush with royalty

One of my favourite stories to come out of Germany recently is that of the comedian who claims he’s the great-grandson of Kind Edward VII. Sounds like a joke but is, according to Hape Kerkeling, said comedian, meant seriously.

A little detour here, for readers who are not familiar with Hape (short for Hans Peter) who is probably one of Germany’s most loved entertainers. The comedian, who’ll turn 60 in December, had his breakthrough in the 1980s when at the age of only 19 he started hosting his own TV comedy show and went on to create characters that have become part and parcel of German popular culture. He’s also an actor and bestselling writer and really good at mimicking dialects and accents. This talent was crucial for his most iconic moment when, in 1991, he dressed up as Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands on the day when the Dutch monarch was on a state visit to Berlin, pretending to be her and (almost) blagging his way into Schloss Bellevue where the real queen was to meet the then President of Germany.

After this brush with royalty for comedic purposes, Hape is now telling Germany in his new partly autobiographical book “Gebt mir etwas Zeit” (Give me a little time) that there is convincing evidence proving that he is really of royal descent. Here’s the story behind it: When bored during Covid, he started his private “Who do you think you are” investigations, took a DNA test and found out that he has Dutch, Polish,Italian and British ancestors.

The latter, in particular intrigued him, and to cut a long story short, he established that his grandmother Bertha was born out of wedlock in the Bohemian spa town of Mariánské Lázně exactly nine months after King Edward VII. had been there on a visit. She then grew up, at least partly, in a castle with some European aristos that had proven close relations with King Edward VII. There’s also a letter he received years ago from a lady in Mariánské Lázně, claiming that his grandmother was the “result” of an affair of King Edward VII. with a local woman, which he dismissed as nonsense at the time.

But now, Hape is making the rounds of Germany’s chat shows, promoting his book and talking about specific DNA mutations that experts would expect to find in a direct descendant of Edward VII. – and that he has. Brilliant PR or the truth? In a newspaper interview, he said that while he wouldn’t swear on the Bible, he believes in all the evidence pointing to him being a great-grandson of Edward VII. Which, if I’m not mistaken, would make him an uncle of King Charles, right?? I wonder what he would make of his potential family relations with German comedy royalty. If anyone has access to royal circles, let me know …

Barbara Geier is a London-based freelance writer, translator and communications consultant. She is also the face behind www.germanyiswunderbar.com, a German travel and tourism guide and blog that was set up together with UK travel writer Andrew Eames in 2010.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Discover Germany, Switzerland & Austria.