Buckingham Palace: Use of Queen Elizabeth's "Nazi salute" footage "disappointing"
Xinhua, July 19, 2015 Adjust font size:
Buckingham Palace Saturday voiced its concern over local tabloid The Sun's decision to publish the footage from 1933 showing Britain's Queen Elizabeth performing a "Nazi salute" as a young girl.
A spokesman of the palace said it was "disappointing that film, shot eight decades ago and apparently from her Majesty's personal family archive, has been obtained and exploited in this manner".
In the 17-second black and white footage, the Queen was shown to be playing with a dog on the lawn in the gardens of Balmoral, where the Queen Mother raised her arm in the style of a Nazi salute and the Queen mimicked the gesture, according to The Sun. Prince Edward, the future Edward VIII, was also seen raising his arm in the footage.
The Sun said the footage they published is just one of several copies of the original film, but refused to disclose who provided them the copy.
The newspaper said in an editorial that it had published the footage to provide an insight into the life of Edward, who renounced the throne in 1936 to marry Wallis Simpson. He was succeeded by his younger brother, George VI, Queen Elizabeth's father. Endit