Operation Blue Thread

Our dear reader Antonio Orefice has shared some rare royal images over the past few months and has now written about the extraordinary ‘Operation Blue Thread’, a secret British Cold War-era plan for the evacuation of thirty-eight German Royal Relatives of the British Royal Family in the event of a Soviet invasion of West Germany.

In the early 1960s, there was a great fear that the Soviets would move into West Germany. Britain made plans to evacuate 38 German royals. Operation Blue Thread would have included three military transport aircraft and “an unspecified number of servicemen to collect and fly the Germans, known for short as the ‘royal relatives,” from different parts of Germany.

Once the British ambassador released the codeword “Aquila,” British servicemen were to collect and transport the relatives, where were permitted to bring 100lbs of baggage and one servant each, to one of three airfields, where the royals would be flown to Lyon, France. Although there was some criticism in German circles about this proposed plan – which never came about – most people didn’t realize the various connections to the British royal house. The plans and the list of the royal relatives, prepared by the Foreign Office, were made public in 2005.

The list included Prince Philip’s three surviving sisters, two brothers-in-law and 13 of their 16 children (the Duke’s eldest nieces were already married and lived outside Germany).

The Duke of Edinburgh’s eldest sister, Princess Margarita, was married to Gottfried, the 8th Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, son of Ernst II, the 7th Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. She had five children: Kraft, the 9th Prince of Hohenlhoe-Langeburg, Princess Beatrix, Prince Georg Andreas and the twins Prince Rupprecht and Prince Albrecht.

His second sister, Princess Theodora, married Berthold, the Margrave of Baden, son of Prince Maximilian, the last Chancellor of Imperial Germany, and Princess Marie Louise of Hanover and Cumberland. They had three children: Princess Margarita, the Hereditary Prince Maximilian and Prince Ludwig. Their eldest daughter Princess Margarita, had married Prince Tomislav of Yugoslavia in 1957 and was living in England.

Prince Philip’s fourth sister, Princess Sophie, first married Prince Christoph of Hesse, son of Friederich Karl, the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel and Princess Margaret of Prussia, who died in WWII, and then Prince George William of Hanover, son of Prince Ernst August of Hanover, the Duke of Brunswick and Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia. From her first marriage, five children were born: Princess Christina, Princess Dorothea, Prince Karl, Prince Rainer and Princess Clarissa. From her second marriage, three more children were born: Prince Welf Ernest, Prince George and Princess Frederica.

Her eldest daughters were also already married and lived outside of Germany. Princess Christina had wed Prince Andrej of Yugoslavia in 1956 and lived in England, while Princess Dorothea had married Prince Friedrich Karl of Windisch-Graetz in 1959 and lived in Italy.

Others on the list included Princess Victoria Louise, Duchess of Brunswick the only daughter of Kaiser Wilhelm II. In May 1913, she married Prince Ernst August of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick. Their wedding was the last grand royal occasion before the outbreak of World War I. Victoria Louise’ s wedding was also the final meeting between three cousins: Kaiser Wilhelm II, George V and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.

Also included: her eldest son, Ernest Augustus, the Prince of Hanover, his wife Princess Ortrud and their six children, as well as her youngest son Prince Welf Henry with his wife Princess Alexandra.

At first glance, some may wonder why these royals were on a protected list. The Hanovers were also British royals, even though in 1917, the family lost their British titles when King George V announced the new family name of Windsor, and limited the HRH and the title of Prince and Princess to the children and the grandchildren of the sovereign in the male line (and the Prince of Wales’s eldest son’s eldest son). In 1931, the Duke of Brunswick issued a non-binding decree, stating that his male line would continue to use the British titles due to being the only direct male line descended from King George III. Members of the Hanover royal family continue to use the older British title: prince or princess of Great Britain and Ireland and most of them also continue to seek permission to marry, according to the Royal Marriages Act 1772.

The elderly Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was born Princess Alexandra of Hanover and Cumberland, and as a British princess her name appeared on the list of royal relatives included in the Operation. When Alexandra married Grand Duke Frederick Francis IV of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1904, she had to seek formal consent from her uncle, King Edward VII.

Carl Theodor, the Count zu Toerring-Jettenbach and his children Countess Helene and Count Hans Veit were also on the list. He was the widower of Princess Elisabeth of Greece and Denmark, sister of Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent. His daughter had married Archduke Ferdinand of Austria in 1956 and they had three children.

Prince Louis of Hesse and by Rhine and his british-born wife, Margaret were also on the list. They were much loved by the British royal family: Prince Louis, the Head of the House of Hesse and by Rhine, was a first cousin to Prince Philip’s mother and his elder brother, Hereditary Grand Duke Georg Donatus, had been married to the Duke of Edinburgh’s sister, Princess Cecilie, before their tragic deaths in the Ostend plane crash in 1937.

Thank You to Antonio Orefice for sharing the extraordinary plan with us!