Could the royal family be adding another member to its ranks? A German man is claiming that he’s the long-lost brother of Prince Charles, the product of an affair between Prince Philip and a Nazi soldier’s German wife.
German Man Claims Prince Philip Is His Real Father
In a 2005 book, Tommy Boy, Gunther Focke shared his story, alleging that he is the illegitimate love child of a married German barmaid and the British officer who would later go on to marry Queen Elizabeth.
After learning “the truth” about his father, Focke was determined to be acknowledged by Philip and the rest of the royals. However, he claims Buckingham Palace threatened him, trying to get him to stay silent. “I don’t want to hurt the Royal family,” Focke wrote in his book. “But I need some sense of closure and I won’t get it until Prince Philip admits he’s my father.”
Focke says that the palace refused to cooperate with him for a DNA test, but that his resemblance to Charles is proof enough. “I even have the same ears as him,” Focke said. “I don’t think anyone could doubt my claims once they see these photos.” While Philip was still alive, Focke said, “I could get a sample of his hair illicitly. But that would be very unfair because all I want is for him to come out and say he is my father.”
The Wartime Relationship
In his book, Focke revealed the details of Philip and his mother’s relationship. In 1945, Philip allegedly seduced Focke’s mother, Marie-Karoline. At the time, Philip was the first lieutenant on board a destroyer called HMS Whelp. The ship’s log corroborates Focke’s claim that the prince was in Germany, showing that Philip was there at the time of the supposed relationship. Marie-Karoline’s husband, a Nazi soldier named Herrmann, was missing in action and presumed dead. The Fockes shared two daughters together.
Marie-Karoline got pregnant three months after the war ended in Europe. She was unaware that Philip was also courting Elizabeth as he continued to visit Germany and see her. Following Focke’s birth, the prince reportedly even tried to persuade Marie-Karoline to let him take the baby back to England.
According to Focke, his mother didn’t know he was already engaged to Elizabeth, but refused to let Philip take Focke. She never saw him again. Packages of food from England regularly showed up at their house, but there is no way to prove that they were sent by Philip.
Focke endured violent attacks from his mother’s husband, Herrmann, who was not dead, but a POW. He was also mercilessly teased by the other children for being a “Tommy Boy” – an illegitimate child fathered by British soldiers.
‘I Have A Right To Know Who My Father Really Is’
Focke didn’t find out “the truth” about his father until 1994 when his grandmother told him on the way to his mother’s funeral. “I vowed to meet him in an attempt to understand my own true identity,” said Focke. However, the palace repeatedly blew him off, even making veiled threats. In 1995, he finally met with the Duke’s private secretary, Brigadier Miles Hunt-Davis, who claimed Philip wasn’t in Germany when Focke’s mother became pregnant.
“My only aim has always been public acknowledgment of my father’s identity,” insisted Focke who moved to England in the 1960s. “I don’t want to hurt the royal family – but I have a right to know who my father really is,” he wrote in his book. With the recent death of Prince Philip, it now seems as if Focke will never know the truth about who his real father is.
