Hun fun
Sir: Michael Samuelson (Letters, 23 May) expresses his satisfaction with the roles which the Imperial Chancellor von Billow and General Karl von Mow arguably played in Germany's defeat in the first world war. I accept neither credit nor blame for the Prussian branch of my family. However, since Prince von Billow only came to power after the fatal abrogation of the Three Emperors' Alliance, and since he was sacked in 1909 for opposing his erratic Kaiser, his responsibility must be a matter of opinion.
Some of my beastly Prussian relatives have in fact served the British cause. One commanded Marlborough's cavalry at the Battle of Blenheim and another command- ed Blucher's Third Corps, and it was their arrival at a crucial moment which turned the tide at Waterloo. Today, my Danish compatriots are gallantly opposing the Eurocrats in Brussels. Auntie Alice von Schlieffen would be proud of them. Claus von Bidow
109 Onslow Square, London SW7
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