Do Mention the War?

In the minds of many thousands of Britons, it is something they would never expect from the Germans. In fact, Brits have made a point of not doing it while in the company of Germans because of the sensitivity of the subject.

But now, with Queen Elizabeth II due in Germany next month on a state visit, it is alleged that the Germans are actively encouraging the monarch to disregard Basil Fawlty's advice and "do mention the war."

A report in the conservative British newspaper Daily Express suggests that the queen, who will have talks with German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and President Horst Köhler during her trip in the first week of November, is being put under pressure by the German government to apologize for the firebombing of Dresden in 1945.

Royal denials

The Royal family has denied any such pressure.

"We have not been asked for an apology," Penny Russell-Smith, a royal spokesperson, told German news magazine Der Spiegel in response to the Daily Express headline: "Germans Want the Queen to Say Sorry for War."

Russell-Smith alluded to the queen's own personal experience of the war and her sympathy to those affected by it.

"The queen is very conscious of the suffering of all people during the war," she said, adding that the queen had made a donation to the fund for the rebuilding of Dresden's monuments and will also take part in benefit concert to raise money for completing the city's rebuilt Frauenkirche while in Germany.

British press notes German memory loss

Meanwhile at home, the British paper made it very clear about how it felt about an apology.

"It would be completely wrong if the queen apologized for the bombardment of German towns in the Second World War or even for her to express regret," the paper wrote in its editorial. "Lately, the Germans have been keen to forget about history. Maybe they have forgotten that it was they who started the war."

Germany has changed its attitude towards World War II in recent times thanks to a leadership without any direct relationship with the war years that's intent on moving away from the guilt complex that has dogged previous generations.

John Cleese line may be good advice

But it may be prudent for the Germans to stick to the Fawlty Towers line and not mention the war, especially as the queen's husband, Prince Phillip, is accompanying her.

The Duke of Edinburgh, a man who once asked a delegation of Australian aborigines if they still threw spears at each other, is not renowned for his tolerance of foreigners or his tact.

Any attempt to extract an apology may prompt a re-enactment of a certain infamous "goose-stepping" scene from the unapologetic consort and a possible international crisis.