Prince Bernhard of Holland

The Bilderberg Group was formed in 1954 by Prince Bernhard (Bernard) of Holland. Prince Bernhard, of The Netherlands, became the first Chairman, and served in this post until scandal forced him to resign in 1974.

The group is consisted of an estimated 120 members. These members are the wealthiest, most powerful and scholarly minds at the time of each meeting.

Each annual conference is conducted with great secracy. The delagates, from all over Europe and North America, meet and discuss world politics completely off the record. The power that these delegates command between them and the influence they have on political parties, is substantial. They are also behind the setting up of a smaller organization of approximately forty of the most powerful businessmen in Europe, who also meet to discuss how to influence European policy.

The group claims it is just a forum for discussion, but the secracy of the meetings and presence of influential figures such as the Rockerfeller family should have the press asking more questions than they do. Where are there any reports of this group in the press, you could almost call this a conspiracy?

The First meeting of the Bilderbergers was in May 1954, the first conference was held in the Hotel de Bilderberg, a secluded hotel in Holland, near the German border.

Bilderberg meetings are held at irregular intervals, but have taken place once or twice a year since 1954. All the early conferences were held in Europe, but a meeting is now held on this side of the Atlantic every few years to provide a convenient opportunity for American, and Canadian participants to attend.

The Bilderberg membership is made up of Kings, Queens, Princes, Chancellors, Prime Ministers, Presidents, Ambassadors, Secretaries of State, Wall Street investors, international bankers, news media executives, and wealthy industrialists. Their meetings are by "invitation only", and no "outsiders" in the news media are allowed, except by special invitation.

Dr Josef Retinger (right)

The man usually credited with creating the Bilderberg conferences is Dr Josef Retinger, who is shrouded in mystery.

A Polish émigré, he is said to have been, at various times, an agent for the Freemasons, the Vatican, the Mexican government and British intelligence. He was certainly well connected: legend has it he could make an appointment to see the US president just by picking up the phone.

At Retingers funeral in 1960, Sir Edward Bedington-Behrens said:

"I remember Retinger in the United States picking up the telephone and immediately making an appointment with the President, and in Europe he had complete entrée in every political circle as a kind of right acquired through trust, devotion and loyalty he inspired."