Hape Kerkeling's "Beatrix" appearance marked its 30th anniversary
"How far can you actually go?" Hape Kerkeling seems to have asked himself this question about 30 years ago. He dressed up as Queen Beatrix and drove to Bellevue Palace in a limousine. The rest is TV history.
The action worked. It even seemed that not even the security guards could be angry with the entertainer. The whole thing was too ingenious to be perceived as malicious.
Nevertheless, many started to sweat. Because: the real queen arrived only a few minutes after Hape's performance.
What had happened?
The concept behind the prank was well thought out, yet comparatively simple. As part of the state visit of Dutch Queen Beatrix, Kerkeling dressed himself up as Beatrix and took it upon himself to have a "lekker luncheon" at Bellevue Palace. Whether they were aware at the time, even in the context of the first broadcast, that TV history was about to be made?
At least Hape, as he himself has already emphasized in several interviews, was not as self-confident as one might think. He was really afraid of possibly committing a crime.
As in "real life", however, it is well known that at some point it is too late to turn back. Especially when you have passed several safety barriers and now all eyes are on you.
Hape dared to attack the front and greeted just about everyone who came towards him with a "Hello, I'm Beatrix!". Previously, he had repeatedly tried to wave his hand in front of his face while riding in the car, so as not to blow his cover prematurely.
A prank with a happy ending
Although Kerkeling really came into his own in his role and toward the end it seemed that he was becoming increasingly comfortable, he was of course unmasked at some point. A security guard asked him whether he could assume that the entertainer would now leave the premises.
At some point, the latter had to realize for himself that he had to clear the stage for the real Beatrix, who had been announced for that day. She was then greeted by the then German President Richard von Weizsäcker and his wife Marianne and - at least at that time - got nothing out of one of the most famous pranks in German TV history, even though she played a leading role in it in a way.
"Die Echte" was then very well allowed to "lekker mittagessen" while Kerkeling withdrew. In retrospect, it is certainly a miracle that Kerkeling made it this far to Bellevue Palace at all. After all, his profile picture was printed on the Dutch flags attached to the limousine. At this point at the latest, attentive observers should have at least become skeptical.
Hape Kerkeling comes back
Hape Kerkeling fans should be happy! They will no longer see the well-known voice "only" as Olaf in "The Ice Princess", but also in connection with the "real Hape" again. The latter has announced his comeback for 2022.
It is to be shown on RTL and VOX as well as on TVnow. Those who don't want to wait that long will only have to be patient until mid-May.
Because: then he will be seen in Michael Bully Herbig's "Der Boandlkramer und die ewige Liebe" as the devil. The film will be shown on Amazon Prime Video from May 14, 2021 and deals with a special topic. Death himself falls in love! What the devil has to do with it and whether the whole thing ends well in the end remains to be seen.
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