"Swastika" on Queen Maxima's cloak raises ire in Germany; Designer denies

The cloak Queen Maxima wore on a visit to Bavaria, Germany on Thursday has the German press in uproar. The grey cloak has a piece of embroidery on the back that several people thought was a swastika. Danish designer Claes Iversen is sorry about the commotion his cloak caused. "It was obviously never my intention to make the suggested reference", he said in a statement. Jeroen Akkermans, German correspondent for RTL Nieuws, understands the commotion. According to him, especially the form and color of the coat is reminiscent of the Wehrmacht uniform. "The appearance of a distorted and incomplete swastika symbol against the background of a Wehrmacht uniform color has the charge of what you should avoid at all times in Germany", he said to the broadcaster. "The queen especially should know better." The Queen previously wore the same cloak to Denmark without comment. Justine Marcella of newspaper Vorsten thinks the commotion rather over-exaggerated. "When she wore the cloak in Denmark, nobody cared. But because it is now Germany, suddenly it becomes a thing." According to Rick Evers, freelance royalty-reporter, the design of the cloak is meant to show respect and love for craft - the offending figures were made of screws, bolts and hex keys.