Juliana of the Netherlands

Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (Juliana Emma Louise Wilhelmina van Oranje-Nassau) (April 30, 1909 – March 20, 2004), Princess of Orange-Nassau, Duchess of Mecklenburg, Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld, was Queen of the Netherlands from her mother's abdication in 1948 to her own abdication in 1980 and Queen Mother (with the title of Princess) from 1980 to 2004.

Exile

The European political climate was already extremely tense from the growing threat of Nazi Germany and this was added to in the Netherlands when Hitler hinted that the Royal marriage was a sign of an alliance between the Netherlands and Germany. An angry Queen Wilhelmina quickly made a public denunciation of Hitler's remark but the incident caused further resentment over Juliana's choice for a husband. Further revelations of Prince Bernhard's past conduct added to the growing resentment amongst many of the Dutch people but after the German invasion on May 10, 1940, his actions would do a great deal to change public opinion to his favour.

Related Topics:
Nazi Germany - May 10 - 1940

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During the war and German occupation of the Netherlands the Prince and Princess decided to leave the Netherlands with their two daughters for the United Kingdom. The Princess remained there for a month before taking the children to Ottawa, the capital of Canada, where she lived in the suburb of Rockcliffe Park.

Related Topics:
The war - United Kingdom - Suburb - Rockcliffe Park

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Some people regard this as an act of cowardice of the government and the entire royal family, fleeing the country and leaving the Dutch people under Nazi occupation.

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Juliana quickly endeared herself to the Canadian people, displaying simple warmth, asking that she and her children be treated as just another family during difficult times. In the city of Ottawa, where few people recognized her, Princess Juliana sent her two daughters to public school, did her own grocery buying and shopped at Woolworth's Department Store. She enjoyed going to the movies and often would stand innocuously in the line-up to purchase her ticket. When her next door neighbour was about to give birth, the Princess of the Netherlands offered to baby-sit the woman's other children.

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When her third child Margriet was born, the Parliament of Canada passed a special law declaring Princess Juliana's rooms at the Ottawa Civic Hospital as extraterritorial so that the infant would have exclusively Dutch, not dual nationality. Had these arrangements not occurred, Princess Margriet would not be in the line of succession. The Canadian government flew the Dutch tricolour flag on parliament's Peace Tower while its carillon rang out with Dutch music at the news of Princess Margriet's birth. Prince Bernhard, who had remained in London with Queen Wilhelmina and members of the exiled Dutch government, was able to visit his family in Canada and to be there for Margriet's birth.

Related Topics:
Margriet - Parliament of Canada - Line of succession - Prince Bernhard - London

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Princess Juliana's genuine warmth and the gestures of her Canadian hosts created a lasting bond which was reinforced when Canadian soldiers fought and died by the thousands in 1944 and 1945 to liberate the Netherlands from the Nazis. On May 2, 1945 she returned by a military transport plane with Queen Wilhelmina to the liberated part of the Netherlands, rushing to Breda to set up a temporary Dutch government. At home though, she expressed her gratitude to Canada by sending the city of Ottawa 100,000 tulip bulbs. The following year (1946), Juliana donated another 20,500 bulbs, with the request that a portion of these be planted at the grounds of the Ottawa Civic Hospital where she had given birth to Margriet. At the same time, she promised Ottawa an annual gift of tulips during her lifetime to show her lasting appreciation for Canada's war-time hospitality. Each year Ottawa hosts a Tulip Festival, in recognition of this gift.

Related Topics:
1944 - 1945 - Nazis - May 2 - Breda - 1946 - Tulip Festival

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