Queen Wilhelmina

[Prince_Lieven]

I thought this remarkable woman deserved her own thread. Feel free to add info, pics, anecdotes etc.

I shall begin by saying that Winston Churchill once confessed that Queen Wilhelima was the only woman he was a little afraid of!  

[Lucien]

And he knew what he was saying,grin.....,and thanks Prince_Lieven,Queen Wilhelmina certainly was a remarkeble and fascinating character.

IIRC Winston Churchill also referred to Her as being the only man on Europes Thrones,the names and anecdotes that history attached to her are numerous and,sometimes legendary.I gladly oblige to write/tell more,but that would deprive me of my badly needed sleep now.So,if you excuse me,I wish to retire be it with a grin,as you must have known I was on-line and a thread like this would get me a-going again.Ah,don't the Irish ever sleep?....Lucien.  

[Lucien]

The death of Queen Wilhelmina in 1962 marked the end of an era,and that is not just a popular phrase.

During her life,1880 - 1962,she witnessed more than anyone could/can comprehend.Born in the age that Queen Victoria ruled dear Britain,the Hohenzollerns were high and mighty,and the Romanovs ruled supreme in dear Imperial Russia,all previous three,along with others,the subject on numerous threads here in this Forum,just  try to imagine.To do justice to her one really has to transfer into that era.

The only daughter of HM King Willem III and Queen Emma,Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria  was born at Nooreinde Palace,The Hague on august 31st 1880.

At the time of her birth,her brother Alexander was Heir to the Throne,but he died on june 21st of 1884,and from that moment on the little Princess was Heir Presumptive.Wilhelmina and Alexander never met,as the latter was alienated from his father the King.

Home to Wilhelmina was Het Loo Palace,Apeldoorn,and that remained so for the rest of her life.She was quite lonely and most of her "company"consisted of Courtiers of considerable age.On rare occasions children,and grandchildren of the most prominent courtiers were invited to play.

From the age of 7,a gouverness was appointed,Miss Saxton Winter,as well as a "supervisor"to the upbringing of the little Princess,Miss van de Poll.A teacher was appointed,Mr.Gedeking,and those three "molded"the Princess.Mother Emma often attended classes of her daughter as well,it was,at times,difficult to Wilhelmina to have her mother watching over her shoulder,as one can well imagine.Queen Emma,from a very early age "impregnated" Wilhelmina with not just the word,but more the meaning of Duty.

Wilhelmina was strongwilled,and from time to time collided with her tutor.Things really changed in 1890 as her father died,and from that moment on Wilhelmina was Queen of the Netherlands.Anything and everything was set in force to educate the young Queen as she would ascend the Throne by the age of 18.In 1896,at the age of 16 the young Queen visited her "dear Sister Queen Victoria at Windsor,(QV spoke quite favorably of her,at that time)....
September 6th 1898 saw the Inthronisation of Queen Wilhelmina in the Nieuwe Kerk,Amsterdam.(The venue, as stated in our Constitution,for the Inthronisation of all Dutch Monarchs.

That Queen Wilhelmina was strongwilled was shown not long after that.South Africa,and thus the British Empire,was involved in the Boer war.The Boers,originating from the Netherlands,and more so it's leader Paul Kruger,had to sympathy of Her Majesty.She send a navy destroyer to SA to fetch Mr.Kruger,an act that was more then frowned upon by not just "Her dear Sister Queen Victoria"only.Nonetheless it was obvious to all that this young Queen was a person to be reckoned with.
The young Queen was not married,and a suitor was not in sight,allthough before the Boer war,eyes were directed to Britain as find a possible suitor,that all seized to be the case due to the Boer War and the Queens actions.Germany was focused upon,much to the delight of the Kaiser,as he "saw"maybe one of his sons being the Queens future spouse.But eventually,on october 12th 1900 the young Queen was engaged to Heinrich of Mecklenburg Schwerin,and married on february 7th 1901 at the Grote Kerk,The Hague.  

To be continued,Lucien.

[Lucien]

Today,august 31st is the 125th anniversary of the birth of Wilhelmina Helena Pauline of Orange Nassau.Born at Noordeinde Palace,The Hague in 1880.From november 1890 till september 6th 1948 Queen of the Netherlands.

[Lucien]

This choice(Prince Hendrik)was seen as "harmless".It was important that the choice of the future husband of Wilhelmina wouldn't interfere with the policy of strict neutrality of the Dutch government.So a Hohenzollern was out of the question,as that might be looked upon as snuggling up to Germany.Prussia had provided candidates here there and everywhere in that era.

Moreover the Kaiser wasn't particurarely liked,to put it mildly.In his letters to Queen Wilhelmina he referred to her as "mein lieber cousine",meanwhile his lieber cousine did everything to keep him at arms lenght and more,as did Queen Mother Emma.The latter disliked the Hohenzollerns for more then one reason,one of them being that her uncle had chosen the wrong side during the last Prussian-Austrian War and was "punished"by Wilhelm I by loosing his Dukedom,Emma never forgave.

There is a remarkeble correspondence dating from march 1900 in which Wilhelmina requested the Kaiser to be a mediator in order to end the Boer War.His reply came swift and he stated:"Heavens revenge would befall upon England some day",and announced the build up of a strong naval fleet,preferably manned by men of the Dutch-Frisian race under the mutual banner of Orange and Brandenburg.(Willy's megalomania must have gotten the better of him),anyway,that was too much for Wilhelmina's liking,and she refrained from going further on the issue.

The honeymoon of Wilhelmina and Hendrik,at Het Loo Palace didn't last too long,just a few days,until duty called upon Wilhelmina.The dutch government didn't give in to her request for an allowance for Prince Hendrik as Prince Hendrik as Prince Consort was entitled to in her opinion.That,eventually,proved to be penny wise and pound foolish.Hendrik had a(small) allowance from the Mecklenburgs,and depended for the rest on Wilhelmina's purse,and she wasn't known to throw it by the bucket,so most of the time Hendrik was without funds.

to be continued

[Lucien]

One year after their wedding Queen Wilhelmina gave birth to a stillborn son,followed by several miscarriages in the next years,until finally on april 30th 1909 a daughter was born,Princess Juliana.

The marriage at that time was already deteriorating beyond repair,and it got worse.Prince Hendrik hadn't much to do besides promoting sport for youngsters and scouting.He took a different approach to "scouting"as he became involved with several ladies,and an entourage of friends that left him with debts.Wilhelmina,nonetheless took "care of that",but eventually both didn't speak anymore,nothing,for a long time.

Wilhelmina had a strong sympathy for the military,and from very early on in her Reign interfeared with politics,specially the Defence as she was aware long before it happened that war in Europe was inevitible.
Time after time she stepped beyond the border of what is expected of a Constitutional Monarch,and thus instead of standing above parties,became one herself.And she was a force to be reckond with,Wilhelmina wished very much to be a "soldier Queen"both in times of peace and war.Her examples par excellence were her ancestors Willem The Silent and the King-Stadtholder William III.She got her way,eventually(1908),with modernising the dutch forces as she was convinced that a strong defence was important to the nations independence.

The Netherlands remained strictly neutral towards both sides in WWI.

Being a granddaughter of Queen Anna Paulowna,néé GrandDuchess of Russia,as well as a Monarch,Wilhelmina was appalled and deeply shocked by the murder of the Tsar and his Family,as was she as the Thrones of Europe tumbled down.It left a deep impression on her,Monarchie wasn't taken for granted after WWI anymore,and instead of a rule became an exception.

As the Kaiser arrived by train in the southern dutch town of Eysden requesting asylum,she granted it.Throughout his stay here she kept a distance towards him,and she never understood why the Kaiser fled his country as that was in total contradiction of Wilhelmina's sence of duty,courage and love for the nation a Monarch is due.

[Prince_Lieven]

Thank you so much, Lucien.   I have learned a lot about this great lady that I did not know - like her reaction to the Romanovs deaths. Thanks again and please keep posting!  

[Lucien]

I add a link to a photo site about Het Loo Palace,home of Queen Wilhelmina,as it is now.The Palace was restored to its original 17th century proportions after the Royal Family gave up using it as Their summer residence in the early 1970's.

The Palace is a Museum now,but on occasion still used by the Royal Family,fe,for baptising ceremonies and other both formal/informal events.Enjoy!Lucien.

Courtesy: Caroline

http://members.tripod.com/het-loo/index.html

as well as the official site of the museum Paleis Het Loo:

http://www.paleishetloo.nl/

and a link to one of my favorite sites:

http://www.europeanroyalresidences.com/

[Prince_Lieven]

Thanks, Lucien. Het Loo is a beautiful palace . . .  

[Lucien]

Except for some well wishings on occasion of both their birthdays,there hardly ever was contact,let alone that they(Wilhelmina and Wilhelm II) ever met.Granting asylum was one thing.Out of courtesy however,Wilhelmina did send flowers on occasion of the Kaisers marriage to Hermine Reuss.The Allies requested time after time for Wilhelm,but Wilhelmina never gave in.

She really deeply felt she was Wilhelmina Helena Pauline,by The Grace of God,Queen of The Netherlands,Princess of Orange Nassau etc etc...
Gods choosen one,and just one little step down from that,she was very much aware she descended from a long line of illustriuous ancestors,Willem The Silent and King-Stadtholder Willem III,her examples par excellence as how to lead a Nation.She wished her Reign to be as glorious as theirs.The country barely survived its strict neutrality policy,the pressure on her must have been immense,not the pressure from others,but that that was within her.Wilhelmina's character was quite complex.

It is difficult to define her,many have tryed and still couldn't really get "around her",let alone that I can.
During WW I there was the Wilhelmina that time and time again inspected her troops,often at the most untimely hours,and preferebly unannounced,even when not at war but High alert just in case,she was among her soldiers.The Officers in command were questioned into every detail,and they better came up with a plausible answer,if not,Wilhelmina "showed her temper"there and then".She was notorious for her temper,she herself referring to her  Russian blood as being the cause,....while grinning.....

There was one "little incident"during the war.Prince Hendrik got notion that his brother served with his regiment just across the Dutch/Belgian border.Naive,but nonetheless enthousiastic the Prince thought it a wonderfull idea to go meet his brother,paying him a visit.And he set off.Hendrik was already near the border by the time Wilhelmina got wind of it,and Commanded/ordered his immediate return.Hendrik didn't think much of it,he just wanted to see his brother,but obeyed his wife.There's nothing on record as to their "conversation"afterwards,as one can well imagine.Conversation could be to much for a word,as they communicated by little notes.

The Kingdom of The Netherlands at that time was not only the little spot in the North of Europe,but was extended to the Dutch Antilles(caribbean),Suriname(south-america)and last but certainly not least the Dutch East Indies,present day Indonesia as well as New-Guinea. In the latter,Queen Wilhelmina was represented by the Resident(Governor-General) in Batavia(present day Djakarta).  

[anna]

Thank you Lucien, Wilhelmina is indeed a remarkable woman.
I always wondered why our royal family had so little or no contact with the Romanovs. As far as I know I never read about any meetings. Lucien, can you tell me more about this?

Anna

[Lucien]

You are right Anna,Queen Wilhelmina never met Nicky and Alix and the children,but there was correspondence.

Wilhelmina's grandmother,Anna Paulowna was the sister of both Tsar Alexander I and Tsar Nicholas I,thus an aunt to Alexander II,the grandfather of Nicholas II.
At least until the death of Queen Anna Paulowna in 1865 there were warm relations between the Dutch Royal House and the Imperial Russia of the Romanovs,and her brothers,the Tsars visited her here at Soestdijk Palace,the (then Queen Mother)summer Residence,occasionally.Her brothers owed an inmense sum from her husband,the King Willem II(died in 1849).As the King left her with incredible debts,Anna Paulowna payed her Family back by giving most of the Great Masters Paintings Collection,presently at the Hermitage in St.Petersburg.(It houses the largest Rembrandt collection worldwide due to this,and van Dijck's,Rubens etc etc)

Anna's daughter,Sophie,became GrandDuchess of Saxen-Weimar-Eisenach by her marriage,and she maintained relations with her Russian family,more than her brother Willem III.When Anna's children were still young they all had been to St.Petersburg,visiting their relatives there.But after Willem III came to the Throne,relations were a little "twisted"due to the rather"complex"family relations.

Willem III's first spouse,Queen Sophie,néé von Wurttemberg,was the daughter of a step-sister of Anna Paulowna,this Sophie loathed Anna and vice versa,and there's were the "twisted relations" occurred.

Ofcourse after WW I any contact was out of the question as the Romanovs ceased to rule,and those that did survive were causing havoc among themselves.

The only contact with a member of the Romanovs is between Wilhelmina's daughter Juliana and GrandDuchess Kyra,as she attended the wedding of GrandDuches Kyra and Prince Louis Ferdinand at Huis Doorn,the residence of the exciled Kaiser.

Juliana and Kyra remained friends throughout their lives.In 1962 both Kyra and Louis Ferdinand were guests at the Silver Wedding celebrations of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard.

What now??New presentator of Blauw Bloed?See you later!Lucien.  

[Prince_Lieven]

Thanks for the info Lucien! Queen Wilhelmina was easily as interesting a personality as Queen Victoria!  

[Lucien]

As I mentioned our former colonies above,here's a link to a gift,in 1936,to Queen Wilhelmina's daughter,
our beloved late Queen Juliana,by the Colonies in the East.

http://www.royal-magazin.de/niederlande/armband.html

Once again Courtesy to Ursula's incredible site

[Prince_Lieven]

Beauitful . . . do you think a thread on BeNeLux royal jewels would be popular?