Juliana (Dutch pronunciation:[jyliˈjaːnaː]ⓘ; Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina; 30 April 1909 – 20 March 2004) wasQueen of the Netherlands from 1948 until her abdication in 1980.
Due to Wilhelmina's failing health, Juliana took over royal duties briefly in 1947 and 1948. In September 1948, Wilhelmina abdicated and Juliana ascended to the Dutch throne. Her reign saw thedecolonization and independence of theDutch East Indies andSuriname. Despite a series of controversies involving the royal family, Juliana remained a popular figure among the Dutch.
In April 1980, Juliana abdicated in favour of her eldest daughter,Beatrix. Upon her death in 2004 at the age of 94, she was the longest-lived former reigning monarch in the world.
29-year-old Queen Wilhelmina with the long-awaited heir presumptive, Princess Juliana
Juliana was born on 30 April 1909 atNoordeinde Palace inThe Hague, the only child of the reigning Dutch monarch,Queen Wilhelmina. Her father wasDuke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.[1] She was the first Dutch royal baby since Wilhelmina herself was born in 1880. Wilhelmina had suffered two miscarriages and had given birth to a premature and stillborn son, raising the prospect of a succession crisis.
The Queen's nearest relative wasPrince Heinrich XXXII Reuss of Köstritz, whose close ties toGermany made him unpopular in the Netherlands, leading to concerns that if Wilhelmina died without an heir, he would turn the Netherlands into a puppet state of Germany. Juliana's birth thus assured the royal family's survival. Her mother suffered two further miscarriages after her birth, leaving Juliana as the royal couple's only child. According to several sources Juliana was happy to be an only child because that meant she did not have to fight for attention.[2]
As the Dutch constitution specified that Princess Juliana should be ready to succeed to the throne by the age of eighteen, her education proceeded at a faster pace than that of most children. After five years of primary education, the Princess received her secondary education (to pre-university level) from private tutors.
On 30 April 1927, Princess Juliana celebrated her eighteenth birthday. Under the constitution, she had officially come of age and was entitled to assume the royal prerogative, if necessary. Two days later her mother installed her in the "Raad van State" ("Council of State").
Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard celebrate their engagement announcement in Amsterdam
In the 1930s, Queen Wilhelmina began a search for a suitable husband for her daughter. At the time, theHouse of Orange-Nassau was one of the most strictly religious royal families in the world, and it was very difficult to find aProtestant prince who suited their standards. Princes from theUnited Kingdom andSweden were "vetted" but either declined or were rejected by the princess.
At the1936 Winter Olympics inBavaria, she metPrince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld, a youngGerman Prince who was her 7th cousin, as both descended fromLebrecht, Prince of Anhalt-Zeitz-Hoym.[3] His rank and religion were suitable; so Princess Juliana's royal engagement was arranged by her mother. Princess Juliana fell deeply in love with her fiancé, a love that was to last a lifetime and that withstood separation during the war and Bernhard's extramarital affairs and illegitimate children. Queen Wilhelmina, by then the richest woman in the world, left nothing to chance. Wilhelmina had her lawyers draw up aprenuptial agreement that specified exactly what the German-born prince could and could not do, and what money he would receive from the royal estate. The couple's engagement was announced on 8 September 1936.
Juliana with her husband and daughters in Ottawa in 1943
When her third child,Princess Margriet, was born on 19 January 1943, Governor GeneralLord Athlone grantedroyal assent toa special law declaring Princess Juliana's rooms at theOttawa Civic Hospital to beextraterritorial in order that the infant would have exclusively Dutch, notdual nationality.[6] Had these arrangements not been made, Princess Margriet would not be in theline of succession. The Canadian government flew the Dutch tricolour flag on parliament'sPeace Tower while itscarillon rang out with Dutch music at the news of Princess Margriet's birth. Prince Bernhard, who had remained inLondon to assist his mother in law Queen Wilhelmina and the government with operating in exile, was able to visit his family in Canada and be there for Margriet's birth. 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 theNazis. She returned with Queen Wilhelmina by a military transport plane to the liberated part of the Netherlands on 2 May 1945, rushing toBreda to set up a temporary Dutch government. Once home, she expressed her gratitude to Canada by sending the city of Ottawa 100,000 tulip bulbs. Juliana erected a wooden lectern and brass plaque which is dedicated in thanks to theSt. Andrew's Presbyterian Church (Ottawa) for their hospitality during her residence in Ottawa.
On 24 June 1945, she sailed on theRMSQueen Elizabeth fromGourock,Scotland, to theUnited States, listing her last permanent residence asLondon,England. 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 theCanadian Tulip Festival in celebration of this gift.
On 2 May 1945, Princess Juliana was returned with her mother to Dutch soil. Initially they lived in temporary quarters atAnneville just south ofBreda. Juliana took part in the post-war relief operation for the people in the northern part of the country who had suffered through starvation during theHunger Winter of 1944–1945, which had taken the lives of many of her countrymen. She was very active as the president of theDutch Red Cross and worked closely with the National Reconstruction organization. Her down-to-earth manner endeared her to her people so much that a majority of the Dutch people would soon want Queen Wilhelmina to abdicate in favour of her daughter. In the spring of 1946 Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard visited the countries that had helped the Netherlands during the occupation.
During her pregnancy with her last child,Marijke Christina, Princess Juliana contractedrubella. The girl was born in 1947 withcataracts in both eyes and was soon diagnosed as almost totally blind in one eye and severely limited in the other. Despite her blindness, Christina, as she was called, was a happy and gifted child with a talent for languages and an ear for music. Over time, and with advances in medical technology, her eyesight did improve such that with thick glasses, she could attend school and even ride a bicycle. However, before that happened, her mother, the Princess, clinging to any thread that offered some hope for a cure, came under the strong influence ofGreet Hofmans, afaith healer withheterodox beliefs, who was considered by "her many detractors" to be a sham.[5]
Wilhelmina's increasingly precarious health made it increasingly difficult for her to perform her duties. Juliana was forced to take over asregent from 14 October to 1 December 1947. Wilhelmina seriously considered abdicating in favour of Juliana at the end of 1947, but Juliana urged her mother to stay on the throne so she could celebrate hergolden jubilee in 1948. However, Wilhelmina was forced by further health problems to relinquish her royal duties to Juliana once again on 4 May 1948.
Juliana swearing the royal oath during herInauguration
The independence ofIndonesia, which saw more than 150,000 Dutch troops stationed there asdecolonization force, was regarded as an economic disaster for the Netherlands. With the certain loss of the prized colony, the queen announced her intention to abdicate, doing so on 4 September 1948. Two days later, with the eyes of the world upon her, Juliana wassworn in and inaugurated as monarch during a joint session of the States General at a ceremony held in theNieuwe Kerk inAmsterdam, becoming the 12th member of the House of Orange to rule the Netherlands.
Queen Juliana signing Indonesian sovereignty papers, 1949
On 27 December 1949 atDam Palace in Amsterdam, Queen Juliana signed the papers that recognised Indonesian sovereignty over the formerDutch colony. She becameHoofd der Unie (Head of the Union) of theNetherlands-Indonesian Union (1949–1956). On 15 December 1954, the Queen announced that the nation'sCaribbean possessions of theNetherlands Antilles andSuriname were to be reconstituted as constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, making them equal partners with the mainland.
The near-blindness of her daughter Christina and the increasing influence of Hofmans, who had moved into a royal palace, severely affected the queen's marital relationship. Over the next few years, the controversy surrounding the faith healer, at first kept out of the Dutch media, erupted into a national debate over the competency of the queen. However, the debate subsided in part due to Juliana's efforts to connect with her people. She often appeared in public dressed like any ordinary Dutch woman, and preferred to be addressed as "Mevrouw" (Dutch for "Mrs.") rather than her formal title of "majesty". She also began riding a bicycle for exercise and fresh air.
Although the bicycle and the down-to-earth manners suggest a simple life style, the Dutch royal court of the 1950s and 1960s was still an opulent affair with chamberlains in magnificent uniforms, gilded state coaches, visits to towns in open carriages and lavish entertaining in the huge palaces. At the same time the queen began visiting the citizens of the nearby towns and, unannounced, would drop in on social institutions and schools like her mother before her insisting on seeing reality rather than a prepared show. On the international stage, Queen Juliana was interested in the problems of developing countries, the refugee problem,[which?] and particularly child welfare in developing countries. Together with her daughters Beatrix and Irene, she took part in the ship tour organized byQueen Frederica and her husband KingPaul of Greece in 1954, which became known as the “Cruise of the Kings” and was attended by over 100 royals from all over Europe.Francis of Bavaria, a participant, reports in his memoirs the anecdote that the queens of Greece, the Netherlands and Italy went ashore in a harbor in the middle of a crowd of nephews and nieces, and a waiting journalist called out to them: "What is the purpose of this trip?", whereupon Queen Juliana replied with a friendly smile: "Oh, you know, this is ourunion’s company outing."[7]
On the night of 31 January 1953, the Netherlands was hit bythe most destructive storm in more than five hundred years. Thirty breaches of dunes and dikes occurred and many towns were swept away by twelve-footstorm surges. More than 1800 people drowned and tens of thousands were trapped by the floodwaters. Dressed in boots and an old coat, Queen Juliana waded through water and slopped through deep mud all over the devastated areas to bring desperate people food and clothing. Showing compassion and concern, reassuring the people, her tireless efforts would permanently endear her to the citizens of the Netherlands.
In 1956, the influence of Hofmans on Juliana's political views almost brought down the monarchy in aconstitutional crisis; this caused the court and the royal family to split into a "Bernhard faction", set on removing a queen considered a religious fanatic and a threat toNATO, and the queen's pious andpacifist courtiers. Prime MinisterWillem Drees resolved the crisis. However, Juliana lost out to her powerful husband and his friends. Hofmans was banished from the court and Juliana's supporters were sacked or pensioned. Prince Bernhard planned to divorce his wife but decided against it when he, as he told an American journalist, "found out that the woman still loved him"[citation needed].
Queen Juliana inspecting the troops, 1959
Queen Juliana faced another crisis among her Protestant citizens in 1963, when her second daughterIrene secretly converted toRoman Catholicism and, without government approval, on 29 April 1964 marriedPrince Carlos Hugo ofBourbon,Duke of Parma, a claimant to the Spanish throne and also a leader in Spain'sCarlist party. Given the history of the Dutch struggle for independence from Roman Catholic Spain, and with fascist German oppression still fresh in the minds of the Dutch people, the events leading to the marriage were played out in all the newspapers and a storm of hostility erupted against the monarchy for allowing it to happen—a matter so serious that the queen's abdication became a real possibility. She survived, however, thanks to the underlying devotion she had earned over the years.
Another crisis developed as a result of the announcement in July 1965 of the engagement of Princess Beatrix, heir to the throne, to German diplomatClaus von Amsberg. The future husband of the future queen had been a member of theNaziWehrmacht and theHitler Youth movement. Many angry Dutch citizens demonstrated in the streets, and held rallies and marches against the "traitorous" affair. While this time there were no calls for the queen's abdication—because the true object of the people's wrath, Princess Beatrix, would then be queen—they did start to question the value of having a monarchy at all. After attempting to have the marriage cancelled, Queen Juliana acquiesced and the marriage took place under a continued storm of protest; an almost certain attitude pervaded the country that Princess Beatrix might be the last member of the House of Orange to ever reign in the Netherlands. Despite all these difficulties, Queen Juliana's personal popularity suffered only temporarily.
Queen Juliana and Princess Beatrix serving cocoa and buns to their staff on Christmas 1960
The queen was noted for her courtesy and kindness. In May 1959, for example,Polish-AmericanufologistGeorge Adamski received a letter from the head of the Dutch Unidentified Flying Objects Society, Rey d'Aquilla, informing him that she had been contacted by Queen Juliana's palace and "that the Queen would like to receive you".[8] Adamski informed a London newspaper about the invitation, which prompted the court and cabinet to request that the queen cancel her meeting with Adamski, but the queen went ahead with the meeting, saying that "A hostess cannot slam the door in the face of her guests."[8] After the meeting, Dutch Aeronautical Association president Cornelis Kolff said: "The Queen showed an extraordinary interest in the whole subject."[8] The Dutch press put it more straightforwardly. According toTime magazine, newspaperde Volkskrant said: "The Dutch press could hardly be accused of concealing the facts last week. Once again, Queen Juliana's weakness for the preternatural had landed her back in the headlines: she had invited to the palace a crackpot from California who numbered among his friends men from Mars, Venus and other solar-system suburbs."[9]
An event in April 1967, helped by an improving Dutch economy, brought an overnight revitalization of the royal family: the first male heir to the Dutch throne in 116 years,Willem-Alexander, was born to Princess Beatrix. This time, the demonstrations in the street were of love and enthusiasm.
On 25 November 1975,Suriname seceded from the Dutch Kingdom and became independent. Representing the Queen at the independence ceremony in the Surinamese capital,Paramaribo, were the heir presumptive Princess Beatrix, and her husband Prince Claus.
Scandal rocked the royal family again in 1976, when it was revealed that Prince Bernhard had accepted aUS$1.1 million bribe from U.S. aircraft manufacturerLockheed Corporation to influence the Dutch government's purchase of fighter aircraft in what became known as theLockheed Scandal.
Prime MinisterJoop den Uyl ordered an inquiry into the affair, while Prince Bernhard refused to answer reporters' questions, stating: "I am above such things." Rather than calling on the queen to abdicate, the Dutch people were this time fearful that their beloved Juliana might abdicate out of shame or because of a criminal prosecution conducted in her name against her consort.
On 26 August 1976, a censored and toned-down yet devastating report on Prince Bernhard's activities was released to a shocked Dutch public. The prince resigned his various high-profile positions as alieutenant admiral, a general, and anInspector General of the Armed Forces. He resigned from his positions on the boards of many businesses, charities, theWorld Wildlife Fund, and other institutions. The prince also accepted that he would have to give up wearing his beloved uniforms. In return, theStates-General accepted that there was to be no criminal prosecution.
Queen Juliana on the day of her abdication, 1980
On herSilver Jubilee in 1973, Queen Juliana donated all of the money that had been raised by the National Silver Jubilee Committee to organizations for children in need throughout the world. She donated the gift from the nation which she received on her seventieth birthday, in 1979, to the "International Year of the Child". As a reigning European monarch, she was given supernumerary membership of the BritishOrder of the Garter as the 922nd inductee, with the rank of Stranger Lady Companion, in 1958.
On 30 April 1980, her 71st birthday, Queen Juliana abdicated and her eldest daughter succeeded her.[12] Juliana remained active in numerous charitable causes until well into her eighties.
From the mid-1990s, Juliana's health declined as she suffered the progressive onset ofdementia. Juliana did not appear in public after this time. At the order of the Royal Family's doctors, Juliana was placed under 24-hour care. Prince Bernhard said in a television interview in 2001 that the former Queen was no longer able to recognise her family and that she had been suffering fromAlzheimer's disease for several years.[15]
Juliana died in her sleep on 20 March 2004 at the age of 94, atSoestdijk Palace in Baarn, from complications ofpneumonia, seventy years to the day after her grandmother,Queen Emma.[3] She wasembalmed, unlike her mother Wilhelmina, who chose not to be, and on 30 March 2004 interred beside her mother in the royal vaults under theNieuwe Kerk inDelft. The memorial service made herecumenical and often highly personal views on matters of religion public. The late Princess, aPastor said in her sermon, was interested in all religions and inreincarnation. Juliana's husband Prince Bernhard died about nine months later aged 93, on 1 December 2004; his remains were placed next to hers.
In 2009, an exhibition of portraits of Juliana, and objects from her life, was held at theHet Loo Palace to mark the centenary of her birth.[16]
Juliana's full title and style as an unmarried woman was:Her Royal Highness Princess Juliana Louisa Emma Marie Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Duchess of Mecklenburg, etc.[17][18]
Her mother issued a decree allowing her to adopt her husband's princely title as customary, providing that it be preceded by the title she held as a member of theHouse of Mecklenburg.[19] The decree became effective upon her marriage, and changed her full title and style to:Her Royal Highness Princess Juliana of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Duchess of Mecklenburg, Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld, etc.[17]
After her accession to the throne, Juliana'sofficial title was: "Her Majesty, Juliana,Queen of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Duchess of Mecklenburg, Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld, etc, etc, etc". Upon her abdication, she resumed her pre-regnal marital title and style.[17][20]
Quarterly, 1 and 3, Azure, billetty Or a lion with a coronet Or armed and langued Gules holding in his dexter paw a sword Argent hilted Or and in the sinister paw seven arrows Argent pointed and bound together Or (royal arms of the Netherlands, i.e. that of her mother, Queen Wilhelmina), 2 and 4, Or, a horn azure, langued gules (arms of the formerPrincipality of Orange), on an inescutcheon argent, a Bull's head sable (for her father's House of Mecklenburg).
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As Princess, Juliana used a square and swallow tailed flag, with the Royal standard colours and their maternal arms (the horn of Orange) in the upper hoist and their paternal arms (the Bull head of Mecklenburg) in the lower hoist. The arms of the Netherlands (which originates from Nassau) without the insignia of the Order of Willem within an orange circle.
Previous versions
Juliana as monarch bore the Greater Coat of Arms of the Realm, (or "Grote Rijkswapen"). The components of the coats of arms were regulated byQueen Wilhelmina in a royal decree of 10 July 1907 and were affirmed by Juliana in a royal decree of 23 April 1980:
Azure, billettyOr alion with acoronet Or armed and languedGules holding in his dexter paw aswordArgent hilted Or and in the sinister paw sevenarrows Argent pointed and bound together Or.
Shortly after her birth, the inhabitants of a small village nearDen Helder asked permission from Queen Wilhelmina to name their village after the young princess. They received permission and they named their villageJulianadorp.[21]
Princess Juliana Park inOttawa, Ontario, Canada is named after her.
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