(1880–1962). Wilhelmina was queen of the Netherlands from 1890 to 1948. During World War II she made radio broadcasts to maintain the morale of the Dutch people, becoming a symbol of Dutch resistance to the German occupation.
Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria was born in The Hague, Netherlands, on August 31, 1880. She was the daughter of King William III and his second wife, Emma of Waldeck-Pyrmont. Wilhelmina became queen on her father’s death (November 23, 1890), though she remained under her mother’s regency until 1898. On February 7, 1901, she married Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Wilhelmina gave birth to a daughter, Princess Juliana, on April 30, 1909.
Wilhelmina helped maintain her country’s neutrality in World War I (1914–18). However, after Germany invaded the Netherlands in 1940, she issued a proclamation to her nation of “flaming protest” and a few days later left for England with her family and members of the Cabinet. Throughout the war, she exhorted her people over Radio Orange from London to maintain their spirit until the nation’s liberation, and she was welcomed back with enthusiasm when the German occupation was ended in 1945.
In 1948 Queen Wilhelmina, in poor health, abdicated her throne in favor of Juliana. She died at her palace, Het Loo, in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, on November 28, 1962.