Wilhelmina of the Netherlands

Wilhelmina was the daughter of Willem III and Emma van Waldeck-Pyrmont. She was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 to 1948 (her mother was the regent until 1898). In 1901 she married Prince Hendrik. Princess Juliana was their only child.

Wilhelmina left The Hague with the intention of going to Zeeland in May 1940. When the province came under heavy bombardment from the Luftwaffe, the plans changed and she went instead to England in a British naval ship. Thereafter she headed the Dutch government in exile. The relationship with this cabinet proved to be difficult.^[1]

Wilhelmina was considered a "vital notion of solidarity" among the heads of state who had been forced to flee to London as a result of the war.^[2] During the speech mentioned by Anne in her diary, the Queen said: As soon as I'm back with you, plans will be made to honour those who have taken on these heavy burdens.^[3]

Anne Frank is a frequent and rather vocal supporter of the Dutch Royal family, often to the irritation of the others in hiding. In 1943, a picture postcard is produced from a photograph of the Dutch Royal family, who is exiled in Ottawa Canada, and then illegally distributed throughout the country.  Anne is given one of these cards by the Bep, and she notes in her diary: “Bep has had a picture postcard of the whole royal family copied for me. Juliana looks very young, and so does the queen. The three girls are lovely. It was terribly nice of Bep, don’t you think?”^[4] Anne first puts this postcard into her photo album. She later pins it to the wall, next to the image of the British Royal family, using a thumbtack.^[5]

On 3 July 1947 Otto Frank sent Wilhelmina a copy of The Secret Annex. He told her that Anne had been devoted to the royal family. He briefly touched on the statelessness of his family. Wilhelmina’s private secretary wrote a thank-you letter on 8 July.^[6] After she abdicated, Wilhelmina wrote her autobiography Eenzaam maar niet alleen (Amsterdam 1959).^[1]