Juliana, Princess

▪ 2005

Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina, princess of Orange-Nassau 

      Dutch former monarch (b. April 30, 1909, Noordeinde Palace, The Hague, Neth.—d. March 20, 2004, Soestdijk Palace, Baarn, Neth.), reigned over The Netherlands for 32 years (1948–80) during a time that included the rebuilding of the country after World War II and the dismantling of the Dutch colonial empire. She was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Hendrik. Juliana married Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld (q.v. (Bernhard, Prince )) on Jan. 7, 1937. When Germany invaded The Netherlands in May 1940, the royal family left the country. Juliana soon took refuge in Ottawa, Ont., with her daughters, Beatrix (born in 1938) and Irene (born in 1939). Her husband joined them in 1941, and a third daughter, Margriet, was born in Canada in 1943. Maria Christina, their fourth daughter and last child, was born (1947) virtually blind as the result of German measles her mother had contracted during pregnancy. Juliana assumed the throne on Sept. 4, 1948, when Queen Wilhelmina abdicated in her favour. Juliana's first major act as queen was the transfer of sovereignty to Indonesia in 1949. She was a much-loved figure, particularly after she and Bernhard donned boots and helped with disaster relief in 1953 when a flood killed more than 1,800 people and tens of thousands of cattle and destroyed thousands of homes in the southwestern Netherlands. She was also appreciated for her down-to-earth, relaxed style. Only three times was Juliana's reign rocked by a major scandal: in 1956, when she was forced to give up her association with Greet Hofmans, a faith healer she had befriended in the hope of curing Christina's worsening eye problems; in 1966, when Beatrix married the German diplomat Claus von Amsburg, reawakening anti-German sensitivities still fresh from World War II; and in 1976, when Bernhard was accused of accepting bribes from the American aircraft manufacturer Lockheed and was forced to relinquish his military rank and all of his official public offices. Nevertheless, through it all Juliana remained popular with the Dutch and throughout Europe. She was awarded the United Nations Peace Medal in 1974. In 1980 Juliana followed her mother's example and abdicated the throne in favour of her eldest daughter, who became Queen Beatrix on April 30 of that year. After stepping down, the former queen and her husband lived quietly.

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