Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim
Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Manky Listener discretion advised. On July
Speaker 1: twenty eighth, nineteen forty, the BBC began broadcasting a new
Speaker 1: radio show, Radio Aranhe or Orange, was a fifteen minute
Speaker 1: long program. Each episode began with the words radio Orange
Speaker 1: here the voice of a combatant Netherlands. The show provided
Speaker 1: timely reports on war developments, and it implored the Dutch
Speaker 1: population not to comply with occupying forces. The show even
Speaker 1: included encrypted messages meant for the resistance in the Netherlands.
Speaker 1: The program was hosted by voices of Dutch resistance in exile, authors, journalists, historians, performers,
Speaker 1: including the journalist A Den Dullard, who had begun publishing
Speaker 1: reports warning against the impending rise of fascism back in
Speaker 1: nineteen thirty seven. The show also featured the Jewish singer
Speaker 1: Jetty Pearl performed songs on the show mocking the Nazis.
Speaker 1: She would later join the Women's Auxiliary Corps of the
Speaker 1: Royal Netherland Army. But perhaps Pearl's most shining accomplishment is
Speaker 1: that after the war, she became the first singer to
Speaker 1: perform in the first ever Eurovision Song Contest. Despite Pearl's
Speaker 1: holding of that prestigious title, Radio Orange had a recurring
Speaker 1: speaker with another, possibly even more impressive title, Queen of
Speaker 1: the Netherlands. This war is about giving the war the
Speaker 1: world a guarantee that those who want goodwill not be
Speaker 1: prevented from accomplishing it, Queen Wilhelmina spoke now translated in
Speaker 1: that first broadcast. Those who believe that the spiritual values
Speaker 1: acquired by mankind can be destroyed by the edge of
Speaker 1: the sword must learn to realize their vanity. Brute violence
Speaker 1: cannot deprive people of their convictions. Radio Orange was so
Speaker 1: popular amongst the Dutch population that in May nineteen forty three,
Speaker 1: German authorities ordered Dutch citizens to hand in their radios.
Speaker 1: Many did not comply, and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum
Speaker 1: has a photo in their archives of a group of
Speaker 1: Dutch resistance members and the Jews that they were protecting,
Speaker 1: all crowded together around a contraband radio. Though Queen Wilhelmina
Speaker 1: didn't appear in every broadcast, her speeches on the program
Speaker 1: were so influential that, even beyond being a leader during
Speaker 1: that time, she became a major symbol of resistance for
Speaker 1: the Dutch people. Though these radio broadcasts were a major
Speaker 1: and lasting moment in her reign, World War.
Speaker 2: Two was far from the first.
Speaker 1: Event that Wilhelmina led the Dutch people through.
Speaker 2: After her father's.
Speaker 1: Death in eighteen ninety, she had become queen at only
Speaker 1: ten years old. A wartime queen twice over, Wilhelmina reigned
Speaker 1: during an era of great monarchical influence, the likes of
Speaker 1: which we will almost certainly never see again, and influence
Speaker 1: she did. I'm Dana Schwartz, and this is noble blood.
Speaker 1: The majority of our detailed information on Wilhelmina's life comes
Speaker 1: from the woman herself. Her nineteen fifty nine memoir, the
Speaker 1: aptly titled for a monarch book, Lonely but Not Alone,
Speaker 1: opens with her earliest memories and concludes with the end
Speaker 1: of her reign. Because retirement is relatively rare among monarchs,
Speaker 1: this book is incredibly unique as a retrospective. We rarely
Speaker 1: get to read, in a monarch's own words, their reflections
Speaker 1: and opinions on their entire reign as a whole. It's
Speaker 1: not Prince Harry's spare levels of juicy, but it's still
Speaker 1: a rare and insightful look into the thoughts and feelings
Speaker 1: of being a royal book having all the markings of
Speaker 1: an autobiography, Wilhelmina warns the reader against that very classification quote.
Speaker 1: The reader should not expect to find here a political
Speaker 1: or historical account or an autobiography. She writes, such works
Speaker 1: are concerned with other aspects of life. I shall invite
Speaker 1: the reader to follow me on a higher plane. What
Speaker 1: sort of higher plane you might be wondering? Supernatural romance?
Speaker 1: A Kafka esque interrogation of the self alas no, Wilhelmina
Speaker 1: meant more straightforwardly, the subject of this book is God's
Speaker 1: guidance of our people in past, present, and future. The
Speaker 1: memoir does devote much of its time to the role
Speaker 1: of Christianity in Wilhelmina's life and reign, but her notion
Speaker 1: that it doesn't serve as a history or autobiography says
Speaker 1: more about wilhelmi then the text itself. Chapter one, titled
Speaker 1: Father and Mother, opens with the line let me begin
Speaker 1: by saying that I still possess my father's walking stick,
Speaker 1: with which I was always allowed to play when we
Speaker 1: went out for a stroll. If the world is not
Speaker 1: too strong for the uncertain steps of a child at
Speaker 1: the age of three or four. Wilhelmina goes on to
Speaker 1: recount that she and her father had a daily hour
Speaker 1: of play, beginning at five o'clock in the evening, which
Speaker 1: was but one slice of life in what seems to
Speaker 1: have been the idealized princess girlhood. The bits and pieces
Speaker 1: she described sound straight out of a story book. Wilhelmina
Speaker 1: remembers sledding with her mother, her father buying the three
Speaker 1: of them matching fur coats for the winter. A chalet
Speaker 1: that I am imagine as a child sized version of
Speaker 1: the Marie Antoinette Queen's Hamlet was built for Wilhelmina in
Speaker 1: the gardens, with a dovecot, a duck pond, a playground,
Speaker 1: and a donkey to ride. She remembers the estate's gun maker,
Speaker 1: who for her acted as the quote good fairy, mending
Speaker 1: her broken toys like Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker, And in
Speaker 1: perhaps the most stereotypical memory of a young princess's life,
Speaker 1: she joyfully recalls her father announcing that Shetland ponies would
Speaker 1: be arriving for her quote no less than four in number.
Speaker 1: Above all, she describes a closeness with her parents that's
Speaker 1: often missing in other accounts of royal life. The family
Speaker 1: lived between the newer Deaned Palace in the Hague and
Speaker 1: Hetloo Palace built by the House of Orange in Appledorn,
Speaker 1: which was primarily used as a summer residence. This was
Speaker 1: the life of the only child of King William the
Speaker 1: Third and his second wife, Queen Emma. However, Princess Wilhelmina
Speaker 1: was not initially raised to be a queen. When the
Speaker 1: widowed King William married Emma, his second wife, in eighteen
Speaker 1: seventy nine, two of three sons he had still lived,
Speaker 1: the marriage was not intended to produce an air. In fact,
Speaker 1: the existing heirs were older than their new stepmother. The
Speaker 1: king was forty one years older than his twenty one
Speaker 1: year old bride. Apparently, Emma was the fifth woman he
Speaker 1: tried to marry after the death of his wife. Following
Speaker 1: a French opera singer whom the government pressured him to
Speaker 1: break up with his own niece, the Princess of Denmark
Speaker 1: and Emma's older sister. Sounds like the making of an
Speaker 1: incredible season of The Bachelor nineteenth century edition. Despite the
Speaker 1: lack of political incentive, Emma did give birth to a child,
Speaker 1: a daughter, will Helmina, in eighteen eighty. By this point,
Speaker 1: another of the king's sons had died of typhus, which
Speaker 1: meant that will Helmina was third in line to inherit
Speaker 1: the throne. You might be thinking third in line she
Speaker 1: only had one more living, older brother, but there was
Speaker 1: a semisalic system in place at the time. Basically it
Speaker 1: meant men first, so Wilhelmina was behind her uncle and
Speaker 1: her father's remaining son. But Wilhelmina's uncle would die when
Speaker 1: she was just one years old, and her half brother
Speaker 1: died when she was four, which rapidly changed the importance
Speaker 1: not only a Wilhelmina's role, but also of her mother's.
Speaker 1: This was increasingly true as it became clear that William
Speaker 1: would likely not live to see his daughter, his only
Speaker 1: remaining heir, reach adulthood. In eighteen eighty seven, just before
Speaker 1: his seventieth birthday, William fell ill. Wilhelmina recalls that during
Speaker 1: his last few years he hardly left the house, No
Speaker 1: longer able to take the strolls with his daughter that
Speaker 1: she had opened her book with. While Wilhelmina's mother cared
Speaker 1: for her father, Wilhelmina spent more time than ever with
Speaker 1: her governess, Miss Winter, who would be a major influence
Speaker 1: on her life.
Speaker 2: Quote.
Speaker 1: She herself did not hide for anybody or evade anyone.
Speaker 1: She was a bold woman, Wilhelmina writes of her. The
Speaker 1: night that we will Wilhelmina's father died, Wilhelmina was sleeping
Speaker 1: in her mother's bed, waiting for her to return from
Speaker 1: her father's side. But when her mother did appear in
Speaker 1: the doorway, it was with the news that her father
Speaker 1: was gone. From that moment on, Wilhelmina reflected, many things changed.
Speaker 1: My undisturbed playing had come to an end. It was
Speaker 1: eighteen ninety and the ten year old princess, who had
Speaker 1: been gifted Shetland ponies, had become Queen of the Netherlands.
Speaker 1: Overnight after the funeral, Emma was sworn in as regent
Speaker 1: and the family relocated permanently to court at the Hague.
Speaker 1: Life became what Wilhelmina describes as quote, permanently semi official.
Speaker 1: It was only when she was alone with her mother,
Speaker 1: that she could fully be a child again. Beyond that,
Speaker 1: Wilhelmina wrote, we were denied many innocent pleasures for the
Speaker 1: sake of convention, which could also function as the tagline
Speaker 1: for many episodes of this show. Wilhelmina writes, I shall
Speaker 1: from now on refer to these conditions as the cage.
Speaker 1: The name speaks for itself. One felt hedged in and
Speaker 1: longed for freedom. It is the great irony that has
Speaker 1: plagued royal families for generations. All the wealth, power and
Speaker 1: privilege in the world, and a self designed gilded cage
Speaker 1: to perform the same restrictive, monotonous motions. And As a
Speaker 1: child queen with her mother in charge, Wilhelmina's duties mostly
Speaker 1: consisted of royal visits and public appearances in between her studies.
Speaker 1: Those events were highly important in restoring the Dutch population's
Speaker 1: good opinion of the monarchy, which had been unfavorable for
Speaker 1: years before. They took a liking to Emma's greater emphasis
Speaker 1: on a connection to her people, a notion that Wilhelmina
Speaker 1: would continue. The story goes that in Wilhelmina's first public
Speaker 1: appearance as the ten year old monarch. She asked her mother, MoMA,
Speaker 1: do all these people belong to me? No, my child,
Speaker 1: the regent queen replied, it is you who belong to
Speaker 1: all these people. When it came to Wilhelmina's studies, she
Speaker 1: was devout in her Christianity from an early age, and
Speaker 1: on top of her religious education, she learned foreign languages
Speaker 1: and the sciences, but those lessons eventually ceased in favor
Speaker 1: of a focus on Him, my story and geography. Her
Speaker 1: education reaffirmed her belief of her status as living within
Speaker 1: the cage.
Speaker 2: In her notes at the time.
Speaker 1: She expressed her frustration with the government handling of the
Speaker 1: Boer War, a conflict in which the self governing Dutch
Speaker 1: settlers of the Boer Republics resisted annexation by Great Britain.
Speaker 1: The government did not fulfill the urge in their hearts,
Speaker 1: she wrote at the time, referring to the people, and
Speaker 1: I felt that the public wished to see me openly
Speaker 1: revealing my sympathy for our kinsmen. How could I as
Speaker 1: the head of state. These feelings shaped the young queen's politics.
Speaker 1: She remained pro bore and anti British for life. In
Speaker 1: another particular, anecdote, she notes being moved after learning about
Speaker 1: the laws and religions in the Dutch East India modern
Speaker 1: day Indonesia. She was quote stirred to pity by accounts
Speaker 1: of human sacrifices made to appease evil spirits, and quote
Speaker 1: took a warm interest in the efforts to spread the
Speaker 1: gospel among these poor people, another very classic royal sentiment.
Speaker 1: When Wilhelmina was nearly fifteen, she and her mother traveled
Speaker 1: to England to.
Speaker 2: Meet the then fifty eight.
Speaker 1: Year old Queen Victoria and her family. In Victoria's diary,
Speaker 1: she wrote, quote, the young Queen, who will be fifteen
Speaker 1: in August, still has her hair hanging loose. She is
Speaker 1: very slight and graceful, has fine features, and seems to
Speaker 1: be very intelligent and a charming child. She speaks English
Speaker 1: extremely well and has very pretty manners. There was a
Speaker 1: composite photo made of the two of them at the
Speaker 1: time to commemorate this historic visit. In the photo, Willhelmina
Speaker 1: looks like a witch brought the American girl doll Samantha
Speaker 1: to life, and Queen Victoria looks like the same witch
Speaker 1: cursed her to sleep with her eyes open. I'll put
Speaker 1: the photo on the Noble Blood Instagram and Patreon. Like England,
Speaker 1: the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy with a parliament where
Speaker 1: the monarch acts as head of state, but a prime
Speaker 1: minister wheeled greater political power. In her teenage years, Wilhelmina's mother,
Speaker 1: as acting ruler, began to take her along to the
Speaker 1: States General to.
Speaker 2: Prepare for her role.
Speaker 1: Will Helmina recalls that at the very moment when she
Speaker 1: turned eighteen, she signed her first official papers, and with
Speaker 1: that her reign began. She was formally sworn in a
Speaker 1: few days later on September sixth, eighteen ninety eight. She
Speaker 1: describes these early years of her tenure as a state
Speaker 1: of limbo. Quote, behaving like a grown up, becoming reigning
Speaker 1: queen is not the same thing as attaining one's full maturity,
Speaker 1: she reflects fairly wisely, in my opinion, she understood she
Speaker 1: gave off the illusion of being grown up. But in
Speaker 1: her words, she was conscious of avoid in her existence,
Speaker 1: which was going to be filled up only very slowly.
Speaker 1: Not a girl, not yet a woman in this moment.
Speaker 1: In her memoir, Wilhelmina takes a moment to note that
Speaker 1: in the summer of eighteen ninety eight, her coming of
Speaker 1: age coincided with the national exhibition of women's work put
Speaker 1: on by the first Dutch women's organization, Tetzelshad, which is
Speaker 1: still operating today.
Speaker 2: It was an event styled after.
Speaker 1: The World's Fair, which displayed art and handicrafts by Dutch women,
Speaker 1: along with speeches, lectures, and performances. It was considered a
Speaker 1: major moment in Dutch first wave feminism, and when Devrau
Speaker 1: or the Woman was held as a follow up exhibition
Speaker 1: in nineteen thirteen, the Queen attended twice. Wilhelmina doesn't comment
Speaker 1: on the content of the conference, noting diplomatically that it
Speaker 1: would be quote outside her scope, but her choice to
Speaker 1: mention it despite that signifies that it must have had
Speaker 1: an impact on her self perception during this adolescent era
Speaker 1: of self actualization. The next major phase in that journey
Speaker 1: was her engagement and marriage. In February of nineteen oh one,
Speaker 1: less than two years after her official personal reign began,
Speaker 1: Wilhelmina married Duke Henrik of Mecklenburg Schwerin. Their relationship can
Speaker 1: perhaps best be described in the words of the tagline
Speaker 1: of Greta Gerwig's barbie. She's everything, He's just ken. In
Speaker 1: her memoir, she describes neither her engagement nor her husband
Speaker 1: with even the slightest hint of romance, but she notes
Speaker 1: that he liked hunting and boats, that he was kind
Speaker 1: and helpful, and always accompanied by his faithful dot sound Helga.
Speaker 1: He appears so infrequently in her memoir that we may
Speaker 1: as well get it out of the way now that
Speaker 1: he was known as a frequent adulterer and fathered a
Speaker 1: child with a mistress. While Henrik may not have inspired
Speaker 1: a great passion in her life, Wilhelmina recount that the
Speaker 1: marriage itself catalyzed a major turning point in regards to
Speaker 1: her perceptions of her own freedom. It seems that realizing
Speaker 1: she didn't even have the freedom to act as a
Speaker 1: traditional wife if she wanted to.
Speaker 2: Stirred something greater.
Speaker 1: In her quote, I sought and found my freedom of action,
Speaker 1: not always without causing shocks my inner freedom I had
Speaker 1: achieved years before. We took less and less notice of
Speaker 1: the conventions of the cage and went our own way,
Speaker 1: arousing a great deal of friction and criticism end quote.
Speaker 1: The friction she mentions, appears to have been between herself
Speaker 1: and the nation's politicians, not her husband, Politicians who did
Speaker 1: not appreciate the queen having much of anything to say,
Speaker 1: especially considering her pro Bore politics, which is actually slightly
Speaker 1: leading name for people in this context who opposed the
Speaker 1: Bore War, which was a colonial war happening in South Africa.
Speaker 1: The people, however, felt more kinship with the monarchy than
Speaker 1: they had for many many years. Wilhelmina was more on
Speaker 1: the side of the people than the politicians. The next
Speaker 1: major event in Wilhelmina's personal life is not discussed in
Speaker 1: her memoir at all, the birth of a stillborn son
Speaker 1: in nineteen o two. Four years later, her second pregnancy
Speaker 1: would also end with a miscarriage. For the people whose
Speaker 1: job it was to worry about these things, there was
Speaker 1: increasing anxiety as to what would happen if the queen
Speaker 1: did not produce an air But in April nineteen o nine,
Speaker 1: the couple's daughter, Juliana, was born healthy. I must leave
Speaker 1: it to the reader to imagine our parental happiness at
Speaker 1: her arrival after we had waited eight years, Wilhelmina writes.
Speaker 1: The mother daughter relationship would go on to mirror the
Speaker 1: closeness of Wilhelmina and her own mother, and even when
Speaker 1: writing as an old woman, Wilhelmina's memoir is constantly interjected
Speaker 1: at random times with references to Juliana and her life.
Speaker 1: Even as queen, Wilhelmina writes that she devoted every bit
Speaker 1: of time she could to being a mother to her
Speaker 1: only child. But only a few short years after Juliana's birth,
Speaker 1: Wilhelmina's role as queen would take on new urgent levels
Speaker 1: of responsibility. Those with an inside knowledge of politics had
Speaker 1: long foreseen that the world would be plunged into a
Speaker 1: war of unprecedented horror, Wilhelmina writes. She recalls that in
Speaker 1: the early day days after Germany declared war on Russia
Speaker 1: in nineteen fourteen, actions were taken with the intent of
Speaker 1: minimizing national anxiety, like Wilhelmina taking a normal train from
Speaker 1: Amsterdam back to the Hague. Even though the matter required
Speaker 1: some urgency. The Netherlands maintained the policy of neutrality that
Speaker 1: they had held since eighteen thirty, but the army still
Speaker 1: had to be mobilized as an act of deterrence. There
Speaker 1: was a march as the garrison from the Hague deported,
Speaker 1: and Wilhelmina made a grand show of patriotism, holding Juliana
Speaker 1: on her shoulders as the royal family, saying the national
Speaker 1: anthem with the cheering crowds. As a woman, Wilhelmina could
Speaker 1: not act as supreme commander of the armed forces, but
Speaker 1: she still performed regular inspections of the army and navy,
Speaker 1: not only to make sure that things were up to
Speaker 1: the standards she wanted to set, but to reinforce morale
Speaker 1: and set an example of endurance and tenacity. There's a
Speaker 1: story that before the war began, the last German emperor,
Speaker 1: Kaiser Wilhelm the second, boasted to the young queen, quote,
Speaker 1: my guards are seven feet tall, and yours are only
Speaker 1: shoulder high to them. Wilhelmina smiled politely and replied, quite true,
Speaker 1: your majesty, your guards are seven feet tall, but when
Speaker 1: we open our dykes, the water is ten feet deep.
Speaker 1: A good comeback. She understood the country's spiritual and psychological
Speaker 1: needs for a leader and knew that it was a
Speaker 1: role that she had to fulfill.
Speaker 2: Quote.
Speaker 1: A war makes special demands. The confidence that was sufficient
Speaker 1: in peacetime is no longer enough. Confidence was the word
Speaker 1: that echoed in me constantly. My thinking and acting were
Speaker 1: long dominated by the thought I had to earn it end.
Speaker 1: Just three days after Germany declared war on Russia on
Speaker 1: August fourth, nineteen fourteen, Germany invaded Belgium, The Netherlands began
Speaker 1: to accept Belgian refugees, and the Dutch began to learn
Speaker 1: firsthand of the cruelty that people were being subjected to.
Speaker 1: Wilhelmina notes that it was hard to remain neutral for
Speaker 1: those four years, but neutrality is not an emotional stance,
Speaker 1: but a political one. At heart, man is never neutral,
Speaker 1: she reflected, despite no further divulgences, at least in her
Speaker 1: writing as to which way her heart was leaning at
Speaker 1: the moment. As it became clear that Germany was going
Speaker 1: to lose the war and the war was approaching its end,
Speaker 1: a surprising guest star returns to our story Kaiser Wilhelm
Speaker 1: with the German war effort of failure. The Kaiser was
Speaker 1: forced to abdicate in nineteen eighteen, marking the end of
Speaker 1: the German Empire and the beginning of the German Republic.
Speaker 1: Wilhelmina says she'll never forget the November morning, when she
Speaker 1: woke to the news that the Kaiser had crossed their
Speaker 1: borders into the province of Limburg. First, the news came
Speaker 1: to her from the government, and it was soon followed
Speaker 1: by a telegram from the Kaiser himself, attempting to explain
Speaker 1: his actions. Wilhelmina did not seem fond of the Kaiser
Speaker 1: before the war, and the sentiment would continue. At first,
Speaker 1: she questioned if his decision to flee his country was
Speaker 1: an attempt to prevent needless bloodshed, but it soon became
Speaker 1: clear that he was only out to save his own
Speaker 1: behind quote. His habit of listening to the councils of
Speaker 1: these advisers, who had neither the statesmanship nor the courage
Speaker 1: which the situation demanded, had been his undoing.
Speaker 2: She wrote.
Speaker 1: Despite her seemingly negative personal feelings towards the man, the
Speaker 1: Dutch government allowed him to stay. Wilhelmina herself invited his
Speaker 1: wife to join him in the Netherlands, not out of hospitality, apparently,
Speaker 1: but out of the expectation that she would be a
Speaker 1: good influence on her husband. Their son, the Crown Prince,
Speaker 1: soon followed. The Allied governments, of course, attempted to extradite
Speaker 1: the man and his son, but by virtue of the
Speaker 1: netherlands neutrality and right of asylum, they refused. Despite this
Speaker 1: and their neutrality, the Netherlands was still a founding member
Speaker 1: of the New League of Nations. The revolution happening next
Speaker 1: door stirred what Wilhelmina calls commotion in some groups of
Speaker 1: the population, and notes that there were a tense few days.
Speaker 1: That's all the credence she gives to Red Week the
Speaker 1: unsuccessful Dutch Socialist revolution of nineteen eighteen, and while her
Speaker 1: language is minimizing, it was quite literally only a few
Speaker 1: days long. On October eleventh, the Dutch royal family was
Speaker 1: relocated to the Hague for safety as talk of a
Speaker 1: revolution grew, but by October thirteenth it was apparently clear
Speaker 1: that the revolution was dead. Wilhelmina reflects on her personal
Speaker 1: life during the four years of the First World War
Speaker 1: as an essential time in her spiritual growth. She recalls
Speaker 1: conversations with two older acquaintances, both of whom felt that
Speaker 1: the war had disillusioned them about humanity. The Queen notes
Speaker 1: that she was moved by their feelings, but also pitied
Speaker 1: them as the strength of her faith prevented her from
Speaker 1: the emptiness that they were experiencing, in fact, the emptiness
Speaker 1: that so many in Europe and around the world were
Speaker 1: feeling in the aftermath of the destruction of the First
Speaker 1: World War. Wilhelmina now saw in her words that the
Speaker 1: loneliness she had been plagued with from the minute she
Speaker 1: became a young queen was her quote opportunity with God,
Speaker 1: and she would fill her quiet moment with religious text
Speaker 1: and spiritual reflection.
Speaker 2: Quote.
Speaker 1: In spite of all the worries the war caused us,
Speaker 1: my personal problems were gradually solved.
Speaker 2: Thus the end of.
Speaker 1: The First World War was also the end of a
Speaker 1: period in my life. That's what we in the business
Speaker 1: call some positive personal framing. She also acknowledges that by
Speaker 1: the time the war ended, she was no longer the
Speaker 1: young queen. At thirty eight, she felt she was approaching
Speaker 1: middle age. As to how the First World War changed
Speaker 1: her as a ruler, Wilhelmina emphasized a need to adapt
Speaker 1: to public displays of the monarchy. There should be no
Speaker 1: more ostentation, she wrote, My conduct should always correspond with
Speaker 1: people's profound feelings about life. There should be contact with
Speaker 1: all classes of the population in their working, thinking, and feeling.
Speaker 1: The war also presented her with the novel idea that
Speaker 1: her staff had quote rights as well as duties, and
Speaker 1: she essentially established an HR for them. There's no good
Speaker 1: way to transition from that to the next thing that
Speaker 1: I want to mention, which is that, while it's hard
Speaker 1: to find sourcing on this fact, apparently Wilhelmina's business acumen
Speaker 1: during the interwar period led her to become the world's
Speaker 1: first female billionaire in dollars. This is not something will
Speaker 1: Helmina herself talks about in her writing, so I don't
Speaker 1: want to claim this as concrete fact, but we do
Speaker 1: know that Wilhelmina had significant, if possibly not that significant,
Speaker 1: personal wealth. She also learned how to paint. That brings
Speaker 1: us to nineteen thirty eight. Wilhelmina notes that as early
Speaker 1: as he was appointed, she apparently had no doubt in
Speaker 1: her mind that Hitler would establish a dictatorship. She followed
Speaker 1: closely as he invaded Austria then Czechoslovakia. She writes of
Speaker 1: living in the knowledge that they were headed toward catastrophe.
Speaker 1: Knowing Hitler's sights were set on Europe as a whole.
Speaker 1: After British and the French declared war in nineteen thirty nine,
Speaker 1: the Netherlands once again declared neutrality. Still they knew it
Speaker 1: was only a matter of time before an attack, which
Speaker 1: arrived months later in May nineteen forty. Wilhelmina spent the
Speaker 1: night of May ninth in an air raid shelter, and
Speaker 1: at four a m the Germans crossed the border. The
Speaker 1: Hague was the source of an attack in the morning,
Speaker 1: and it was becoming clear that the royal family could
Speaker 1: no longer stay. Juliana, now grown, and her children left first.
Speaker 1: Wilhelmina attempted to stay, and quote rang up the King
Speaker 1: of England one night and asked for assistance. She writes
Speaker 1: that she could hear the war approaching from her shelter,
Speaker 1: and on the morning of May thirteenth, the commander in
Speaker 1: chief advised that the Queen leave the Hague. She agreed
Speaker 1: and hurriedly packed a few belongings and left with a
Speaker 1: few others, including her head of security. The first place
Speaker 1: they attempted to go was the Hook of Holland, a
Speaker 1: town in the southwest corner of the country, but bombs
Speaker 1: began to drop over the town. As soon as they arrived.
Speaker 1: The group was able to find a British destroyer ready
Speaker 1: to set sail, and they attempted to go to the
Speaker 1: town of Zealand in Flanders, but the British ship captain
Speaker 1: wasn't able to make contact with the town. With no
Speaker 1: knowledge of what they might be sailing into, the decision
Speaker 1: was made to go instead to England. Of course, I
Speaker 1: was fully aware of the shattering impression that my departure
Speaker 1: would make it home, she reflected, but I considered myself
Speaker 1: obliged for the sake of the country to accept the
Speaker 1: risk of appear to have resorted to ignonymous flight. Wilhelmina
Speaker 1: was greeted in London by her daughter Juliana and by
Speaker 1: King George, who invited her to stay as a guest
Speaker 1: of the palace with himself and the Queen of England. Juliana, however,
Speaker 1: would leave with her children for Canada when it became
Speaker 1: clear that Wilhelmina's stay in England would be indefinite. She
Speaker 1: purchased a house for herself in Eton Square.
Speaker 2: She tells the reader.
Speaker 1: It was here that I met the first Engelin Varda,
Speaker 1: which the book's translator note was the word used for
Speaker 1: a Dutch person who had escaped to England, where I
Speaker 1: heard the first broadcast of Radio Orange and received the
Speaker 1: first letters from Juliana. And it was here that I
Speaker 1: accustomed myself to exile. As to the experience of being
Speaker 1: a queen in exile, Wilhelmina expresses that above all else,
Speaker 1: she needed to maintain iron clad self control, which is
Speaker 1: an ironic fate. Following the rigidity she once detested in
Speaker 1: her eyes, Any decision making capabilities would be lost once
Speaker 1: she gave rein to emotions and human pity. As a
Speaker 1: ruler abroad, she sought to continue her rule, but a
Speaker 1: government in exile couldn't function the same as one at home.
Speaker 1: Military plans were kept secret from her, and much of
Speaker 1: her work at this time was to keep in contact
Speaker 1: with fellow heads of state. The Battle of Britain soon began,
Speaker 1: and work was often interrupted by the sirens urging citizens
Speaker 1: to make their way to shelters. By September, Wilhelmina began
Speaker 1: to take her work to the shelter daily at half
Speaker 1: past six and stay there until the morning. Wilhelmina eventually
Speaker 1: moved to a house in the country, then a new
Speaker 1: place in London in Chester Square. The Eton Square House
Speaker 1: was set up by the government as a home for
Speaker 1: England varters. During this dark time, Wilhelmina felt booyed by
Speaker 1: the support of Dutch people abroad seeking to aid their homeland.
Speaker 1: A collection of funds was raised to support the war effort,
Speaker 1: and the Queen often received letters of support from those
Speaker 1: abroad and those still in her occupied homeland. Many even
Speaker 1: attempted to encode secret messages to inform her of the
Speaker 1: situation at home, and while Wilhelmina appreciated their efforts, she
Speaker 1: feared for the safety of anyone trying to smuggle her messages.
Speaker 1: For the first few months in exile, she was completely
Speaker 1: cut off from the news in the Netherlands and the
Speaker 1: England Vard connections to resistance groups at home became her
Speaker 1: major source of information. In her writing, she holds them
Speaker 1: in great regard. Many of those anglandvarters were resistance members
Speaker 1: who had fled when it had become clear that they
Speaker 1: would soon be unable to continue to fight at home,
Speaker 1: and so they had come to join the forces in London.
Speaker 1: Wilhelmina note that the Dutch abroad formed a community in
Speaker 1: London something like a large village where everyone knew everyone.
Speaker 1: She worked to establish a Dutch center to centralize information
Speaker 1: and resources, as well as to further her own connection
Speaker 1: with the expats. The opening of the center was the
Speaker 1: first time the queen wore a Marguerite or daisy brooch,
Speaker 1: which would become a symbol of Dutch resistance. She wanted
Speaker 1: the Dutch in Britain to have an identifiable symbol of solidarity,
Speaker 1: and she chose the daisy for something quote immaculate white,
Speaker 1: an expression of sorrow and vope, and an object within
Speaker 1: everyone's reach. Juliana's daughter, born during the war, was given
Speaker 1: the name Marguerite. The British government sought to aid the
Speaker 1: Dutch community by opening Netherlands House, a meeting place for
Speaker 1: both communities, where social meetings, lectures, and musical gatherings were held.
Speaker 1: Wilhelmina herself was often in attendance. She learned through these
Speaker 1: lectures that the people were quote not only longing for liberation,
Speaker 1: but also a new era. Liberation should not mean a
Speaker 1: return to the old conditions. During this time, engelend Vards
Speaker 1: would come to their office and share with her their
Speaker 1: visions of the future and Wilhelmina held a conference specifically
Speaker 1: for Dutch university students in Britain to share their experiences
Speaker 1: with student resistant movement. Their ideas were so influential, in fact,
Speaker 1: that Wilhelmina planned to oust the Prime Minister and build
Speaker 1: a new cabinet entirely formed by resistance members who had
Speaker 1: lived in the occupied state through the war. She writes
Speaker 1: that she shared the people's ideas about future policies with
Speaker 1: the current Prime Minister and informed him that she wanted
Speaker 1: to be the one to lead the charge when it
Speaker 1: came to reforms. This was the catalyst for Radio Orange,
Speaker 1: which began this episode. My broadcast speeches were not only
Speaker 1: concerned with the new Times, the Queen reflects, they also
Speaker 1: aimed at inspiring and stiffening resistance against the oppressor and
Speaker 1: at informing the nation of the government's policy.
Speaker 2: Her desired effect.
Speaker 1: Was achieved, As mentioned at the top of the episode,
Speaker 1: Radio Orange was extremely popular among the people, and the
Speaker 1: Queen was more popular than ever. Her New York Times
Speaker 1: obituary shares an anecdote in which churchgoers in the fishing
Speaker 1: town of Huisen sang one verse of the Dutch national
Speaker 1: anthem Wilhelmus von Naussai on the queen's sixtieth birthday, but
Speaker 1: the Nazis had explicitly forbidden any celebrations of the Queen's birthday,
Speaker 1: and the town paid a fine of sixty thousand guilders.
Speaker 1: In nineteen forty two, after the attack on Pearl Harbor,
Speaker 1: Wilhelmina traveled to the United States for a national tour
Speaker 1: at the invitation of President Roosevelt. She greatly admired both
Speaker 1: the President himself as well as the First Lady, namely
Speaker 1: for her independence in addition to her devotion to her husband.
Speaker 1: During this trip, Wilhelmina became the first queen to address Congress.
Speaker 1: Back in England, Wilhelmina also began to meet more frequently
Speaker 1: with Churchill, who once called her the only real man
Speaker 1: among the governments in exile. Wilhelmina finally returned to the
Speaker 1: Netherlands in nineteen forty five, when she crossed the Dutch
Speaker 1: border on foot. The reception from her people was incredibly warm.
Speaker 1: While there were certainly those who resented the queen for leaving,
Speaker 1: by and large, the Dutch citizens were thrilled at their
Speaker 1: queen's return. In her later years after the war, Wilhelmina
Speaker 1: opted for life in the countryside and could often be
Speaker 1: seen doing what the Dutch liked to do best, riding
Speaker 1: her bike. Her reign would only continue three more years.
Speaker 1: In nineteen forty eight, she abdicated as her health began
Speaker 1: to fail. Juliana had already briefly taken over her monarchical
Speaker 1: duties at the end of nineteen forty seven, but now
Speaker 1: she was officially to be sworn in as queen. How
Speaker 1: numerous were and are my reasons for gratitude, Wilhelmina reflects
Speaker 1: my confidence in Juliana's warm feelings for the people we
Speaker 1: both loved so much, and in her devotion to the
Speaker 1: task that was awaiting her. Then also the fact that
Speaker 1: my office was transferred to her during my lifetime, and
Speaker 1: that I might have the opportunity to see some of
Speaker 1: her reign. Really, there is no room, Wilhelmina wrote, for
Speaker 1: sadness in my heart. Her reign was fifty seven years
Speaker 1: and two hundred and eighty six days. Wilhelmina did get
Speaker 1: to see over a decade of her daughter's reign before
Speaker 1: she died of cardiac arrest at Hetloo Palace. At the
Speaker 1: age of eighty two. At her request, the royal family
Speaker 1: held a white funeral, a symbol of the Queen's faith,
Speaker 1: which signified her belief that death was only the beginning
Speaker 1: of eternal life. That's the story and tumultuous long life
Speaker 1: of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. But stick around after
Speaker 1: a brief sponsor break for a.
Speaker 3: Little sweet fact. A book called Sweets, A.
Speaker 1: History of Candy might not be the place you'd expect
Speaker 1: to find royal history, but in the section devoted to
Speaker 1: the Netherlands, author Tim Richardson notes the candy that's quote
Speaker 1: most Dutch of all, the Wilhelmina Mint. In eighteen ninety two,
Speaker 1: the head of the Dutch candy company Fortune asked the
Speaker 1: young Queen Wilhelmina if he could name his new peppermint
Speaker 1: after her as a celebration of her twelfth birthday. Queen
Speaker 1: Regent Emma wrote a reply on behalf of her daughter,
Speaker 1: saying that it's fine and she leaves it entirely up
Speaker 1: to him, a very diplomatic answer. He went ahead with
Speaker 1: the idea and produced a line of candies featuring Wilhelmina's
Speaker 1: portrait on each mint. The peppermints were such a hit
Speaker 1: with the Royal family that Fortune received the predicate of
Speaker 1: Purveyor to the Royal Household in eighteen ninety six. It's
Speaker 1: a title that the candy company still holds to this day.
Speaker 1: Noble Blood is a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and
Speaker 1: Mild from Aaron Manki. Noble Blood is created and hosted
Speaker 1: by me Dana Shchwort, with additional writing and researching by
Speaker 1: Hannah Johnston, Hannahswick, Mira Hayward, Courtney Sender, and Lori Goodwy.
Speaker 1: The show is edited and produced by Noemi Griffin and
Speaker 1: rima Il Kahali, with supervising producer Josh Thain and executive
Speaker 1: producers Aaron Manke, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. For more
Speaker 1: podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.