Queen Wilhelmina is King Film III’s first female daughter, and she was born third in line to the throne after her brother, Crown Prince Alexander, and her father’s uncle, Prince Frederick. Her father, Prince Frederick, died in 1881, and her brother, Prince Alexander, died in 1884. On September 6, 1898, she rose to the Dutch throne and ruled for 58 years, the longest reign of any Dutch queen.
She married Duke Henry on February 7, 1901, and had multiple abortions after the marriage until she gave birth to her daughter Juliana on April 30, 1909, after which she had another miscarriage.
She was credited with keeping the Netherlands neutral throughout World War I and dealing with many of the country’s subsequent challenges after gaining power. Her entrepreneurial endeavours made her the world’s first female billionaire.
After the German invasion of the Netherlands in 1940, Wilhelmina fled to Britain and became head of the Dutch exile government. She routinely communicated with people over the radio and was seen as a symbol of the resistance. Her dynasty was one of seven European royal families to survive, and she was the only surviving monarch of the sixteen monarchs who sat on their thrones at the time of her coronation in 1948.
In 1945, Wilhelmina returned to the Netherlands.
In September 1945, she abdicated the kingdom to her daughter, Juliana, and withdrew to Hetlow Palace, where she died in 1962.
Wilhamina, the world’s first female billionaire, is the story of a queen who abdicated the kingdom for her daughter.
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