Queen
Wilhelmina
ruled the Netherlands from 1890 to 1948 with the exception of the five years
of the German occupation during World War II. Because Wilhelmina was
successful in keeping the Netherlands out of World War I and had close
historic ties with Germany including granting asylum to Kaiser Wilhelm after
Germany's defeat in
1918,
she hoped to maintain The Netherlands' neutrality again during World War II.
However, all of her power, prestige, and political machinations couldn't
prevent Hitler's invasion, occupation, and the murder of nearly a quarter
million Dutch citizens including 100,000 Jews.
Wilhelmina was in some ways the twentieth-century counterpart
of Queen Victoria , although she exercised considerable more power
than the English monarch. Wilhelmina appointed each member of the Council of
State, had the power to dissolve the States-General, and possessed an
absolute veto. She was consulted on nearly every aspect of government and
was also successful in building one of the great personal fortunes of the
world, rivaling that of the Rockefellers and the Rothschilds.
With all of her power and wealth, Wilhelmina still married a
jerk, Henry, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Henry was denied any formal
responsibilities in Government and spent most of his time drinking and
fathering illegitimate children. Unfortunately this unhappy arrangement did
not dissuade her daughter Juliana from making a similar mistake when she
married Prince Bernardt, who not only was a jerk but a dangerous jerk.
As one of Europe's most popular monarchs, and a woman who
enjoyed good food, many chefs and restaurateurs created dishes named after
the monarch. Escoffier created a variation of Fraises Romanoff
(strawberries Romanoff) in which the strawberries are marinated in Kirsch
instead of Curacao and served with whipped cream which we suggest
making for
Wilhelmina's
birthday. We also suggest watching Soldier Orange (1977)
which begins with a flashforward in the form of a
newsreel with a voice-over showing Queen Wilhelmina is accompanied by a student (Rutger Hauer) arriving in the Netherlands from London shortly
after the Second World War. |