Show IJ Dutch Queen Works W orl 8 for Peace But Bui Shuns Red Tape Tape- Diplomacy It 1 t T Pill rn 11 be my lilY li l endeavor to 10 reign tn at OJ it is I expected from a quern l of 01 the he limn 1 of 01 Orange Faithful to 10 the 11 I l wish wil to 10 enhance the Ille respect of 01 the Ih name and flap flag of 01 the Net her I and i. i I wish KM In to lie lI a nut ruler over oter the possessions and 0 colonies and to contribute COIl to 10 your our l persona and ami i I foe to III the lIlt best r 1 l o of omy my ability abil- abil ity ilY in ill God and ami praying ra that 1101 lie I u will dl ill strengthen ln me I 1 take the lilt reins o of 01 got eminent one Forty ort one years ago a handsome lass of 18 stood on the royal bal bat balcony cony In Amsterdam and gave her pledge to the subjects who dwell in a nation no larger than Maryland l and to subjects in the Dutch East Indies Today 59 50 year old Queen Wilhelmina Wilhel mina faces fac's a more desperate inter international national na situation with the same pledge hoping to escape escare invasion by the French British or Germans Knows Her lIer People The queen popped into headlines recently when she Joined King ling Leo Leo- Leopold Leopold lold of Belgium In offering her medi mediation stion services to the warring na na- The otTer offer was refused and a afew afew afew few days das later a border clash oc DC occurred oc- oc occurred between Dutch and Nazi na nationals strongly strongly reminiscent of the disputes leading to Polands Poland's inva inva- sion slon a ae a a e Me 0 j Tr Plain U unas linos- unassuming slIming suming the th Dutch queens queen's social consciousness is u her lien greatest asset in preserving ng the tie Tether r lands land's neutrality She has v fc fel troubles on her Iler frontiers Through this crisis as in 1914 Wilhelmina has hns stood firm knowing that no aggressor could expect any help from factions within the Dutch frontiers Her subjects know her as asa asa asa a housewifely queen who in 1918 was clever enough to turn a threat threat- threatened threatened ened revolution into a love feast The day her socialist subjects planned to revolt she Issued a proc pros proclamation I announcing Important so so- social social cial and economic reforms As a result the Netherlands now has a successful system of poor re reo relief relief lief and workmen's compensation The Zee has been reclaimed until the Dutch have ha a new provo province ince She has held her throne longer than any other European ruler Known as the Dutch Victoria she takes her place as the only woman to sit around the continents continent's table This Is a signal success for the in inexperienced In In- Inexperienced experienced ruler of 41 years ago who took charge of a nation where monarchy was on the wane You u Belong to Them Wilhelmina got her first taste of royal roal life when still stilt a wee child Led Lcd to the palace balcony by her mother she looked down on a sea of subjects and asked Mama do doall doall all alt those people belong to me met Her lIer mother replied quietly No dear you belong to them Wilhelmina's father William III m was the son of a Russian princess Willful like all he be became came discouraged when he could not conquer the Indomitable spirit of I his Dutch subjects Broken he with with- withdrew drew from active governmental gO par participation I and lived ed abroad many of his later years ears The dowager Queen Emma retrieved much of the Or Or- Orange Orange ange popularity after afler his death but it was Wilhelmina's task to stem item the upsurge of revolution re One reason for her popularity is isa Isa isa a complete scorn of the hidebound customs of royalty Wilhelmina rides a bicycle dresses plainly and andI vacations Informally not informally not as queen I of the Netherlands but as the Count Count- Countess ess van Buren She occasionally I visits Switzerland Norway and Eng Eng- England England land but her calls are seldom of the state variety and she discourages return visits from other rulers un unless un- un unless less they the have business to discuss I Her reason is b that state visits cost too much Rejected Nazi Sui Protest neutrality wasn't even jarred by the marriage of her daughter Princess Juliana to Ger Ger- Germanys Germany's Germans Germanys Germany's many's mans Prince Bernhard zu Lippe Lippe- Biesterfeld When the Nazis ob oh objected jested to her demanding passports of German guests at the wedding she answered coldly This is the marriage of my daughter to the man she cs loves it is not the marriage of Holland and Germany German German- |