Churchill described Queen Wilhelmina as the only “real man” among the many governments in exile in London. Perhaps because it wasn’t her first war. Quite a lesson for granddaughter and new Queen Beatrix. Things looked bright for Beatrix’s Reign, but one can never be sure. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
This stamp was issued on the fortieth anniversary of the Netherlands being conquered by Germany. Given that there was a new Queen that year the presentation comes across as a plea that the new Queen be more serious in the mold of Wilhelmina and less of the flightiness and corruption of recently abdicated Queen Julianna. See https://the-philatelist.com/2018/08/30/netherlands-1971-prince-bernhard-is-honored-for-his-part-in-dutch-aviation-before-his-reputation-tarnishes/ .
Todays stamp is issue A198, a 60 cent stamp issued by the Netherlands on September 23rd, 1980. There was one other stamp in the issue that featured Churchill and the British flag in thanks for hosting the government in exile. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.
There were 3 Queens in a row that served between 1890 and 2013.The Dutch House of Orange did have rules favoring male heirs but if their are no male offspring…. Wilhelmina assumed the throne after the death of her elderly father. He had 4 sons by his first wife but they had all died. The King remarried in old age in hope of a new heir but the only issue was Wilhelmina who in her early years had her mother serve as regent. Wilhelmina faced many wars that challenged her deeply. The first was the Boer war that saw Boer settlers of Dutch heritage fighting a losing battle with the British in South Africa. She risked war with the British when she ordered Dutch naval ships to South Africa to evacuate leaders of the Orange Free State. This gave her a loathing of the British.
Germany was threatening as World War I approached. Kaiser Wilhelm threatened her by pointing out that his bodyguards were 7 feet tall while hers were a foot shorter. She responded “That is true your Majesty, but if we release the dykes the water will be 10 feet deep.” Holland was not attacked in the war but faced the same blockaide as the Germans as they were perceived as allies of them. Kaiser Wilhelm was welcomed in Holland when he was exiled from defeated Germany. The fall of the Czar in Russia also left her personal fortune much diminished. She had been the first female billionaire. She was also facing a strong communist labor movement at home that sought to remove her. The relative prosperity of the country at the time saved the Dutch Monarchy.
The Queen pulled an about face when Germany attacked in 1940. The government boarded British ships and was evacuated to London. The Prime Minister sought accommodation with the German invadors but Wilhelmina was now adamant about the Allied cause and had him removed from the government in exile. She became a symbol of resistance. Her home in Britain was even heavily damaged by a late in the war mini Blitz by Germany on Britain in early 1944. She returned after the war but by this point she was elderly herself. She began the tradition of abdicating to allow the next generation a long rule. That tradition continued through Beatrix abdicating in 2013 in favor of her son.
Beatrix reign was for less eventful than Wilhelmina. The power that she had was gradually disapated. She also avoided controversy by making it against the rules to quote her directly. Her son abandoned this but it seems a sensible precaution if someone is adept at putting their foot in their mouth.
Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast the Royal House of Orange. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.