Evening star., 1962-11-28
WilheImino Dies at 81:
Netherlands Ex-Queen

APELDOORN, Netherlands
Nov. 20 (AP).-Former Queen
Wilhelmina of the Netherlands,
the last Of Europe'S Victorian
queens. died In her sleep at her
Het Loo Palace early today
She was 80.
Queen for so years, she
reigned through the zenith of
the Dutch empire and exile
during the Nazi occupation Of
her homeland. She abdicated in
194s as the Netherlands rule
in the East Indies neared its
end. Her daughter Juliana be-
came Queen.
The former Queen had suf-
fered from diabetes and In re-
cent weeks developed a heart
condition. A medical bulletin
said despite a slight improve
ment her condition took a turn
for the worse yesterday" and
death came at 1888 am. today.
Queen Juliana was at the
palace with her mother, but
other members of the Queens
family were scattered. Prince
Bernhard was with the young
est PrincesSes Margriet and
Marijke at Soestdijk Palace,
Princess Irene was visiting In
England and Crown Princess
Beatrix was in Hong Kong on
a world tour.
Princess Beatrix, 1t was an
nounced, will return home at
once, cutting short a trip that
originally was to have included
japan and the United States.
Wilhelmina'S funeral prob
ably will be held next week In
the old city Of Delft, where her
husband. Prince Hendrix, was
buried in 1884. Presumably it
will be a white funeral, as his
was, In accordance with a
promise they made each other
to thus demonstrate their faith
In a life after death.
Like England's Queen Victori
Wilhelmina was called to the
throne at the age Of Is, mar
ried a German consort, was a
stiokler for the formalities and
conventions and practiced
homely virtues as an example
to her people.
Despite her wealth she made
a point of thrift, darning her
own stockings and taking UP
needlework. She devoted almost
equal time to the study of the
ology and supervision of her
industrial shares.
Escaped During Invasion
World War II was a turning
point In her life. She escaped
to England by warship four
days after Hitler's armies in
vaded her country and spent
the war years there except for
a trip by bomber to the United
States to address Congress and
a trip to Canada in 1943 to.
visit Juliana and her daugh-
tiers.
She took readily to the demo-
cratic way and opened her
home in England to the Dutch
men and women who flocked
from all corners of the globe
to join the exile army.
She encouraged the Dutch
Army in exile and rallied the
resistance at home. Sir Win
ston Churchill called her "the
best man among all the kings
in exile"
At the wars end she put on
her Oldest coat and rode q jeepI
for her triumphant return to
the island Of iceland, where
bombing had let the sea wa
ters through the dykes.
People Cheer
AS she drove through the de-
stroyed farmlands, flooded with
seawater. the people saw their
Queen dressed almost as poorly
as they themselves and look
ing old and tired. They
thronged about her car, wav-
ing flags, shouting, singing
and clamoring for a glimpse Of
their Monarch.
On her first postwar visit to
Limburk Province, officials
struggled to get together q
modest luncheon for Her Maj
eSty. The Queen eyed the ia
BILE reproachfully and said:
This is no time for ban
quets." Then she sat down,
opened a little bag she car
ried. and brought out a pack
age of her own sandwiches.
Conservative officials called
her q Red" when she went
on the air later and declared
that the Dutch East Indies
must be given their independ-
ence. One Of her last official
acts was to declare Indonesia
equal with the homeland un-
der the crown. But this did
not prevent the Indonesians
from breaking away finally,
setting up their own nation in
1949 and Seizing all Dutch
businesses in the dispute over
New Guinea.
In 1948, after celebrating her