The only surviving child of King William III of the Netherlands and Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Wilhelmina ascended the throne at the age of 10 after her father's death in 1890, under her mother's regency.

After taking charge of government, Wilhelmina became generally popular for maintaining Dutch neutrality during the First World War and solving many of her country's industrial problems.

[2] Increasingly beset by poor health, Wilhelmina abdicated in favour of her daughter Juliana in September 1948 and retired to Het Loo Palace, where she died in 1962.

By 1887, the 70-year-old King finally abandoned the 'hope of a son' with his young wife and made the pragmatic decision to settle the throne upon his only surviving child.

Reflecting popular opinion in the Netherlands at the time, Wilhelmina expressed a level of disdain towards the British for their annexations of the Transvaal Republic and the Orange Free State in the Boer War.

In one conversation with her former governess, the Briton Elisabeth Saxton Winter, Wilhelmina referred to the Boer commandos as "excellent shots.

Although she was devoted to her spouse at the time of their wedding, it proved in the long run to be an unhappy marriage that did little more than meet its obligation by producing an heir.

As it was assumed that the former would renounce his claim to the Dutch throne and that the latter was too elderly to become queen, Marie Alexandrine's eldest son, German Prince Heinrich XXXII Reuss of Köstritz, stood in line to succeed Wilhelmina if she had no surviving children.

[14] In June 1917, Wilhelmina returned from a two-day visit to Zaltbommel on the train that derailed at Houten, but remained unharmed and helped to take care of the injured.

Instead of a violent revolution, Socialist leader Pieter Jelles Troelstra wanted to abolish the existing government and the monarchy by winning control of Parliament in an election with the support of the working class.

[citation needed] She used her personal wealth inherited from her family to make several investments in the United States, which eventually made her the world's richest woman and first female billionaire in dollars.

In Britain, Queen Wilhelmina took charge of the Dutch government in exile, setting up a chain of command and immediately communicating a message to her people.

The Dutch prime minister, Dirk Jan de Geer, believed the Allies would not win and intended to open negotiations with Germany for a separate peace.

An anecdote published in her New York Times obituary illustrates how she was valued by her subjects during this period: Although celebration of the Queen's birthday was forbidden by the Germans, it was commemorated nevertheless.

Shortly afterwards, Wilhelmina went to Canada in 1943 to attend the christening of her new granddaughter Margriet on 29 June 1943 in Ottawa and stayed a while with her family before returning to the United Kingdom.

[20]: 146 [21]: 193 In England, Queen Wilhelmina developed ideas about a new political and social life for the Dutch after the liberation, wanting to create a strong cabinet formed by people active in the resistance.

In mid-March 1945, she travelled to the liberated areas of the southern Netherlands, visiting the region of Walcheren and the city of Eindhoven where she received a rapturous welcome from the local population.

[22] On 2 May 1945, she went to stay in a small country estate called Anneville located just south of Breda with Juliana and adjuncts Peter Tazelaar, Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema and fellow Engelandvaarder Rie Stokvis.

Shortly after the war, Queen Wilhelmina wanted to give an award to the Polish Parachute Brigade for their actions during Operation Market Garden and wrote the government a request.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eelco van Kleffens, opposed the idea because he thought an award for the Poles would upset relations with the 'Big Three' and harm national interests.

Following the end of World War II, Queen Wilhelmina made the decision not to return to her palace but to move into a mansion in The Hague, where she lived for eight months.

Around the same time, Queen Wilhelmina's health started failing, forcing her to cede her monarchial duties to Princess Juliana temporarily towards the end of 1947 (14 October – 1 December).

Wilhelmina had every intention of doing so, but exhaustion forced her to relinquish monarchial duties to Juliana again on 12 May 1948, which left the princess to deal with the early elections caused by the ceding of the Indonesian colonies.

Dismayed by the return to pre-war politics and the pending loss of Indonesia, Wilhelmina abdicated on 4 September 1948 after a reign of 57 years and 286 days due to advancing age and illness.

[attribution needed] No longer queen, Wilhelmina retreated to Het Loo Palace, making few public appearances until the country was devastated by the North Sea flood of 1953.

During her last years, she wrote her autobiography, entitled Eenzaam, maar niet alleen (Lonely but Not Alone), in which she gave her account of the events in her life and revealed her strong religious feelings.

At her request and contrary to protocol, the funeral was completely in white to give expression to her belief that earthly death was the beginning of eternal life.

Although no hard evidence exists for the allegations and the consensus amongst historians is that they are false,[55][56][57] the rumours were stubborn and still feature in conspiracy theories circulating in republican circles.

[58][59][note 1] The author of the rumour, the later parliamentarian and senator Louis Maximiliaan Hermans [nl], was sentenced to six months imprisonment for lèse-majesté in 1895 for a different article and cartoon in De Roode Duivel, mocking the two queens.