Princess Juliana's engagement to His Serene Highness
Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld was announced on 8
September 1936. They married on 7 January 1937, the date
on which Princess Juliana's grandparents, King William
III and Queen Emma, had married fifty-eight years earlier.
The civil ceremony was held in The Hague Town
Hall and the marriage was blessed in the Great Church
(St. Jacobskerk), likewise in The Hague. The young
couple made their home at Soestdijk Palace, Baarn.
Four daughters were born to Princess Juliana and Prince
Bernhard: Beatrix on 31 January 1938, Irene on 5 August
1939, Margriet on 19 January 1943, and Christina on 18
February 1947. All the princesses were born at Soestdijk
Palace, with the exception of Princess Margriet, who was
born in Ottawa, Canada during the war.
The German invasion on 10 May 1940 forced the Prince and
Princess and their two daughters to leave the
Netherlands for the United Kingdom; the Princess
remained there for a month before taking the children to
Canada, where she lived in Rockcliffe, a suburb of
Ottawa, until the Netherlands was liberated.
Prince Bernhard, who remained in London with
Queen Wilhelmina,was able to visit his
family in Canada on several occasions.
During the war, the Princess visited Suriname
and the Netherlands Antilles.
In April 1945 she returned with Queen Wilhelmina to the
liberated part of the Netherlands, settling in Breda.
She took part in a relief operation for the people in
the northern part of the country, where the famine of
the previous winter had claimed many victims. On 2
August 1945 Princess Juliana was reunited with her
family on Dutch soil.
After the German capitulation in May 1945, the Princess
took part in various relief operations to help the
victims of the occupation.
She was, for example, Chair
of the Executive Committee of the Council for the
Rehabilitation of the People of the Netherlands. In the
spring of 1946 Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard
visited the countries that had helped the Netherlands
during the occupation.
For several weeks in the autumn of 1947 and again in
1948 the Princess acted as Regent when, for health
reasons, Queen Wilhelmina was unable to perform her
duties. In 1948 the Queen announced her intention to
abdicate and on 4 September 1948 Juliana assumed the
royal prerogative.
Two days later, on 6 September 1948,
Princess Juliana's investiture as Queen of the
Netherlands took place in the New Church in Amsterdam.
 Prince Bernhard
and Princess Margriet
In the first year of her reign, it was principally the
Indonesian question that claimed Queen Juliana's
attention. In 1949, she signed the documents
transferring sovereignty to Indonesia in the Royal
Palace on the Dam Square in Amsterdam. On 15 December
1954 Queen Juliana gave her assent to the Charter for
the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which formed the basis
for cooperation between the three remaining parts of the
Kingdom: the Netherlands, Suriname and the Netherlands
Antilles.
Suriname became an independent republic on 25
November 1975 after the Queen signed the Act
transferring sovereignty to the Republic of Suriname.
Queen Juliana was closely involved in the formation of
the Drees, Beel, De Quay, Marijnen, Cals, Zijlstra, De
Jong, Biesheuvel, Den Uyl and Van Agt governments.
As Head of State, she was a fervent supporter of
international cooperation and European integration.
In the night of 31 January 1953, the provinces of
Zeeland and South Holland were hit by disastrous floods.
Queen Juliana did all in her power to obtain
international aid, and she visited the disaster area for
days at a time.
During her reign, Queen Juliana showed a very great
interest in social issues. She made frequent visits to
hospitals, convalescent centres, sanatoria, homes for
the elderly and children's homes. On the international
front, she was particularly interested in the problems
of developing countries, the refugee problem and child
welfare throughout the world.
In 1966, at the opening of the General Assembly of the
International Union for Child Welfare (in the
Netherlands the Children's Aid Scheme), Queen Juliana
launched a new project entailing studies of child care
and protection methods which could be applied on a broad
scale as part of local or regional development plans.
The Queen also provided financial and material support.
When she and Prince Bernhard celebrated their silver
wedding anniversary in 1962, they donated both land and
funds to make possible the establishment of youth
centres throughout the Netherlands. On her Silver
Jubilee in 1973, she presented the large sum of money
that had been raised by the National Silver Jubilee
Committee to organisations for children in need
throughout the world. Queen Juliana decided that the
gift from the nation which she received on her
seventieth birthday in 1979 should be donated to the
International Year of the Child.
Princess Irene, (see below), devorced and exposes
herself independant and actively engaged in social
matters more than expected of a member of the
Royal House.
The Queen gave her name to the Queen Juliana Foundation
(later renamed the Juliana Welfare Fund), which gives
financial support to projects and organisations in the
field of social services, socio-cultural work and
community work.
In recognition of her services to society, Queen Juliana
was awarded an honorary doctorate in the social sciences
at Groningen University in 1964.
Queen Juliana closely followed developments in science
and the arts, in particular in the visual arts, the
theatre and literature. She took a great personal
interest in the allocation of the annual Royal Grant for
Painting. She frequently visited exhibitions and
attended the theatre both at home and abroad.
Juliana's youngest daughter Christina, (b1947),
renounced her rights, married 1975, divorced 1996,
Jorge Guillermo (b1946).
Juliana's birthdays (30-4) were always celebrated with
a parade of flowers at Soestdijk Palace.
In radio and television broadcasts on 31 January 1980,
Queen Juliana announced that she would abdicate on 30
April 1980 in favour of her daughter Beatrix.
In her speech, she expressed the hope that she could
continue to serve the country after her abdication.
She became Honorary Chair of the National Committee
of the International Year of the Handicapped in 1981
and continued to pay frequent visits to care institutions.
In 1983, Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard went to
the Netherlands Antilles to visit the projects which
were financed from the money presented to the Princess
as a gift on her seventieth birthday.
Since the early 1990s, Princess Juliana has gradually
withdrawn from public life.
 Princess Juliana
leaving hospital (May 1998)
Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard usually spend their
summer holidays in their residence l'Elefante felice at
Porto Ercole in Italy. Up to 1994, they also went skiing
every winter, usually in Lech, Austria.
Her daughter, Queen Beatrix has adopted many of the
occupations of her mother and continues the House of
Orange in her own excellent way.
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