The sun was almost down and the quiet purple dusk of the lowlands was rising in the east when the Queen spoke to her people. Housewives fixing supper put down their pots and men in cafés forgot their drinks; bicyclists in the streets stopped to listen at loudspeakers. Queen Wilhelmina's voice was tired and choked with emotion.
This Important Epoch. Said Wilhelmina: "I must accept reality, and though I know full well that man proposes and God disposes, I think that in the interests of you all and the Empire the government should be confided to Juliana, who apart from the wisdom of insight is favored by her age with fresh youthful forces at her disposal . . .
"How much could be said on a day like this after all that has passed through my head and heart lately. But then I should take too much of your time . . .
"At this very moment, however, I most earnestly call upon all of you: keep closely together in this time of terror and danger. Unite. I repeat, unite . . . Show that you are matched for this important epoch in which we live . . ."
Because of "excessive overwork which is propitious neither to my work nor to my health," Wilhelmina said she would give up the throne in favor of Princess Juliana. (At a ten-minute ceremony in the Knights' Hall at The Hague, Juliana was sworn in as regent.) On Aug. 30—the eve of her 68th birthday—Wilhelmina would resume the throne for a week of jubilee. Sept. 6 would be the 50th anniversary of her reign. On that day (or shortly thereafter) Juliana would become Queen of The Netherlands.
Listening to the Queen's weary voice, Dutch oldsters could remember her ascent to the throne as a girl of 18. They remembered the rejoicing and feasting at her marriage with Henry Wladimir, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1901; the birth of Juliana in 1909 and that of Beatrix (oldest daughter of Juliana and her husband, Prince Bernhard) in 1938. Most vividly, they remembered Wilhelmina's radio broadcasts from London during the Nazi occupation, when she heartened the underground: "The Netherlands will rise again."
Majestic House. Knowing that Wilhelmina was not in good health, her people were not surprised last week but they were profoundly moved. Said Mrs. Bet van Beeren, 46-year-old Amsterdamer: "I can remember her walking through the streets of Amsterdam 25 years ago, always with a smile and a hand outstretched. She was democratic, but majestic. She was the House of Orange, which is Holland."
Fanny Cohen, 4O-year-old artist, tearfully commented: "She is such a dear old lady, and becomes dearer every year. How I would like to lunch with her! When I met her I would like her to say, 'Hello, Miss Cohen,' and I would say, 'Hello, Queen.' " Said a Negro waiter from Dutch Guiana: "People come and go, but it will seem strange without Wilhelmina."