I mentioned her briefly in Recent history of the Netherlands, part 1, Princess Juliana, once Queen of the Netherlands. She passed away on March 20, 2004. She died as a result of pneumonia, combined with a general deterioration in her health.
The funeral will take place on March 30, 2004. She will be interred in the Royal Vault at the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft.
Royal Vault, Nieuwe Kerk, Delft
Yesterday she was brought from Soestdijk Palace to Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, to lie in state there until the day of the funeral. The public will be able to pay their last respects from March 25 to March 28.
She was born in The Hague on April 30, 1909, only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Hendrik. On April 30, 1927, Princess Juliana celebrated her eighteenth birthday. Under the Constitution, she had officially come of age and was entitled to assume the royal prerogative, if necessary. Two days later her mother installed her in the Council of State.
During the Depression of the early 1930s, the Princess mainly turned her attention to social issues. It was partly on her initiative that the National Crisis Committee was established to assist the many victims of the economic crisis. She was the Committee’s highly active Honorary Chairman. On the death of her father, Prince Hendrik, in 1934, she succeeded him as President of the Netherlands Red Cross.
Princess Juliana’s engagement to His Serene Highness Prince Bernhard of Lippe Biesterfeld was announced on September 8, 1936.
The engagement picture
They married on January 7, 1937, the date on which Princess Juliana’s grandparents, King William III and Queen Emma, had married fifty-eight years earlier.
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 September 4, 1948, Juliana assumed the royal prerogative. Two days later Princess Juliana’s investiture as Queen of the Netherlands took place in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam.
Juliana’s investiture as Queen of the Netherlands
Juliana showed 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.
She also provided financial and material support. When she and Prince Bernhard celebrated their silver wedding anniversary in 1962, they donated both land and funds for 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 in 1979 should be donated to the International Year of the Child.
She gave her name to the Queen Juliana Foundation, later renamed the Juliana Welfare Fund. The aim of the Fund, which merged with the Orange Fund on June 27, 2002, is to improve social welfare and encourage social cohesion.
In radio and television broadcasts on January 31, 1980, Queen Juliana announced that she would abdicate April 30 in favour of her daughter Beatrix. In her speech, she expressed the hope that she could continue to serve the country after her abdication.
March 26th, 2004 | 
