a Little Prin cess

bv Rudolf Ebeling

A un,oue sroup or doll: rPide in lhe Archives of the Ro) al lri"'"i..]i"? ,n"'N",r,*,and<, dn in'trrurron fur *hr'h I hd\e done ;uit a bit of rc:loralion s orl on lheir doll colle'rion' '"1]i. ".-, . 'iri ;'lr, , bit or hinoriLdl intormarron whi(h s rll pur ,-" ,-,;r ;; i;;;;.,", ""te\r. our ldsr Dutch hrns wd' wtlliam rI iii,iitl,ii *i,i.l**o sophia or rn nrtemb'rs in r8'ro' rr ptoved ro r,. "" ,"r,rort ."*,,g"," it'" q'""n n"ter lelt al home rn.lhe l'.ethedanas, *trite trer trusband turned out lo be a woman'/er 'i}""ii"i""J. i-^,r."r. -arriase three sons wele born' who' aras' arr n'.a t"""". i*"r"*,f," oulch ihrone in lE84 s rrhour dn heir' Thdl i',,iri r'".? -""i,ir'" *d or rhe roval dvnasrv or rhe House or ;;;;. r, ,h., couldn'r rind r pnncess dmong the turcPedn courr' ;;:'i,':. ;iii;;; ;";* the w,doh er rrnB (lophra dred in r877r dnd hoperull) Sive btrth to d litlle Prin(e or Pances''

Lu.kily they found P.incess Enma of Wald(k Pyrmont (r85& 1934) ag@able to the maniage and the wedding took place in 1879- lt proved tobe an excellent choice for she proved in later years to be very good quftn who was much loved by her F$pleShe had, among other qualitie6 ofcharacter a perfect feelin8 for what w. call today "public r.lations." She was a wise and honest woman who managed - after all the larious escapades of the old king - to elelate the popularity ofthe House of Orange to an unpr€cedented heiSht. Not in the least be.ause she Save birth to a daughte. wilhelmina (1880-1962). Her dau8hter luliaM (190s20o{) gave birth to Beatrix (born 1938)who is our present queen. This will give you a histo.ical frahe and I (an start t.llin8 you morc about lhe littl€ Princess wilhelmina as a child.

We have learned a loi about her eady years thanks to a charming book that her British Sovemess, Miss Saxon de winter, dedicated to the upbringing of th€ young princ6s. Wilhelmina was a prctty, inielligent child, butbasicauy a very lonely child as no other brothers or sisters were bom. With her mother she visited the mtire country At home she was only allowed to play with a few.hildren of the upper class€s in the palace of the Hague wheE she lived. Fortunately she had her dous which were her best friends and which shc loved dearl). Among her dolls were a lumeau, Bru and many early Kestners, some even dressed as tDys. TheR was an extensive wardrobe of themost teautiful doll(lothes rmaB,nable. rome furn ur€ and many ac(escories.