Wilhelmina (1880-1962) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, making her the longest-reigning monarch in Dutch history, as well as the longest-reigning female monarch outside the United Kingdom. On August 5, 1942, she became the first queen to make an address to the U.S. Congress.
Her rousing address is online, and starts with: “Seeing this great democratic assembly, renewing itself at regular intervals and meeting under self-made rules of law, seems to me a sure guaranty that liberty is forever young and strong and invincible, whereas the autocrat, incapable of rejuvenating himself, is every day nearer to his end, his regime doomed to die with him.”
Queen Wilhelmina went to Canada in June, 1943, to attend the christening of her new granddaughter in Ottawa and stayed a while with her family before returning to the United Kingdom. The Queen, Princess Juliana, her husband Prince Bernhard and three Princesses were photographed by Karsh on July 1, 1943. Thanks as always to our colleagues at Archives Canada for their rich database of early Karsh photographs.