All hail the Queen

[Blazer]

Well April the 30'th has arrived and with it the national celebration we call "Queen's day."

Queen Juliana and her husband Prince Bernard as photographed in the fifties.
The "Queen's day" celebration started in the fifties, both as to celebrate the birthday of our then Queen Juliana and as a celebration of freedom. This year however Queen's day will be a one off  because today would have been the day that Queen Juliana would have been 100 years old.

Queen Juliana in the nineties.

So why is it that Queen Juliana even after she handed over the crown to her oldest daughter, our current Queen Beatrix, is still held in such big regard by the Dutch? Well for one thing Juliana wasn't really what you could call a typical monarch. Her father Prince Hendrik, taught her how to ride roller skates through the long halls of the royal palace and later when Beatrix was born she insisted on changing the diapers of her baby girl herself. Juliana also was an avid bicycle rider and later when she stepped down and Beatrix became Queen, Juliana happily rode to the local drug store on her bicycle to get groceries, insisting that people address her as "Madam" and not as "Majesty" Her attitude of "I might be the queen but I'm your average normal next door woman too" was something that people happily embraced and remember her by, she opened herself to be the mother of all Dutch people.

Juliana and Bernard riding a tandem bike in the thirties, prior to Juliana becoming queen
She was the Queen among Queens for us Dutch people. She died in 2004 and is still missed by the Dutch people who saw her as the grandmother or a wise aunt they never had.


Queen Juliana and Princes Christina about to ride a bike like any normal mother and daughter.

So in honor of the 100'th birthday of our dearly departed Queen let me sing.

Oranje boven, oranje boven, leve de Koningin.
Oranje boven, oranje boven, leve de Koningin.

[Rocker949]

That sounds like a fun holiday to me.  I could be wrong, but I think that's the one where children sell things on the streets. 

Note:

Minutes after typing my post, I discovered while looking at the news that there has been a tragedy on Queen's Day.  It appears that it is now even being canceled in some parts of the Netherlands.

http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/region/netherlands/090430-dutch-queen-attack

[Blazer]

Yes, when I was making my post I also wasn't aware of what happened.

The guy driving the car is a 38 Caucasian who's currently in the hospital, his reasons behind the attack are not yet known but he has no ties to terror organizations.

So sad though.

[Dave W]

That's very sad. It's hard to stop one determined person from doing damage.

[uwe]

That's a tragedy indeed.

I have fond memories though when Queen Beatrix visited Germany a few years back - she was hungry ...