Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (1909-2004), only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Duke Heinrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Studied law at the University of Leiden. Married Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld, whom she met at the 1936 Winter Olympics, in 1937. Took refuge in Canada with her children after Germany invaded the Netherlands in 1940, returning in 1945. Became Queen upon Wilhelmina’s abdication in 1948. Recognized Indonesia’s independence in 1949, ending 346 years of colonial rule, visited every flooded community in 1953, when storm surges hit large parts of the Netherlands and remained popular even when her husband was found to have accepted a bribe. Abdicated in 1980, allowing Queen Beatrix, the eldest of her four daughters, to succeed her.
Figure 3.1. Wim van de Plas, Staatsieportret van H.M. Koningin Juliana voor de gemeente Best, 1962, source: Wikimedia Commons.
1920s–30s
As a teenager and young adult in the 1920s, Princess Juliana readily embraced the fashions of the day. Lizzy Ansingh (1875-1959) depicted her wearing a robe de style—a type of gown characterized by a low waist, with a skirt that flares outward, made popular by noted couturier Jeanne Lanvin (1867-1946)—with her hair cut in a bob, in a portrait dating from 1930 (see figure 3.2). Juliana’s off-the-shoulder white silk gown appears to be embellished here and there with flower appliqués; its ankle-length, tiered skirt has a pastel-pink lining with a scalloped edge and ends in a train. In true flapper style, Juliana wears pointed, high-heeled silver shoes, each decorated with a pink flower, that are vaguely reminiscent of eighteenth-century footwear.
Figure 3.3 shows a rare survivor from Princess Juliana’s adolescent wardrobe: a short dress having the tubular silhouette that was all the rage in the 1920s. A sweetly girlish creation from Premet, a Parisian fashion house patronized by three generations of Dutch queens, the sleeveless dress consists of white net embroidered with motifs of daisies worn over a slip. A delicate white net bow on one side of the dropped waist, from which fall two rows of flounces, fashioned from the same material, further enhances the garment’s youthful appearance.
Her-storic Royal Dress 
