Ancient history

The day a Canadian hospital room was declared a territory of the Netherlands

On April 30, 1927, Princess Juliana of the Netherlands celebrated her 18th birthday. According to the constitution, she had officially come of age and was prepared to assume royal prerogatives if necessary. Her next step was to find a husband for her among European royalty and her mother, Queen Wilhelmina , she took care of it. The chosen one was Prince Bernard of Lippe-Biesterfeld (Germany). The wedding announcement divided a country that mistrusted Germany, under the rule of Adolf Hitler during this time. Prince Bernard was granted Dutch citizenship and they were married in The Hague on January 7, 1937.

Adolf Hitler tried to use that wedding and declared that the real marriage of Juliana with a German was a sign of alliance between the Netherlands and Germany. Queen Wilhelmina quickly made a public statement rejecting Hitler's words... in May 1940, the Germans invaded the Netherlands . During the German occupation the crown princes went into exile with their two daughters (Beatriz and Irene) to the United Kingdom, representing the government of the Netherlands in exile. The princess stayed there for a month before taking the girls to Ottawa (Canada) and Prince Bernard applied for admission to the British intelligence services to cooperate with the allies.

The princes and Beatriz, their first daughter

The Canadian government provided them with a house on Acacia Avenue in Rockcliffe where they tried to rebuild their lives as much as possible. On January 19, 1943, she was born in the maternity ward at Ottawa Civic Hospital Daisy , the third daughter of Bernardo and Juliana, and the first member of a royal family born in North America. So that Margaret would not be excluded from the line of succession to the throne, the Canadian government declared the maternity hospital and her room a territory of the Netherlands. In addition, the flag of the Netherlands flew on the Peace Tower in Ottawa on the day of her birth. Princess Juliana and her family returned to the Netherlands in 1945. As a thank you to Canada, the Netherlands sent 100,000 tulip bulbs, a ritual that continues every year.

Margarita on a trip to Ottawa (2005)