ORANGE-NASSAU] (1880- ), queen of the Netherlands, was born at The Hague on Aug. 31, 1880. Her father, William III. (Willem Paul Alexander Frederik Lodewijk), had by his first wife, Sophia Frederika Mathilde of Wiirttemberg, two sons, both of whom predeceased him. Having been left a widower on June 3, 1877, he married on Jan. 7, 1879, Adelheid Emma Wilhelmina Theresia (1858-1934), second daughter of Prince George Victor of Waldeck-Pyrmont, and Wilhelmina was the only issue of that union. She succeeded to the throne on her father's death, which took place on Nov. 23, 1890, but until her eighteenth year, when she was "inaugurated" at Amsterdam on Sept. 6, 1898,
the business of the state was carried on under the regency of the queen-mother, in accordance with a law made on Aug. 2, 1884. On Feb. 7, 1901 Queen Wilhelmina married Henry Wladimir Albert Ernst, duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (b. 1876, d. 1934) To the great joy of the Dutch people, Queen Wilhelmina, on April 3o, 1909, gave birth to an heir to the throne, the Princess Juliana who, Jan. 7, 1937, married Prince Bernhard zu Lippe Biesterfeld. See HOLLAND: History.