Wilhelmina (Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; August 31, 1880 – November 28, 1962) is Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948

She reigns for nearly fifty-eight years, longer than any other Dutch monarch.

Her reign sees the First and the Second world wars, the Dutch economic crisis of 1933, and the decline of the Netherlands as a major colonial power.

Wilhelmina is the only child of King William III and his second wife, Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont.

On William's death in 1890, she ascends to the throne at the age of ten under the regency of her mother.

In 1901, she marries Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, with whom she has a daughter, Juliana.

Wilhelmina is generally credited with maintaining Dutch neutrality during the First World War.

Following the German invasion of the Netherlands in 1940, Wilhelmina flees to Britain and takes charge of the Dutch government-in-exile.

She frequently speaks to the Dutch people over radio and comes to be regarded as a symbol of the Dutch resistance.

She returns to the Netherlands following its liberation in 1945.

Increasingly beset by poor health after the war, Wilhelmina abdicates in September 1948 in favor of Juliana.

She retires to Het Loo Palace, where she dies in 1962.