Editing Wilhelmina of the Netherlands (section)

==Youth==
[[File:Queen of Holland 2.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Queen Wilhelmina in the 1890s]]

Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria of [[House of Orange-Nassau|Orange-Nassau]] was born on 31 August 1880, in [[Noordeinde Palace]], [[The Hague]], Netherlands. She was the only child of [[William III of the Netherlands|King William III]] and [[Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont|Queen Emma]]. Her childhood was characterised by a close relationship with her parents, especially with her father, who was 63 years old when she was born. In her memoir, ''Lonely But Not Alone'', Wilhelmina wrote that she recalled her father riding horses.

Under the [[Semi-Salic]] system of inheritance that was in place in the Netherlands until 1887, Wilhelmina was third in line to the throne from birth. Her father had had three sons with his first wife, [[Sophie of Württemberg]], but two of them had died before Wilhelmina's birth. The only other surviving male relatives from the House of Orange were Wilhelmina's great-uncle [[Prince Frederick of the Netherlands|Frederick]], who died in 1881 when Wilhelmina was one year old, and her half-brother [[Alexander, Prince of Orange|Alexander]], who died before she turned four. By 1887, the 70-year-old King finally abandoned the 'hope of a son' with his young wife and made the pragmatic decision to settle the throne upon his only surviving child.

[[File:VictoriaWilhelmina1895.jpg|thumb|[[Queen Victoria]] and Queen Wilhelmina in a montage photo (1895)]]
King William III died on 23 November 1890 and 10-year-old Wilhelmina became Queen of the Netherlands, though her mother was named [[regent]]. In 1895, Wilhelmina visited [[Queen Victoria]] of the United Kingdom, who penned an evaluation in her diary: "The young Queen ... still has her hair hanging loose. She is very slight & graceful, has fine features, & seems to be very intelligent & a charming child. She speaks English extremely well & has very pretty manners."<ref>Queen Victoria's Journals, Friday 3 May 1895</ref>

On 6 September 1898, Wilhelmina was [[Inauguration of the Dutch monarch|sworn-in]] at the [[Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam|Nieuwe Kerk]] in Amsterdam.<ref>{{cite web | title = Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: ''Wilhelmina'' | url = http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/w8/wilhelmina.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040314001456/http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/w8/wilhelmina.htm | url-status = dead | archive-date = 14 March 2004 | publisher = [[United States Navy]] | access-date = 10 October 2009}}</ref> She was well aware what was expected by the elected representatives, but was a strong-willed, forceful woman who spoke and acted her mind. She "hated" politicians and instead stated a love for the people. Reflecting popular opinion in the Netherlands at the time, Wilhelmina expressed a level of disdain towards the British for their [[annexation]]s of the [[Transvaal Republic]] and the [[Orange Free State]] in the [[Second Boer War|Boer War]]. The [[Boer]]s were descended from Dutch colonists who migrated to the region while it was a [[Dutch Cape Colony|Dutch colony]], and the Dutch people, Wilhelmina included, felt a close level of affinity towards them. In one conversation with her former governess, the Briton Elisabeth Saxton Winter, Wilhelmina referred to the Boer [[commando]]s as "excellent shots."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.academia.edu/38693076 | title=Queen Wilhelmina and the Boers, 1899–1902 | date=January 2018 | last1=Picard | first1=Emile }}</ref> During the war, Wilhelmina ordered the Dutch cruiser [[HNLMS Gelderland (1898)|HNLMS ''Gelderland'']] to [[Portuguese East Africa]] to evacuate [[Paul Kruger]], the president of the [[South African Republic]].<ref>Cees Fasseur, Wilhelmina: De jonge koningin, 1998, {{ISBN|9050185045}}{{page needed|date=August 2024}}</ref>