Queen Wilhelmina escapes to England

During the German invasion, the Dutch royal family stayed at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague. German troops had landed in the vicinity of The Hague. The attack was repelled, but not all of the troops were defeated. The provinces of Brabant, Rotterdam, Gelderland, and Friesland saw most of the action. In a crashed German airplane, they discovered a plan to capture the Dutch cabinet and the Royal Family. The Dutch supreme command did not know how long the army would be able to keep the Germans at bay, since the Germans were clearly in the majority.

After two days, Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Bernhard decided that Bernhard would flee the country with his wife Princess Juliana and their two children because their safety could not be guaranteed. In IJmuiden, they boarded a torpedo-boat to Harwich (England). A few hours later, Wilhelmina also left for Harwich. King George VI welcomed them. A few hours later, the Dutch government also escaped to England. General Winkelman was now the highest authority in the country.

When the news came the next day that the queen and her cabinet had fled the country, it came as a big blow to the Dutch people. Up until that point, the newspapers had mainly reported on the military successes of the Dutch. The situation turned out to be more serious than people had expected. Some criticised the queen and called her a coward. During the occupation, however, the queen came to be an important symbol of the fight against Nazi Germany.