in the canadian capital of ottawa stands a monumental bronze statue of a man with arms
outstretched a wide brimmed hat held in each hand titled rather unimaginably the man with
two hats the sculpture is a copy of an identical statue at apple dawn palace in the netherlands the
two figures facing each other across nearly 6 000 kilometers of land and ocean designed by dutch
artist hank vish and installed in 2002 the man with two hats celebrates the strong bond between
canada and the netherlands a bond also celebrated by ottawa's annual tulip festival in which over
a million bulbs are planted throughout the city the close relationship dates back to the second
world war when the canadian army played a pivotal role in liberating the netherlands from the nazis
canada also played host to the dutch royal family who were forced to flee their homeland following
its invasion and occupation in may 1940. while far preferable to life under the nazis this exile
came with many challenges though perhaps none as unexpected or as bizarre as a 1943 incident
in which part of ottawa hospital was temporarily declared foreign territory in order to avoid a
succession crisis this is the strange tale of the birth of princess margaret in the late 1930s the
netherlands enjoyed cordial relations with germany during the first world war the netherlands had
remained neutral saving it from german invasion but not from interference by the anton powers in
a bid to starve germany into submission on taunt ships blockaded dutch ports leading to severe
shortages and severely irritating the dutch government particularly at 60 year old head
of state queen vilhalmer consequently following the armistice of 1918 wilhelmer showed solidarity
with germany by granting asylum to the deposed kaiser wilhelm ii who lived in exile in the dutch
city of dawn until his death in 1941. when germany invaded poland in september 1939 the netherlands
again declared neutrality confident that it would once again escape invasion but adolf hitler had
other plans seeking to fold the aryan nations of western europe into his third reich on may the
10th hitler launched fall girl bore case yellow a lightning invasion of france and the low countries
using modern tactics including paratroopers aerial bombardment and armoured spearheads
german forces swiftly overran the netherlands the dutch capitulating after only a week of fighting
belgium followed a week later in france a week after that in one of the most stunning victories
in the history of modern warfare and for more on how germany used airborne forces in that invasion
please do check out our previous video how the nazis managed to capture the world's strongest
fortress in less than 20 minutes despite her distrust of the british faced with the nazi
onslaught queen philharmena agreed to let the royal navy evacuate her and her family
on may 12 1940 the royals and other members of the dutch government traveled in a dutch
national bank armored car to the hague and there they boarded the british destroyer hms heroin
wilhelmina originally planned to sail to the then still unoccupied dutch province of zeeland but oh
when the total collapse of the country appeared imminent hms herrera would instead diverted to
britain arriving on may 13th queen vilamina wasted no time establishing a dutch government in exile
in london and began making regular radio broadcasts on the bbc to raise the morale
of a subject back home while the rest of the royal family initially resided in london with a german
invasion of the british isles deemed imminent vilhamina worried about their safety luckily
wilhelmina's daughter princess juliana had been offered asylum by alexander cambridge first earl
of although the governor-general of canada thus juliana along with their young daughters princess
beatrix aged two and princess irene aged nine months boarded the ship to halifax arriving on
june 11th left behind was juliana's husband prince bernard of lippe beisterfeld who had become a
fighter pilot in the royal air force and would go on to fly over 1 000 combat hours during the war
juliana and her daughters settled in ottawa officially staying at the governor general's
residence at rideau hall indeed rideau hall would serve as a refuge for a number of exiled european
royals including prince olab and princess martha of norway grand duchess charlotte and prince felix
of luxembourg and empressita of austria the dutch royals later relocated to a house at 120 lansdowne
road which they dubbed newt gidarcht or never imagined and finally stormaway house 541 acacia
drive today the official residence of the canadian parliament's leader of the opposition though the
family adapted quickly to life in canada it was not without its challenges wartime rationing was
in full effect meaning that even for royals many food staples including sugar tea coffee and butter
were hard to come by the winter of 1942-1943 was also one of otto's coldest on record but juliana
found herself facing a rather more unique problem one that would require an equally unique solution
on september 21 1942 prince bernard announced over the bbc's radio arranged that princess juliana was
pregnant and would give birth early the following year the news was greeted with celebration by
the dutch people even appearing in the diary of anne frank quote i sometimes listen to the dutch
broadcasts from london prince bernard recently announced that princess juliana is expecting a
baby in january which i think is wonderful for the dutch government in exile however
the announcement raised the specter of succession crisis under the doctrine of justice or birthright
citizenship a person is automatically granted citizenship of the country in which they are born
thus if born in ottawa princess juliana's child would automatically become a canadian citizen and
thus a british subject disqualifying them from the dutch royal line of succession to get around this
the british crown pulled a clever legal trick declaring the maternity ward at ottawa civic
hospital where juliana was to give birth to no longer be canadian territory the official decree
by king george vi published in the canada gazette on december 24 1942 read that any place in canada
within which her royal highness the princess giuliana of the netherlands may be confined
shall for the period of the lying in and to the extent of the actual occupation for such purpose
be extraterritorial and for such purpose her royal highness the princess juliana and any child that
shall be born shall be accorded immunity from criminal civil and military jurisdiction whether
dominion or provincial contrary to popular belief the decree did not convert the maternity ward
into sovereign dutch territory rather it simply declared the war to be extra-territorial meaning
canada relinquished all legal jurisdiction over it according to international law in areas considered
extraterritorial justi no longer applies instead according to the doctrine of just sanguinas or
blood birthright a baby automatically acquires the citizenship of its parents as just sanguinas is
followed by dutch nationality law this meant that juliana's child would be born a dutch citizen and
thus retain their place in the line of succession the area covered by the degree comprised four
rooms on the third floor of the civic hospital one for juliana one for the baby one for a nurse
and one for a security guard all decorated with the dutch flag and whether by design or happy
coincidence the rooms faced onto holland avenue on january 18th 1943 princess giuliana suffering from
mumps and due to give birth any day was admitted to the maternity ward around 7 pm the following
day a baby girl was born weighing seven pounds five ounces she was named margherita francisca
after the flower which had become the symbol of the dutch resistance prince bernard who had flown
to ottawa for the birth phoned his mother-in-law in london to deliver the good news while the
announcement was officially made to reporters waiting at ottawa's chateau laureate hotel and
broadcast around the world news of margaret birth was greeted with jubilation around the
world especially in the netherlands providing a much-needed morale boost in a nation suffering
under nazi occupation as the underground dutch newspaper de oranjokrand wrote little margaret you
will be our princess of peace we long to have you in our midst come soon margarite we are awaiting
you with open arms in ottawa the birth dominated the headlines for three days in celebration the
dutch flag was flown atop the parliament buildings the first time a foreign flag was so honoured
while the building's carillion chimes played the dutch national anthem in traditional style
canadians of dutch descent celebrated the birth by eating beeshut met muches twice baked bread topped
with sugar and any seeds that i'm absolutely pronouncing incorrectly though due to rationing
the taste reportedly left much to be desired princess marguerite was baptized at ottawa's
saint andrews presbyterian church on june 29 1943 in attendance were her father prince bernard her
grandmother queen philhomina the governor general and canadian prime minister william
leon mackenzie king margaret's godparents included u.s president franklin d roosevelt queen mary of
the united kingdom martha crown princess of norway and somehow the entire dutch merchant navy the
princess and her family remained in canada for the duration of the war only returning to the
netherlands after its liberation in may 1945. here again canada played a significant role following
numerous failed attempts by british and american forces to capture the netherlands including the
ill-fated operation market garden airborne assault in september 1944. the country was
finally liberated by the first canadian army under the command of general henry carrera at a cost of
some 7600 personnel killed in action as a token of gratitude for all canada had done for her family
and her country during the war in the fall of 1945 princess juliana presented the city of ottawa with
a gift of 100 000 tulip bulbs the tradition has continued ever since forming the bases of ottawa's
annual tulip festival every spring the city plants more tulips than any place on earth outside of the
netherlands a colorful and powerful symbol of the nation's unique relationship in 1948 queen
philharmina abdicated her throne in favor of her daughter juliana and retrial to hedley palace in
apple dawn dying in 1962 at the age of 82. juliana rained for 32 years before abdicating in favor of
her daughter beatrix dying in 2004 at the age of 94. as for princess margaret whose place in the
line of succession had taken such creative legal maneuvering to secure after studying jurisprudence
and constitutional law at lyden university in 1966 began volunteering as a nursing auxiliary for the
netherlands red cross over the following decades she would become increasingly involved in the
organization serving as vice president from 1987 to 2011 and establishing the princess margaret
fund to help developing nations better prepare for natural disasters in 2002 she returned to the
city of her birth to unveil the statue of the man with two hats in commissioner's park she returned
in 2022 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the netherlands speaking to veterans
planting tulips at stoneway house and unveiling a plaque honoring canadian general charles fawkes
who accepted the surrender of german troops in the netherlands in 1945. in a speech delivered
at the opening festival of the tulip festival princess marguerite drew parallels between her
family's wartime experiences and the recent russian invasion of ukraine stating we never
thought we would see another war in europe yet the russian act of aggression of an independent
sovereign state proves us terribly wrong it brings war home along with the realization
how vulnerable our freedom is all the more reason to commemorate and celebrate our precious freedom
which has come at such a high price and in case you were wondering no the four rooms of
the civic hospital maternity ward are not still extra-territorial as perking george the sixth is
declaration they reverted back to being canadian territory the moment princesses giuliana and
marguerite left the building to this day princess margaret remains the first and thus far only royal
ever to be born in north america all thanks to some creative jurisdictional sleight of hand