The birth of princess Juliana on 30 April 1909 brought great joy and elation to the country. As the marriage between queen Wilhelmina and prince Hendrik had remained childless for eight years, this new descendant of the House of Orange gave the royal family a future once more.

Princess Juliana had great admiration for her grandmother, queen-regent Emma. Juliana wanted to be a 'queen of the people', just like this beloved monarch. The constitutional crises in the 1950s and 1970s failed to damage her popularity. The annual processions on her birthday  brought thousands of people to the palace of Soestdijk, year after year. She stepped down as queen in 1980 to make way for her daughter Beatrix.

Princess Juliana married the German prince Bernhard van Lippe-Biesterfeld on 7 January 1937. They had four daughters: princess Beatrix, princess Irene, princess Margriet and princess Christine (initially named Marijke).