When Canada Was Home

“Shortly after 7 p.m. on Tuesday, January 19, the telephone rang in the reception room of the stately Chateau Laurier hotel in downtown Ottawa where reporters were anxiously awaiting word of the birth.
A Dutch information officer from Montreal picked up the receiver and quickly announced:
 “Gentlemen, the baby is born.  It’s a girl.”
There was a collective gasp.  Then everyone ran for the phones to spread the news around the world.  Some of the reporters would dub the baby, somewhat romantically and wistfully, Canada’s princess.
Bernhard, who was at the hospital, immediately informed Queen Wilhelmina by telephone. “I’m so happy,” the queen said, when told that everything had gone well. 
“ I am very, very happy.  Give Juliana a kiss for me.”
The hospital issued its first communiqué at 7:45 ; “The princess is doing extremely well.  The little princess is a healthy baby of seven pounds, twelve ounces, which is five ounces more than average weight.”
The next day, carillonneur Robert Donnell made the bells in the Peace Tower of the Parliament Buildings ring out joyously in the frosty air with the sound of Dutch songs, including the national anthem.
And high above the tower, the red, white and blue of the Dutch flag fluttered in the wind.
It was the first time a foreign flag had flown alone from the seat of Canada’s government.”

 An excerpt from the book:  “When Canada Was Home (The Story of Dutch Princess Margriet),”  written by Albert VanderMey, ISBN 1-895815-02-9
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