Colonial Queens: Imperialism, Gender and the Body Politic During the Reign of Victoria and Wilhelmina

Abstract

The focus of this article is on how queens Victoria and Wilhelmina cultivated their royal distinction from those they ruled, in particular their subjects in the colonies, and how others appropriated those royal rituals and images. Both queens considered themselves imperial sovereigns with a civilizing mission, but favoured colonial assertion or even aggression. They felt attracted to ‘their’ colonies, but never visited them. What was the significance of this ambivalence of attraction and indifference? What happened to their authority when they became personally acquainted with the indigenous people of the colonies? The answers to these complex questions are rather tentative. Yet this comparison can provide insights into the gender dynamics of the queens image-creation, and into the actions others took to assign meaning to them. The popularity of the British and Dutch monarchies arose from their transformation into a national spectacle. In this process the queens functioned as the symbol of a society which combined tradition and innovation. Their gender smoothed the transition to a symbolic monarchy and domesticated imperialist politics of both countries. Although Victoria and Wilhelmina ardently tried to interfere with the reign over their extensive colonial realms, the marketing of their royal image in the colonies differed considerably.