The extraterritoriality of Princess Margriet's birth was a Canadian legislative maneuver which created a temporary extraterritorial space into which Princess Margriet of the Netherlands was born in 1943. Devised by John Erskine Read and enacted through a royal decree from George VI under the War Measures Act, this ensured that Margriet was not born on foreign soil, which would have made her ineligible for the royal succession under the Constitution of the Netherlands.
The enactment was unusual as it did not specify a particular date or location but amounted to a roaming bubble of extraterritoriality that would temporarily form at the time and place of the birth. Margriet's birth is considered the most significant event of the Dutch royal family's exile during the German occupation of the Netherlands, and has been cited as the turning point for the wartime morale of the Dutch people. Canada's role in hosting Crown Princess Juliana's family and in the military liberation of the Netherlands formed the basis for strong and lasting Canada–Netherlands relations.
Background
editIn 1940, Germany invaded the Netherlands and the Dutch royal family went into exile, with Crown Princess Juliana taking refuge in Ottawa, the capital of Canada. In September 1942 it was announced that Juliana was pregnant with her third child,[1] which raised a problem for the succession.[a] The Dutch constitution was clear that no person born on foreign soil could be in the royal succession.[2]: 124 [b]
In November, Juliana's secretary (William van Tets[4]) contacted Canada's Department of External Affairs regarding the problem of having a Dutch royal heir born a British subject.[c] The department's legal advisor John Erskine Read devised a manner of avoiding this circumstance by enacting a temporary extraterritorial space for the birth of the heir.[5]
A legal team[2]: 124 led by Deputy Minister of Justice Frederick P. Varcoe wrote the legislation in the form of a proclamation[6] which was approved by cabinet.[5] An order-in-council was then issued through Governor General Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone,[d] to enact the legislation by royal decree.[6]
Proclamation
edit
The proclamation was issued by George VI on 27 November 1942[5][6] and published in the Canada Gazette on 26 December.[8]
The proclamation invoked the War Measures Act, stating that it was necessary for Canada's war effort to grant refuge to allied royal families and, in the case of the royal family of the Netherlands, "to provide extra-territorial character" for the birth of a potential heir.[6] This wartime necessity granted the proclamation the legislative equivalency of an act of parliament.[e]
The proclamation declared:
That any place in Canada within which Her Royal Highness the Princess Juliana of the Netherlands may be confined shall, for the period of the lying-in and to the extent of actual occupation for such purpose, be extra-territorial, 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.[6]
Legal effect
editThe proclamation effectively created a mobile extraterritorial bubble into which the baby would be born, which would exist for the period and purpose of childbirth. By not specifying dates or locations, it was hoped to accommodate the possibility of a sudden labour.[2]: 124 The extraterritorial birth meant that jus soli (right of soil, a.k.a. birthright citizenship) would not apply and the child would not be born a British subject. Citizenship would instead by derived from Juliana by jus sanguinis (right of blood), making the baby solely Dutch.[10]
Princess Juliana was admitted to Ottawa Civic Hospital on 18 January[1] and Princess Margriet of the Netherlands was born there on 19 January 1943.[2]: 125 She was the first member of the House of Orange-Nassau to be born outside of the Netherlands[11] and, as of 2020, she was the only royal princess born in North America.[1] She was registered as a citizen of the Netherlands with no Canadian birth certificate, the extraterritorial circumstances reported with the announcement of her birth.[4]
Legacy
edit
The day after Margriet's birth, the Dutch flag was flown from the Peace Tower at Parliament Hill;[1][12] as of 2021 this remained the only time a foreign flag had flown there.[10] She was named for the marguerite (daisy), a symbol of the Dutch resistance,[12] and news of the birth provided a major morale boost in occupied Netherlands.[1] Dutch Minister to Canada F. E. H. Groeman declared "1943 is the year of our rising hope."[13] Margriet's birth, according to James Powell, "helped cement a lasting bond between the peoples of Canada and the Netherlands",[1] displayed prominently in the Canadian Tulip Festival.[14][13]
A widely reported myth emerged that a room (or as much as the entire maternity ward[15]) of Ottawa Civic Hospital was temporarily declared Dutch territory for the birth. However, it is not within the power of the Canadian government to declare any part of Canada the territory of another nation.[5]
The international border shifting inspired the screenwriter of Passport to Pimlico, a 1949 British comedy in which a section of London is discovered to be outside the United Kingdom's jurisdiction.[2]: 122
Footnotes
editNotes
edit- ^ As Juliana was the heir apparent with two daughters, her third child was potentially second in line to the throne if a boy or fourth in line to the throne if a girl.
- ^ The revision of 1983 amended the exclusion criteria into Article 29 of the Constitution of the Netherlands such that an Act of Parliament requiring two-thirds majority could exclude an individual from the hereditary succession "if exceptional circumstances necessitate."[3]
- ^ Canada was then a dominion of the British Empire and under the principle of jus soli anyone born in Canada was legally a natural-born British subject with Canadian nationality. Canadian citizenship was non-substantive prior to passage of the Canadian Citizenship Act, 1946.
- ^ The governor general's wife, Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, was Juliana's aunt, and they had initially hosted Juliana and her family at their official residence, Rideau Hall.[1][7]
- ^ In January 1943, shortly before Margriet's birth, the Supreme Court of Canada held that "the authority vested in the Governor General in Council by the War Measures Act is legislative in its character; and ... deemed necessary and advisable by reason of war, [has] the effect of an Act of Parliament".[9]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g
- Powell, James (20 January 2020). "Remember This? A 'Canadian' princess". CityNews. Ottawa, Ontario. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
- Powell, James. "A 'Canadian' Princess". Historical Society of Ottawa. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
- ^ a b c d e Defoe, Gideon (2021). "Ottawa Civic Hospital Maternity Ward". An Atlas of Extinct Countries. Europa Editions. pp. 122–125. ISBN 9781609456801.
- ^ "Grondwet voor het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden (1983))" [Constitution for the Kingdom of the Netherlands (1983)] (in Dutch) – via Wikisource.
- ^ a b "President Roosevelt Chosen as a Godparent". The New York Times. 21 January 1943. p. 23. ProQuest 106547376.
- ^ a b c d Van Veen, W. J. (12 May 1979). "Royal Dutch story wrong, but memory lingers on". The Globe and Mail. Toronto, Ontario. p. P7. ProQuest 387013535.
- ^ a b c d e George VI (27 November 1942). Proclamation declaring the extraterritoriality of the birthplace of Princess Margriet of the Netherlands in Canada (royal proclamation) – via Wikisource.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Harris, Carolyn (15 June 2022). "Princess Margriet of the Netherlands". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada.
- ^ George VI (26 December 1942). "Proclamation declaring the extraterritoriality of the birthplace of Princess Margriet of the Netherlands in Canada". Canada Gazette. LXXVI (232 Extra). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. More legible text is available here at Wikisource.
- ^ Reference as to the Validity of the Regulations in Relation to Chemicals Enacted by Order in Council and of an Order of the Controller of Chemicals Made Pursuant Thereto, [1943 SCR 1] (Supreme Court of Canada 5 January 1943) ("The authority vested in the Governor General in Council by the War Measures Act ... such as should be deemed necessary and advisable by reason of war, have the effect of an Act of Parliament.").
- ^ a b Tanweer, Mansoor (19 January 2021). "How Canadian Immigration Law Created a Crisis for the Dutch Royal Family". Toronto Star. Torstar Syndication Services. ProQuest 2479127002.
- ^ "Juliana to abdicate in favor of daughter". The Globe and Mail. Toronto, Ontario. Associated Press. 1 February 1980. p. P1. ProQuest 387020851.
- ^ a b Kylie, Aaron (5 May 2020). "Interview: Princess Margriet of the Netherlands on her country's enduring bond with Canada". Canadian Geographic. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
- ^ a b Oosterom, Nelle (April–May 2015). "Lasting Liberation". Canada's History. Vol. 95, no. 2.
- ^ "Ottawa in Bloom". Canada's History. Vol. 102, no. 3. June–July 2022.
- ^ Examples of reportage of the myth (as fact) include:
- "Daisy & Freedom". People. 1 February 1943.
In Ottawa, in a hospital suite declared Dutch territory for the day, to Crown Princess Juliana had been born a ... daughter, her third ... Margriet
- "Ottawa Civic Hospital Maternity Ward, January 1943". New York Post. 20 June 2021. p. 36 – via Pressreader.
Once Princess Juliana entered the third floor of Ottawa's Civic Hospital to give birth to Princess Margriet ... Canada declared the maternity ward part of the Netherlands
- "Princess Margriet arrives today for a three-day visit". Ottawa Citizen. 12 May 2005. p. C1. ProQuest 240843430.
Parliament passed a special law declaring princess Juliana's rooms at the Civic [Hospital] as Dutch territory
- "Daisy & Freedom". People. 1 February 1943.
