Chapter 1298 It has nothing to do with us
William even cursed, which shows how excited he was.
Xiao Peng's gift was a bust of a slender young woman. Her head tilted slightly upward, her gaze condescending. A crown adorned her head, and a large, exaggerated necklace hung around her neck. Despite having been buried underwater for so long, it bore some marks of corrosion from marine life, but after being cleaned, it still looked remarkably lifelike.
Kasim poked Walter on the side and asked in a low voice: "Boss, who is this? Why is William so excited after seeing this?"
Walter explained in a low voice: "You idiot, how could he not be excited? That is a bust of his great-grandmother, Queen Wilhelmina, the 'Queen of the Rebellion'."
Kasim gestured at his waist and said, "Boss, isn't Queen Wilhelmina built like this?"
Walter rolled his eyes at him. "Shut up! Who hasn't been young once? This is a stone statue of Queen Wilhelmina carved by Mustrom, the Dutch royal painter, when she ascended the throne at the age of eighteen. Can't you see she's wearing a crown? It's all recorded in the royal diaries kept by the Dutch royal historians!"
"How did you know that?" Kasim's eyes widened. "Boss, are you so powerful? You even know this?"
Walter rolled his eyes at him: "The boss told me! Okay, don't mention it. I'll tell you later. The matter of the Dutch royal family is a bit troublesome. Now is not the time to talk about it."
Kasim said 'hmm'.
Walter was right. Almost all royal families in Europe were in a mess, including the Dutch royal family.
Basically, the marriages of all the Dutch royal family members are strange things. Needless to say, when William got married, his father-in-law and mother-in-law were in Argentina and could not come to the Netherlands. When Germany was defeated in World War I, Queen Wilhelmina defended the German emperor for family reasons.
'Rebellious Queen' Wilhelmina's father, William III, was 63 years old when she was born, a typical example of a late-born child.
William III was once called "the greatest playboy of his time." Simply put, he was a man who "had a red flag flying at home while having a colorful one flying outside." He neglected his own children but fathered numerous illegitimate children. After his wife, Queen Sophie, died, William III made various attempts to remarry. However, by then, he was already in his sixties and had a reputation for being a playboy, so many people dismissed this as a farce.
But in the end, William III really found a new wife: Princess Emma, a 21-year-old princess from a small principality in Germany, married him and gave birth to Wilhelmina.
William III had many children. Besides his illegitimate children, Wilhelmina had three older half-brothers. Logically, the throne of the Netherlands would not have fallen to her. However, the second of these brothers died at the age of seven, the third died of depression at the age of thirty-three, and the eldest challenged someone to a duel and was shot. So, after William III's death, the ten-year-old Wilhelmina became the new Queen of the Netherlands.
But because she was too young, Princess Emma served as regent until she officially ascended the throne at the age of eighteen. This stone statue was carved according to her image on the day of her ascension to the throne.
When Wilhelmina was 21 years old, she married Hendrik, the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in Germany. However, Wilhelmina's marriage was not very happy. She became pregnant six times and had five miscarriages. Only one daughter survived, and Hendrik already had a lot of illegitimate children outside.
She was half German and had a German husband, so it was no surprise that she defended the German king to the death. When the Netherlands was annihilated during World War II, Wilhelmina fled to England with her daughter and ministers and established a government-in-exile. She daily cheered on the Dutch people via radio. Upon returning to her country after the war, she became known as the "Queen of Resistance" and the "Mother of the Resistance."
Later, due to health problems, she returned to the country and passed the throne to her only daughter Juliana three years later. Juliana also "married" the German nobleman Prince Bernhard. This time, the two had four daughters, and by the way, there were also several illegitimate daughters of Bernhard...
It seems that it is a glorious tradition for Dutch "kings" to have illegitimate daughters!
During Juliana's reign as Queen, the Netherlands became one of the richest countries in Europe. Bernhard was an ambitious man. He organized an organization called "Bilderberg", whose participants were all elites in the financial and business circles. Some people claimed that the influence of this "Bilderberg" surpassed that of any country's parliament.
But the Lockheed bribery scandal of 1976 tarnished Bernhard's reputation, and a few years later the Dutch throne passed to their daughter Beatrix, the mother of King William.
Why was William's mother so supportive when he married his wife? Because her mother was even more ruthless! Beatrix's husband was a member of the German Youth League and served as a prisoner of war in the German army. How could the Dutch people, fresh from the baptism of World War II, accept their princess marrying him?
At that time, the Netherlands was really in an uproar about this marriage, and even more than 65,000 people jointly submitted a petition to the parliament to oppose the marriage.
Although the two eventually got married, their wedding scene was truly unique: while other weddings were filled with people sending blessings, theirs was filled with protesters holding banners! Some even threw smoke bombs at the wedding car! It was as if they were determined to sabotage the wedding!
The Dutch royal family was no pushover either. They mobilized more than 8,000 soldiers and police to control the protesting crowd. All guests attending the wedding had to record their blood types to avoid accidents, and a group of doctors were on standby around waiting for rescue at any time.
This marriage can be described as "earth-shattering".
Anyway, looking at the Dutch royal family, these consecutive generations have been full of betrayal and controversy... Wasn't William also scolded like a dog by the Dutch people because he was the "Beer Prince"?
But regardless, Wilhelmina is arguably the most respected queen in the Netherlands. If it weren't for her, the Dutch royal family would have been overthrown by the Dutch people before World War I, and there wouldn't be a Dutch royal family today. It's understandable that William was so excited to see her statue.
William was there, carefully wiping the stains off the stone statue. "Xiao, how can I thank you enough? You've found the most important thing for our family!"
Xiao Peng laughed and said, "I'm actually a little nervous now that you said that. Take it away quickly. I'm not responsible if it gets bumped or dented. William, why did you come to me? Don't tell me you met me by chance while traveling at sea. I really don't believe that."
William said without turning his head: "I'm fine now."
"Ah?" Xiao Peng was stunned after hearing this. This answer didn't seem to fit his own opinion.
William pointed at the others and said, "But they have something else to ask you. Wim and I are here today to act as a go-between."
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