‘Meer dan ooit gevoel ik u als waart gij mij nabij’

Abstract

‘More than ever I feel you as if you were near me’. National unity and proximity in the radio speeches of King George VI and Queen Wilhelmina (1939-1945) This article focuses on how King George VI of the United Kingdom and Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands presented themselves in their radio speeches during World War II. Radio served as a tool for propaganda and a new way for rulers to reach the people directly. This article explores the emergence of the modern media monarchy, founded on proximity and accessibility rather than distance and reverence. The meaning and purpose of monarchy was increasingly defined by its relationship with the people. Monarchs spoke on radio in order to legitimise their power and position in a changing world. Radio speeches consolidated their position in the nation, based on shared characteristics and experiences, shared values in opposition to the enemy, and shared membership of their communities. Their different wartime experiences and physical distance from the people required a new and distinct rhetoric in order to achieve this goal.