The BBC's royal correspondent Nick Witchell says she saw the abdication crisis at first hand and was fully involved in the Royal Family's efforts to maintain the nation's morale during the Second World War.

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Censorship of that royal story helped create the hysteria around the abdication crisis, polarizing opinion and may even have led to an atmosphere where the king felt he was forced to choose between love and duty.

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Correspondents say she is extremely popular with most Dutch people, but her abdication was widely expected and will not provoke a constitutional crisis.

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