Tags
Abdication, Prince Claus of the Netherlands, Queen Beatrix, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, The Prince of Orange
Today’s featured monarch is HM Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. I am going to take a slightly different approach today. I will give some basic biographical infor on Her Majesty and then discuss some other issues related to her.
She was born January 31, 1938 and was named Princess Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, (Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld) the daughter of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. At the time of her birth her grandmother, Queen Wilhelmina, was sitting on the throne of the Netherlands. Her mother became Queen of the Netherlands in 1948 when Wilhelmina abdicated the throne making Beatrix heiress presumptive to the throne of the Netherlands. In turn her mother, Juliana abdicated on 30 April 1980, and Beatrix succeeded her as Queen of the Netherlands.
World War II was in full swing when it was time for the young Beatrix to attend school so she was sent to public primary and secondary schools in Canada and in the Netherlands. She received a received a law law degree from Leiden University in 1961 and in 1966, Beatrix married Claus van Amsberg whose family was a member of the untitled nobility. This caused some controversy in the Netherlands because Claus had been part of the Nazi youth organizations such as the Deutsches Jungvolk and the Hitler Youth. However, it must be pointed out that joining these groups was not obligatory. There were protests also because had only been 20 years since the war at that time. Claus did become an able consort. They had three sons. Prince Willem-Alexander the Prince of Orange(1967), Prince Friso (1968) and Prince Constantijn (1969). Prince Claus died in 2002. If her eldest son, The Prince of Orange, becomes King Willem IV of the Netherlands he will be the first male ruler of the Netherlands since the death of King Willem III in 1890. The Queen, as a Constitutional Monarch has little say in the running of the government. However, in 1994 the Minister of Foreign Affairs opened a new Dutch Embassy in the Kingdom of Jordan at Her Majesties request.
Abdication?
The Dutch have a tradition of abdicating the throne although it is not a requirement. Since the creation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Only kings Willem II and Willem III died while still serving as the sovereign. Willem I, Wilhelmina and Juliana have abdicated. I wonder if and when Beatrix will abdicate? I speculate only due to the fact that her mother was 71 when she abdicated and her grandmother was 68 when she abdicated. Right now Her Majesty is 74. Do I think she should abdicate? No1 I actually am not a fan of abdication. No judgment toward those monarchies that do practice this tradition, I just like the idea of a monarch who is monarch for life. From what I understand Her Majesty enjoys being queen and I say that as long as she enjoys her work and as long as she remains healthy I would like to see her remain on the throne. Her son and heir, Prince Willem-Alexander, The Prince of Orange currently has three children below the age of ten and I think it would be better for them to have their father around more in these younger years. When they’re teens then he can be king! 🙂
She has had some difficult times this year with the accident of her son, Prince Friso, who was caught in an avalanche earlier this spring. He is in a coma and only God knows what the future may hold for him. As a parent I am sure that must be one of the hardest things to face.
I have great respect for her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands and long may she reign!
European Royal History 