Нидерланд Королевасы Беатрикс (1980-2013)

Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 to 2013

Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix was born during the reign of her maternal grandmother, Queen Wilhelmina, and became heiress presumptive upon the accession of her mother, Queen Juliana, in 1948. Beatrix attended a public primary school in Canada during World War II, and then finished her primary and secondary education in the Netherlands in the post war period. In 1961, she received her law degree from Leiden University. In 1966, Beatrix married Claus von Amsberg, a German diplomat, with whom she had three children. When her mother abdicated on 30 April 1980, Beatrix succeeded her as queen. Beatrix's reign saw the country's Caribbean possessions reshaped with Aruba's secession and becoming its own constituent country within the kingdom in 1986. This was followed by the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in 2010, which created the new special municipalities of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba, and the two new constituent countries of Curaçao and Sint Maarten. On Koninginnedag (Queen's Day), 30 April 2013, Beatrix abdicated in favour of her eldest son, Willem Alexander. At the time of her abdication at age 75, Beatrix was the oldest reigning monarch in the country's history.

Princess Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard was born on 31 January 1938 at Soestdijk Palace in Baarn, Netherlands, as the first child of Princess Juliana of the Netherlands and her husband, Prince Bernhard of Lippe Biesterfeld. Beatrix was baptised on 12 May 1938 in the Great Church in The Hague. Her five godparents were King Leopold III of Belgium; Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone; Beatrix's maternal great great aunt Elisabeth, Princess of Erbach Schönberg; her paternal great uncle Duke Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg; and Countess Allene de Kotzebue. Beatrix's middle names are the first names of her grandmothers, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and Armgard, Princess Bernhard of Lippe Biesterfeld. When Beatrix was one year old, in 1939, her younger sister Princess Irene was born. With bodyguards and ladies in waiting, the family summered at Bigwin Inn on Lake of Bays, Ontario, where four private stone cottages of the resort served as their retreat. While on Bigwin Island, the constitution of the Netherlands was stored in the safe of Bigwin Inn's rotunda building. Princess Juliana and her family were remembered for their "down to earth" friendliness, general gratefulness and great reverence for their homeland and people, to whom they paid homage by refraining from all luxuries offered to guests at the resort that was once billed as the largest and most luxurious summer resort in Canada. To provide them with a greater sense of security, culinary chefs and staff catered to personal orders at meal time. Upon their departure, the hotel musicians of the Bigwin Inn Orchestra assembled dockside; and at every public performance afterward through to the end of World War II, the Wilhelmus was played. In the years following the shuttering and neglect of the island resort, the "Juliana" cottages were well maintained and preserved in an informal tribute to Princess Juliana and her family. In thanks for the protection of her and her daughters, Princess Juliana established the custom of delivery to the Canadian government every spring of tulips, which is the centerpiece of the Canadian Tulip Festival. The second sister of Beatrix, Princess Margriet, was born in Ottawa in 1943. Rockcliffe Park Public School, a primary school where she was known as "Trixie Orange". On 5 May 1945, the German troops in the Netherlands surrendered. The family returned to the Netherlands on 2 August 1945. Beatrix went to the progressive primary school De Werkplaats in Bilthoven run by pacifist social reformers Kees Boeke and Beatrice Boeke Cadbury. Her third sister Princess Christina was born in 1947. Her tutor from April 1951 was nl, who remained a close confidant until Büringh Boekhoudt's death in 1982. In 1954, Beatrix served as a bridesmaid at the wedding of Baroness van Randwijck and Mr. T Boey. On 31 January 1956, Beatrix celebrated her 18th birthday. From that date, under the Constitution of the Netherlands, she was entitled to assume the Royal Prerogative. At that time, her mother installed her in the Council of State. The same year her studies at Leiden University began. In her first years at the university, she studied sociology, jurisprudence, economics, parliamentary history and constitutional law.

On 28 June 1965, the engagement of Princess Beatrix to the German diplomat Claus von Amsberg was announced. Claus and Beatrix had met at the wedding eve party of Princess Tatjana of Sayn Wittgenstein Berleburg and Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse, in summer 1964. After Parliament consented to the marriage, Claus von Amsberg became a Dutch citizen, and upon his marriage became Prince Claus of the Netherlands, Jonkheer van Amsberg.

Beatrix married Claus von Amsberg on 10 March 1966 in civil and religious ceremonies. The bride wore a traditional gown with train in duchesse silk satin, designed by Caroline Bergé Farwick of Maison Linette, in Den Bosch, and the Württemberg Ornate Pearl Tiara. The senior bridesmaids were the bride's youngest sister, Princess Christina of the Netherlands; Princess Christina of Sweden; Lady Elizabeth Anson; Joanna Roëll; Eugénie Loudon; and the bridegroom's sister, Christina von Amsberg. The junior bridesmaids were Daphne Stewart Clark and Carolijn Alting von Geusau, with page boys Joachim Jencquel and Markus von Oeynhausen Sierstorpff. The royal couple travelled to the ceremony together in the gold state carriage. The civil ceremony was conducted by the Mayor of Amsterdam, Gijsbert van Hall, at Amsterdam City Hall. The marriage blessing took place in the Westerkerk, conducted by the Rev. Hendrik Jan Kater, with a sermon by the Rev. Johannes Hendrik Sillevis Smitt.

From the 1970s, Beatrix began to prepare more intensively for her future position as head of state. She made many trips abroad with Prince Claus, including a controversial one to the Soviet Union. After the Lockheed affair, Beatrix and Claus began to delve into the royal household and made plans to adapt it. In addition, they asked advisers to prepare for Beatrix's reign. On 31 January 1980, the birthday of her eldest daughter and heiress presumptive, Queen Juliana announced during a live television speech that she wished to abdicate on 30 April in favor of her daughter Beatrix. That Beatrix would succeed her mother as queen was not a matter of course when she was born. It was not until 1983 that the Constitution was amended in such a way that the eldest child of the head of state becomes the legal heir to the throne. Until then, it had been arranged that the eldest son always had priority over a daughter. Only after Juliana was biologically unable to have more children, Beatrix was certain that she was the intended successor. On 30 April 1980, Beatrix became the monarch when her mother abdicated. She was sworn in and inaugurated as monarch during a joint session of the two chambers of the States General at a ceremony held in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam later that day. Beatrix's constitutional duties included those typically accorded to a head of state; this includes having to sign every piece of legislation before it becomes law, formally appointing various officials, receiving and accrediting ambassadors, and awarding honours and medals, among others. Outside of these constitutional duties, her other informal roles included being the highest representative of the kingdom internationally and to be a unifying figure locally. Beatrix was rarely quoted directly in the press during her reign, for the government information service (Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst) made it a condition of interviews that she should not be quoted. This policy was introduced shortly after her inauguration, reportedly to protect her from political complications that might arise from "off the cuff" remarks. It did not apply to her son Prince Willem Alexander. Throughout much of her reign, Beatrix had a considerable role in the cabinet formation process; notably she appointed the informateur, the person who leads the negotiations that ultimately lead to the formation of a government. However, this was changed in 2012, and now the largest party in the States General appoints a "scout" who then appoints an informateur. On 1 January 1986, Aruba seceded from the Netherlands Antilles and became a separate constituent country in the Dutch Kingdom. On 6 October 2002, the Queen's husband, Prince Claus, died after a long illness. A year and a half later her mother died after long suffering from senile dementia, while her father succumbed to cancer in December 2004. On 8 February 2005, Beatrix received a rare honorary doctorate from Leiden University, an honour the Queen does not usually accept. In her acceptance speech she reflected on the monarchy and her own 25 years as Queen. The speech was broadcast live. On 29 and 30 April 2005, she celebrated the 25th anniversary of her reign. She was interviewed on Dutch television, was offered a concert on Dam Square in Amsterdam, and a celebration took place in The Hague, the country's seat of government. On 31 May 2006 the 6th Polish Air Assault Brigade would receive the Militaire Willemsorde der 4e klasse in The Hague. Beatrix was to tie the prestigious medal to the standard of the incumbents of the 1st Independent Polish Parachute Brigade. On 10 October 2010, the Netherlands Antilles were formally dissolved. The new municipalities of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba and the new constituent countries of Curaçao and Sint Maarten were established in its place. The dissolution ceremony in the Netherlands Antilles' capital, Willemstad, was attended by the then Prince and Princess of Orange, Willem Alexander and his wife Máxima, representing the Queen.

During 1988 Queen's Day, Queen Beatrix was kissed by a bystander, later identified as Maarten Rijkers, when she walked through the crowd of people at a flea market in the Jordaan. When Beatrix walked alongside Rijkers he said "Give me a kiss, girl", after which he gave her a hug and two kisses. It received wide media attention and appeared to be a historic moment. An image of this scene was published in large on the front page of De Telegraaf. Even 25 years later in 2013, NRC Handelsblad wrote an article about it and the impact of it.

In a broadcast on national media on 28 January 2013, Beatrix announced her intention to abdicate on 30 April (Queen's Day), when she would have been on the throne for exactly 33 years. Beatrix stated that it was time to "place the responsibility for the country in the hands of a new generation." Her heir apparent was her eldest son, Prince Willem Alexander. The broadcast was followed by a statement from Prime Minister Mark Rutte who paid tribute to Beatrix, saying "Since her investiture in 1980, she has applied herself heart and soul to Dutch society." in the Royal Palace, Amsterdam at 10:07 a. m. local time. With the completion of her signature, she was no longer monarch. The inauguration of Willem Alexander as king took place that afternoon in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam.

In 2009, Forbes estimated her wealth at US$300 million.

Beatrix continues to undertake some royal duties and is a patron of many organisations. She lives in the small moated Drakensteyn Castle near the village of Lage Vuursche, and a townhouse near Noordeinde Palace.

+Prime Ministers during her reignPolityPrime MinisterStart yearEnd yearArubaHenny Eman19861989Nelson O. Oduber19891994Henny Eman19942001Nelson O. Oduber20012009Mike Eman20092013NetherlandsDries van Agt19771982Ruud Lubbers19821994Wim Kok19942002Jan Peter Balkenende20022010Mark Rutte20102013Netherlands AntillesDominico Martina19791984Maria Liberia Peters19841986Dominico Martina19861988Maria Liberia Peters19881993Susanne Camelia Römer1993Alejandro Felippe PaulaMiguel Arcangel Pourier19941998Susanne Camelia Römer19981999Miguel Arcangel Pourier19992002Etienne Ys20022003Ben Komproe2003Mirna Louisa Godett20032004Etienne Ys20042006Emily de Jongh Elhage20062010CuraçaoGerrit Schotte20102012Stanley Betrian20122012Daniel Hodge20122013Sint MaartenSarah Wescot Williams20102013