Beatrix Netherlands. Dutch royal family

Beatrice was born on January 31, 1938, the first child of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernard. She has 3 younger sisters: Margret, Irene and Christina. She married Claus von Amsberg in 1966 and they have 3 sons: Willem Alexander, Johan Friso and Constantina. Willem Alexander is the crown prince and will follow his mother on the throne. On April 30, 1980, she was crowned Queen of the Netherlands. She lives in The Hague at the Huis ten Bosch palace.

The government consists of the sovereign and the Cabinet members. Since 1848, the constitution established this system, the King is inviolable and ministers are responsible for the affairs of the government, which means that they are responsible to Parliament.

The Queen is closely involved in the formation of the new government. After a general election, she consults with the Vice-President of the Council of State, the Speakers of both Houses of Parliament, the leaders of the political parties represented in the Lower House, and sometimes involves senior statesmen known as Ministers of State, and then proceeds with appointments to form a new government based on the results elections. When political parties reach agreement on political issues, she appoints and swears in ministers and secretaries of state.

Queen's Day is always a big celebration in Holland.
This - National holiday. Schools are closed and there are always many celebrations and festivals going on throughout the country. The Queen visits places in Holland and these visits are broadcast on television. Previously, Queen's Day was celebrated on the birthday of the Queen (Queen Juliana), but when she was crowned, Beatrix announced that Queen's Day would still be celebrated on April 30th as a tribute to her mother.

The Queen is particularly interested in sculpture, painting, ballet and music. She regularly attends exhibitions and performances, and she enjoys speaking with artists directly. She is interested in the annual Royal Grant in Painting.

Beatrix, Queen of the Netherlands was named Beatrice Wilhelmina Armgard, Princess of the Netherlands, Prinses van Oranje - Nassau, Prinses van Lippe - Biesterfeld) queen, reigning person of the Kingdom of the Netherlands since 30 April 1980.

In 1965, Princess Beatrix became the wife of German aristocrat Claus von Amsberg, a diplomat working for the German Foreign Office. Her marriage to him caused a massive protest during the wedding day in Amsterdam on March 10, 1966. Prince Claus served in the Hitler Youth and the Wehrmacht and was therefore associated by part of the Dutch with German Nazism. The protests included the memorable slogan, "I want my bike back", referring to the fact that German soldiers Dutch bicycles were confiscated. As time went on, Prince Claus became one of the most popular members of the Dutch monarchy, and his death in 2002 was mourned by the entire population.

Beatrix's reign is the third consecutive female reign in the kingdom's history since 1890. Thus, throughout the 20th century, only women reigned in the Netherlands.

Beatrix II (Beatrix, full name Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard), Queen of the Netherlands since 1980, was born on January 31, 1938 at Soostdijk Palace in Barn (Netherlands). At birth, she received the titles Princess of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau and Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld.

Beatrix is ​​the eldest of four daughters of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard. During the Second World War, she and her family were in exile - first in Great Britain, then in Canada. On August 2, 1945, members of the royal family returned to their homeland.

In 1961, Beatrix graduated from Leiden University, where she studied sociology, economics, public law and received a Doctor of Laws degree. In 2005 she received an honorary doctorate from Leiden University.

In 1965, Beatrix became engaged to German diplomat Claus von Amsberg. The marriage was approved by both houses of the Dutch parliament, and Crown Princess Beatrix's wedding to Claus von Amsberg took place on March 10, 1966. On his wedding day, Klaus received the title Prince of the Netherlands.

In 1967, the first child of the young couple, Willem-Alexander, was born, becoming for the first time in many years a male descendant of the House of Orange-Nassau.

On April 30, 1980, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands signed an act of abdication in favor of her eldest daughter. On the same day, Crown Princess Beatrix was proclaimed Queen of the Netherlands.

Queen Beatrix, in tribute to her mother, decided to leave the national holiday - April 30 - Queen Juliana's birthday, renaming it Queen's Day.

Beatrix became the third consecutive woman to the throne of the Netherlands. The era of female rule in the Netherlands began in 1890 after the death of King William III.

According to the Dutch constitution, Queen Beatrix is ​​the head of state and chairman of the Council of State. Her powers as head of state lie in the “three rights of a monarch”: to advise, to warn and to encourage. She accepts the government's resignation and sets a date for new parliamentary elections.

Queen Beatrix actively participates in the social and political life of the country; not a single national event takes place without her participation.

She regularly hosts heads of state and government visiting the Netherlands. Each year the Queen made several state visits to other countries. She first visited Russia in 1973, when she was crown princess. The first ever state visit to Russia by the Queen of the Netherlands took place on June 5-8, 2001.

Beatrix pays great attention to the development of national art, and is interested in sculpture, painting, ballet and music. She regularly attends exhibitions and theaters, personally knows and communicates with most cultural and artistic figures.

The Queen of the Netherlands is the patron of numerous organizations.

Anyone who comes to the Netherlands is invariably struck by the wild popularity of their buttoned-up queen among the sensible Dutch. Despite the fact that Beatrix is ​​one of the monarchs of Europe that is most closed to the press, her portraits are here at every turn. Beatrix's relative, the Queen of Great Britain, can only envy such popular love. Having ascended the throne on April 30, 1980, the Queen celebrated her 60th birthday in grand style last year, contrary to custom (although Beatrix is ​​probably the richest queen in Europe, she has always been very frugal). In 2000, she will secretly celebrate another anniversary - the 110th anniversary of the continuous reign of royal ladies on the throne of the Netherlands. This “tradition,” however, cost the Netherlands the crown of the Duchy of Luxembourg, where, according to the law, inheritance of the throne through the female line is impossible - but what can you sacrifice in order to please the lady?

In December 1996, the exhibition “Catherine the Great” was held in Amsterdam. Its organizer, President of the Friends of the Hermitage Foundation Ernst Veen pointed out to Her Majesty the golden carriage of the Russian Tsarina and emphasized that it was two hundred years older than the Dutch one. To which Beatrix deigned to coldly remark: “But ours is still driving.” The Queen was, as always, right: the carriage made for the coronation of her grandmother Wilhelmina a hundred years ago is still running. Once a year the carriage is replaced company car, government plane, royal train and royal bus - on the day of the ceremonial departure across Binnenhof Square for the opening of Parliament. And also, about once every third of a century, at royal wedding celebrations.

However, during the time of the great Russian Empress, in the United Provinces, as the Netherlands were then called, there were no traces of any kings - counts, foreign governors and stadtholders ruled there.

The Netherlands had its own royal dynasty only in 1815. Three William's succeeded the Dutch throne until 1890. And then it was the turn of the women. After the dowager regent mother Emma, ​​Wilhelmina took the throne, whose half-century reign included two world wars. In 1948, she gave way to her daughter Juliana, who agreed to recognize the independence of Indonesia and Suriname, after which, considering her mission completed, she abdicated the throne in favor of Beatrix.

Palaces and their inhabitants

Although not the poorest among the queens of Europe, Beatrix still receives an annual cash payment from the state. Last year, for example, she was given 13.6 million guilders from the treasury. The lion's share of these funds went to maintaining palaces and hiring staff. What kind of mansions does the Royal Family have?

Most of the palaces are located in the capital of the Netherlands, The Hague, which, no matter what the local inhabitants claim, is not a city at all, because it received city rights by decree of Napoleon, and all his decrees were subsequently repealed. Nevertheless, idle tongues, referring to the capital's arrogance, say that local ladies, trying not to lose their dignity, even go to the market with violin cases.

Princess Juliana (as she is officially known after her abdication) and her husband, Prince Bernhard, have occupied Soestdijk Palace near Utrecht for more than 60 years. This former hunting castle is sometimes called "little Versailles". After the accession of the dynasty, the hero of the Battle of Waterloo, the future King William II, received it as a gift. His widow, Anna Pavlovna, sister of the Russian Emperor Alexander I, also lived here.

The Queen's working palace, known as the Oude Hof (Senior Court), is located in the center of The Hague, next to the Parliament Buildings and the Prime Minister's Office on Binnenhof Square. This is where the golden carriage leaves, as the royal stables are located here. Almost every Monday the Queen receives the Prime Minister here for a meeting. In the courtyard of the palace, fenced off from the street by a wrought-iron fence, onlookers can see a guard of honor of guards greeting foreign ambassadors who have come to present their credentials to the queen as they emerge from an old-fashioned carriage.

Best of the day

A few kilometers north, in the Hague forest, there is a large red brick building. This is residential Royal Palace Huis ten Bos. It was here in 1899 that the first international peace conference took place on the initiative of Russian Emperor Nicholas II. Probably, in memory of this event, the Germans decided to blow up the palace in 1943, but changed their minds halfway. After her accession to the throne, Queen Beatrix moved here with her family. She is firmly guided by the principle: the private royal life is not for the press. Indeed, here it is much easier for police from the special Royal and Diplomatic Protection Division to ensure the “privacy” of the royal family.

Finally, in Amsterdam, the Queen's standard rises above the great Palace on Dam Square - Schloss am Dam.

Here the Queen holds official receptions, dinner parties, symposiums, as well as exhibitions and musical evenings. Heads of foreign states stay here during official visits. On April 31 last year, 160 invited guests came here for a magnificent celebration of the royal anniversary. There were the imperial couple of Japan, the Queen of Great Britain with Prince Philip, the then still living King of Jordan Hussein and his wife, Margaret of Denmark, Belgian, Norwegian, Swedish, spanish kings, Duke of Luxembourg, representatives of the European nobility. The celebrations began with a performance by Mstislav Rostropovich.

By the way, Queen's Day is officially celebrated on April 30th. On this day, fairs with attractions, folklore and cultural events are held everywhere; Members of the Royal Family take part in festivities in different parts of their small country. However, it is Juliana's birthday, as Beatrix was born on January 31st.

There are, in addition, the Mauritshuis Palace in The Hague and the “Versailles-type” palace - Het Loo in Apeldoorn. These are the most famous museums Holland, visited by thousands of tourists.

But not a single palace belongs to the queen personally; they are all the property of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Family problems

Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard von Oranien-Nassau leads Royal House. It includes, firstly, the older generation - her father, 87-year-old German Prince Bernhard, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, and her mother, 89-year-old Princess Juliana, stricken with mental illness. Prince Bernhard has long been having difficulty remembering anything coherent; his desk is littered with notes, with the help of which he is trying to preserve at least some remnants of his elusive self. Most often he is seen shuffling aimlessly along the corridors of the palace. Princess Juliana has been ill for quite some time, and after a recent serious operation on her hip, haunted by hallucinations, she appears in public only accompanied by a special nurse. This, alas, is the price to pay for the successes of modern gerontology and medicine...

The Queen herself and her 71-year-old husband Klaus, representing the middle generation, have long been a happy couple. They met in the summer of 1964 at a party with Prince Moritz of Hesse in Kronberg. The reserved and calm German diplomat was 11 years older than the heir to the throne. Not everyone around them approved of this connection: when on March 10, 1966, the aristocratic couple appeared before the altar of the Westerkerk Cathedral, indignant cries from the crowd were heard outside: “Klaus, get out!” Whatever one may say, during the German occupation in World War II, the Netherlands lost more than 260 thousand people. And Prince Klaus is not only a German and a retired Bundeswehr tank officer, but during the war he was a member of the youthful fascist organization “Hitler Youth”!

However, even in those days, the princess showed strength of character and achieved her goal. In the first years of marriage, she gave birth to three sons - heirs to the throne, for the first time in more than a century of Dutch gynecocracy! Of course, this softened the people. In addition, the prince quickly learned Dutch and demonstrated good manners, which made him a favorite of the country, especially housewives. At that time, the couple traveled a lot around the world, visited many continents, different countries, including repeated visits to the USSR.

After taking the throne, Beatrix found herself involved in an endless cycle of state affairs. And in Klaus’s life, just at this moment, a period has come when a man especially acutely feels the need for home warmth and care. He was involuntarily forced to come to terms with the role of prince consort, living in the eternal shadow of his active wife. All this could not but affect his moral state - twice over the next decade he had to be treated for severe depression; Parkinson's disease did not leave him. Added to all this was a fatal disease of the 20th century: he recently underwent a serious operation to remove a malignant prostate tumor.

He's feeling better now. He's already making his jokes again. “Soon Klaus will be healthy and return home,” Beatrix repeated with a smile to journalists from secular publications, but her eyes did not smile. The sick man moved to the renovated small castle of Drakensteen to recover. But there are rumors that the disease could not be completely overcome.

The Queen herself during summer vacation In 1983, in Porto Ercole, she suffered severe meningitis, and in 1991, in Italy, she broke her leg, but these sad incidents did not outwardly affect her iron will and self-control.

The Queen's younger sister Margrit, with her husband, is also part of the Royal House, as are her four sons. Two other princesses - Irene and Christina, who married without official consent, are excluded from the House with the iron hand of the law of succession to the throne.

The younger generation, of course, is represented by the three princes: Beatrix's eldest son HRH Willem-Alexander, a rosy-cheeked, blond hunk who is the first male heir to emerge from the dynasty in 116 years. He graduated from Leiden University in 1993 and has served as Crown Prince ever since. Also members of the Royal House are the bespectacled Johan Friso, who vaguely resembles the journalist-Superman from the movie "Superman", and another bespectacled, less pumped-up Prince Constantine.

The Royal Family, of course, does not shy away from public life. The Queen herself makes several state visits a year, and she and members of her household attend hundreds of exhibitions, holidays, celebrations and other events. Members of the Royal House demonstrate a family love for the Dutch "round legs" - democratic bicycles. However, access to information about their private lives is severely limited. This has been the case since the time when the young princess declared: “The happiness of our children is more important than social activities. Our sons should grow up in normal conditions, as far as possible. The most ordinary school, circle of friends and the like. Let them get acquainted with real life.”

Kings can do anything...

Prince Willem-Alexander appears to represent the most successful outcome of the above strategy. A big fan of beer and noisy parties, he is well known in the seedy quarters of Amsterdam. Many owners of nightclubs and restaurants specially import the heir's favorite Pilsner beers in order to lure him to their place and thereby attract visitors. The Dutch like his democracy and simple manners. Not long ago, together with his brother Constantine, he got into a shootout between visiting bandits in one of the nightclubs. The brothers escaped from there under the cover of bodyguards. The courtiers started talking about this, contrary to the queen's will - although the names of the princes, so as not to put the Family in a delicate position, were not even mentioned in the police report.

The democracy of his upbringing is also reflected in the fact that the prince prefers to make acquaintances with girls of exclusively bourgeois, and not at all aristocratic, origin. These are exactly half a dozen of his ex-girlfriends, whose names are on everyone’s lips. So is his fiancée Emily.

The daughter of a dentist, blonde, rosy-cheeked laugher Emily is four years younger than the prince. He took her away from a guy named Michel, whom she dated for six years. A whirlwind romance developed for four years, but the stars were not favorable for the prince. For the arrogant Queen Beatrix, as soon as she learned that the girl did not have a drop of aristocratic blood, Emily immediately turned into an empty place. The mother was looking for a high-born bride for her son.

However, most of the Dutch liked the stubborn prince and his betrothed. "Willem, marry the baby! She's one of us!" - they wrote on the walls. The son publicly aggravated relations with his mother, publicly declaring that he would marry even at the cost of losing the right to the crown, which seriously excited the townsfolk, who were already accustomed to the idea that he would inherit the throne. Meanwhile, the girl was forbidden to appear at official ceremonies along with members of the royal family, and the announcement of the engagement was kept being postponed under plausible pretexts. Beatrix pretended that the bride did not exist, and the young people had to meet, resorting to secrecy. Finally, it was officially announced that the wedding scheduled for September last year would not take place.

Probably, in the end the girl got tired of waiting. She was seen again in the company of her ex-lover. A stormy explanation followed with Willem-Alexander, and information about the breakup leaked through the courtiers.

It's a pity! Now Willem will probably have not a wife, but a prim doll, say the Dutch. And then it turned out that Prince Klaus secretly sympathized with the lovers, not having the strength to object to his wife! Beatrix's subjects speak disapprovingly of this whole story. This is despite the fact that on other issues the vast majority of the Dutch support their queen.

Beatrix II (Beatrix, full name Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard), Queen of the Netherlands since 1980, was born on January 31, 1938 at Soostdijk Palace in Barn (Netherlands). At birth, she received the titles Princess of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau and Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld.

Beatrix pays great attention to the development of national art, and is interested in sculpture, painting, ballet and music. She regularly attends exhibitions and theaters, personally knows and communicates with most cultural and artistic figures.

The Queen of the Netherlands is the patron of numerous organizations.

In 1996, Beatrix was awarded the International Charlemagne Prize for her contribution to the unification of Europe.

The Queen of the Netherlands is related by blood to the House of Romanov. In 1816, Anna, daughter of Paul I, became the wife of Crown Prince Wilhelm, later King William II. They had a son - the future King William III, who is Beatrix's great-grandfather.

Queen Beatrix has three sons: Prince Willem-Alexander (1967), Prince Friso (1968) and Prince Constantine (1969).

In 2009, during Queen's Day celebrations in the city of Apeldoorn, Queen Beatrix and members of the royal family. The criminal tried to crash his car into an open bus with members of the royal family, but lost control and, breaking through the fence, crashed into a crowd of people welcoming the Queen at a speed of 80 km/h. The Queen and members of the royal family were not injured.

In February 2012, Beatrix's second son Prince Friso in the mountains of western Austria. Rescuers freed him 20 minutes later, but the prince's brain suffered "significant damage" due to lack of oxygen.
Prince Friso, who fell into a coma (Great Britain).

At the same time, the queen emphasized that she “does not intend to disappear from the political arena.” After signing the act of abdication, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands will bear the title of princess.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

Behind every great man there is a great woman. Let's talk amazing story about how a simple Argentine girl turned the life of the heir to the crown into a real fairy tale (that’s exactly what it is, and not the other way around). This prince today is the king of the Netherlands, who is still happy with his queen. We invite you to admire photos of the couple together and remember how it all began.

Instead of a preface

When Queen Mother Beatrix, aged 74, announced her abdication of the throne she had held for 33 years in favor of her son Willem-Alexander, it made her the third consecutive Dutch monarch to voluntarily abdicate after decades of reign.

Willem-Alexander, in turn, became the first King of the Netherlands following the accession of his great-grandmother to the throne in 1890. This happened in 2013.

About him

The current king was born on April 27, 1967 and celebrates his birthday three days before the birth of his grandmother Juliana. This greatly facilitated the change of the Dutch national holiday from "Queen's Day" to "King's Day" (the former was celebrated on April 30 under both Queen Juliana and Queen Beatrix, who decided not to move the date to January 31 in memory of her mother).

After graduating from public school in the Netherlands and serving in the Royal Navy, Willem-Alexander received a master's degree in history from one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands, the University of Leiden.

Continuing his military service and government activities, the future king mastered knowledge of English, Spanish and German languages, in addition to his native Dutch. In 2002, Willem-Alexander married Maxima Zorreguieta Cerruti, an Argentine with Portuguese, Italian and Basque roots.

About her

Queen Maxima is four years younger than her husband - she was born on May 17, 1971 in Buenos Aires. Has two siblings and one sister, as well as three half-sisters.

There, in Buenos Aires, she graduated from school and the Faculty of Economics of the Catholic University. After a short period of work in Argentina, the future queen moved to the United States, where for several years she held management positions in major international banks (HSBC James Capel Inc., Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, Deutsche Bank).

In the spring of 1999, during the spring carnival in Seville, Spain, at a private party, she met Prince Willem-Alexander. At first, Maxima did not suspect that she was communicating with the heir royal throne– he introduced himself to the girl, saying only his name and not mentioning the title.

Later, already at the wedding banquet, Maxima recalled that, having found out who Willem-Alexander really was, she laughed for a long time and said that he was joking. After the Spanish rendezvous, the couple agreed to meet in the USA... After this, their relationship began to develop quite rapidly: while continuing to work as an investment banker in New York, Maxima often visited her lover in Europe, and he, in turn, flew to her overseas.

About them

In May 2000, just a year after they met, Maxima went to work at the Belgian representative office of Deutsche Bank. Brussels, where she lived for about a year, is just a few hours' drive from Amsterdam (and other residences of the Dutch royal family, too). Maxima worked in this position until March 2001: it was then that Willem-Alexander made an offer, which she accepted, and less than a month later, just in time for her birthday, she became a Dutch citizen.

The wedding took place on February 2, 2002 in Amsterdam. After the civil ceremony, the couple rode in a golden carriage through the streets of the city to the wedding - it took place in front of one and a half thousand guests with the presence of both Dutch and Argentine priests (the service was conducted in Dutch and partly in English and Spanish).

After the wedding, Maxima received the title "Princess of the Netherlands", and after her coronation in 2013, she became the first Dutch queen consort (king's wife) born outside of Europe. For fifteen years, the royal couple has set an example of a happy marriage, which their subjects love and value immensely. However, this was not always the case.

Difficult start

The news of the relationship (and then the couple’s engagement) gave rise to a huge number of rumors and discussions. The fact is that Maxima’s father is Jorge Zorreguieta, a former minister Agriculture under the government of the Argentine dictator Videla. He held this post during the early stages of the "reorganization" of the dictatorship, which led to repression affecting tens of thousands of Argentines.

The engagement had to be officially approved by the Dutch Parliament, a formality mandatory for the crown prince if he wants to maintain his claim to the throne. Several conservative politicians openly opposed the marriage of Willem-Alexander and Maxima, the daughter of a minister of the dictatorial regime. However, despite the dissatisfied exclamations, permission was received. But the possibility of the bride's father being present at the wedding has been discussed for several months.

By order of the President of Parliament, Dutch professors of Latin American history investigated the role of Maxima's father in those historical events. They concluded that Jorge Zorreguieta was not directly involved in the numerous repressions that took place in Argentina in those years, but due to his position he could not have been unaware of them. This drama was savored for many months in the pages of Dutch and other European newspapers, and was resolved by a ban on the bride's father attending the wedding. Thus, Maxima’s parents were not present at her wedding to Willem-Alexander: the father because of an official ban, and the mother because of the decision not to go to the celebration alone.

The recognition was also facilitated by the fact that Maxima learned the language in a few months and began to speak it fluently. This greatly impressed the people of the country, as did her involvement in numerous charity projects (for one of them she swam through the icy canals of Amsterdam). Now, as queen, Maxima is involved in various social and political discussions, such as the integration of immigrants into Dutch society.

Photo: Getty Images, official website of the Royal House of the Netherlands