Queen Beatrix and her husband. Dutch royal family

A constitutional monarchy. Since the beginning of the 19th century, the country has been ruled by the Orange-Nassau dynasty. Now on the throne - Queen Beatrix. Bea Trix was born on January 31, 1938. Her childhood was spent in Canada, where her mother, Queen Juliana, went during the occupation of the country by Germany. There, in Ottawa, the princess went to kindergarten and elementary school. The Queen of the Netherlands graduated from Leiden University, where she studied law and sociology. As the eldest child in the family, the heir to the throne (Beatrix has three sisters) from the age of 18 became a member of the Council of State, an advisory body to the queen.
ANDit is known that “no king can marry for love”(c), however, Princess Beatrix refuted this statement....

Her affair with the German diplomat Klaus von Amsberg still ended in a happy marriage, although at first it caused sharp discontent among some members of the royal family, parliament and ordinary citizens. The fact is that Klaus, born in 1926, managed to get mobilized in 1944 and for six months fought on the side of the Reich in Italy, where he was captured by the Americans. The Dutch and especially the Dutch Jews, thanks to whom the Amsterdam diamond market was created, did not forget the hardships of the Nazi occupation, and for them such an alliance was unacceptable. But Beatrix was stubborn, and her parents had to agree to this marriage.

It took the Dutch parliament nine hours to decide on the marriage of the heir to the throne. The wedding took place on March 10, 1966 in Amsterdam, as Beatrix wanted. Klaus received the title of prince. Soon, within a year of each other, the couple had three sons: Willem-Alexander (born in 1967), Friso (1968) and Prince Constantijn , 1969). The crown prince is Willem-Alexander, and for the foreseeable future he will become king of the Netherlands - the first king in more than 110 years (that is how long Queens Wilhelmina, Juliana and Beatrix ruled the Netherlands).

Willem-Alexander studied at the Baarna secondary school, then at the lyceum there. After Beatrix's coronation, on April 30, 1980, she received the title Prins van Oranje (Prince of Orange). Since 1981, the prince has lived in The Hague and studied at the First Open Christian Lyceum. Later, Willem-Alexander serves in the Dutch CCM, studies at the Atlantic College of Wales, studies history (1987-1993) at the University of Leiden (lives on the campus of Rapenburg). Willem-Alexander's special interest (like many Dutch people) is “water management”. He is the patron of the IHE water institute in Delft, and under his leadership the Second World Water Forum was held in March 2000 in The Hague. Under his leadership, the World Water Committee was created, whose motto is “Global Water Partnership in the 21st Century.” The prince is very fond of sports; from 1986 to 1992 he constantly participated in the New York Marathon. Since 1998, he has headed the Dutch Olympic Committee.

On February 2, 2002, the wedding of Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Maxima Zorregueta of Argentina took place in Amsterdam, who received the title Her Royal Highness Princess Maxima of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Mrs. Van Amsberg.

Maxima (emphasis on the first syllable) was born in Buenos Aires on May 17, 1971. Her father is Jorge Zorregueta and her mother is Maria Cerruti. She got her grandmother's name. Maxima has 2 younger brothers and a sister. Maxima grew up in Buenos Aires, received her education at the English-language Northlands College, and since 1989 at the Catholic University of Buenos Aires at the Faculty of Economics. She was also a student at the Austrian School of Economics. Since 1996, she has worked in New York for Deutsche Bank. In 1999, Maxima met Willem-Alexander in New York. In September 1999, the Crown Prince introduces Holland to Maxima as his bride.

December 7, 2003 they had a daughter - Princess Katharina-Amalia, future heir to the Dutch throne. A June 26, 2005 - second daughter was born, Princess Alexia.

The queen's middle son has Prince Friso and his wife princess mabel On March 26, 2005, a daughter was born in London, who was named Emma Luana Ninette Sophie. Her official title is Countess Luana van Oranje-Nassau, jonkvrouw van Amsberg. Prince Friso renounced his right to succession to the throne by marrying Mabel Wisse-Smit without the approval of the Dutch government.

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

Since that time, the Orange dynasty has ruled in the Netherlands. The throne is inherited by the eldest child, regardless of gender. Therefore, in this gallery there are queen consorts and queens regnant.

Frederica Louise Wilhelmina of Prussia (1774-1837)
Daughter of King Frederick William II of Prussia and his wife Frederica Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt. Wife of Willem I, King of the Netherlands, her cousin. The marriage produced two sons and a daughter.

Anna Pavlovna Romanova (1795-1865)
Grand Duchess, youngest daughter of Pavel I Petrovich and Maria Feodorovna. Sister of Alexander I. In 1816, Anna Pavlovna married the Dutch Crown Prince Willem of Orange (since 1840, King Willem II). This marriage allowed the Oran dynasty to improve its financial affairs, since according to the Institution on the Imperial Family, the Grand Duchesses were entitled to a dowry of 1 million rubles upon marriage. The marriage produced three sons and a daughter.

Queen Consort (artist - Jean-Baptiste Van der Hulst)

Sophia of Württemberg (1818-1877)
Sophia was born in Stuttgart, her parents were King William I of Württemberg and Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna, daughter of Emperor Paul I. Sophia's mother died shortly after her birth, and the girl was raised by her aunt Catherine of Württemberg. In 1839 she married the Prince of Orange (later King Willem III). She gave birth to three sons. The marriage was unsuccessful, which was facilitated by Sofia's mother-in-law Anna Pavlovna. Sofia was not only her daughter-in-law, but also her niece. The two women could not build a relationship. Since 1855, the couple began to live separately. Sofia asked for a divorce, but was refused. After her death, Willem III married again.

Queen Consort (artist unknown)

Emma Waldeck-Pyrmont (1858-1935)
The fourth daughter of Prince Georg-Victor of the Waldeck family and Princess Helena of Nassau. Second wife of King Willem III of the Netherlands. Her husband was forty years older than her. From his first marriage, Willem had three sons, two of whom died before the marriage. and the third, Willem Alexander Karel Hendrik Frederik, in 1884. Willem's only child from his marriage to Emma was his daughter Wilhelmina, born in 1880. She became the heir to the throne. In 1890, the king died and Emma served as regent for her daughter until she came of age in 1898.

Queen Consort (photo 1890s)

Wilhelmina Helena Paulina Maria of Orange (1880-1962)
Queen of the Netherlands. The only child of King Willem III from his second marriage to Emma of Waldeck-Pyrmont. When she was born, her father was 63 years old, and as a child she was very attached to him. From his first marriage, the king had three sons, but by the time Wilhelmina was born, only one was alive - Alexander, who died in 1884, when Wilhelmina was four years old. Thus, she became the heir to the throne. Wilhelmina ruled the Netherlands (counting from the moment she came of age) for fifty years, longer than other Dutch monarchs. During her reign, the First and Second World Wars took place. Since 1901, Wilhelmina was married to Duke Heinrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. From this marriage the only child was born - daughter Juliana. In 1948, Wilhelmina abdicated the throne in favor of her daughter Juliana.

Queen Wilhelmina (ceremonial portrait 1898, artist - Pieter de Josselin de Jong)

Juliana Louise Emma Maria Wilhelmina of Orange (1909-2004)
Queen of the Netherlands from the abdication of her mother Wilhelmina in 1948 until her own abdication in 1980 in favor of her daughter Beatrix. In 1937 she married Prince Bernard zur Lippe-Biesterfeld. Four children were born into the family: Beatrix (January 31, 1938), Irene (August 5, 1939), Margrit (January 19, 1943), Christina (February 18, 1947).

Queen Juliana (1948 photo)

Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard of Orange (b. 1938)
Queen of the Netherlands since 1980. In 1966, she married German diplomat Claus von Amsberg. The family has three children:
* The heir to the throne is the Queen's eldest son, Prince Willem Alexander of Orange, born on April 27, 1967;
* Prince Johan Friso - September 25, 1968;
* Prince Constantine - October 11, 1969.
Seven granddaughters and one grandson. In 2002, Queen Beatrix was widowed. The Queen is 73 years old, but so far there is no talk of abdication in favor of her eldest son (as her mother and grandmother did in their time).

Queen Beatrix (ceremonial photo 2011)

Saved

The life of monarchs in the Netherlands is not often revealed to the people. Birth, wedding, coronation and death are the four main events of royal life in which subjects are allowed to participate. Otherwise, the monarch is a purely ceremonial figure, and the features of her personality are little accessible to a curious glance from the outside. Something is happening all the time behind the walls of active palaces and residences, but what exactly is not entirely clear. Once a year, a speech from the throne is delivered to parliament, but it is also written by the government without the participation of the royal person. Dutch monarchs do not have the right to express personal views in public speeches. They also do not have any powers in making government decisions, although formally the queen is part of the government. Despite the fact that every week the Prime Minister informs her about the current state of affairs in the country, she has neither a voice in discussions nor the right to public opinion about these discussions. The Queen almost never gives interviews; instead, a faceless information service communicates with the press. And all because kings are not chosen by the people. And if so, who cares what they think.

With all this, there is a continuous series of rituals, ceremonies, visits and receptions with the participation of the monarch or the entire royal family, where the roles are most often prescribed in advance by protocol. Through such a system of restrictions, decorations and formalities, it is almost impossible to see and hear the human personality in the royal person.

For these reasons, Queen Beatrix does not look completely real, like the entire Dutch monarchy. But her birth at one time saved this very monarchy from degeneration. In the distant thirties of the last century, the royal family consisted of only three people: Queen Wilhelmina on the throne and her heir Juliana with her husband Prince Bernard. If Juliana were childless, the days of the dynasty would be numbered.

So it’s not in vain that the girl, born in the royal palace Soostdijk on the stormy morning of January 31, 1938, was given the name Beatrix, unfamiliar in the Netherlands - “she who brings happiness.” It was so unfamiliar that people didn’t know which syllable to put the emphasis on. Latin professors proposed the original Latin version with emphasis on the second syllable. However, Beatrix’s parents explained that it is better to pronounce their daughter’s name in the Dutch manner, with an emphasis on the letter “e”. (At home, by the way, they simply called her Trix.)

The full name of the future queen was written as follows: Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, Princess of the Netherlands, Princess of Oranje-Nassau, Princess van Lippe-Biesterfeld. Let me remind you that the queen is the great-great-granddaughter of Paul I, whose daughter, Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna, married the Crown Prince of the Netherlands, the future King William II, in 1816.

In honor of the birth of the heir to the throne, garrisons in major cities fired a traditional salute of 51 salvos (if the prince had been born, there would have been 50 more salvos). The next day, the military presented parents Juliana and Bernard with one of the spent cartridges with a skillfully engraved congratulatory inscription as a gift.

The press of that time is evidence of the jubilation with which the nation celebrated the birth of the future monarch. The chilly day, despite the stormy wind and drizzling rain, immediately turned into a holiday in Dutch style: all the people took to the streets, and the merry revelry lasted until late at night. Despite the alarming pre-war situation in Europe, the nation breathed a sigh of joyful relief: the dynasty will continue, there will be no shocks...

But it turned out that Beatrix spent the first years of her life away from her homeland. During the Second World War, the entire royal family had to leave the Netherlands, occupied in May 1940. Juliana spent most of the war years with her young daughters Beatrix and Irena in Ottawa, where their third sister Margrit was born in 1943. The father of the future queen, Bernard, remained in London, where Wilhelmina's court moved during the war. Only in the summer of 1945 did the royal family return to Soostdijk.

The Dutch part of Beatrix's childhood occurred during the years of reconstruction of the war-torn country - a difficult time when most of her compatriots had difficulty making ends meet. The habit of constantly saving has become firmly established in the lifestyle of the post-war generation. She did not escape the heir to the throne, who, even as an adult, never left food on her plate and turned off the lights in the empty rooms of her palace.

Beatrix attended school in the nearby town of Barn, where a special department was established for her and Irena in the best lyceum.

The princess's public career began already in 1956. Having not yet received a school diploma, but having become an adult, she, as heir to the throne, was included in the Council of State of the Netherlands - the highest advisory body under the government, one of whose functions is the preliminary discussion of bills sent by the government to parliament. There she received her first knowledge in the field of lawmaking and personally met many prominent politicians.

After graduating from school, Beatrix moved to Leiden, where she studied history, sociology and law at the local university. In 1961 she received the degree of Doctor of Law. Then she began to show herself as a public figure. One of her most famous endeavors was the creation and later leadership of a working group whose goal was to encourage European youth to help create a united Europe. Subsequently, this topic will remain one of the most important in her work, and it is no coincidence that in 1996 she was awarded the prestigious European Charlemagne Prize.

In 1959, Beatrix bought the small castle of Drakenstein near the family palace Soostdijk, where she lived permanently from 1963 to 1981, when she moved to The Hague as the reigning queen.

From a young age she was distinguished by her independence and perseverance. These traits are important not only for understanding Beatrix’s personality: they also largely determined the appearance of the Dutch monarchy during her reign.

After moving to Drakenstein, for some time the princess’s life, normal by all standards, proceeded peacefully and did not disturb society. But in May 1965, unexpectedly for everyone, a photograph was published in which she was holding the hand of a young man named Claus von Amsberg. The young man turned out to be not only a friend of the princess, but also a German diplomat of aristocratic origin. This news caused a lot of noise, because the Dutch still remembered the military occupation. They quickly found out that the German was a member of the Hitler Youth. Therefore, when it came to the engagement, parliament, before giving mandatory permission for a future marriage, instructed historians to carefully examine the past of Her Highness’s chosen one. Fortunately for the royal person, no unacceptable moments in the young man’s past were identified, and the verdict of the Institute of Historical Documentation was positive. On June 28 of the same year, Beatrix announced her engagement to her future husband, Prince Claus.

However, passions did not subside there. There was also a wedding in Amsterdam the following spring. The choice of location seemed to many to be a slap in the face to local Jews: it was from Amsterdam that the Nazi concentration camps were replenished in large numbers with Jewish prisoners. But the government did not agree to Beatrix’s proposal (“out of respect for the feelings of fellow citizens”) to hold wedding celebrations in the town of Barn, the closest to Drakenstein Castle. And when on March 10, after a civil ceremony at the Amsterdam City Hall and a visit to the church, a gilded carriage with the newlyweds rolled through the streets of the capital, someone from the crowd threw a smoke bomb onto the paving stones as a sign of protest. This incident should have reminded the Crown Princess that every choice of a royal is a symbol that has significance not only for herself.

As was customary in the Netherlands at that time, children quickly appeared in the family. Within three years of their wedding, Beatrix gave birth to three sons, who were given old-fashioned long Dutch names: Willem-Alexander, Johan Friso and Constantijn. Until the mid-seventies, the princess devoted herself to family concerns, only occasionally performing representative functions on foreign trips. By the way, here too she behaved extremely independently. One of her controversial decisions was a private visit to the Soviet Union in May-June 1973, which caused heated debate in the Dutch press at the time. Conservatives made a fuss, criticizing the princess for her “leftist sympathies” and excessive interest in cooperation with the socialist camp.

It is interesting that almost 30 years later, in 2001, it was Beatrix who made the first state visit to Russia in the history of the two countries...

By the end of the seventies, Beatrix became increasingly involved in government affairs. It was clear that she was preparing to replace the aging Juliana on the throne. Devoting a lot of time to conversations with her mother about the problems of the country, she made frequent trips to the provinces, dealing with various kinds of public issues. Therefore, when on January 31, 1980, Queen Juliana announced her imminent abdication of the throne in favor of her daughter, her decision was received without surprise.

On April 30, Queen's Day, Juliana signed an act of abdication at her Amsterdam residence. The coronation of the heiress took place on the same day in the New Church on Dam Square, in the presence of members of parliament and numerous representatives of the royal houses of Europe.

It is noteworthy that on this very day a real war broke out on the streets of Amsterdam. The economic crisis of those years aggravated the housing problem in the Netherlands, and the phenomenon of “crackerism”—the unauthorized occupancy of empty premises—spread in large cities. Apparently, it was the aggressive “crackers” who initiated the street procession towards Dam Square during the coronation to demand that the government and the new queen solve the housing problem. At some point, their path was blocked by special forces units, on whom the crowd rained down a hail of cobblestones. The police responded with water cannons and gas cylinders. As a result of the clashes, two armored special forces vehicles were burned and many police officers were injured. By the way, the next day the first thing the new queen did was visit the wounded commandos in the hospital.

From then to this day, Beatrix has been an active and authoritative queen. She is also the richest queen in Europe, her personal fortune is estimated at several billion euros.

By the way, the annual allowance allocated to her by the state is about 4 million euros, and in total about 120 million euros per year are spent on expenses related to the monarchy.

Leaving the details of her reign to the “48 Minutes” program, I will only note that, according to experts, despite the lack of formal power, Beatrix has a great influence on the governance of the country. Maybe even too big. Her long years of continuous experience gave her an advantage over most parliamentarians and ministers, whose tenure in public administration is often limited in time.

Her activity and influence on internal political processes turned out to be so strong that she more than once aroused criticism from prominent politicians. In the mid-90s, even the word “Beatrixism” appeared. It meant the queen’s excessive influence on current politics - a phenomenon that arose, on the one hand, due to the weakening and discord within the elected institutions of power, on the other hand, thanks to the strong character of the monarch, who actively used the opportunity to express her personal vision on the most important issues of life in the country. Many observers see this as the Queen going beyond her constitutional powers.

The latest example of conflict between elected politicians and the Queen was the formation of the current government last summer. It is said that Beatrix was against the inclusion of Wilders' party in the coalition, as a result of which negotiations on the formation of a cabinet between the parties were unreasonably delayed. As a result, Wilders is still part of the coalition. Just the other day, he struck back at the Queen by proposing a bill to change the constitution in order to remove Her Majesty from the government - even formally. The mutual personal hostility between the queen and the country's main populist is deeply symbolic.

Queen Beatrix is ​​73 years old.

The past decade has been a time of personal loss for her. In 2002, her husband Prince Claus passed away. Then - in 2004 - parents, Juliana and Bernard. Several years ago, her palace, Drakenstein, was renovated, and a small guard barracks was added nearby. Then the press took this as a sign that Beatrix would soon abdicate the throne and transfer the throne to Crown Prince Willem Alexander.

But the renunciation did not happen. And the Queen continues to sign laws, travel, make speeches, take oaths and perform the rest of her royal duties.

If nothing unexpected happens, on November 4, 2011, Queen Beatrix will set a historical age record for the Oranje-Nassau dynasty, surpassing in age William III - the only monarch of the Netherlands besides her who celebrated her 73rd birthday while still on the throne.

It turns out that, despite the limitations of the Dutch monarchy, Beatrix's competitors are only in history.

Among their contemporaries, it seems, they are not.

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 replaces the official car, government plane, royal train and royal bus - on the day of the ceremonial ride 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 Wilhelms 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 received 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 the residential royal palace of Huis ten Bosch. 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 and Prince Philip, the then still living King of Jordan Hussein and his wife, Margaret of Denmark, the Belgian, Norwegian, Swedish, Spanish kings, the Duke of Luxembourg, and 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 participate 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 in 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 heads the 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 suffered severe meningitis during her summer vacation in Porto Ercole in 1983, and broke her leg in Italy in 1991, 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 former 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.