Dutch queen to abdicate

[Ultonius]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21237254

28 January 2013 Last updated at 19:28

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands to abdicate for son

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands has announced she is abdicating in favour of her son, Prince Willem-Alexander.

In a pre-recorded address broadcast on TV, she said she would formally stand down on 30 April.

The queen, who is approaching her 75th birthday, said she had been thinking about this moment for several years and that now was "the moment to lay down my crown".

Queen Beatrix has been head of state since 1980, when her mother abdicated.

In the short televised statement, the queen said it was time for the throne to be held by "a new generation", adding that her son was ready to be king.

Prince Willem-Alexander, 45, is married to Maxima Zorreguieta, a former investment banker from Argentina, and has three young children.

He is a trained pilot and an expert in water management.

He will become the Netherlands' first king since Willem III, who died in 1890.

Speaking on television immediately after the abdication announcement, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte paid tribute to the queen.

"Since her coronation... she has applied herself heart and soul for Dutch society," he said.
Abdication 'tradition'

Queen Beatrix is the sixth monarch from the House of Orange-Nassau, which has ruled the Netherlands since the early 19th Century.

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

Under Dutch law, the monarch has few powers and the role is considered ceremonial.

In recent decades it has become the tradition for the monarch to abdicate.

Queen Beatrix's mother Juliana resigned the throne in 1980 on her 71st birthday, and her grandmother Wilhelmina abdicated in 1948 at the age of 68.

Queen Beatrix will be 75 on Thursday.

She has remained active in recent years, but her reign has also seen traumatic events.

In 2009 a would-be attacker killed eight people when he drove his car into crowds watching the queen and other members of the royal family in a national holiday parade.

In February last year her second son, Prince Friso, was struck by an avalanche in Austria and remains in a coma.

It's interesting to contrast this with the British tradition, where abdication is very rare, and the monarch usually reigns until their death, with provision for a regency in the case of long-term physical or mental infirmity.

[LadyTevar]

With one son in a coma, she may be wanting more private time with him, in hopes she's there when/if he ever wakes. Either way, she has been Queen for 32yrs. Retirement is probably looking very good to her. Let the young folks run about, she can sit and rest finally.

[Todeswind]

The Netherlands still has a monarchy? Learn something new every day.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Really, it makes a great deal of sense, where the technical function of the modern European monarch is to provide a repository of advice to the government, for the heir to be extensively prepared for the post and then to go through a measured transition with her/his predecessor, after a very long but not absurdly long reign. This should in theory prevent both inexperienced and senile monarchs, which in both cases lose their effectiveness.

I sometimes think Queen Elizabeth is going to hang in there and outlast her son precisely because she thinks he isn't skilled enough at providing the advisory role to the government so the monarchy will be functioning better in its intended role if the Duke of Cambridge takes over directly.

[madd0ct0r]

Nah, she just has a death grip on the throne.
Charlie boy has been waiting so long she's doing it now just to spite him, and he wants the throne just to piss mummy off.

It's pretty obvious he would actually be happier if his son took the throne and let him continue pottering around annoying architects, but after decades of congealed waiting I think he's determined to get his bum down first.

[Siege]

The Netherlands still has a monarchy? Learn something new every day.

For 200 years this year, so yeah. You've been missing out.

I'm not a huge fan of constitutional monarchy myself, but I sure as hell admire the Queen and wish her son all the best on what I think has got to be one of the worst jobs in the world. It seems to me to be one long line of boring fairs and unveilings, state banquets and grand openings they're expected to show up at and smile whilst people whine about the damp Napoleonic palaces they're expected to live in, and all the while I had more opportunity to freely express my opinion in this one pathetic little post than Queen Beatrix did in 33 years on the throne.

[Dr. Trainwreck]

Yeah. The head of state is usually a slave to it worse than actual slaves, but it keeps the subjects healthier. Let one crownwearer think s/he is way too good to be doing this, and you'll never know when they'll start beheading their spouses (figuratively except for some cases).