The Royal Representative

Archive for the ‘HM Queen Beatrix’ Category

Holland’s pretty-in-pink Princess Maxima lead the festivities honoring Queen Beatrix’s official birthday and the anniversary of her ascension to the throne.

Beatrix ascended the throne of the Netherlands when her mother, Queen Juliana, abdicated on April 30th, 1980.

Image details: Netherlands Celebrates Queens Day served by picapp.com

Admired worldwide for her reserved demeanour and respect of protocol, the Queen surprised and delighted onlookers with her relaxed behaviour when she arrived in the Netherlands on Monday. Putting aside all formality, the British monarch greeted her old friend Queen Beatrix with a warm kiss on the cheek.

[ More from Hello! Magazine ]

…of Mandy. Just kidding. Actually, while I was celebrating my 25th birthday over the weekend, the Dutch were celebrating the 25th anniversary of the ascention of Queen Beatrix.

Hundreds of thousands poured onto the streets of the main towns on Saturday, sporting plastic crowns, decking canal boats with orange, and indulging in the tantalising tradition of trying to eat a cake on the end of a string without using hands. Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, accompanied by his wife Maxima, delighted the festive crowds when he donned a blindfold and attempted to get the bite on a dangling sweetmeat.

The 67-year-old queen herself, who recently garnered a 92 per cent approval rating, was out and about at several official and less formal events, including a special session of Parliament at which all the lawmakers were accompanied by a young man or woman born in 1980.

Beatrix was crowned on April 30, 1980 - two days after I was born, when her mother, Queen Juliana, surprised the nation by abdicating after more than 30 years on the throne. The current queen said in a rare interview last week that she is in no hurry to pass on the baton, preferring to give her son time “to build up his family” before he becomes king.

In the same interview, Beatrix, who has lost her mother, father and husband within the last three years, spoke of the loneliness of being a monarch. “You always have to be available – there is nobody who can take over from you once in a while,” she observed.
The queen, whose no-nonsense approach and modern attitudes have won her huge popularity, was clearly in festive mood over the weekend, however, as she and her family hit the streets along with their fellow countrymen to celebrate the landmark date.