Winegums and Wilders: The latest RoyaltyNow! episode. See it today!

I offer my prayers to those in Appeldoorn today who were injured, and to the families of those who died.

This senseless destruction of human life is such a tragedy. Even “tragedy” doesn’t cover it. It’s something that can’t even be expressed by words.

The children of the crowds were so happy and excited to see the Dutch royal family pass by, and the weather was incredibly beautiful. People were just hanging out enjoying themselves, and then this happened.

Sad, sad day.

Queen Beatrix offers her condolences: http://tinyurl.com/c7qxz8

The date of Queen Beatrix’s abdication is known, claims an anonymous source.

This source was quoted in the Belgian weekly magazine Humo, just one of many Dutch and Flemish media outlets speculating about the queen’s passing of the baton. Or the scepter, if you will.

September 9th of this year is rumored to be the date of abdication for the Dutch monarch, but it has also been claimed police have started preparing for a coronation on September 6th. Sources say reconstruction on the royal palace in Amsterdam’s Dam square, where the abdication and coronation ceremonies take place, is currently underway.

Queen Juliana abdicated on her 71st birthday back in 1980, handing the reigns of power to her daughter Beatrix. With this in mind people are wondering if 70-year-old Beatrix will follow in her mother’s footsteps and step down in favor of her eldest, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander.

What say you, dear readers? Is there truth to these rumors, or will Queen Beatrix soldier on like HM Queen Elizabeth II?

Jonathan Aitken is of  ‘royal blood’, claims the book by Dutch historian Cees Fasseur.

In a previous post I mentioned that Cees Fasseur had recently published a book about the marriage of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and her husband Prince Bernhard. Queen Juliana, if you’ll remember, abdicated in 1980 in favor of her daughter Beatrix, the current Queen.

Jonathan Aitken, the former British Tory minister once convicted of perjury and sentenced to 18 months in jail, appears to be a part of their story.

According to Fasseur’s book, Aitken is Bernhard’s unrecognised, illegitimate son. If this is true, it means that 66-year-old Aitken is a half-brother to Queen Beatrix.

Fasseur suggests that Aitken is the product of a wartime affair between Bernhard and Aitken’s mother, Penelope.

More at The First Post (UK)

Details about the marriage of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard are being brought to light in a new book – Juliana & Bernhard. The story of a marriage, 1936-1956.

According to NRC Handelsblad, the parents of the current Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands are having their first 20 years of marriage recorded by royal historian Cees Fasseur.

The Dutch royal couple’s marriage had turned supremely sour, but during the early Fifties the general public knew nothing of the private lives of their royals. That changed in 1956, when the German magazine Der Spiegel broke the story of the tumultuous marriage and exposed faith-healer Greet Hofmans and his role in the royal relationship.

Apparently, Prince Bernhard felt he had lost his wife to Hofmans and believed his pacifist views and advice were harmful to Juliana’s reputation. They fought bitterly over Hofmans, and eventually a divorce and Juliana’s abdication became very serious – and very real – options. To save the marriage and avoid a constitutional crisis, Prince Bernhard and Queen Juliana agreed to the appointment of a commission. This was headed by the former prime minister Louis Beel.

While divorce was avoided, Queen Juliana did eventually abdicate in favor of her eldest daughter Beatrix in 1980.

Despite a parliamentary motion in January 2005, Beatrix refused access to documents and would not release details of the Beel report. Later that year she relented, and decided to allow Cees Fasseur to write about her parents and the findings of the commission.

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende praised the decision by Queen Beatrix to open the archives even though it reveals “painful private matters for her and her sisters.”

If you didn’t know about it before, you certainly will now.

Dutch TV series Blauw Bloed (Blue Blood) chronicles the latest news and events in the royal families of Europe – specifically the Dutch Royal House headed by Queen Beatrix.

I wasn’t aware that this program existed, but thanks to a nice trip through the depths of YouTube, I found a “promo” video. It looks great and definitely made me want to watch the program, even though I don’t speak or understand Dutch at all. Ah, the power of Royalty!

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