History

The Netherlands is a monarchy since 1815. The Royal House is the House of Orange.
The history of The Netherlands an independent state dates back to the 1568, when the absolutist aspirations of the sovereign lord, the Catholic King Philip II of Spain, and his measures to suppress freedom of religion led a number of the provinces of the northern Netherlands to rise up in revolt under the leadership of Prince William of Orange.

The Queen Beatrix

Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands was born on 31 January 1938, the first child of Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard. The Princess was born at Soestdijk Palace in Baarn, where she lived until May 1940, when, on the German invasion of the Netherlands, the family left for the United Kingdom. From there, Princess Beatrix and her younger sister Irene, who was born in 1939, moved with their mother to Ottawa in Canada. It was not until five years later, on 2 August 1945, that the family, with the third child, Margriet, born in Canada in 1943, again set foot on Dutch soil.

In Canada, Princess Beatrix attended nursery and primary school. On her return to the Netherlands, she continued her primary education at The Workshop (De Werkplaats), Kees Boeke's progressive school in Bilthoven. In April 1950, Princess Beatrix entered the Incrementum, part of Baarns Lyceum, where she passed her school-leaving examinations in arts subjects and classics in 1956.

In radio and television broadcasts on 28 June 1965, Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard announced the engagement of Princess Beatrix and the German diplomat Claus von Amsberg. On 10 November 1965, the Lower House passed a bill introduced by the government consenting to their marriage.

Three sons were born to Princess Beatrix and Prince Claus: Prince Willem-Alexander in 1967, Prince Johan Friso in 1968 and Prince Constantijn in 1969.

On 30 April 1980, Queen Juliana signed the Act of Abdication and Princess Beatrix succeeded her as Queen of the Netherlands. On the same day, her investiture took place at a special plenary session of both Houses of the States General in the New Church in Amsterdam. Since then, the Queen's birthday has been officially celebrated on 30 April. Apart from being the day of her investiture, it is also Princess Juliana's birthday. The Queen's Birthday is an official national holiday.

The Queen closely follows affairs of government and maintains regular contact with ministers, state secretaries, the vice-president of the Council of State, the Queen's Commissioners in the provinces, burgomasters, and Dutch ambassadors etc. She meets the Prime Minister every Monday. Much of her work consists of studying and signing State documents. She regularly receives members of parliament, as well as other authorities on social issues.

The Queen is particularly interested in sculpture, painting, ballet and music. She regularly visits exhibitions and attends performances, and she enjoys talking to the artists themselves. She takes a great personal interest in awarding the annual Royal Grant for Painting. The Queen enjoys sculpting, horse-riding and sailing. Her favourite sailing boat is De Groene Draeck, her 18th birthday gift from the nation. She also enjoys playing tennis and skiing.

The Prince Claus 1926 - 2002, in memoriam



Prince Claus, the German-born husband of Queen Beatrix who employed wit, charm and patience to overcome Dutch hostility and win the affection of his adopted nation, died Sunday 6 october 2002. He was 76.

Claus had been in and out of intensive care for several months with respiratory and heart problems. Doctors at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam said he died of Parkinson's disease and pneumonia, according to a government statement.

Claus' marriage to Beatrix was initially resisted by the Dutch public, with many residents upset about his service with the Nazi army in World War II and membership in the Hitler Youth.
But his eventual acceptance was reflected on her death, when the country's television and radio stations interrupted regular programming to air special newscasts and documentaries on Claus' life. The government declared a period of mourning and instructed public buildings to fly flags at half-mast until his burial.

In a live televised broadcast, Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende said Claus' death "comes as a shock to us all, even though we new for years of his poor health."
"He was a remarkable man who won a warm place in the hearts of the Dutch people," Balkenende said. "With his passing, a great man is gone."

Dozens of mourners, young and old, streamed to the Huis ten Bosch palace in The Hague to lay flowers or light candles outside the royal residence.
The prince battled ill health and depression for years, including prostate surgery in 1998, and the removal of a kidney in May 2001.

Claus' entry into Dutch society despite his past was helped when he and the queen produced the first male heir to the Dutch throne in nearly a century. The royal couple had two more sons, Prince Johan Friso and Prince Constantijn.
Claus won over the Dutch people with his gentle wit and affable manner. He also made a favorable impression by mastering the Dutch language and learning to speak it with little trace of an accent.
He took an active interest in Third World affairs, carefully steered away from controversy, and involved himself in public duties. He was granted Dutch nationality by a special act of Parliament.

Though born a German aristocrat, Claus showed a humility that appealed to the unassuming Dutch. In 1997, he asked the public to refrain from marking his birthday because it coincided with the funeral of Britain's Princess Diana.
Claus was a low-ranking West German diplomat when he first met Beatrix, then the crown princess, on a Swiss ski slope during a winter holiday in February 1965.
Their romance — kept secret until a Dutch news photographer caught them several months later walking hand in hand — sparked a storm of protest in the Netherlands.
The match nevertheless had the approval of Queen Juliana; her husband Prince Bernhard, himself a native German; and the Dutch parliament.

An only child, Claus was born Sept. 6, 1926, in Dotzingen in northern Germany. Like many German secondary school children from aristocratic families, he joined the Nazi youth organizations Jungvolk and Hitlerjugend. After finishing school in 1944, he served with the German army in Denmark and with the 90th Panzer Division in Italy, but didn't see combat.
He was captured by U.S. forces near Merano, Italy, in 1945 and sent to a prisoner of war camp at Ghedi, near Brescia. Later he was transferred to Britain, where he worked as a driver and interpreter.

The Crown Prince Willem-Alexander

Prince Willem-Alexander was born on 27 April 1967, the first child of Princess Beatrix and Prince Claus. The Prince was born in the University Hospital, Utrecht, and he spent his early childhood at Drakensteyn Castle in Lage Vuursche. Prince Willem-Alexander has two brothers: Prince Johan Friso (born in 1968) and Prince Constantijn (born in 1969).

On his mother's accession to the throne on 30 April 1980, Prince Willem-Alexander, as her eldest child, became first in line of succession. As heir to the throne, he bears the title Prince of Orange, which has been held by the Sovereign's eldest son since 1815.

In 1995, the Prince of Orange was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Commander in the Royal Naval Reserve, Major in the Royal Netherlands Army, attached to the Grenadiers and Rifles Guards Regiment, and Squadron Leader in the Royal Netherlands Air Force. Since 1997, he has held the rank of Commander in the Royal Naval Reserve, Lieutenant-Colonel in the Royal Army Reserve, infantry division, and Wing Commander in the Royal Air Force Reserve. The Prince is also Aide-de-Camp Extraordinary to Her Majesty the Queen.



Willem-Alexander and Máxima met eachother in April 1999 in Sevilla, Spain, at the Feria.
The relation is known in the Netherlands since August 1999 when they were spotted together on the boat of the Royal Family in the Netherlands. Willem-Alexander asked Máxima to marry him on January 19th, 2001, at the pond of Palace Huis ten Bosch near The Hague.

In the photo, Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander cuddles his wife Princess Maxima as they wave to the crowd from the balcony of the royal palace after their wedding, February 2, 2002. Some 1,750 guests attended the wedding of Queen Beatrix´s eldest son and the Argentine-born Maxima Zorreguieta at Amsterdam´s 600-year-old Nieuwe Kerk church.

On the 7th of december, was born The Princess Catharina-Amalia Beatrix Carmen Victoria, Princess of the Netherlands, Princess of Oranje-Nassau , the future Queen of Netherland after her father the Prince William.