Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, The Smiling Queen

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. Image from Wikimedia Commons

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands’ warm personality endeared her not only to her subjects but also to the press and the people who came to admire. As queen, her reign saw significant changes in the government of the Netherlands’ colonies: in 1986, Aruba seceded and became a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands and in 2010, the Netherlands Antilles was dissolved, while Curaçao and Sint Maarten became constituent countries. She abdicated in 2013 to "place the responsibility for the country in the hands of a new generation," following the footsteps of her mother, Queen Juliana, and grandmother, Queen Wilhelmina.


Birth, Early Years  and World War II

Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard was born on January 31, 1938 at the Soestdijk Palace in Baarn, Netherlands, the first child of Princess Juliana of the Netherlands and her husband, Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. The Second World War forced the Dutch Royal Family to evacuate to London, United Kingdom on May 13, 1940. A month later Beatrix, together with her mother and her sister Irene moved to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and took up residence at the Stornoway residence. While there, Beatrix attended Rockcliffe Park Public School, a primary school where she gained the moniker “Trixie Orange”.


Heir to the Throne

Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard with their children, Beatrix and Irene, c1942. Image from Wikimedia Commons

The Dutch Royal family returned to the Netherlands on August 2, 1945 after the German troops surrendered on May 5, 1945. Ten-year-old Beatrix became the heir presumptive to throne of the Netherlands after her mother Juliana succeeded her grandmother Wilhelmina to become Queen of the Netherlands on September 6, 1948.

Beatrix entered the Incrementum, part of Baarnsch Lyceum, in April 1950, and six years later, passed her school-graduation examinations in arts and classics. In 1956, she attended Leiden University, where she studied economics, sociology, parliamentary history, jurisprudence, and constitutional law. She obtained her law degree in July of 1961.

Marriage 

The wedding of Prince Beatrix and Claus von Amberg in 1965 attended by various European royals. Image from Wikimedia Commons

Her engagement to German aristocrat Claus von Amsberg in 1965 was frowned upon by the public. The latter had once served in the Hitler Youth and the Wehrmacht, thus associated by the Dutch people to German Nazism. The wedding day of Beatrix and Claus on March 10, 1966 in Amsterdam was met with massive protest. A Dutch counterculture movement called Provos hurled a smoke bomb at the Golden Coach, which resulted to a violent street battle with the police.

Reign 

Beatrix became the Queen of the Netherlands on April 30, 1980 following her mother’s abdication. Queen Beatrix was rarely quoted by the press during her reign upon the condition set by the Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst, the government information service, to protect her from possible political complications that may arise from offhand remarks during interviews.

Queen Beatrix in the United States Image from Wikimedia Commons

Queen Beatrix was deeply involved with the cabinet formation process during her reign, appointing an “informateur”, who facilitated negotiations that ultimately led to the formation of a government.

Queen Beatrix and other members of the Dutch Royal Family were targets of a car attack perpetrated by a certain Karst Tates on April 30, 2009. Tates crashed his car into a parade in Apeldoorn, narrowly missing the bus carrying the Queen and instantly killing five civilians.

Abdication 

Queen Beatrix on the day of her abdication in 2013. Image from Wikimedia Commons

After 33 years of being Queen of the Netherlands, Beatrix formally abdicated on April 30, 2013, stating that it was finally time to "place the responsibility for the country in the hands of a new generation”. She was succeeded by her eldest son, Willem-Alexander.