Queen Beatrix will abdicate next April 30 (Queen's day), 33 years after her coronation.
The Prince of Orange, Willem Alexander, who will turn 46 on April 27, will be the future King of the Netherlands.
Queen Beatrix, who turns 75 years next Thursday, January 31, said today, on her message to the nation, that ‘I have been thinking about it for some time. I am not standing down because the role is too heavy for me, but in the conviction that responsibility for our country should now lie with a new generation.’
Willem Alexander will be the first king of the Netherlands since the death of his great-great-grandfather Willem III in 1890.
Love you, Beatrix! :-)
Veel Succes, Willem-Alexander en Máxima!
