75 Facts about Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands
- Princess Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard was born 31 January 1938 {Source}
- She was born at Soestdijk Palace {Source}.
- She is the eldest of Queen Julianna & Prince Berhard's daughters{Source}
- At her birth, she held the titles: Princess of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau and Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld{Source}
- She was named:
- Beatrix:?
- Wilhelmina: For her grandmother, Queen Wilhelmina
- Armgard: ?
- She has three younger full sisters, Princess Margriet, Princess Irene & Princess Christina{Source}
- Through her father, she also has two half-sisters who are illegitimate and were not acknowledged until after his death{Source}:
- Alicia von Bielefeld (1952)
- Alexia Grinda (1967)
- During WWII, the family took refuge in the United Kingdom and Canada {Source}
- She was only two years old when her family fled from The Netherlands in 1940, just ahead of the Nazi occupation during World War II {Source}.
- She spent the war in Canada, and her family returned home, victorious, in 1945, the year Beatrix turned 7 {Source}.
- While in Canada, she attended to her early education {Source}.
- Upon the family's return to The Netherlands, she continued her education at The Workshop, Kees Boeke's progressive School{Source}.
- In 1950, she entered the Incrementum, part of the Baarns Lyceum, where she took her school-leaving exams in arts and classics in 1956{Source}.
- Upon graduation, she began attending Leiden University {Source}.
- During her time at Lieden, she was a member of Women Students Association {Source}.
- While studying at Liden, she studied sociology, jurisprudence, economics, parliamentary history, constitutional law, the cultures of Suriname & Netherlands Antilles, the Charter of the Kingdom of The Netherlands, international affiars, international law, history & European Law {Source}.
- In 1959, she earned a preliminary degree in Law{Source}.
- While there, she paid numerous visits abroad to organizations in Switzerland, France, and Belgium {Source}.
- In 1961, she obtained a combined degree in law and other subjects {Source}.
- She received an honorary doctorate from her alma mater, recognizing the way she raises the issue of importance of individual freedoms & the responsibilities that go with it in 2005 {Source}.
- She married a German diplomat, Claus van Amsberg on 10 March 1966 {Source}
- Together, they have three sons:
- Prince Williem-Alexander of Oranje (1967){Source}
- Prince Fiso (1968){Source}
- Prince Constantijn (1969){Source}
- She has 8 grandchildren:
- Countess Eloise (June 2002, Prince Constantijn){Source}
- Princess Catharina-Amalia (December 2003, Prince Williem-Alexander){Source}
- Count Claus-Casimir (March 2004, Prince Constantijn){Source}
- Countess Luana (March 2005, Prince Friso){Source}
- Princess Alexia (June 2005, Prince Williem-Alexander){Source}
- Countess Leonore (June 2006, Prince Constanijn){Source}
- Countess Zaria (June 2006, Prince Friso){Source}
- Princess Ariane (April 2007, Prince Williem-Alexander){Source}
- At her wedding, the following were in the wedding party{Source}:
- Princess Christina of The Netherlands (senior bridesmaid, sister of the bride, then 19 years old)
- Princess Christina of Sweden (senior bridesmaid, then 23 years old)
- Lady Elizabeth Anson (senior bridesmaid)
- Joanna Roëll (senior bridesmaid)
- Eugénie Loudon(senior bridesmaid)
- Christina von Amsberg (sister of the groom, senior bridesmaid)
- Daphne Stewart Clark (Junior bridesmaid)
- Carolijn Alting von Geusau (Junior bridesmaid)
- Joachim Jencquel(page boy)
- Markus von Oeynhausen-Sierstorpff (page boy)
- She became a widower in October 2002{Source}
- Prince Claus died in 2002; he suffered from depression for many years {Source}
- Her second son, Prince Friso, was caught in an avalanche in Austria in 2012 and has been in a coma since{Source}
- She makes frequent visits to London to visit her daughter-in-law and granddaughters and get updated on her son Friso's condition {Source}
- She was only 10 years old when she became heiress presumptive {Source}
- She succeed her mother as Queen in 1980 {Source}.
- She was 42 years old when she succeeded her mother {Source}
- Coincidentally, her son will only be 4 years older than she was when she took up the crown {Source}
- Even though the role of the Monarchy is scaled back compared to other monarchies, Queen Beatrix has meetings with the Prime Minister, Parliment and Cabinet frequently {Source}
- She acts as a representative of The Netherlands both in Netherlands and at functions abroad {Source}
- She holds orders from The Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, & 46 other nations {Source}
- The Queen of the Netherlands truly cares about her people {Source}.
- On 16 May 1996, the Queen was awarded the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen for her contribution to European unification {Source}.
- She is 3rd cousins with King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, through George Victor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont & Princess Helena of Nassau.
- She has at least 2 goddaughters {Source}
- Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden
- Katherine Abel-Smith
- She has 5 godparents {Source}:
- King Leopold III of Belgium (??)
- Duke Adolf of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (her great half-uncle)
- Princess Alice of Teck, Countess of Athlone (her 1st cousin 1x removed)
- Countess Allene de Kotzebue(??)
- Princess Elisabeth zu Erbach-Schönberg (her great-aunt)
- In 2009, Forbes estimated her wealth at US$300 million but gave no details to substantiate this figure.{Source}
- On 30 April 2009, the queen and many senior members of the Royal Family were targeted in a car attack by a man called Karst Tates {Source}
- In November 2011, she became the oldest reigning Dutch monarch {Source}
- In April 2013, she will abdicate in favor of her son, Prince Williem-Alexander {Source}.
- Upon her abdication, she will be known as Princess Beatrix of The Netherlands{Source}.
- Her son will be the first King of The Netherlands since 1890 {Source}
- Her Granddaughter, Princess Catharina-Amalia will be the 1st Princess of Oranje in her own right {Source}
- During her abdication announcement, she explained that she was not abdicating because
- She was "tired" or "thought she could no longer handle the position"{Source}
- She stated that she believed that {Source}:
- She believes the time is right for her to abdicate
- This year is the 200th year of the anniversary of The Netherlands becoming a monarchy.
- She believes it's time for a new generation to lead and that Williem-Alexander & Maxmia will be good for the monarchy.
- Princess Beatrix will take up residence at Drakensteyn Castle in Lage Vuursche after her abdication {Source}
- She and her husband Prince Claus raised their children and resided until 1980 at Drakensteyn Castle {Source}
At present, she is the oldest reigning Dutch monarch {Source} - On her personal time, she enjoys skiing and horsebackridding {Source}
- Her favorite sailing boat is De Groene Draeck, her 18th birthday gift from the nation {Source}.
- Shrewd investments in both the stock market and real estate market allowed Queen Beatrix to become one of the most wealthy women in the world {Source}
- In 2009, she was among the world's Richest Royals according to Forbes {Source}
- Queen Beatrix paid an official visit to the former Dutch colony of Indonesia in 1995 as they celebrated the 50th anniversary of their independence from the Netherlands {Source}
- Queen Beatrix had 240 official engagements in 2012, compared to 425 for Queen Elizabeth II{Source}
- She appeared in the 2007 Dutch TV miniseries Waar was u toen? (Where were you then?) {Source}
- She speaks English, Dutch, German, French, Italian & some Danish {Source}
- She and Prince Claus had a border terrier namdd Miss Pepper in the early 1990s{Photo}
- Around 2007, she had a dog named Chip {Photo}
- She once gave a horse to Queen Elizabeth.
- She is known for her array of hats {Source}
- Queen Beatrix is now seen as a "surrogate grandmother" in the Netherlands, according to the BBC, which adds that "under Dutch law it is still illegal to insult the queen." {Source}
- Queen Beatrix is nicknamed "Trix" {Source}
- Forbes magazine called her the world's 14th richest royal in 2007; the magazine estimated her wealth then at $300 million{Source}.
- Both her mother and grandmother also abdicated the throne voluntarily: Queen Juliana in 1980, and Queen Wilhelmina in 1948 {Source}.
- Her last official state occasion (so far anyway) was a joint trip to Singapore with her eldest son and daughter-in-law, where she attended a state dinner and gave a speech {Source}
- Also in early 2013, they visited Brunei, where again, she gave a speech {Source}
- Other recent (2012) state visits include (both her going to and these countries dignitaries coming to her): Slovakia, Italy, and Turkey
- Like her British Counterpart, she gives an opening speech on Parliment's Opening Day to open the sesssion {Source}
- She is said to be good friends with her British counterpart, Queen Elizabeth II {Photo}
- Queen Beatrix has some of the highest approval ratings in Europe, her reign has not been without its bumps along the road {Source}.
- When she does abdicate, she and her son will be getting a joint stamp from the Postal Service of the Netherlands{Source}
- Queen Beatrix has given her name to a number of facilities in the Netherlands and beyond. These include:
- Streekziekenhuis Koningin Beatrix, regional hospital in Beatrixpark, Winterswijk.{Source}
- Queen Beatrix International Airport in Aruba.
- Reina Beatrix School in Aruba.{Source}
- Queen Beatrix Hospital Medical Center, Sint Eustatius.{Source}
- Queen Beatrix Chair in Dutch Studies at UC Berkeley {Source}
- Queen Beatrix Nursing Home, Albion Park Rail, NSW, Australia.{Source}
- The ferry MS Koningin Beatrix.
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