Dutch Queen Beatrix abdicates

Queen Beatrix

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, 75, used a televised address on Monday to announce her abdication from the throne in favour of her eldest son, Prince Willem-Alexander.

Beatrix has reigned as the sixth monarch of the House of Orange since 1980, when Queen Juliana, her mother, retired from the throne after 31 years.

The past year has been difficult for the Queen after Prince Friso, her second son, was buried in an avalanche at the Austrian ski resort of Lech.

He suffered cardiac arrest that lasted 50 minutes and remains in a semi-coma in a British hospital.

Prince Willem-Alexander, 45, who will become King on April 30, is married to Princess Maxima Zorrigueta and the couple have three young children.

Decades of grooming for the throne involved shaking off his image as a beer-drinking fraternity boy whose blunt comments upset the press and politicians.

Beatrix said in a television broadcast to the nation that she was stepping down because she felt her son was ready to take her place on the throne.

A constitutional monarchy, the Netherlands had reduced the involvement of the Royal House in politics, a role long seen more as a formality than a position of power.

In the past, the Queen took part in forming government coalitions by appointing a political mediator, raising questions about behind-the-scenes influence on the democratic process.

That role was scrapped before the past election, which took place in September 2012.

It was widely rumoured that Queen Beatrix was no fan of anti-immigrant, eurosceptic politician Geert Wilders.

She alluded in speeches to the need for tolerance and multi-culturalism, comments that were seen as criticisms of Wilders’ anti-Islamic views.

Wilders’ poor showing at the past election and loss of influence in politics, could well have contributed to her decision to abdicate.

Queen Beatrix, who remains very popular with the Dutch, became the sixth monarch of the House of Orange in 1980 following the abdication of her mother, Queen Juliana, who reigned for 31 years.

Juliana was 73 years old and in deteriorating mental health when she abdicated, but Beatrix has remained active and in good health in spite of some setbacks.