On 30th April, Queen’s Day in the Netherlands, Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands will officially abdicate from the throne and will be immediately succeeded by her son and the Prince of Orange, Prince Willem-Alexander.
On the 29th April, at 8 o’clock in the evening, local time, at the invitation of Her Majesty the Queen, with members of the Royal Family and other royal and foreign missions at the Rijksmuseum, will attend a dinner.
On 30th April, at 10am local time, The Queen will sign the instrument of abdication in the Royal Palace, Amsterdam. This is the constitutional procedure by which she formally relinquishes the throne. Once the instrument is signed, in other words before the investiture ceremony, the Prince of Orange will become King under constitutional law. He will be King Willem-Alexander. The new King and the former Queen will then give a short address from the balcony of the Palace. The new King and Queen and their three young daughters will then make a public appearance on the balcony.
At 10.30am local time, His Majesty King Willem-Alexander, Her Majesty Queen Máxima and Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands appear on the balcony of the Royal Palace Amsterdam. Princess Beatrix and the King will both give a short address, after which the Wilhelmus will be played. Her Royal Highness the Princess of Orange and Their Royal Highnesses Princess Alexia and Princess Ariane will then join their parents on the balcony.
At 2pm local time, the new King will attend his swearing in and investiture at the joint session of the two Houses of the States General in the Nieuwe Kerk. The King will deliver an address and be sworn in. The President of the joint session, Fred de Graaf, will deliver an address and make a solemn declaration, after which members of the States General and the States of Aruba, Curaçao and St Maarten swear an oath or make an affirmation.
Titles After The Abdication
After the abdication of Queen Beatrix and the accession of the Prince of Orange, titles within the Royal House will change, they will go (old title on the left, new title on the right):
HM Queen Beatrix > HRH Princess Beatrix
HRH Prince Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange > HM King Willem-Alexander (HM The King)
HRH Princess Máxima of the Netherlands > HM Queen Máxima (HM The Queen)
HRH Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands > HRH Princess Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange (HRH The Princess of Orange)
Photo: Royal family during Budget Day in The Hague. Novum / p / str.Ppe
[box type=”note” style=”rounded” border=”full”]This post refers to Monarchs and members of the Royal Family from the Kingdom of the Netherlands and not the United Kingdom, all references to ‘The Queen’ etc. refer to that of the Netherlands.[/box]
