Inauguration of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima

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Dutch Royal Family, Holland, King Willem-Alexander

The crown was created in 1840 for King Willem II, by Bonebakker Jewellers of Amsterdam. It is fashioned from silver plated with gold. It consists of eight arches topped with an orb and cross. There were originally 72 fake pearls on the arches of the crown, but 24 were removed in 1898 and the holes filled with small gold studs. There are no precious stones in the crown, the gems are made from coloured glass backed by foil.

Guards watch over the regalia (Crown, Sceptre, Globus Cruciger and Sword of State) at the credence-table prior to the inauguration of HM King Willem Alexander of the Netherlands .

Two thrones are prepared prior to the inauguration of HM King Willem Alexander of the Netherlands at New Church on April 30, 2013 in Amsterdam

King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands is being officially sworn in at a secular ceremony in the Nieuwe Kerk, a decommissioned church, before a joint session of the Dutch parliament.

“I swear that I shall defend and preserve the independence and territory of the state with all my powers.  That I shall protect the general and individual freedom and rights of all my subjects and shall use all available means granted to me by law for preserving and promoting general and individual prosperity as I befitting of a good king…. So help me God almighty.”

Queen Maria of Yugoslavia returns home

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Princess Maria of Romania, Princess Mignon, Queen Maria of Yugoslavia, Romanian Royal Family, Serbian Royal family

Queen Maria of Yugoslavia

The body of Queen Maria of Yugoslavia is to be repatriated to Belgrade after being exhumed from the Royal Burial Ground at Windsor on 26 April 2013. Her body was exhumed on Friday after permission was given by the Queen and the remains transferred from Windsor to a Serbian Orthodox church in London. A memorial service will take place on 28 April in London. Queen Maria’s body will then be flown back to Belgrade, accompanied by her grandson Crown Prince Alexander. The body will then be interred at the Royal mausoleum at Topola.  Queen Maria’s son, who died in 1970 and was buried in Illinois, was repatriated from the US in January. King Peter’s wife Queen Alexandra was buried in Athens and her body will be returned in May. Serbia will hold a state funeral for Queen Maria, King Peter II and Queen Alexandra on 26 May. [Source: Telegraph]

Source: Serbian Royal Family

Childhood at Court, a new exhibition in Bucharest

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Prince Carol of Romania, Prince Michael of Romania, Prince Nicholas of Romania, Princess Elisabeta of Romania, Princess Maria, Princess Marioara of Romania, Romanian Royal Family, Royal ceremonies

The National Archives of Romania (49 Regina Elisabeta Boulevard  Bucharest) is hosting an interesting exhibition on the Romanian Royal Children throughout history, scheduled for opening next Monday, on 29 April 2013, at 13.00h. Stars of the exhibition are rare photographs of royal children and related official documents. The event’s opening benefits from the presence of HRH Prince Nicholas of Romania.

Happy Birthday to HRH Prince Nicholas of Romania!

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Prince Nicholas of Romania, Romanian Royal Family

HM King Michael of Romanian & HRH Prince Nicholas, 14 June 2010, Bucharest

A Very Happy Birthday to HRH Prince Nicholas! Today Prince Nicholas celebrates his 28th birthday

Twenty one years ago HRH Prince Nicholas, the son of Princess Helena and grandson of HM King Michael, arrived for the first time in Romania. He was just 7 years old, and his perceptions of his heroic grandfather’s homeland were those of a child who came along with his mother and grandparents, but put suddenly in the front of the sheer enthusiasm of the over one million Bucharest people who came to greet King Michael for the first time in a half of century, after his forced abdication in 1947. He is the third in the line of the succession to the Romanian throne. Nicholas is held in high regard by his family and also by the Romanians. DM  

Crown Prince Willem Alexander Opens the Tsar Peter Exhibition, Amsterdam

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Crown Prince Willem Alexander, Crown Prince Willem Alexander of The Netherlands

Crown Prince Willem Alexander of The Netherlands, Cathelijne Broers and Mikhail Piotrovsky attend opening of the Tsar Peter exhibition at Hermitage on March 8, 2013 in Amsterdam. Photo by Michel Porro

Peter the Great, an Inspired Tsar (9 March – 13 September 2013)

The central theme for the year 2013 will be the special relationship between Russia, the Netherlands and Amsterdam. The two countries have been major trading partners since the Golden Age, and Amsterdam’s canal ring inspired Peter the Great’s to found the city of St Petersburg. In the centuries that followed, this relationship grew stronger. In 1813, when Napoleon was defeated, Russian Cossacks advanced as far as the gates of Amsterdam, and a Dutch king married the sister of the tsar. The year 2009 saw a crowning moment in relations between the Netherlands and Russia: the opening of the Hermitage Amsterdam, the only European satellite of the famous St Petersburg museum. The Hermitage Amsterdam will kick off the anniversary year of 2013 with a major exhibition about Peter the Great, the tsar who brought Russia into the modern age.

Photo by Michel Porro

Early in 2013, a year of celebration in Dutch-Russian relations, the Hermitage Amsterdam will present a major exhibition devoted to Peter the Great (1672–1725), the modernizer of Russia. The exhibition will paint a picture of this unconventional, inspired and inquisitive Russian tsar, who by the time he took power at the age of 17 was determined to transform his country. His achievements include reforming the military and the church, expanding trade and industry, and improving education and public health. He turned Russia into a great European power with a brand-new capital city: St Petersburg, his “window on the West.” With historical artefacts, paintings, gold jewellery from the ancient world, weapons and unique documents, the exhibition will sketch the life of this peerless ruler.

King Michael of Romania’s Press Conference in London 65 years ago protesting his forced abdication

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King Michael of Romania, Romanian Royal Family

King Michael of Romania at a press conference held at Claridge’s Hotel in London, on 4 March 1948, declared that the removal of the monarchy constituted a new act of violence in the policy for the enslavement of Romania.  In these conditions, the King said, I do not consider myself bound in any way by this act imposed upon me.

The motives of the profound political changes imposed on the small States of Eastern Europe are already too well known. As far as Romania is concerned I want to avail myself of the first possibility personally to confirm the facts as they happened.

In the morning of December 30, 1947, Mr Petru Groza and Gheorghiu-Dej, members of the Romanian Cabinet, presented to me the text of the act of abdication, urging me to sign it at once. Both of them came to the Royal Palace after it had been surrounded by armed detachments, informing me that they would hold me responsible for the bloodshed which would follow, as a consequence of the instructions already issued by them, in case I should not sign within the time limit. This act was imposed on me by force by a Government installed and maintained in power by a foreign country, a Government utterly unrepresentative of the will of the Romanian people. This Government had violated international pledges binding them to respect the political freedom of the Romanian people, had falsified the elections and annihilated the democratic political leaders who enjoyed the confidence of the country. The removal of the monarchy constitutes a new act of violence in the policy for the enslavement of Romania  In these conditions I do not consider myself bound in any way by this act imposed upon me. With unshaken faith in our future animated by the same devotion and will to work, I will continue to serve the Romanian people with which my destiny is inexorably bound.

After his speech King Michael refused to answer any questions and later in the day left London for Southampton, where he boarded RMS Queen Elizabeth for New York. Earlier in the day the King and his mother lunched at Buckingham Palace. They were accompanied to the palace by the Duchess of Kent, a cousin of Queen Helen of Romania. [Source: The Guardian, 5 March 1948]

New exhibition by HRH The Princess Sophie of Romania

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Princess Sophie of Romania, Princesse Sophie de Roumanie, Romanian Royal Family

Following the success H.R.H. The Princess Sophie enjoyed during her exhibitions during the summers of 2011 and 2012 at the Chateau de Tronjoly, Her Royal Highness will be showing again. This new exhibition will run the entire month of March and will concentrate on the Breton landscapes in the style that her clients have become familiar with and from which Princess Sophie has gained much success. This is the first Exhibition of the year that The Princess will be having, but not the last. Her Royal Highness has started a busy year and is pursuing several projects, one of which is a second exhibition for 2013 running the months of May and June.

ASR Principesa Sofia a Romaniei: Noua Expozitie Fotografica – martie 2013

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands

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Dutch Royal Family, Queen Beatrix, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, 30 April 1980. Reign: 30 April 1980-30 April 2013 (postcard, Diana Mandache collection)

In the Netherlands, Monarchs are not crowned but invested as heads of state. A new monarch assumes the royal prerogative as soon as his or her predecessor dies or abdicates. The Constitution stipulates that the new monarch must be sworn in and invested as soon as possible.

The official programme for the abdication and investiture will take place on 30 April 2013. Her Majesty the Queen will sign the Instrument of Abdication at the Royal Palace, Amsterdam. The investiture of His Majesty the King will then take place at the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam. When Queen Beatrix abdicates, His Royal Highness the Prince of Orange will become King Willem-Alexander, and Her Royal Highness Princess Máxima of the Netherlands will become Queen Máxima. [Source: Dutch Royal House]

Speech by HM Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, 28 January 2013

As you all know, in a few days I hope to celebrate my 75th birthday. I am thankful that I have been granted the opportunity to do so in good health. At the end of this year we shall mark the 200th anniversary of the foundation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, an occasion that ushered in a new era in our history. The fact that these two special events coincide led me to decide to relinquish the throne this year. It seems to me to be an appropriate moment to take this step, which I have been considering for some time.

I have always regarded it as an exceptional privilege to have been able to dedicate a large part of my life to the service of our country and to have been able to discharge the duties of the monarchy as I was called to do. For many years Prince Claus was a great support to me in this task.

Throughout this time I have derived great satisfaction from such a fulfilling role. It is inspiring to feel close to people, to sympathise with them in times of sorrow and to share in times of joy and national pride. That has also been my experience in the Caribbean parts of our Kingdom, where I have always encountered great warmth and hospitality. So I am abdicating not because my duties are becoming too burdensome, but because I am convinced that it is time for the responsibility for our country to pass to a new generation. On 30 April this year, with the utmost confidence, I shall hand over the duties of the monarchy to my son, the Prince of Orange. He and Princess Máxima are fully prepared for their future role. They will serve our country with dedication, faithfully uphold the Constitution and use their many talents to discharge the duties of the monarchy in their own distinctive way.

I feel fortified by the knowledge that making way for my successor does not mean that I am taking my leave of you all. I hope still to have plenty of opportunities to meet many of you. I am deeply grateful to you for the trust that you have placed in me throughout the many rewarding years I have had the privilege of being your Queen.

Current line of succession to the throne

• The Queen
• The Prince of Orange
• Princess Catharina-Amalia
• Princess Alexia
• Princess Ariane
• Prince Constantijn
• Countess Eloise
• Count Claus-Casimir
• Countess Leonore
• Princess Margriet
• Prince Maurits
• Prince Bernhard

Queen Beatrix abdicates, Willem-Alexander to be king

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Queen Beatrix, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands

Queen Beatrix, who turns 75 on Thursday, announces her abdication in favour of her son, Prince Willem-Alexander, in a hastily announced broadcast on Dutch National Television to the nation at her home palace in The Hague, 28 January 2013.

Queen Beatrix:

I am not abdicating because this office is too much of a burden, but out of conviction that the responsibility for our nation should now rest in the hands of a new generation.

Queen Beatrix is the sixth monarch from the House of Orange-Nassau, which has ruled the Netherlands since the early 19th Century. Queen Beatrix’s mother Juliana resigned the throne in 1980 on her 70th birthday, and her grandmother Wilhelmina abdicated in 1948 at the age of 68.

Queen Beatrix praised Prince Willem-Alexander as a talented and capable successor “fully prepared” for his future role. She said he would assume the throne on April 30 at the high point of a year of celebrations to mark the end of the Napoleonic occupation in 1813. The Kingdom of the Netherlands was then established two years later.

Willem-Alexander will become the first Dutch King since Willem III, who reigned until his death in 1890.

Source: The Telegraph, BBC news, Reuters