When Beatrix was one year old, in 1939, her first sister, Princess Irene, was born. Beatrix' five godparents are King Leopold III of Belgium, Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, Princess Elisabeth zu Erbach-Schönberg, Duke Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg, and Countess Allene de Kotzebue. She is the eldest daughter of Crown Princess Juliana of the Netherlands and Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. Princess Beatrix was born as Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, Princess of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau and Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld on January 31, 1938, at the Soestdijk Palace in Baarn, Netherlands. On Koninginnedag ( Queen's Day), April 30, 2013, Beatrix abdicated in favor of her eldest son, Willem-Alexander, who became the first King of the Netherlands in 123 years, and she resumed the title of princess. Privilege of birth and of wealth has not blinded the Queens of the Netherlands to concern for the welfare of other people, of other nations or for the peace and stability of the world. "Solidarity," Beatrix said, "is the universally accepted basis of co-existence." She stressed personal responsibility, respect for others including other faiths and cultures so that, through dialogue, balanced solutions can be found to solve the problems that confront the world. The three women steered the nation through loss of its empire, the third largest in the world at the end of the nineteenth century, through the Great Depression, World War I, and World War II and helped to shape the direction that Holland has taken since the end of the last world war as it helped pioneer the European Union to secure peace and has contributed generously to the peace-making missions of the United Nations and to the development of the Third World.īeatrix, who has a degree in law, championed the ideals of democracy and freedom around the world, receiving the gratitude of Nelson Mandela for her nation's role in isolating the white minority regime. Beatrix has continued to give the Netherlands moral leadership, building on the legacy of her mother and grandmother. Beatrix, however, unlike her two predecessors, has given birth to a male heir, Willem-Alexander. The Netherlands had female heads of state or an acting head of state from the end of the nineteenth century through until the start of the twenty-first, beginning with Emma and ending with Beatrix. Wilhelmina's mother, Queen Emma, had acted as regent during her childhood so Beatrix followed in the footsteps of four remarkable women. Her mother abdicated on April 30, 1980, as her mother, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands had abdicated in Juliana's favor. Upon her mother's accession in 1948, she became heir presumptive. She is the eldest daughter of Queen Juliana and her husband, Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard) (Janu) reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 until her abdication in 2013, after a reign of exactly 33 years.
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