Willem-Alexander
Willem-Alexander (born April 27, 1967 in Utrecht as Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand ), Prince of Orange- Nassau, Jonkheer van Amsberg , has been King of the Netherlands since April 30, 2013 . He took over the office from his mother Beatrix, who abdicated from the throne that day .
Life
childhood and education
| Dutch royal family |
 |
|
SM King Willem-Alexander
HRH Princess Margriet |
Willem-Alexander is the eldest son of Princess Beatrix , the former Queen of the Netherlands, and Prince Claus von Amsberg . He grew up with his younger brothers Johan Friso and Constantijn until 1981 at Drakensteyn Castle in Baarn . When his mother Beatrix became queen, the family moved to Huis ten Bosch Castle in The Hague . It was taught at public schools in Baarn and The Hague together with children from all social classes. He completed his education at Atlantic College in Llantwit Major in Wales , from which he graduated in 1985 with the International Baccalaureate .
Willem-Alexander did his military service from August 1985 to January 1987 in the Royal Navy . After several months of training at the Royal Naval Institute in Den Helder , he served on board the frigate Mr. Ms. Tromp and Mr. Ms. Abraham Crijnssen . After completing his military training, Willem-Alexander studied history at the University of Leiden from 1987 and graduated in 1993 with a thesis on the Netherlands' response to the French withdrawal from the integrated military command structure of NATO under Charles de Gaulle .
marriage and family
On March 30, 2001, the then Prince of Orange got engaged to Máxima Zorreguieta , an Argentine woman with Basque , Spanish and Italian roots. Like the marriages of previous generations of the House of Orange-Nassau, this connection was highly controversial. Her father, Jorge Horacio Zorreguieta Stefanini , was a member of the Videla regime, a military dictatorship that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. However, due to an intervention by then Prime Minister Wim Kok , Parliament approved the marriage on July 3, 2001. The discussion about this background meant that Máxima's parents had to stay away from the royal wedding. Thanks to Prime Minister Kok's prudent actions, the Orange people avoided a crisis and ultimately emerged stronger from the Máxima debate. Since then, Willem-Alexander has benefited from the great popularity of Máxima.
On February 2, 2002, Máxima and Willem-Alexander, who belongs to the Dutch Reformed Church , made a marriage in the Nieuwe Kerk (German: New Church ) in Amsterdam. The service was led by Carel ter Linden. The civil wedding was previously carried out in the Beurs van Berlage by Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen . By marriage, Máxima became a member of the Dutch royal family .
They have three daughters together:
- Catharina- Amalia Beatrix Carmen Victoria was born on December 7, 2003 in The Hague . On June 12, 2004, Amalia wasbaptized by Carel ter Lindenin the Grote Kerk in The Hague. Her godparents are her uncle Prince Constantijn of Orange-Nassau , Princess Victoria of Sweden , Marc ter Haar, Herman Tjeenk Willink, Samantha van Welderen Baroness Rengers-Deane and her uncle Martín Zorreguieta (brother of Queen Máxima). She is number 1 in the line of succession to the Dutch throne .
- Alexia Juliana Marcela Laurentien was born on June 26, 2005 in The Hague. On November 19, 2005, Alexia wasbaptizedbyPastorDeodaat van der Boonin the village church ofWassenaar. Her godparents are QueenMathilde of Belgium, Alexandra Jankovich de Jeszenice, her uncle PrinceJohan Friso, her uncle Juan Zorreguieta (brother of Queen Máxima) and Frans de Beaufort. She is second in line to the Dutch throne.
- Ariane Wilhelmina Máxima Ines was born on April 10, 2007 in The Hague. On October 20, 2007, Ariane wasbaptized by Pastor Deodaat van der Boonin the Kloosterkerk in The Hague. Her godparents are Valeria Delger, her aunt Inés Zorreguieta (sister of Queen Máxima), Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume of Luxembourg , Tijo Baron Collot d'Escury and Anton Friling. She is number 3 in the line of succession to the Dutch throne.
The couple initially lived in Noordeinde 66 in The Hague. In spring 2003 they moved into Villa Eikenhorst on the De Horsten estate in Wassenaar and Voorschoten . King Willem-Alexander has been living with his family in Huis ten Bosch Castle in The Hague since January 2019 .
Others
Willem-Alexander was nicknamed Prins Pils while he was a student ; Media reported his participation in student life and celebrations. His drinking beer with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi was particularly criticized in the media .
In 2007 Willem-Alexander and his wife bought a luxury vacation villa in Mozambique . This was criticized many times - also against the background of the financial crisis from 2007 and the economic crisis from late 2008 to early 2010 . In January 2012 the two announced that they had sold the villa to a development project cooperative for a symbolic price. The Dutch royal family was considered the richest of the European royal houses in 1999 (also because of its participation in the Royal Dutch Shell ). Willem-Alexander announced in April 2018 that he did not have any shares with “Royal” in their name.
Willem-Alexander is fluent and almost without accent German .
Official duties
Activity and duties as heir to the throne
After completing his studies in 1993, Willem-Alexander obtained a military pilot's license from the Royal Air Force . In 1994 he completed training phases with the Royal Army and the Royal Air Force. He visited Dutch troops in Bosnia , Ethiopia , Eritrea and Afghanistan, among others . As Crown Prince, Willem-Alexander was Flotilla Admiral of the Reserve of the Royal Navy, Brigadier General of the Reserve of the Royal Army and Brigadier General of the Reserve of the Royal Air Force. Before his inauguration as king, he was honorably discharged from military service at his own request, since as head of state and member of the government he is not allowed to hold any military function in the armed forces. From 1990 until he took over the throne, he was an adjutant extraordinary to his mother.
After his studies and further military training, Willem-Alexander dealt intensively with Dutch society, the structure of the state and the legal system and visited ministries and other state institutions as well as European institutions. He completed an orientation program in Dutch business and the Advanced Development Program at the Kellogg School of Management in the USA.
Prince Claus aroused Willem-Alexander's interest in the topic of water management, which is important for the Netherlands . Willem-Alexander has held a number of national and international functions in this area since 1998. From 2006 he was on a proposal by the then UN Secretary-General's Kofi Annan chairman of the UN Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation. Willem-Alexander was an advisory member of the Dutch Council of State , a constitutional body that advised the Dutch government and was chaired by the then Queen Beatrix.
Accession to the throne
On January 28, 2013, Queen Beatrix announced her abdication and the impending succession to the throne of Willem-Alexander. On April 30, 2013, the Koningsdag , the formal swearing-in took place. In a solemn ceremony in Amsterdam's Nieuwe Kerk , the members of both chambers of the Dutch Parliament ( States General ) and the members of the parliaments of the Caribbean countries Aruba , Curaçao and St. Maarten made their declaration of homage . His official name remains even after Willem-Alexander ascended to the throne . His first visit abroad as a monarch took him to Luxembourg on May 24, 2013 , whose dynasty also descended from the House of Nassau .
For the enthronement in 2013 a king song was published, about which the tastes were very divided.
Administration
“Willem-Alexander does not have the political ambition of his mother, he primarily wants to connect, encourage and represent,” says historian and Netherlands expert Christoph Driessen . “He is more spontaneous, warmer and less regal.” Willem-Alexander is a popular king, but the monarchy as an institution enjoys far less support from the thoroughly democratic Dutch than the protagonists of this institution. "That means: In the event of one or more missteps, the entire form of government would quickly be up for discussion."
Full title
His Majesty King Willem-Alexander, King of the Netherlands , Prince of Orange- Nassau, Jonkheer van Amsberg , Count of Katzenelnbogen , Count of Vianden , Count of Diez , Count of Spiegelberg , Count of Buren , Count of Leerdam , Count of Culemborg , Marquis von Veere and Vlissingen , Baron von Breda , Baron von Diest , Baron von Beilstein , Baron of the City of Grave and the Cuyker Land , Baron von IJsselstein , Baron von Cranendonk , Baron von Eindhoven , Baron von Liesveld , Baron von Herstal , Baron von Warneton , Heir and Baron of Ameland , Lord of Borculo , Lord of Bredevoort , Lord of Lichtenvoorde , Lord of 't Loo, Lord of Geertruidenberg , Lord of Klundert , Lord of Zevenbergen , Lord of Hoge and Lage Zwaluwe, Lord of Naaldwijk, Lord of Polanen, Lord of St. Maartensdijk , Lord of Soest , Baarn and Ter Eem, Lord of Willemstad, Lord of Steenbergen , Lord of Montfort , Lord of St. Vith , Lord of Bütgenbach , Lord of Dasburg , Hereditary Count of Antwerp .
Sport and flying
His grandfather Bernhard zur Lippe-Biesterfeld , himself an enthusiastic pilot, awakened Willem-Alexander's fascination for flying. As a trained pilot, he flew missions for the AMREF and the Kenya Wildlife Service . He has had a commercial pilot license since 2001 and, in order to obtain it, flies regularly for KLM (first the Fokker 70 , after its retirement the Boeing 737 ) or the government jet . Under the name van Buren (a family name of the House of Orange-Nassau) he took part in the nationally important speed skating event Elfstedentocht in 1986 and in the New York City Marathon in 1992 . Willem-Alexander's sporting preferences include skiing, tennis, jogging, sailing, horse riding and diving. Every year he spends his winter holiday in Lech am Arlberg , where he learned to ski as a child.
For a long time Willem-Alexander held positions that led him to national and international sporting events. From 1995 to 1998 he was the patron of the Dutch Olympic Committee / Dutch Sports Confederation (NOC * NSF). From 1998 to 2013 Willem-Alexander was a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). As a member of the IOC, he attended the annual meetings of the Committee and all Olympic Games . In 2013 he resigned his membership due to his inauguration as king. In September 2013 he was made an honorary member of the IOC in Buenos Aires . On this occasion he received the Olympic Order in Gold from the then IOC President Jacques Rogge .
ancestors
| Pedigree of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old parents |
Gabriel von Amsberg |
Leopold von Vieregge |
Baron Julius von dem Bussche- Haddenhausen |
Baron Eberhard von dem Bussche-Ippenburg |
Count Ernst zur Lippe-Biesterfeld |
Freiherr Aschwin von Sierstorpff- Cramm |
Grand Duke |
|
|
| Great grandparents |
Wilhelm von Amsberg |
Baron Georg von dem Bussche-Haddenhausen |
Prince Bernhard to lip -Biesterfeld |
Duke Heinrich of Mecklenburg (1876–1934) |
|||||
| Grandparents |
Klaus Felix von Amsberg (1890–1953) |
Prince Bernhard zur Lippe-Biesterfeld (1911–2004) |
|||||||
| parents |
Claus von Amsberg (1926–2002) |
||||||||
| king |
|
||||||||
.svg){kind=small}
literature
- Christoph Driessen : Continuity and change in the monarchy . In: ders .: History of the Netherlands. From sea power to trend land . Regensburg 2016, pp. 256–261.
Remarks
- ↑ The special Dutch title Jonkheer van Amsberg was given, together with the title Prince of the Netherlands , on February 16, 1966 by Queen Juliana, hereditary with the expected offspring with Princess Beatrix, to her future son-in-law Claus von Amsberg .
- ↑ The titles are defined in form and order
Web links
- Willem-Alexander on the website of the Dutch royal family
- Biography Willem-Alexander , NetherlandsNet, University of Münster
- Portrait of the MDR about the then Crown Prince Willem-Alexander (2004) ( Memento from January 6, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Genealogical Handbook of the Nobility , Princely Houses, Volume XV, Volume 114 of the complete series, Limburg (Lahn) 1997, pp. 73 f.
- ↑ Jeugd - Koning Willem-Alexander. In: Koninklijkhuis.nl. Retrieved June 2, 2020 (Dutch).
- ↑ a b Study - Koning Willem-Alexander. In: Koninklijkhuis.nl. Retrieved June 2, 2020 (Dutch).
- ↑ Christoph Driessen: History of the Netherlands. From sea power to trend land. Regensburg 2009, p. 257
- ↑ Verlovingstijd en toestemmingswet - Huwelijk Koning Willem-Alexander en Máxima Queen. In: Koninklijkhuis.nl. Retrieved June 2, 2020 (Dutch).
- ↑ Huwelijksdag - Huwelijk Koning Willem-Alexander en Máxima Queen. In: Koninklijkhuis.nl. Retrieved June 2, 2020 (Dutch).
- ↑ Huwelijk en gezin - Koning Willem-Alexander. In: Koninklijkhuis.nl. Retrieved June 2, 2020 (Dutch).
- ↑ a b Beer with Putin: King of the Dutch went a Pilsje too far , Die Welt, March 21, 2014
- ^ Hamburger Abendblatt online: Willem-Alexander sells luxury villa in Mozambique , dpa report, January 17, 2012
- ↑ http://www.theguardian.com June 30, 1999: Royals who pedal all the way to bank
- ↑ nltimes.nl April 20, 2018: Dutch King has no shares in Royal companies
- ↑ a b c Aandachtsgebieden tot inhuldiging - Koning Willem-Alexander. In: Koninklijkhuis.nl. Retrieved June 2, 2020 (Dutch).
- ↑ De Aanloop naar het Koningschap - Koning Willem-Alexander. In: Koninklijkhuis.nl. Retrieved June 2, 2020 (Dutch).
- ↑ Luxemburger Wort online on April 30, 2013: King Willem-Alexander: The solemn homage , accessed on May 2, 2013
- ↑ Prins van Oranje wordt Koning Willem-Alexander Press release of the royal family, January 28, 2013, accessed on January 28, 2013.
- ↑ Luxemburger Wort online on March 31, 2013: King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima visit Luxembourg , accessed on April 5, 2013
- ↑ Luxemburger Wort online on May 24, 2013: Warm welcome for Willem-Alexander and Máxima , accessed on June 3, 2013.
- ↑ Christoph Driessen: History of the Netherlands. From sea power to trend land. Regensburg 2016, p. 257 ff.
- ↑ Frequently asked questions ( Memento of the original dated May 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Het Koninklijk Huis, accessed April 30, 2013.
- ↑ At KLM, the king sometimes sits in the cockpit , accessed on November 5, 2017
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Beatrix |
King of the Netherlands since 2013 |
- |
| Alexander |
Prince van Oranje 1980-2013 |
Catharina-Amalia |
Philippe (Belgium) | Rumen Radew (Bulgaria) | Margrethe II (Denmark) | Frank-Walter Steinmeier (Germany) | Kersti Kaljulaid (Estonia) | Sauli Niinistö (Finland) | Emmanuel Macron (France) | Katerina Sakellaropoulou (Greece) | Michael D. Higgins (Ireland) | Sergio Mattarella (Italy) | Zoran Milanović (Croatia) | Egils Levits (Latvia) | Gitanas Nausėda (Lithuania) | Henri (Luxembourg) | George Vella (Malta) | Willem-Alexander (Netherlands) | Alexander Van der Bellen (Austria) | Andrzej Duda (Poland) | Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (Portugal) | Klaus Johannis (Romania) | Carl XVI. Gustaf (Sweden) | Zuzana Čaputová (Slovakia) | Borut Pahor (Slovenia) | Felipe VI. (Spain) | Miloš Zeman (Czech Republic) | János Áder (Hungary) | Nikos Anastasiadis (Cyprus)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Willem-Alexander |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Oranje-Nassau, Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand van (full name); Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Dutch nobleman, King of the Netherlands |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 27, 1967 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Utrecht |