Friday 3 May 2013

The Inauguration of the new King

Queen Beatrix(1980-2013)
Queen Beatrix signs the Abdication Deed and becomes Princess again
This week we watched the ceremony of the inauguration of the new Dutch king. It all happened on Queensday 30th April 2013.


The King signs too.















As soon as the Queen had signed this deed her son became King.

His signature is a kind of formality. His wife the Princess Maxima was the third one to sign and thereafter all members of parliament signed as witnesses of this ceremony.

1Princess Beatrix announces to the people that her son is king now.
Photo by Floris Looijesteijn
After the presentation of the King. The Family went to the New Church where the inauguration  took place in the company of royalties all over the world.
2The royal family including the three children of Willem-Alexander and Maxima
Photo by Floris Looijesteijn.

Queen Beatrix was the only ex queen at that moment.
All the royal foreign guests were crown-princes and their spouses. There was one exception: Crown-princess Victoria of Sweden. She came with her husband.






Photos 1 and 2 are taken by Floris Looijesteijn, as you see I thought they are a lot better than mine.












The square in front of the Palace in Amsterdam was packed with enthusiastic people, all of them wearing something orange. They could attend the whole ceremony  which would happen in the New Church on large screens around the square.
The New Church



















 Nieuwe Kerk Amsterdamnieuwekerk.jpg
The Nieuwe Kerk as seen from Dam Square General information







Construction started c. 1385
The Nieuwe Kerk , New Church  is a 15th-century church in Amsterdam, located on Dam Square, next to the Royal Palace.
The Nieuwe Kerk is a burial site for Dutch naval heroes, including Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, Commodore Jan van Galen and Jan van Speyk. The poet and playwright Joost van den Vondel is also buried in the church.


Prince Håkon and Mette Marit of Norway
Crown-prince of Japan and Princess  Masako.
Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall



















Taking the oath































21 comments:

Cloudia said...

Congratulations to your new king and entire nation. We admire the queen's magnanimity.

Arija said...

So nice to see that your monarchs are real people, much like the Danish monarchy. It will be quite a change for you to have a king for a change although after him there will again be a queen. Perhaps that is why your ex-queen Margarethe abdicated in favour of her son. After all 30 years in the office is a long time, not everyone has to do a queen Elisabeth and make it twice as much.
We got to see quite a bit on our telly too and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Kay said...

This was such a fun post, Wil. We Americans love hearing about royalty. It's like a fairy tale. What a beautiful royal family you have. I'm glad princess Masako was well enough to travel.

Rune Eide said...

Congratulations! May they reign for a long time :-)

Anonymous said...

I am impressed, very much, with your new royals. The king and queen make a lovely couple and are young. What a combination. To be young and lovely again. If I had a magic potion I would gladly give you a dose, Wil. I know I would be taking it. While we never have had a queen or a king we came damn close with John Kennedy and his wife, Jackie. We came so close, in fact, that some say, the president was murdered or assassinated because he was that well liked by all Americans.

Arija said...

Sorry about my senior's moment getting the names mixed up. I did not realise the tragedy that had happened in your royal family, altogether too difficult for a mother to cope with.

Sylvia K said...

What a wonderful post, Wil!! It is indeed like a fairy tale to those of us in the US! Wonderful pictures! Congratulations and, yes, may they reign a long time indeed! Thanks for sharing with us!! Enjoy your weekend!!

The Weaver of Grass said...

I watched this on our television Wil and thought it so moving - particularly the obvious sadness in your old Queen's eyes as she handed over the reins.

Gattina said...

I have a similar post ! It was such a nice celebration !

genie said...

Thank you for showing us all the pictures. I love England and the Netherlands as you so well know. I am still living in the past,I guess. Love all of the pomp and circumstance. Well, the doctors made me retire at almost the end of my 54th year. I am sad, but I feel better here at home. It was just too much. Now I will have time to create my soldier story for you. Trust me...I will do it. Hope you are well. Hugs, genie

Leslie: said...

So exciting for your country! I was going to ask if Queen Elizabeth attended, but then I saw the photo of Prince Charles and Camilla. I wonder if Queen Elizabeth will do the same...but I don't think she will. I think Prince William is being primed now to be king 'cuz Prince Charles could die before his mother does!

Elizabeth said...

This is so thrilling!
I loved seeing photos of your lovely royal family.
I do think having a monarchy (as in Britain) helps a country be stable and a good place to live.
Hope you have a super spring.

Reader Wil said...

Hi Genie! I tried to go to your blog but cannot find a place to write a comment.
Thank you for your comment. I am glad that you are now feeling better after your retirement.
Please tell me how I can get access to your blog.

George said...

Thank you for the pictures and information. The inauguration of the new king was mentioned in the news, but I didn't see many pictures.

jesh StG said...

Thank you, thank you for posting all these wonderful pics and all the details that we(I) want to know when one lives abroad!
Does this mean Beatrix's sisters were not there for the inauguration?

Hildred said...

A great post, Wil and a momentous time for your nation. Thank you for lovely pictures and information. Congratulations to all of you in the Netherlands.

Barbara said...

An enjoyable post with great photos, congratulations to your new King.

Kate said...

A lovely collection of photographs. Do you think that Prince Charles was watching or present?

Kate said...

Don't know how I missed that photo, but it's understandable since I've never met him!! Lovely photos of all of them.

Unknown said...

Hey, you're using 2 of my photo's which is great!
You probably took them of Flickr but you can't just do that and forget about copyrights and attribution.
Please mention my name and link back to Flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/florisje/8697090286/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/florisje/8695969749/

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Congratulations to your country. It is like reading a fairy tale to us over here (every little girl wants to be a princess). And your Royal Family is certainly elegant enough to illustrate any such story!