Willem Alexander

The 7th king of the Oranyeonasau Dynasty of the Kingdom of the Netherlands , and the first male monarch to ascend to the throne 123 years after his great-great-grandfather, Willem III . He is also the head of his father's family, the Amsberg family .

He was born at Utrecht University Hospital on April 27, 1967, as the first son of Princess Beatrix and Prince Klaus and the first grandson of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard. In the Dutch royal family, he was a male royal descendant and precious heir, born 116 years after Prince Alexander in 1851, and was an honor to reconnect the line of direct male heirs to the throne that was virtually cut off with Prince Alexander's death in 1884 after 83 years .

Because he was such a precious prince, he was given the titles of Prince of the Netherlands, Prince of Oranja-Nasau, and Lord of Amsberg from birth, and on September 2 of the same year, he was baptized in the Dutch Reformed Church at Sint Jakob Church in The Hague. At this time, prominent figures such as his maternal grandfather, Prince Bernhard, and his paternal grandmother, Baroness Gösta von dem Buschehadenhausen, as well as Prince Ferdinand von Bismarck, former Prime Minister Jele Jijstra, Mrs. Lene Røel, and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark participated as godparents at the baptism.

Afterwards, he spent his childhood at Drakenstein Castle near Barne with his younger brothers, Prince Friso and Prince Constantine. Then, in 1980, when her grandmother, Queen Juliana, abdicated and her mother, Beatrix, ascended to the throne as the new Queen of the Netherlands, she received the title of Duke of Oranyeo, equivalent to the crown prince of the Netherlands, at the age of 13. The following year, 1981, he and his family moved to the larger Huis Ten Bosch Palace in The Hague .

After graduating from the New Barns Elementary School in Barun, he completed middle and high school courses at the Barns Lyceum and the Most Liberal Christian Lyceum in The Hague. Afterwards, he went to study abroad at United World College of the Atlantic, a private high school in Wales , and earned an International Baccalaureate (IB) degree in 1985. After completing high school, he completed his military service from 1985 to 1987, then entered Leiden University , majored in history, and received a master's degree in 1993.[3]

After graduating from high school and before entering university, he served in the Netherlands Navy from August 1985 to January 1987. After training at the Royal Naval Academy, he served as an ensign, and in 1988, he was promoted to lieutenant and served as a duty officer. Even after being converted to reserve service, he continued to be promoted steadily regardless of whether he was in the Navy, Army, Air Force, or Military Police. As a member of the Navy Reserve, he rose to the rank of major in 1995, lieutenant colonel in 1997, colonel in 2001, and brigadier general in 2005. In the Army Reserve, he was commissioned as a major in the Grenadier and Rifle Guards Regiment in 1995, and was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1997, colonel in 2001, and brigadier general in 2005. As a member of the Air Force Reserve, he rose to the rank of major in 1995 and brigadier general in 2005. In the same year, he was promoted to brigadier general in the Royal Netherlands Military Police. However, before his ascension to the throne in 2013, he was honorably discharged from the military.[4]

In 2006, he was elected as chairman of the UN Secretary-General's Water and Sanitation Advisory Board (UNSGAB).

As her mother, Queen Beatrix, announced her intention to abdicate on January 28, 2013, a ceremony to sign the official abdication document was held at the Moses Hall of the Royal Palace in Amsterdam on the morning of April 30, Queen's Day of the same year. And on the afternoon of the same day, Willem-Alexander was finally officially crowned as King of the Netherlands through a joint meeting of the Senate and House of Representatives held at the Nieuwe Kerk .

As of the date of his accession, he was 46 years old, making him the youngest monarch in Europe at the time, and he is still one of the youngest monarchs in Europe along with Frederick X of Denmark , Philip VI of Spain , and Archduke William V of Luxembourg. In addition, he also has the title of male monarch born about 123 years after his great-great-grandfather, Willem III , passed away in 1890 . Meanwhile, he is also one of the four newly crowned monarchs in 2013, along with Pope Francis , Qatar's King Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani , and Belgium's King Philippe .

He received strong criticism for going on a family vacation to Greece in October 2020, when a partial lockdown was in place across the Netherlands due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the end, as the controversy grew, the King and Queen shortened their schedule and hurriedly returned home, and later bowed their heads to the people in a two-minute apology video, saying that they had deeply hurt their hearts for betraying the people's trust. In fact, in August 2020, during another trip to Greece, he was criticized for taking a photo shoulder to shoulder with a restaurant owner, and was criticized for violating the social distancing guidelines that were quarantine rules at the time.

Since then, he has continued to live actively as the symbolic head of state of the Netherlands . As the king, he meets privately with the prime minister every week to discuss state affairs, holds regular meetings with ministers and vice ministers of each ministry, and exercises the authority to final sign all bills and royal decrees passed by parliament. Because he represents the Kingdom of the Netherlands both internally and externally, he reads the King's Speech containing the government's national management plan for the year at the opening ceremony of the National Assembly every fall, appoints and dismisses all cabinet ministers and vice ministers in accordance with the Constitution, and also presides over the ceremony for awarding letters of appointment. He also serves as the chairman of the State Council, an advisory body that deliberates on bills, but according to custom, he rarely presides over actual meetings.

Máxima Soreguieta Cerruti from Argentina in 2002 They got married on February 2 and have three daughters: Crown Princess Katharina Amalia , Princess Alexia, and Princess Ariane.