Willem-Alexander, king of the Netherlands, in full Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand, king of the Netherlands, king of the Netherlands from 2013.
Background
Ethnicity:
Through his father, a member of the House of Amsberg, he is descended from families of the lower German nobility, and through his mother, from several royal German/Dutch families such as the House of Lippe, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the House of Orange-Nassau, Waldeck and Pyrmont, and the House of Hohenzollern.
Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand was born on 27 April 1967 in the Utrecht University Hospital, Now the University Medical Center Utrecht in Utrecht, Netherlands. He is the first child of Princess Beatrix and Prince Claus, and the first grandchild of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard. He was the first male Dutch royal baby since the birth of Prince Alexander in 1851, and the first immediate male heir since Alexander's death in 1884.
He is descended from the first King of the Netherlands, William I of the Netherlands, who was also a ruler in Luxembourg and several German states, and all subsequent Dutch monarchs. By his mother, Willem-Alexander also descended from Paul I of Russia and thus from German princess Catherine the Great. Through his father, he is also descended from several Dutch/Flemish families who left the Low Countries during Spanish rule, such as the Berenbergs. His paternal great-great-grandfather Gabriel von Amsberg (1822–1895), a Major-General of Mecklenburg, was recognized as noble as late as 1891, the family having adopted the "von" in 1795.
King Willem-Alexander is a descendant of King George II and more relevant for his succession rights of his granddaughter Princess Augusta of Great Britain. Under the British Act of Settlement, King Willem-Alexander temporarily forfeited his (distant) succession rights to the throne of the United Kingdom by marrying a Roman Catholic. This right has since been restored in 2015 under the Succession to the Crown Act 2013.
Education
Willem-Alexander attended Nieuwe Baarnse Elementary School in Baarn from 1973 to 1979. He went to three different secondary schools: the Baarns Lyceum in Baarn from 1979 to 1981, the Eerste Vrijzinnig Christelijk Lyceum in The Hague from 1981 to 1983, and the United World College of the Atlantic in Wales, the UK (1983 to 1985), from which he received his International Baccalaureate.
After his military service from 1985 to 1987, Willem-Alexander studied History at Leiden University from 1987 onwards and received his MA degree (doctorandus) in 1993. His final thesis was on the Dutch response to France's decision under President Charles de Gaulle to leave the NATO's integrated command structure.
Career
From 1985 to 1987, Willem-Alexander took a break from his formal education to participate in military services in the ‘Royal Netherlands Navy.’ He was trained at the ‘Royal Netherlands Naval College.’
He was an ensign at the ‘HNLMS Tromp’ and the ‘HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen’ before being trained at the ‘HNLMS Van Kinsbergen’ to become a lieutenant of the junior grade.
He continued getting promoted in the ‘Royal Netherlands Navy.’ With time, he became a lieutenant commander (1995), a commander (1997), a captain at sea (2001), and a Commodore (2005).
As a reservist in the ‘Royal Netherlands Army,’ he became a major (the ‘Grenadiers’ and the Rifles Guard Regiment’) in 1995. He was then promoted to the posts of lieutenant colonel (1997), Colonel (2001), and brigadier general (2005).
He was made the squadron leader of the ‘Royal Netherlands Air Force’ in 1995, and in 10 years, he became the air commodore. He became a brigadier general for the ‘Royal Marechaussee’ in 2005.
He was honorably discharged from the military services in 2013 after the government declared that the head of the state could not be a serving member of the armed forces. The government held supreme command over the army.
Queen Beatrix announced her abdication on April 30, 2013 after she signed the instrument of abdication at the ‘Royal Palace of Amsterdam.’ Willem-Alexander was immediately sworn in as the new king of Netherlands.
The inauguration ceremony was held at the ‘Nieuwe Kerk,’ in front of the joint assembly of the ‘States General.’ He ascended to the throne at the age of 46, which makes him the second-youngest monarch of Europe, the youngest being Spain’s Felipe VI, who swore in as the monarch on June 19, 2004.
He is also the first male monarch of the Netherlands after the death of William III in 1890. William III was the great-great-grandfather of Willem-Alexander.
He was one of the four new monarchs who took to the throne in 2013, along with Pope Francis, the Emir Tamim bin Hamad of Qatar, and King Philippe of Belgium. As a king, he holds the responsibility of meeting the prime minister on a weekly basis, signing all the acts of the parliament and all royal decrees, and meetings state ministers and secretaries.
He also holds the power of appointing, dismissing, and swearing in the ministers and state secretaries. He is the main representative of his nation, at home and abroad.
He announces the yearly plans and strategies of the government via his speech that he delivers at the ‘State Opening of Parliament.’ He is also the ‘Council of State’ and is responsible for reviewing proposed legislation.
Willem-Alexander is the first male monarch of the Netherlands after the death of William III in 1890.
He received the ’Gold Olympic Order’ from the ‘IOC.’ He has also received national honors such as the ‘Eleven Cities Cross,’ the ‘Officer Long Service Cross,’ and the ‘Queen Beatrix Inauguration Medal.’
He is the ‘Honorary Commander of the Order of Saint John in the Netherlands.’ He is also the ‘Grand Master’ of many national honors, such as the ‘Military William Order,’ the ‘Order of Orange-Nassau,’ the ‘Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau,’ the ‘Order of the Crown,’ and the ‘Order for Loyalty and Merit.’
He has also received numerous international honors such as France’s ‘Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur,’ or the ‘Order of the Legion of Honor,’ Germany’s ‘Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany,’ and Italy’s ‘Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.’
Membership
He was an honorary member of the ‘World Commission on Water for the 21st Century’ and a patron of the ‘Global Water Partnership,’ a body formed by the ‘UN,’ the ‘World Bank,’ and the ‘Swedish Ministry of Development.’
He was also made the chairperson of the ‘United Nations Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation’ on December 12, 2006. He is also known for having considerable interest in sports.
He was a patron of the ‘Dutch Olympic Games Committee’ and soon became a member of the ‘International Olympic Committee’ (IOC).
Personality
He has a strong passion for conserving water and its management.
His love for flying planes is not hidden from the world. He volunteered for the ‘African Medical Research and Education Foundation’ (AMREF) in Kenya in 1989. He also spent a month flying for ‘Kenya Wildlife Service’ in 1991.
He would often fly the Dutch royal airplanes when his mother was the queen. He served as a co-pilot for ‘KLM’ for 21 years.
He claims that he also began training for flying ‘Boeing 737s’ after training in flying the ‘KLM Cityhopper's Fokker 70s.’ He also participated in the 1986 ‘Frisian Elfstedentocht,’ a 200-kilometer-long ice skating tour under his least-used royal name, ‘W A van Buren.’
He also ran the ‘New York City Marathon’ in 1992 under the same name.
Connections
In 2002, he married Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti at the ‘Nieuwe Kerk’ in Amsterdam. Máxima worked as an investment banker in New York before marrying him.
The royal couple has three daughters, namely, Princess of Orange Catharina-Amalia, (born on 7 December 2003), Princess Alexia (born on 26 June 2005), and Princess Ariane (born on 10 April 2007). Catharina-Amalia is next in the line of succession to the royal throne.
On June 21, 2005, a media code issued by the ‘Netherlands Government Information Service’ (RVD) laid down regulations for the protection of the royal family’s privacy. In spite of the media code, several photographs were taken by the media, including one by ‘Associated Press’ staff photographer Natacha Pisarenko. The photo showed the king and his family enjoying a vacation in Argentina.
The king and ’RVD’ filed a lawsuit against ‘Associated Press’ on August 5, 2009. The court ruled in the favor of the king. ‘Associated Press’ was asked to stop further publication of the photos and was to be fined €1,000 for each violation, with a maximum of €50,000.
The royal family currently lives at ‘Villa Eikenhorst’ on the ‘De Horsten Estate’ in Wassenaar.
