The Dutch Royal Family
The House of Orange-Nassau, the Dutch Royal Family
Beatrix has survived and has managed to keep the monarchy popular ... despite a host of political and personal issues 
This ancient Germanic royal family lineage can be traced back to the 13th century. Its most significant member, as far as the history of the Netherlands is concerned, was William the Silent, the Prince of Orange, who rose to political power at the end of the 16th century with the object of removing the Spanish occupiers. His efforts led to the establishment of an independent Dutch State after the Eighty Years War (1568-1648).
Recent past—abdication of Juliana for Beatrix
Queen Juliana was a very popular monarch who tended to shy away from the special privileges normally reserved for royalty. She rode around on a bicycle and frequently stopped to talk to the ‘ordinary’ people. She worked tirelessly for the Dutch Red Cross and assisted in the organisation of relief after WW2. Then, after the great storm and floods of 1953, she physically helped bring food and clothing to her stricken subjects. This permanently etched her place in the hearts of the Dutch.
Juliana, mother of the present monarch, Beatrix, had married a German (Prince Bernhard) which caused many eyebrows to be raised at the time as he had been a member of the Nazi party before WW2. However, he became a hero figure to the Dutch for his work as a fighter pilot during the war itself and led Juliana and their children to exile in England, from where they went on to spend the war in Canada. Bernhard then joined the RAF, later also helping to organise the Dutch Resistance movement.
Despite all this, sinister questions surround to this day his alleged part in the elimination of Resistance members with a communist allegiance immediately after the cessation of hostilities. His maverick lifestyle thereafter also would lead to further embarrassments, such as a reputation for womanising and resultant illegitimate daughters who later publicly made claim to part of his inheritance. Another low point was the Lockheed scandal in the late 1970’s when he pocketed a million-dollar bribe for ensuring that the Dutch government would choose Lockheed planes for their military needs. Perhaps this contributed to Juliana’s decision, at the age of 71, to abdicate in favour of her eldest daughter Beatrix (although abdications are not unusual in Dutch successions).
Queen Beatrix—the current monarch
Queen Beatrix was enthroned in 1980 after the abdication. Beatrix has survived and has managed to keep the monarchy popular with her subjects despite a host of political and personal issues. In the 1960’s, the German occupation of Holland during WW2 was still fresh in the Dutch consciousness and her German father Prince Bernhard had acquired a reputation for recklessness; perhaps unsurprisingly, there was a general anti-German sentiment in Holland. Despite all this, Beatrix chose in 1966 to marry a German diplomat, Claus van Amsberg, who had once been a member of the Hitler Youth and the Wehrmacht. The union was seen as an insult to the Dutch by those who had survived the horrific German occupation during WW2. A specially formed government committee eventually declared that the marriage could go ahead and Claus, despite poor mental and physical health, later became well loved by the Dutch. He died in 2002.
Mother of three children (Willem-Alexander b.1967, Johan-Friso b.1968 and Constantijn b.1969), Beatrix has been a professional monarch with a friendly image, doing her stately duties with gravitas but never missing out on the chance of a friendly talk with bystanders during walkabouts. She has been a ‘safe pair of hands’ for the monarchy during her reign.
The Prince of Orange—Willem-Alexander
The future king and Prince of Orange, the Heir Apparent, Willem-Alexander, was born in 1967 and graduated from Leiden University with an academic degree. He also received an education designed to prepare him for the throne in the future.
Despite this formal training, the Prince comes across as a friendly figure with a ready smile and a readiness to enjoy life. Unfortunately, he would discover (like his grandmother, Juliana) that a good character alone cannot prevent scandal. His love of sport led to his being elected to the International Olympic Committee in 1998, a move strongly condemned by many Dutch social commentators, as it could potentially have brought his political neutrality into doubt. He survived the storm, however, and was most recently re-elected in 2007 for a futher eight years. His dedication to the cause of sports has never been in doubt and he was most famously seen enthusiastically cheering on the Dutch football team when Holland co-hosted the European Championships in 2000 and has also regularly been spotted at various other international (olympic) sports events cheering on and even chatting with the members of the Dutch teams.
In his personal life too, he managed to cause national uproar. When he announced his engagement in 2002 to Argentinian investor banker Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti, the Dutch media indignantly printed stories about her father, who had been an Argentinian Minister of Agriculture during the years of a violent junta reputed to have killed as many as 30,000 during their time in power. Again, the Dutch government asked a specially appointed commission to look into the matter. As with Beatrix’s husband Klaus, they concluded that Máxima’s father had not been guilty of any excesses and the marriage was officially approved. As a concession to public opinion, Máxima’s father agreed not to attend the wedding ceremony in Holland.
Willem-Alexander and Máxima now have three children of their own, all daughters: Catharina-Amalia (b.2003, second in line to the throne), Alexia (b.2005) and Ariane (b.2007). The family lives in Wassenaar, near the Hague.
