Holland’s Queen Beatrix to abdicate

OHMYGOSSIP — Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands has announced her intention to abdicate on April 30, after 33 years as monarch.

Holland’s Queen Beatrix will abdicate on April 30. The monarch – who has served as head of state for 33 years – announced her decision on Monday, paving the way for her eldest son, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, to become the nation’s first king in more than a century.

In a speech from her Huis ten Bosch palace, Beatrix, 74, said: “Responsibility for our country must now lie in the hands of a new generation.

“I am deeply grateful for the great faith you have shown in me in the many years that I could be your queen.”

Prime Minister Mark Rutte, immediately paid tribute to the queen, saying: “Since her coronation in 1980s she’s applied herself heart and soul for Dutch society.”

Queen Beatrix suffered a personal tragedy last year, when her son Prince Johan Friso was involved in a tragic ski accident.

The father-of-two – who was brain damaged and left in a coma from which doctors have warned he may never wake up – was transferred to Wellington hospital in London as Holland does not have an appropriate hospital to treat him.

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