On Tuesday, the Netherlands were treated to their version of a coronation (called an inauguration as there is no physical 'crowning') for the new King Willem-Alexander. Even better for the jubilant Dutch people is that they didn't have any awkwardness that may surround such a celebration following the death of the previous monarch. And that's because, thanks to a curiously Dutch habit of retiring, that is abdicating rather than waiting until the very end to dispense with your reign, the former Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, who has reigned over the relatively new country for over 30 years, lived to see her eldest son swear to serve the Dutch nation and people "so help me God" in Amsterdam's Nieuwe Kerk.
Inevitably, the fact that the former queen was present at the inauguration throws the question of whether a monarch should have the right to abdicate in favour of an heir, especially in the case of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.
For some time now, there has always been the question of whether Queen Elizabeth's son, Prince Charles who has patiently been waiting for his time to shine as the country's head of state since his mother's accession in 1952, would eventually become too old to be king by the time his resilient mother is laid to rest. Furthermore, as he will inevitably be a old-age monarch when the time comes, many are asking whether he should step down in favour of his ever popular son and his wife, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (Wills and Kate.)
Given Queen Beatrix's reasoning for stepping down being that she believed it was time to pass the crown to the younger generation, it seems that in the Netherlands, the people were ready for a young king (currently the youngest in Europe at age 46) and his glamorous queen, Máxima. And there seems to have been no protest among royalists for this passing of the baton. I'm not sure if the same could be said if the same happened in Britain, especially if the Queen stepped aside for her 64 year old son, who hasn't been without his fair share of negative publicity.
What we have to remember though is that the whole thing is a matter of tradition. And what is monarchy without tradition. For the Dutch, the abdication of the monarch has always been an inevitability rather than a shock based on extenuating circumstances. Princess Beatrix, as she is now known, came to the throne when her mother Queen Juliana stepped down in 1980 and she equally became queen upon her mother's, Queen Wilhelmina, abdication in 1948. We could also assume that the Netherlands' first king in 123 years will eventually pass the torch to the new Princess of Orange, Catharina-Amalia, age 9, when the time is right.
Alternatively in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth Realms, we have becomes accustomed to the continuity brought by having the same queen for the last 61 years. Upon her coronation in 1953, the 26 year old Elizabeth swore to serve the country for her whole life in the religious ceremony in Westminster Abbey. For the queen, who is a devout Anglican as well as the head of the Church of England, breaking this promise is not an option. Even more so, given that she is said to blame her father's premature death on his becoming king after her uncle David, King Edward VIII, abdicated in order to marry American divorcee, Wallis Simpson. Something which makes abdication more of a negative than a positive in Britain.
Although, I cannot say that I am in favour of a monarch retiring (in some ways, I find it degrades the monarchy somehow), I'm not about to complain about the abdication of a foreign ruler. Thanks to Beatrix's retirement, we were treated to a spectacle unlike any other. Queen Máxima looking as regal as the queen she now is could barely hold in her excitement at becoming queen at 41, while she is still young and pretty. And the great gathering of foreign royals (mostly heirs apparent and their wives) was truly a wonderful sight. Seeing the former Queen Beatrix's pride as her powers were passed to her son showed just how solid they are as a family unit, which is essential for a system based on family ties.
What I always love to see most though, is the great support that the Dutch people have shown not just to the monarchy as a whole but also to their former queen's decision to abdicate and to their new king and queen.
Abdication may be unthinkable in Britain, especially while the Queen still breathes air, but it seems that it is a tried and tested practice of modern monarchy in the Netherlands that will ensure the support and survival of what many think to be an archaic form of government.
So I say...Lang leve de Koning. Long live King Willem-Alexander.
