Every year a bright orange glow emits from the Netherlands on April 29 and
30, Queen’s Night and Queen’s Day, national holidays featuring street
festivals, music, dancing, and canals clogged with boatloads of revelers, all
festooned in bright orange, red, white and blue – as only the Dutch can do! But
this year the glow was probably visible from space, as Queen Beatrix abdicated
after 33 years in favor of her son, Willem-Alexander; the first king since
1890, and at age 46, Europe’s youngest monarch.
Queen’s Night found me with classmates in Amsterdam on a boat, passing many
other boats of all descriptions, each a self-contained party planet filled with
happy revelers waving as they cruised along the galaxy of canals. After disembarking,
we made our way to the train station, dancing on every street corner, walking
through crowds so thick we had to hold on to each other to not get lost. We
found Amsterdam Centraal station surprisingly manageable, with plenty of room
on the train back to Utrecht – only to find Utrecht Centraal a sea of orange coming
and going from the city center, which was also abuzz with Queen’s Night celebrations!
On Queen’s Day in Utrecht, the streets were closed to traffic and clogged
with people attending concerts, picnics, and, of course the “Vrijmarkt,”
basically, the largest 24-hour flea market in Europe. It is the only day in the
year when everyone is allowed to sell whatever they want, wherever they want,
with no license required or tax imposed. You can spend all day happily seeking
treasure in another’s junk. There is something peculiarly Dutch about
celebrating the monarch’s birthday with a national yard sale!
The investiture was a blend of the traditional and the modern. In a
non-religious ceremony (held in a church), Willem-Alexander (not Willem IV) swore
to support the country and the members of parliament, who in turn each swore to
support the King – with or a without religious oath, according to preference.
It is not a coronation but an inauguration; the crown (which is gilded silver
and contains no jewels) is not placed on the monarch’s head but on a table,
along with the scepter and a copy of the constitution. Willem-Alexander
expressed that he wished to build upon tradition but also be a “21st-century
king who can unite, represent and encourage society.” His wife, the popular
Queen Maxima, is an Argentinian commoner who endeared herself to the Dutch with
her whole-hearted immersion in the language and culture of her new county. The
couple and their children concluded the festivities with a boat cruise, at one
point leaving their boat to join DJ Armin van Buuren on stage at a concert.
Watching the ceremony on a large outdoor video screen in Utrecht city
center, I thought of my grandmother, who carried photos of the crown-princes as
though they were her own grandchildren. When I was a child in the USA, she would
show me photos of then-baby Prince Willem-Alexander and tell me that one day,
he would my king. She doted over the reign of three beloved queens: Wilhelmina,
Juliana, and Beatrix. And so I carried her memory with me as I celebrated the
events. She would have been quite pleased, and perhaps even more so with the
fact that the next in line to throne is the eldest of three daughters,
Catherine Amalia. Long live the King – with the promise of more Queen’s Days to
come!
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