Party in Amsterdam: New King, New Rijksmuseum …
- May 27th, 2013
- Posted by Editor EUAustralia
The month of May began for the Netherlands under a new head of state; King Willem-Alexander with his wife, Queen Maxima, took office upon the abdication of his mother Queen Beatrix.
They made the change on Queen’s Day, 30 April, at the Royal Palace balcony in Dam Square.
The outgoing Queen, now Princess Beatrix, 75, signed an abdication document, shed a tear, and presented the successor to a crowd of 25000 people — turned out with orange garments and banners.
“Today, I make way for a new generation,” she said.
See also, EUAustralia Online, Weekend of Assurances …, 3.2.13.
One of her last Royal duties as Queen had been to reopen the main building of the Rijksmuseum, early in April.
An inspired redesign saw all of the paintings moved to different positions, in the 19th Century palace, except for Rembrandt’s ‘Night Watch’, retaining its same, well-lit pride of place.
The rebuilding work took ten years and cost € 375-million (A$506.7-million; xe.com, 31.5.13).
Pictures travelblog.org