King Willem Alexander inaugurated
POSTED: 05/2/13 1:41 PM
AMSTERDAM – King Willem Alexander succeeded H.M. Queen Beatrix on Tuesday during a historic ceremony in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam. Unlike the inauguration of Queen Beatrix in 1980 – when squatter-riots made the capital look like a war zone – Amsterdam was in a festive mood this time. The Dam in front of the Nieuwe Kerk was packed to capacity. Police arrested a couple of Romanian pickpockets as well as two members of the New Republican Society; one of them showed a placard with the text: No monarchy but democracy.
The inauguration became one big celebration whereby King Willem Alexander, Queen Máxima and the three princesses made a boat tour through Amsterdam.
The King’s song project partly flopped, because four provinces – Limburg, Drenthe, Utrecht and Overijssel – did not take part for different reasons. But in Ahoy in Rotterdam the sing-a-long was an impressive event.
The inauguration caught the attention of global media and made the front pages of amongst others the New York Times and the Washington Post.
In St. Maarten the inauguration was marked by the navy vessel Friesland that fired 101 salute shots in Great Bay Harbor on three different moments during the day – but the main focus in town was on Carnival.
