The Queen reached the historic milestone on November 4 last year. On that day, Beatrix was exactly 73 years and 277 days old and broke the royal age record.

King William III was previously the oldest head of state the Netherlands has ever known. He died on November 23, 1890 as reigning monarch, and was 73 years and 277 days old.

Beatrix is still very active as head of state. Last year she made two state visits, to Germany and Qatar, and she visited the Caribbean. This year she visited Oman and United Arab Emirates in March and is scheduled to visit Luxembourg. It will be her 52nd state visit.

On April 30 it will be 32 years since Beatrix came to the throne. Her mother, Queen Juliana, was almost 32 years on the throne, when she announced to stop in 1980 on her daughter’s 42nd birthday.

Tuesday the Queen will celebrate her 74th birthday. Never before the Netherlands had a reigning monarch had at this age.

The Queen reached the historic milestone on November 4 last year. On that day, Beatrix was exactly 73 years and 277 days old and broke the royal age record.

King William III was previously the oldest head of state the Netherlands has ever known. He died on November 23, 1890 as reigning monarch, and was 73 years and 277 days old.

Beatrix is still very active as head of state. Last year she made two state visits, to Germany and Qatar, and she visited the Caribbean. This year she visited Oman and United Arab Emirates in March and is scheduled to visit Luxembourg. It will be her 52nd state visit.

On April 30 it will be 32 years since Beatrix came to the throne. Her mother, Queen Juliana, was almost 32 years on the throne, when she announced to stop in 1980 on her daughter’s 42nd birthday.

She began with a visit to a mosque in Abu Dhabi. The Queen visited the house of prayer veiled and dressed in an abaya. A visit to the Emirate of Abu Dhabi is not complete without a visit to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.

The majestic Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is probably the most imposing religious and national landmark in Abu Dhabi to date.

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, popularly called the Grand Mosque by local residents, is seen as a construction to ‘unite the world’, using artisans and materials from countries such as Italy, Germany, Morocco, India, Turkey, Iran, China, Greece and the UAE. More than 3,000 workers and 38 renowned contracting companies took part in the construction of the Mosque.

Beatrix arrived yesterday in Abu Dhabi, accompanied by Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Máxima. In addition, a large delegation of the Dutch business community travels along.

On the second day of her state visit to the UAE, Beatrix will visit Dubai and see the Dubai Ports World (DP World) in the port of Jebel Ali where she will meet the Dutch community.

On April 30 the Netherlands colors orange when it celebrates Queen’s Day. During this national holiday events and celebrations are held throughout the country and Amsterdam transforms into the capital of festivals. You’ll find public street markets, music and bars on every street corner.

CNN writes while much of the world’s attention will be fixed on a certain royal wedding in London, Prince William’s nuptials are not the only royal affair happening this weekend.

The orange craze, or “oranjegekte” in Dutch, returns to Netherlands on Saturday, when millions of revelers wearing head-to-toe orange will hit the streets across the nation to celebrate Queen’s Day.

The Dutch royal occasion has been celebrated for over 100 years and is the annual official celebration of the Queen’s birthday.

Orange is the official color of the Queen and the royal family, descendants from the House of Orange-Nassau that has played a political role in the Netherlands for roughly half a millennium.

Amsterdam imposes strict rules this year to make Queens day go smoothly. Events will end earlier and the sale of alcoholic beverages will be restricted.

There is a strict alcohol policy in place to prevent fights and disturbances of people under the influence as much as possible. Alcohol is not allowed onboard trains and at train stations throughout the Netherlands and supermarkets and shops can only sell one alcoholic beverage per customer.

Queen’s Day is the national holiday when Holland turns orange and celebrates – regardless of the strict rules. You should definitely visit the free market in the ‘Vondelpark’ and the concerts at ‘Museumplein’ in Amsterdam. On the eve before Queen’s Day you can celebrate ‘Queen’s Night’ in the streets of The Hague.

Photo By quantz

It is the second state visit by the Dutch Queen to Germany, in the theme of “the new Germany. ” The first state visit, was still in 1982 to West Germany.

Exactly twenty years ago, on April 25, 1991, Queen Beatrix was the first foreign Head of State who made an official visit to the reunited Germany.

Netherlands maintains both economic and political relations with Germany. Netherlands is the largest foreign investor in Germany and the trade volume between the two countries covering more than 130 billion Euros per year.

During this state visit there is a lot of focus on the development made by Germany since reunification in 1990.

The queen is also accompanied by a political delegation: Minister Rosenthal and State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Knapen and Minister of Economic Affairs Maxime Verhagen, will each attend a part of the program.

Photo By PeterXIII

Prince Bernhard, Prince Pieter Christiaan and Princess Annette followed the example of the queen.

Foundation Grote Broer takes care of theater, circus and musicals for children and provides to them also lessons.

Each week 250 children follow circus, musicals or theater classes at the organization in Nijmegen. The foundation has since 2004 engaged in arts education for children.

The Dutch Queen painted a huge wall with fresh pink paint while the princesses were busy with ceiling panels.

NL DOET is an action of the Orange Fund. On Friday and Saturday an estimated 300,000 Dutch voluntarily will roll up their sleeves, spread over more than six thousand jobs at different institutions.

The action this year will take place for the first time in Bonaire.

The Queen together with Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Maxima are expected at 11 o’clock at the international airport of the capital Doha.

Then the group goes directly to the palace of host Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, after the inspection of the honor guard the Queen will be received in audience and enjoy a lunch.

Contrast to usual state visits there will be no speeches at the dinner and there is no toast.

At the beginning of the afternoon the royal guests will join the representatives of the Dutch business community, Economic Affairs Minister Maxime Verhagen and VNO-NCW chairman Bernard Wientjes who have come to Qatar to new trade agreements.

The Queen then will visit the ultramodern museum of Islamic art and make a short walk through the bazaar of souk Doha. The day ends with a family dinner that the Emir and his wives will offer at Al-Wajba palace.

She was welcomed by Deputy Prime Minister Fahd bin Mahmoud al Said and culture and heritage minister Haitham bin Tariq al Said.

After a brief ceremony the group will go to the royal palace, Bait al Barak, located just outside Muscat.

There Queen Beatrix, Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Maxima can freshen up before meeting Sultan Qaboos, who has invited them for a private dinner.

An official state visit to Oman was postponed this week because of unrest in the Arab country. The Queen has accepted a personal invitation of Sultan Kabus in Oman.

On Wednesday Beatrix, Willem-Alexander and Máxima will travel on to Qatar for a long-scheduled state visit.

Dutch Queen Beatrix, Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Maxima will have a private dinner with the Sultan on Tuesday, said Rosenthal Minister of Foreign Affairs.

An official state visit to Oman was postponed this week because of unrest in the Arab country. The Queen has now accepted a personal invitation of Sultan Kabus. This is done in the context of the good dialogue between Oman and the Netherlands, said Rosenthal.

Dutch Prime Minister Rutte said during his weekly press conference that the postponement of the state visit could be explained as choosing sides by the Dutch government in a domestic matter. The prime minister emphasized that the Netherlands does not choose sides in the situation in Oman.

The state visit was supposed to begin next Sunday with a visit to the sultan in the Omani capital Muscat. Also, the royal family would visit the port city of Sohar with a trade delegation.

On Wednesday Beatrix, Willem-Alexander and Máxima will travel on to Qatar for a long-scheduled state visit.

The Amsterdam Café de Blaffende Vis in the Jordaan is preparing for Queen’s day. Traditionally each year they feature a meters high portrait of a member of the Royal House. This time Queen Beatrix is shown as super woman, accompanied by the words: “Be A Hero”.

Beatrix, born on 31 January 1938, is the queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands comprising the Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, and Aruba.

Queen Beatrix succeeded her mother as Queen of the Netherlands in 1980. From that date, Her Majesty formed part of the government. The Queen was married to Prince Claus. They had three sons: Prince Willem-Alexander, Prince Friso and Prince Constantijn. The eldest, Prince Willem-Alexander – the Prince of Orange – will succeed her.

The Queen represents the Netherlands both at home and abroad. She makes several state visits to other countries every year, and receives heads of state and heads of government who are visiting the Netherlands.

The Queen devotes much attention to important events in the Netherlands. Following disasters such as the Enschede fireworks explosion and the tsunami in Asia, she expresses her sympathy with those affected and talks to the bereaved.

The Queen keeps herself informed of what is going on in society and every year she attends many openings, commemorations and other official events.

Beatrix was portrayed before as a pharaoh. Prince Willem-Alexander also was portrayed several times, once as ‘Daddy Cool’.

Photo by esther1616