Queen abdicates in favour of her middle-aged son! (no sorry, Charles, not THAT queen . . . the one in Holland)

• Dutch Queen Beatrix, who turns 75 on Thursday, said 'the responsibility for this country should lie in the hands of a new generation'
• Her eldest son Prince Willem-Alexander will ascend to the throne on 30 April
• Prime Minister Rutte labelled her 'an icon of the Netherlands'

By Sarah Johnson
Dutch Queen Beatrix has announced that she was abdicating the throne in favour of her son, Prince Willem-Alexander, in a television broadcast.
Queen Beatrix, who turns 75 on Thursday, made the announcement earlier this evening and said Prince Willem-Alexander will ascend to the throne on 30 April.
She said in her speech to the Dutch nation: ‘It was not because the office was too heavy for me, but because the responsibility for this country should lie in the hands of a new generation.'

Abdication: Dutch Queen Beatrix (pictured) announced she will abdicate in favour of her son on 30 April

Queen Beatrix of Holland, who turns 75 today, said the 'responsibility for this country should lie in the hands of a new generation'

She added: ‘It is a good time to take this step which I have considered for a few years now,’ she added.
The announcement will no doubt fuel debate in Britain over the future of the monarchy with the Queen having celebrated her Diamond Jubilee in such fantastic style last year.
Her eldest son, Prince Charles, is now 64 - an age which has many royal observers and members of the general public wondering whether he will ever ascend to the throne or simply pass the succession on to his eldest son, Prince William.
Every TV and radio outlet in Holland carried her abdication speech as she sat in a plain blue dress and spoke to her people.

Future king: Prince Willelm of the Netherlands (pictured with Princess Maxima) is due to take over the throne

Heir to the throne: Prince Willem-Alexander (pictured centre) is married to Princess Maxima Zorrigueta (left) and has three young children

She said: ‘I am grateful for the many years that I have been allowed to be your queen,’ she went adding, that she is still in good health and that her role has given her ‘great satisfaction as I shared the sorrows and joys of you all.’
Prime Minister Rutte responded after Beatrix's speech on Dutch television. 
Rutte expressed his respect and admiration for the Queen. He recalled the role of the Queen in Dutch disasters, such as the fire and resulting deaths at a firework factory three years ago.
He said: ‘She is an icon of the Netherlands'.

Willem-Alexander, 45, is married to Princess Maxima Zorrigueta and has three young children.
A constitutional monarchy, the Netherlands had reduced the involvement of the Royal House in politics, a role long seen more as a formality than a position of power.
In the past, the Queen took part in forming government coalitions by appointing a political mediator, raising questions about behind-the-scenes influence on the democratic process.
That role was scrapped before the last election, which took place in September 2012.

No laughing matter: Queen Beatrix (pictured with her son Prince Willem Alexander) said she was 'grateful' for the years she was queen

It was widely rumoured that Queen Beatrix was no fan of anti-immigrant, eurosceptic politician Geert Wilders. She alluded in speeches to the need for tolerance and multi-culturalism, comments that were seen as criticisms of Wilders' anti-Islamic views.
Wilders' poor showing at the last election and loss of influence in politics, could well have contributed to her decision to abdicate.
Queen Beatrix, who had close ties to Britain's Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles, became the sixth monarch of the House of Orange in 1980 following the abdication of her mother, Queen Juliana, who reigned for 31 years.
The situation in the Netherlands is different to that in the UK where monarchs usually rule until their death when the throne passes to the next in line.
In 1936, however, Edward VIII abdicated the throne so that he could marry Wallis Simpson, an American socialite who was divorced from her first husband and was pursuing a divorce of her second.
Queen Juliana of the Netherlands was 73 years old and in deteriorating mental health when she abdicated but Beatrix has remained active and in good health despite some setbacks.
The queen was emotionally shaken when a man drove his car into a Queen's Day procession in 2009.
Her middle son, Prince Johan Friso, has been in a coma ever since he was buried in an avalanche while skiing last year.

Royal meeting: Queen Beatrix, who had close ties to the British royal family, is greeted by Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle in Berkshire

New arrival: Beatrix and her husband Claus admire their newborn son, Prince Alexander, at their residence Castle Drakensteyn in Baarn, Netherlands

Out and about: Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus leave the Savoy Hotel in London

The prince was skiing with one companion away from marked ski runs when the mass of snow, 30 metres wide and 40 metres long, hit them.
Neurological tests on Friso showed that after fifty minutes of reanimation he suffered massive brain damage due to oxygen shortage after being buried.
It remains unclear whether he will ever regain consciousness and come out of his deeply comatose state, and even if he does, he could still be in a permanent vegetative state.

The ski tragedy came three years after a would-be royal assassin killed eight people when he drove his car into crowds watching the queen and other members of the royal family in a national holiday
parade.
Prince Friso gave up any claim to the Dutch throne in order to marry Dutch commoner Mabel Wisse Smit, in 2004. The pair have two daughters, Emma and Joanna.
MailOnline