The ceremony will have extra significance for Prince Charles, who attends with
his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall because he also attended the
investiture of Queen Beatrix 33 years ago.
After abdicating her throne, the popular queen will become a princess and the
newly crowned King Willem-Alexander and his wife, Queen Maxima, will become
the heads of the Dutch royal House of Orange Nassau.
“There will be tears,” said Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister. “It
will certainly strengthen our sense of nationhood.”
Millions of Dutch people will celebrate and Amsterdam’s population is expected
to double with at least 800,000 visitors flooding the city with orange
painted faces, orange hats, wigs, flags and banners, the official colour of
the Dutch royal house.
“Amsterdam will be the orange capital of the world,” said Mr Rutte.
Prince Willem-Alexander’s informal approach has won public support with his
approval rating rising 10 points in the opinion polls to 69 per cent after a
television interview last week where he said that people did not have to
address him as “your majesty” unless they wanted to.
He faces some difficult decisions in the early days of his reign as the
Netherlands, in the grip of eurozone austerity, debates the cost of its
monarchy, which is the most expensive in Europe.
An IPSOS opinion published on Monday, found that half the Dutch population
thinks that the £10 million cost of the investiture ceremony is too high,
with 44 per cent wanting cuts to state funding of the royal house.
Anjo Clement, head of the Netherlands Republican Association, will be
protesting, dressed in white, during the ceremony and demanding a cut to
Prince Willem Alexander’s £725,000 salary.
“He will earn more than 800,000 euros a year and not pay any tax, that’s
not normal,” he said.
Source Article from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/netherlands/10026221/Willem-Alexander-to-be-crowned-king-of-the-Netherlands.html
Willem-Alexander to be crowned king of the Netherlands – Telegraph.co.uk
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