It’s official. Queen Beatrix’s abdication went into effect and the Netherlands now has it’s first king since 1890. Oddly he chose to reign as King Willem-Alexander instead of King Willem IV. It’s almost like he’s afraid of being overshadowed if he’s simply known as “King William”. 
You can watch him becoming king here.
Asked about this, he said Willem 4 is standing in a field… referencing the fact that cows in Holland often get a name like Bertha 24. He continued to say he has always used Willem Alexander and didn’t see why that should change…
As far as I know he isn’t King yet, he still has to take an oath on the constitution… which will happen in an hour or so.
He’s the king!? I didn’t vote for him!
Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.
Moistened bint . . .
At any point does he get to say, “King me”?
Yup and then they put another guy up on his shoulders for the rest of his life, and that’s what makes him king!!! At this point he also gains the ability to walk backwards. Checkers was based on the Netherlands’ monarchy, after all.
King Willem-Alexander is interested in water management issues. He is an honorary member of the World Commission on Water for the 21st century and patron of the Global Water Partnership, a body established by the World Bank, the UN, and the Swedish Ministry of Development. He was appointed as the Chairperson of the United Nations Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation on 12 December 2006.
So, he’s been working very hard on the farcical aquatic ceremony.
They try to keep a low profile on the “flying kings” bit too.
I’d considered wearing white today (apparently, it’s the thing to do when you’re not down with our royalty), but I don’t really have anything white that I look good in.
Did they sing the horrible song for him? Were people giving him the gang sign?
I wonder if Charles mentioned this to Elizabeth.
“Oh, Mummy, look! It’s the latest thing. All the queens are doing it.”
“Get stuffed, Chuckie.”
All things considered, that is a very reasonable thing for a king of the Netherlands to be interested in.
Does he have to make sure the Patrol Cats are awake?
And after him another queen.
“No, all the Queens aren’t doing it–just low-class parvenus whose thrones were created less than two hundred years ago by the Congress of Vienna. Honestly, Charles, you’d think I raised you in a Grand Duchy.”
The Netherlands and Luxembourg are the only monarchies were it’s become traditional for the monarch to abdicate as a form of retirement; all the other abdications in the last few centuries have involved grave constitutional crises. Charles & Camilla did attend the investiture; you can’t help but wonder what he was thinking at the time.
Probably something like * “I’m going to be a grandfather, several times over likely, by the time I get to be king! Just like my great-great-grandfather Edward VII :(”*
Well, we all know it had to be on his mind. Especially if you consider he attended the investiture of Beatrix 33 years ago when her mother did the same thing. And his job title still hasn’t changed.
I’m guessing I know one fella who kicked the dog when he got home today…
“Listen, Mom, if it’s good enough for the bloody Pope…”
I hope the bruise on Camilla doesn’t show.