# The Queen has retired; Long Live the King **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 30, 2013, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-has-retired-long-live-the-king/657082 "2013-04-30T09:16:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-has-retired-long-live-the-king/657082/1 "2013-04-30T09:16:11Z")
It’s official. Queen Beatrix’s abdication went into effect and the Netherlands [now](http://news.yahoo.com/willem-alexander-becomes-dutch-king-081540031.html) 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](http://news.sky.com/story/1084746/new-dutch-king-willem-alexander-takes-throne). ---
**Author:** ![polar\_bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ec9cab/32.png) [@polar\_bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/polar_bear)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-has-retired-long-live-the-king/657082/2 "2013-04-30T09:25:32Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-has-retired-long-live-the-king/657082/3 "2013-04-30T10:39:00Z")
He’s the king!? I didn’t vote for him! ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-has-retired-long-live-the-king/657082/4 "2013-04-30T11:22:37Z")
Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony. > [@](#): > > Queen Beatrix’s abdication went into effect Moistened bint . . . ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-has-retired-long-live-the-king/657082/5 "2013-04-30T11:41:59Z")
> [@polar\_bear](#): > > As far as I know he isn’t King yet, he still has to take an oath on the constitution.. At any point does he get to say, “King me”? ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-has-retired-long-live-the-king/657082/6 "2013-04-30T11:48:12Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-has-retired-long-live-the-king/657082/7 "2013-04-30T12:24:59Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-has-retired-long-live-the-king/657082/8 "2013-04-30T12:39:45Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > 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. They try to keep a low profile on the “flying kings” bit too. ---
**Author:** ![MostlyClueless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@MostlyClueless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyClueless)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-has-retired-long-live-the-king/657082/9 "2013-04-30T12:53:05Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-has-retired-long-live-the-king/657082/10 "2013-04-30T16:09:33Z")
Did they sing [the horrible song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEUKyKb4g6k&feature=youtube_gdata_player) for him? Were people giving him the gang sign? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-has-retired-long-live-the-king/657082/11 "2013-04-30T16:30:41Z")
I wonder if Charles mentioned this to Elizabeth. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-has-retired-long-live-the-king/657082/12 "2013-04-30T16:39:11Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > 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.” ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-has-retired-long-live-the-king/657082/13 "2013-04-30T17:11:15Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > King Willem-Alexander is interested in water management issues. 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? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-has-retired-long-live-the-king/657082/14 "2013-04-30T17:42:20Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > It’s official. Queen Beatrix’s abdication went into effect and the Netherlands [now](http://news.yahoo.com/willem-alexander-becomes-dutch-king-081540031.html) has it’s first king since 1890. And after him another queen. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-has-retired-long-live-the-king/657082/15 "2013-04-30T18:51:08Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > “Oh, Mummy, look! It’s the latest thing. All the queens are doing it.” “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.” ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-has-retired-long-live-the-king/657082/16 "2013-04-30T22:01:37Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > “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. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-has-retired-long-live-the-king/657082/17 "2013-04-30T22:27:09Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > 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 :(”\* ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-has-retired-long-live-the-king/657082/18 "2013-04-30T23:01:49Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I wonder if Charles mentioned this to Elizabeth. > [@alphaboi867](#): > > Charles & Camilla did attend the investiture; you can’t help but wonder what he was thinking at the time. 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… ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-has-retired-long-live-the-king/657082/19 "2013-05-01T00:02:11Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > “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.” “Listen, Mom, if it’s good enough for the bloody Pope…” ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-has-retired-long-live-the-king/657082/20 "2013-05-01T00:04:30Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > 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… I hope the bruise on Camilla doesn’t show. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-has-retired-long-live-the-king/657082.md?page=2)