Althouse: "It is with the greatest confidence that I will pass on the throne on April 30 to my son, Prince of Orange."

January 29, 2013

"It is with the greatest confidence that I will pass on the throne on April 30 to my son, Prince of Orange."

Says the Queen of Purple.

I mean Queen Beatrix.

33 comments:

dbp said...: Hopefully she won't give any ideas to Queen Elizabeth II. The longer she keeps that nitwit Charles off the throne the better.; 1/29/13, 9:49 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: The article is behind a pay wall.; 1/29/13, 9:50 AM
Anonymous said...: Bitches love royalty.

That was one of America's greatest mistakes, giving women the right to vote. Because women hate independence and self-direction and freedom.

Women love dictatorship/aristocracies/oligarchies because it gives a small group of alpha males all the power, which the women can vie for via sex and social climbing.

1919 is a watershed year in America's history, and not in a good way. Future generations, be warned.

Forward! To Bankruptcy!; 1/29/13, 9:56 AM
Sim said...: At 75 years of age she finally thinks it's time to pass the throne, well better late than never.; 1/29/13, 9:59 AM
Leland said...: dbp probably shares my sentiment. I can just see Charles calling up his mum and saying "See!! Beatrix doesn't have a problem with stepping aside."; 1/29/13, 10:00 AM
Chip S. said...: I certainly hope Prince Charles has a nice time at the coronation.; 1/29/13, 10:01 AM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: All I can say is everytime I've ever passed on a throne it's been a moving experience.; 1/29/13, 10:07 AM
deborah said...: Ain't she sweet, walkin' down the street...; 1/29/13, 10:18 AM
deborah said...: Liz is a bitter clinger.; 1/29/13, 10:19 AM
deborah said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/29/13, 10:19 AM
Wince said...: Maybe you're just like my mother
She's never satisfied (She's never satisfied)
Why do we scream at each other?
This is what it sounds like
When doves cry; 1/29/13, 10:22 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "The article is behind a pay wall."

Try it now.

Note how this means I should never subscribe to anything, because I can end up doing this in a post.; 1/29/13, 10:23 AM
traditionalguy said...: I remember that William of Orange was imported to marry queen Anne and block any hint of Catholic restoration after Charles II's restoration.

Then Scots fighter for William of Orange in Northern Ireland adopted orange as their color and fought with fierce loyalty to William. After their emigration to the Appalachian mountain areas in the colonies they were called the hill-Billies.

But whether Catholic or Reformed, English or Netherland, all Kings and Queens are not missed here.

Why, we Americans don't even worship them...well maybe the Episcopalians do slip into it a little.; 1/29/13, 10:24 AM
test said...: traditionalguy said...
I remember that William of Orange was imported to marry queen Anne and block any hint of Catholic restoration after Charles II's restoration.

Damn you're old.; 1/29/13, 10:39 AM
Old RPM Daddy said...: Elegant lady with a lovely hat. When I was on active duty in USAFE, somebody told me that Her Majesty had to approve every U.S. military officer assigned to bases in the Netherlands. While it was supposedly a paperwork formality, these were her officers, and she wanted to know! The last US flying squadron assigned to Soesterberg AB had a Royal Dutch motif worked into its official emblem.; 1/29/13, 10:58 AM
edutcher said...: Hmmm, couldn't get the link to go.

Nice looking woman.

If memory serves, she had to assume the throne after the heir apparent was caught taking kickbacks.

dbp said...

Hopefully she won't give any ideas to Queen Elizabeth II. The longer she keeps that nitwit Charles off the throne the better.

No, Lizzie will designate Bill or Harry (whoever's older) as King.

And they say it's good to be King.; 1/29/13, 11:02 AM
Gahrie said...: I think most Brits and Anglophilies are hoping Queen Elizabeth II skips Charles and gives the throne to her grandson.; 1/29/13, 11:04 AM
Craig said...: The crown should be awarded on merit and given to Rutger Hauer.; 1/29/13, 11:08 AM
edutcher said...: Gahrie, put money on it.; 1/29/13, 11:10 AM
Balfegor said...: Re: Althouse --

It still doesn't work, but I can get to it easily enough through Google News. I don't know how WSJ's paywall works, but when you access WSJ articles through a Google News link, it works fine.; 1/29/13, 11:11 AM
ricpic said...: Is that a spheres of the planets hat on her head?; 1/29/13, 11:14 AM
Known Unknown said...: I thought that was the Duchess of Cornballis!; 1/29/13, 11:19 AM
tiger said...: I remember 'Soldier of Orange' - Rutger Hauer and Paul VerHoeven - being REALLY good when I saw in HBO around 1981.; 1/29/13, 12:21 PM
Hagar said...: Queen Anne was married to Prince George of Denmark - and quite happily so, iirc.

Her sister Mary married William of Orange, Stadtholder of Holland.; 1/29/13, 12:42 PM
Rich Vail said...: quite honestly, that's the wrong way to do it...a monarch can't retire...they can DIE, but retiring is wrong. You inherit the position...you can't abdicate.; 1/29/13, 2:54 PM
Bart Hall (Kansas, USA) said...: Lang zal hij leven ...; 1/29/13, 3:08 PM
Balfegor said...: Re: Rich Vail:

quite honestly, that's the wrong way to do it...a monarch can't retire...they can DIE, but retiring is wrong. You inherit the position...you can't abdicate.

Lots of monarchs abdicate. The Emperor Diocletian famously retired at the height of his power. So also the Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire.; 1/29/13, 3:22 PM
Deb said...: Too matchy-matchy. Looks like even the eye shadow is purple or lavender. But a really lovely face.; 1/29/13, 4:34 PM
David said...: The Royal Formerly Known As Queen.; 1/29/13, 5:25 PM
Lipperman said...: quite honestly, that's the wrong way to do it...a monarch can't retire...they can DIE, but retiring is wrong. You inherit the position...you can't abdicate.

The Queen addressed this beautifully in her speech. She used the verb 'aftreden', which means 'to withdraw'. It is appropriate, and as usual, classy.

"Ik treed dan ook niet terug omdat het ambt mij te zwaar zou vallen, maar vanuit de overtuiging dat de verantwoordelijkheid voor ons land nu in handen van een nieuwe generatie moet liggen."
Which roughly translates to: "I am not withdrawing because the position is getting too hard, but because of the conviction that the responsibility for our country should be in the hands of a new generation."; 1/29/13, 5:54 PM
Anga2010 said...: Ha Ha! I would hate to be Prince Charturse about now.

char[l](t)re(u)se; 1/29/13, 10:38 PM
Gahrie said...: Has anyone else here read Stirling's Dies The Fire series?

He's got an interesting take on the course of the British monarchy in his alternate history.....

Liz dies, Chuck becomes king, dumps Camila, marries a tart from Iceland and starts pumping out more kids.......; 1/29/13, 10:51 PM
Chris said...: For any German speakers, here's the one about that time a comedian dressed up as Beatrix and tried to have lunch with the German president just before the real Beatrix showed up during a state visit. One of the funniest things ever.; 1/30/13, 8:59 AM