Beatrix

Beatrix (bē`ətrĭks, bē-ă`trĭks), 1938–, queen of the Netherlands. The oldest daughter of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld, she received a law degree from the Univ. of Leyden (1961). In 1966 her marriage to German diplomat Claus von Amsberg, once a member of the Hitler Youth and the German army but cleared of charges by an Allied court, caused considerable controversy. The following year she gave birth to a son, Willem Alexander Claus, the first male heir in the line of succession since 1884; she also has two other sons. In 1980, Juliana abdicated in favor of Beatrix.

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Beatrix (Wilhelmina Armgard)

Beatrix of The Netherlands.

(credit: Courtesy of the Royal Netherlands Embassy; photograph, Max Koot)

(born Jan. 31, 1938, Soestdijk, Neth.) Queen of The Netherlands. Beatrix went into exile with her family when the Germans invaded The Netherlands in World War II, and she spent the war years in Britain and Canada. In 1965 her betrothal to a German diplomat sparked controversy because of his past membership in the Hitler Youth and the German army. They were married in 1966, and the hostility waned with the births of the first male heirs in the house of Orange since 1890. Beatrix became queen in 1980 after the abdication of her mother, Juliana.