Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, who will celebrate her 75th birthday this week, has announced that she will abdicate the Dutch throne on the 30th April 2013. She came to the throne herself on the abdication of her mother, Queen Juliana, in 1980. When Beatrix steps down, it will be in favour of her son, Prince Willem-Alexander, aged 45, whose current title is Prince of Orange. He will become the first King of the Netherlands since 1890.
