Willem-Alexander is King of the Netherlands, having acceded to the throne following his mother's abdication in 2013.
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33 Facts About Willem-Alexander
2.
Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht as the oldest child of Princess Beatrix and diplomat Claus van Amsberg.
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3.
Willem-Alexander became Prince of Orange as heir apparent upon his mother's accession as Queen on 30 April 1980, and succeeded her following her abdication on 30 April 2013.
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4.
Willem-Alexander went to public primary and secondary schools in the Netherlands, an international sixth-form college in Wales, served in the Royal Netherlands Navy, and studied history at Leiden University.
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5.
Willem-Alexander is interested in sports and international water management issues.
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Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand was born on 27 April 1967 at the Utrecht University Hospital in Utrecht, Netherlands.
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7.
Willem-Alexander is the first child of Princess Beatrix and Prince Claus, and the first grandchild of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard.
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8.
Willem-Alexander was the first male Dutch royal baby since the birth of Prince Alexander in 1851, and the first immediate male heir since Alexander's death in 1884.
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9.
From birth, Willem-Alexander has held the titles Prince of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau, and Jonkheer of Amsberg .
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10.
Willem-Alexander was baptised as a member of the Dutch Reformed Church on 2 September 1967 in Saint Jacob's Church in The Hague.
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11.
Willem-Alexander's godparents are his maternal grandfather Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld, his paternal grandmother Gosta Freiin von dem Bussche-Haddenhausen, Prince Ferdinand von Bismarck, former Prime Minister Jelle Zijlstra, Jonkvrouw Renee Roell, and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.
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12.
Willem-Alexander lived with his family at the castle Drakensteyn in the hamlet Lage Vuursche near Baarn from his birth until 1981, when they moved to the larger palace Huis ten Bosch in The Hague.
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13.
Willem-Alexander then received the title of Prince of Orange as heir apparent to the throne of the Kingdom of the Netherlands at the age of 13.
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14.
Willem-Alexander attended local state primary school Nieuwe Baarnse Elementary School in Baarn from 1973 to 1979.
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15.
Willem-Alexander went to two different state secondary schools: the Baarns Lyceum in Baarn from 1979 to 1981 and the Eerste Vrijzinnig Christelijk Lyceum in The Hague from 1981 to 1983, and the private sixth-form college United World College of the Atlantic in Wales, the UK, from which he received his International Baccalaureate.
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16.
Willem-Alexander speaks English, Spanish, French and German fluently in addition to his native Dutch.
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17.
Between secondary school and his university education, Willem-Alexander performed military service in the Royal Netherlands Navy from August 1985 until January 1987.
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18.
Willem-Alexander received his training at the Royal Netherlands Naval College and the frigates HNLMS Tromp and HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen, where he was an ensign.
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19.
Since 1985, when he became 18 years old, Willem-Alexander has been a member of the Council of State of the Netherlands.
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20.
Willem-Alexander was 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.
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21.
Willem-Alexander was appointed as the Chairperson of the United Nations Secretary General's Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation on 12 December 2006.
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22.
Willem-Alexander was a patron of the Dutch Olympic Games Committee until 1998 when he was made a member of the International Olympic Committee .
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23.
Willem-Alexander was a member of the supervisory board of, a member of the Advisory Council of ECP, patron of Veterans' Day and held several other patronages and posts.
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24.
Later that afternoon, Willem-Alexander was inaugurated as king in front of the joint assembly of the States General in a ceremony held at the Nieuwe Kerk.
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25.
Willem-Alexander is the first male monarch of the Netherlands since the death of his great-great-grandfather William III in 1890.
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Willem-Alexander was one of four new monarchs to take the throne in 2013 along with Pope Francis, the Emir Tamim bin Hamad of Qatar, and King Philippe of Belgium.
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27.
Willem-Alexander is an avid pilot and has said that if he had not been a royal, he would have liked to be an airline pilot so he could fly internationally on large-sized aircraft such as the Boeing 747.
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30.
Willem-Alexander ran the New York City Marathon under the same pseudonym in 1992.
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31.
Willem-Alexander had earlier indicated that when he became king, he would take the name Willem IV, but it was announced in January 2013 that his regnal name would be Willem-Alexander.
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32.
Willem-Alexander is descended from the first king of the Netherlands, William I of the Netherlands, who was a ruler in Luxembourg and several German states, and all subsequent Dutch monarchs.
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33.
Under the British Act of Settlement, King Willem-Alexander temporarily forfeited his succession rights to the throne of the United Kingdom by marrying a Roman Catholic.
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