King Willem Alexander and Queen Máxima will visit the Caribbean part of the Kingdom in November. It will be the second royal visit to St. Maarten within two years. While there is no definite date yet, speculations are that the royal couple will visit St. Maarten on November 11, St. Maarten Day.
In 2011 Crown Prince Willem Alexander and Princess Máxima visited St. Maarten as well in November, in the company of H.M. Queen Beatrix. The previous royal visit took place five years earlier, in 2006.
On April 30, Queen Beatrix will abdicate and on that day Willem-Alexander will become the first Dutch king in 123 years. From 1815 the Kingdom was ruled over by King Willem I until his abdication in 1840; his eldest son Willem Frederik George Lodewijk took the throne for the next nine years until his unexpected death in 1849. King Willem III was the last male successor to the throne: his rule lasted from 1849 until 1890. His full name was Willem Alexander Paul Frederik Lodewijk and he gained some notoriety for his weird behavior. He even earned the nickname King Gorilla.
After his death in 1890 his daughter Emma van Waldeck-Piermont ruled as a regent until 1898 when Queen Wilhelmina was old enough to take the throne. In 1948 Juliana succeeded her mother after she abdicated in 1980, Juliana made way for her daughter Beatrix who would become the eldest ruling monarch in the Netherlands.
