DUTCH Queen Beatrix announced Monday she decided to abdicate, telling her country it was time to hand the crown to her son Prince Willem-Alexander after more than three decades on the throne.

    The Netherlands’ energetic Queen has won many Dutch hearts in her years on the throne by giving the monarchy a modern, hard-working image.

    Beatrix, one of Europe’s longest-serving monarchs, said in the simple, televised speech announcing her abdication, “It is with the greatest confidence that on April 30 of this year I will pass on the kingship to my son, the Prince of Orange. He and Princess Maxima are entirely ready for their future tasks.”

    The son, Willem-Alexander, will be appointed king at an inauguration in Amsterdam. He will be the Netherlands’ first king since Willem III died in 1890.

    Willem-Alexander is a 45-year-old father of three young daughters, an International Olympic Committee member, a pilot and a water management expert.

    Over the years, he has struggled to win the affection of the nation of 16 million, but his immensely popular wife, the Argentine-born Maxima, has helped him gain more acceptance since she brushed away a tear during their wedding in 2002.

    In her brief, prerecorded speech from her Huis ten Bosch Palace in The Hague, Beatrix said she was, “deeply grateful for the great faith you have shown in me in the many years that I could be your queen.”

    Liberal Prime Minister Mark Rutte spoke immediately after Beatrix, “a queen in the heart of the community,” he said. “She has grown into a Dutch icon.”

    The timing of the announcement makes sense at multiple levels. It comes just days before Beatrix’s 75th birthday. The nation also celebrates the 200th anniversary of its monarchy, the House of Orange, at the end of this year.

    Observers believe she remained on the throne for so long in part because of unrest in Dutch society as the country struggled to assimilate more and more immigrants, mainly Muslims from North Africa, and shifted away from its traditional reputation as one of the world’s most tolerant nations.

    The queen’s departure is sure to bring about an outpouring of sentimental and patriotic feelings among the Dutch, most of whom adore Beatrix. In everyday conversation, many of her subjects refer to her simply by the nickname “Bea.”

    Well-wishers immediately gathered outside the palace Monday.

    One of them, Laura Dinkshof, took along a homemade orange banner. “We hope the queen will see it,” she said. “It says we were very happy with our queen and we wish her a nice retirement and that we have trust in our new king.”

    Rutte, a staunch monarchist, said that ever since her coronation in 1980, Beatrix — the nation’s oldest-ever monarch — “applied herself heart and soul for Dutch society.”

    Born on Jan. 31, 1938 as the first child of queen Juliana and prince Bernhardt, Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, princess of Orange-Nassau, lived with her family in exile in Britain and Canada during World War II.

    After completing her law studies, she married West German diplomat Claus von Amsberg in March 1966 — prompting violent demonstrations against the future queen’s union with someone who had worn a Hitler Youth uniform as a boy.

    Riots preceded Beatrix’s coronation April 30, 1980 following her mother’s surprise abdication after a 31-year reign, when Amsterdam squatters protested the high costs of the ceremony.

    But the new Queen’s humble approach soon started winning over her calvinist subjects.

    “Not power, personal desire nor a claim to hereditary power but only the desire to serve the community can give substance to a modern monarchy,” she said in her crowning speech.

    Contrary to her mother’s unobtrusive style of rule, Beatrix refused to be relegated to ribbon-cutting; changing the mode of address from “madam” to “majesty,” and transforming one of the royal palaces in The Hague, the seat of government, into a working palace.

    Here she received heads of state in her affable though formal manner and met weekly with successive prime ministers to discuss matters of government, earning the nickname “chief executive officer of the Netherlands.”

    She also signed laws and played an important role in Dutch politics by appointing the so-called “formateur” who explores possibilities for coalition government after general elections.

    Last year’s polls in which Prime Minister Mark Rutte was elected to head government for a second time, marked the first time she was not actively involved in the formateur’s appointment.

    An opinion poll in April 2009 found that 85 percent of Dutch citizens felt Beatrix was performing well as head of state.

    Known colloquially as “Trix,” the queen radiates a bourgeoise allure in her immaculately pressed, practical dresses and suits and a stiff helmet hairdo that a staggering collection of hats cannot put out of place.

    American magazine Forbes in 2008 listed Beatrix as the world’s 14th wealthiest royal with an estimated net worth of US$300 million.

    In more recent years, personal tragedies exposed a softer side of the queen and brought her closer to her subjects.

    The death of her German-born husband, Prince Claus, in 2012 took a toll on her, and it was apparent how deep her reliance on the quiet man had been: she was filmed leaning heavily, almost hanging, on Prince Friso’s arm as they entered the church for her spouse’s funeral.

    In another blow, a deranged loner tried to slam a car into an open-topped bus carrying members of the royal family as they celebrated the Queens Day national holiday in 2009. The driver killed seven people who had gathered to watch the royals, a brazen attack that shocked the nation.

    Friso, the second of her three sons, who had been such a support after Claus’ death, remains in a coma after being engulfed by an avalanche while skiing in Austria.

    Late last year, the Royal House said the prince showed “very minimal” signs of consciousness.

    “I think it’s a good time for her to leave, with all that happened in her life recently,” said 44-year-old Bert Duesenberg of The Hague as he stood at her palace gates. “I also think that Alexander is ready to take over and he has to do that. It is good news and it’s time for the change.”

    Beatrix is seen by many in the Netherlands as a surrogate grandmother. Most office buildings and universities proudly display her glamorous portrait, decorated in a range of suitably colorful costumes.

    She enjoys high approval ratings and is one of the most popular ruling monarchs in Europe. Under Dutch law it is still illegal to insult the queen.

    Her abdication is bound to raise interest in the United Kingdom, where Queen Elizabeth II is 86 and recently celebrated her Diamond Jubilee. But the situation is different in the Netherlands, where the queen is following recent tradition by abdicating, as her mother and grandmother did before her.

    (SD-Agencies)