Beatrix

Beatrix (1938- ), queen of the Netherlands (1980- ), eldest daughter of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard. She was educated at the University of Leiden, earning a doctorate in law in 1961. Her marriage in 1966 to the West German diplomat Claus von Amsberg (1926-2002) caused considerable controversy because of widespread anti-German feeling among the Dutch. In 1967 Beatrix gave birth to a son, Willem Alexander, the first male heir to the Crown for more than 100 years; she has two other sons. Beatrix was invested as queen when her mother abdicated on April 30, 1980.