King Willem-Alexander, full name Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand, is the King of the Netherlands and has reigned since 30 April 2013.
Born on 27 April 1967 at the Academic Hospital in Utrecht, he is the eldest child of Princess Beatrix (later Queen Beatrix) and Prince Claus.
He became Prince of Orange and heir apparent when his mother ascended the throne in 1980.
He is the first male Dutch monarch since the death of his great-great-grandfather King William III in 1890.
In 2002 he married Máxima Zorreguieta, who became Queen Máxima upon his accession.
He succeeded his mother after her abdication and is known for his interests in sports, international water management, and a relatively informal style of monarchy.
Siblings
King Willem-Alexander has two younger brothers.
Prince Johan Friso, born on 25 September 1968, died on 12 August 2013 following complications from a skiing accident in 2012.
He married Mabel Wisse Smit in 2004, and they had two daughters.
Because the marriage did not receive the required parliamentary approval for succession purposes, Friso and his descendants were excluded from the line of succession.
The youngest brother is Prince Constantijn, born on 11 October 1969.
He married Laurentien Brinkhorst in 2001, and they have three children: Countess Eloise, Count Claus-Casimir, and Countess Leonore.
Constantijn remains a member of the royal family and occasionally undertakes official duties, though his children are not members of the official Royal House.
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Career
Willem-Alexander attended public primary and secondary schools in the Netherlands and completed his secondary education with an International Baccalaureate at the United World College of the Atlantic in Wales in 1985.
He performed military service in the Royal Netherlands Navy from 1985 to 1987, training at the Royal Netherlands Naval College.
He later obtained a military pilot’s licence with the Royal Netherlands Air Force and held reserve ranks in the navy, army, and air force, rising to commodore and equivalent ranks before becoming king.
He studied history at Leiden University, graduating in 1993 with a thesis on the Dutch response to France’s withdrawal from NATO’s integrated military command structure.
Before ascending the throne he served as a member of the International Olympic Committee from 1998 to 2013, chaired the Advisory Committee on Water to the Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and the Environment from 2004 to 2013, and chaired the United Nations Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation from 2006 to 2013.
As king he performs ceremonial and constitutional duties, represents the Netherlands at home and abroad, and continues to take a particular interest in water management and sports.
Accolades
As King of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander is Grand Master of the Military William Order, the Order of the Netherlands Lion, and the Order of Orange-Nassau, and Co-Grand Master of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau.
He holds numerous national and foreign decorations.
Upon leaving the International Olympic Committee in 2013 he was appointed an honorary member and received the Olympic Order in Gold.
He has been awarded various long-service and commemorative medals related to his military service and royal events, including the Queen Juliana Jubilee Medal and the Queen Beatrix Inauguration Medal.
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