Philipsburg:--- A small ceremony was held on Tuesday April 30th, 2013 at the Holland House Hotel in honor of the Abdication of Queen Beatrix now Princess Beatrix and the official crowning of King Willem Alexander and Princess Maxima.
Deputy Prime Minister William Marlin and Acting Governor Reynold Groenveldt addressed the small gathering that also got to see the official abdication and crowning of King Willem Alexander via a pre-recorded video. Governor Eugene Holiday and Prime Minister Sarah Wescot Williams also left a pre-recorded message which was shown for the historic occasion within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Those that attended the ceremony were Member of Parliament Dr. Ruth Douglass, Minister of Finance Roland Tuitt, Minister of TEATT Romeo Pantophlet, Ombudsman Nilda Arduin Lynch, and Members of the Councils of State. A toast was also held in honor of King Willem Alexander whose rein as King of the Kingdom began on April 30th, 2013.
All the speakers including Governor Holiday who is currently in the Netherlands attending the abdication and crowning ceremony and those that spoke here locally praised the Princess Beatrix for the 33 years of her life she dedicated to public service.
After the official speeches they invited the gathering to the balcony to witness the cannon salute shots which were done aboard the Royal Navy ship "Friesland."
Message of Appreciation and Congratulations
on the Occasion of the
Abdication by Queen Beatrix & Inauguration of King Willem Alexander
by H.E. Governor Eugene B. Holiday
Today April 30, 2013, we celebrate the dawning of a new day as Her Majesty Queen Beatrix abdicates the throne in favor of her son His Majesty King Willem-Alexander.
This momentous day gives rise to a new era and comes as the people of the Kingdom of the Netherlands prepare to commemorate its bicentennial at the end of this year. During the last thirty three of those 200 years we have been privileged to have Her Majesty Beatrix as our Queen offering continuity and stability thanks to her strength, her wisdom and her dedication to the people throughout the Kingdom.
Reflecting on the three plus decades of her reign I draw from the fond collective memories of the people of Sint Maarten in recalling the memorable visits of Queen Beatrix to our island. From her first official visit in 1980 directly after becoming Queen to her last three visits immediately after the passing of hurricane Lenny in 1999, her official inauguration of the new terminal building of the Princess Juliana International Airport in 2006 and her first visit to Sint Maarten as a country within the Kingdom in 2011, Queen Beatrix through her sharing and caring nature, has nurtured and embodied a special and warm bond with the people of Sint Maarten.
Today the people of Sint Maarten therefore join with our brothers and sisters in the Kingdom to pay homage to Queen Beatrix as we reflect on her reign. In Sint Maarten's rich linguistic tradition I, in paying tribute, take this opportunity to say: Terugblikkend op deze periode is het mij een bijzonder genoegen, mede namens de bevolking van Sint Maarten en mijn vrouw, mijn diepe dank en bewondering te betuigen voor de manier waarop u zich steeds ten behoeve van onze bevolking met toewijding heeft ingezet. Yes as we take leave from you as our Queen I am on behalf of the people of Sint Maarten pleased and honored to express sincerest appreciation to you for your thirty three years of exceptional service as our Queen. Additionally I hereby express my deepest gratitude to Queen Beatrix for the opportunity and privilege to represent her as Governor of Sint Maarten.
Voorts is het mij, mede namens de bevolking van Sint Maarten en mijn vrouw, een groot genoegen om onze nieuwe Koning, Zijne Majesteit Koning Willem Alexander en zijn vrouw Hare Majesteit Koningin Maxima hartelijk te mogen begroeten en feliciteren met de inhuldiging op deze voor hen en ons Koninkrijk bijzondere dag. On this historic day as I welcome and congratulate our new King we join His Majesty King Willem Alexander in celebrating his inauguration and the dawn of a new era for our Kingdom under his reign as King. We therefore wish him strength and wisdom as he leads our Kingdom into the start of its third centennial.
Thank you,
God Bless Sint Maarten, and God Bless the King.
Inauguration Message from the Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams.
"On this auspicious occasion in the history of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, on behalf of the people of St. Maarten I would like to express my gratitude to Her Majesty Queen Beatrix for having served as the reigning Monarch for more than thirty years. I look back fondly on the reign of Her Majesty Queen Beatrix through the years as she visited the Netherlands Antilles and subsequently also country St. Maarten in 2011.
I wish her Majesty well in the coming years and we hope to see her back on our island very soon. Queen Beatrix has always considered all the citizens of the Kingdom of the Netherlands her constituents and has shown this time and time again through her warm and sincere interest and concern for the people of the Dutch Caribbean. My sincere gratitude goes out to the Mother Queen Beatrix as I wish her many more years of good health and enjoyment.
Having said that I would like to congratulate His Royal Highness King Willem Alexander on his inauguration and I look forward to his reign as Monarch of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. King Willem Alexander is no stranger to our islands and I am sure he will, just as his mother did before him, have the best interest and a warm heart for the residents of the Kingdom in the Caribbean.
He has grown up accustomed to visiting this part of the Kingdom, sharing with us many moments of great joy as well as moments of tragedy and shown the same caring and compassion, his Queen mother has shown.
The people of St. Maarten are proud to be part of this historic event. The last inauguration of a monarch of the Kingdom was 33 years ago. Outside of the Kingdom this is also a historically significant event as it has been decades since the world has seen the inauguration of a new monarch.
The people of St. Maarten came out in force to celebrate as well as with all members of the Dutch Kingdom to celebrate this occasion that was marked with various activities in which our young people participated. We are excited for the Kingdom, for the new royal couple and look forward to visit our island St. Maarten. We hope that God will continue to bless the Royal Couple as they take on this important task as leading the Dutch Kingdom and all of the people within it. God bless the Royal Couple, the Dutch Kingdom and the Nation and People of St. Maarten."
Click here to view more photos of the ceremony held on Tuesday at Holland House.
