April 25, 2013
The abdication of Dutch Queen Beatrix, 75, in favour of her son Willem-Alexander comes after a 33-year reign.
The Netherlands
has a history of abdications: Beatrix took over the throne on April 30,
1980, when her mother queen Juliana abdicated on the day of her 71st
birthday. Juliana herself took the throne in September 1948, after her
mother, queen Wilhelmina, abdicated.
Here is an account of the main abdications in the world over the past century:
- BRITAIN:
Edward VIII was forced to abdicate after only several months in power
on December 12, 1936, in order to marry divorced American Wallis
Simpson, thus avoiding a major constitutional crisis. His younger
brother Albert took over the throne under the name of George VI in May
1937. He was the father of the current Queen Elizabeth II.
- ROMANIA: Michael I was forced to abdicate by the communists in December 1947, before going into exile several months later.
- ITALY: Victor-Emmanuel III, the king of Italy since 1900, abdicated
on May 9, 1946 because of his collaboration with the fascist regime of
dictator Benito Mussolini. His son, Umberto II, nicknamed the "May
King", went into exile in June of the same year the day after a
referendum setting up the republic.
- BELGIUM: King Leopold III, on the throne since 1934 but
controversial because of some of his actions during World War II,
abdicated on July 16, 1951 in favour of his son Baudouin I in order to
avoid the possibility of major civil unrest after his return to the
throne after six years in exile.
- EGYPT:
King Farouk I abdicated in July 1952 during the revolution led by
Colonel Gamal Abdul Nasser, 16 years after his accession to the throne.
His son, Fuad II, succeeded him, but was forced to join his family in
exile after the proclamation of the republic less than a year later in
June 1953.
- LUXEMBOURG: Grand Duke Jean abdicated on October 7, 2000 after a
36-year-reign, and his elder son, prince Henri, took his place. Jean had
himself succeeded his mother, the grand duchess Charlotte, after her
abdication in 1964.
- CAMBODIA: Norodom Sihanouk, 81, abdicated on October 7, 2004 after being treated in Beijing
for cancer. Sihanouk, who came to the throne for the first time in
1941, had already abdicated in 1955, in favour of his father, before
becoming again constitutional monarch in 1993. The constitutional
council chose as his successor one of his sons, Prince Norodom Sihamoni.
No comments:
Post a Comment