双语新闻：荷兰女王宣布退位长子将继位成百年来首位国王

2013-01-30 00:00:00来源：新东方网

　　据《荷兰在线》1月28日报道，荷兰当地时间2013年1月28日19时，荷兰女王贝娅特丽克丝发表全国讲话宣布退位，结束了她近33年的国家元首生涯。再过几天就年满75岁的贝娅特丽克丝女王也是荷兰有史以来最年长的在位君主。她的长子、现年45岁的威廉·亚历山大王储将继承她的王位。荷兰首相鲁特在女王退位讲话后也发表了讲话，高度赞扬了女王对国家和人民的贡献。

　　自从2012年2月贝娅特丽克丝女王的次子弗里索王子在奥地利滑雪遭遇雪崩事故昏迷不醒以来，有关女王退位的传言就一直不断。到2013年的女王节(4月30日)为止将是贝娅特丽克丝女王在位33周年的纪念日。关于这位女王和她在位的这三十多年，可说的话题自然太多了。不过，如果用一个词来概括的话，那就是“无懈可击”。

　　这近33来，贝娅特丽克丝女王已成为荷兰王国的象征。她是团结各执政党派和民众的凝聚核心。

　　Dutch Queen Beatrix announced her abdication in favor of her eldest son Prince Willem-Alexander in an address to the nation on Monday evening.

　　"I have the greatest confidence to hand over the throne to my son, the Prince of Orange," she said.

　　"He and Princess Maxima are prepared for their tasks. With all their talents, they will choose their own approach. I hope to meet you very often and I am grateful for the confidence and the many years that I have been the Queen," she said.

　　The resignation from the throne will take place on April 30 this year.

　　Dutch Queen Beatrix (R), her son Prince Willem-Alexander (C) and his wife Princess Maxima are seen waving to well-wishers from the balcony of the Royal Palace Noordeinde, after the Queen officially opened the new parliamentary year for 2013, at The Hague on this Sept 18, 2012 file photo.

　　"On Thursday, I hope to celebrate my 75th birthday. I am grateful that I can do this in good health. At the end of this year, our Kingdom will last two hundred years. These two things made me decide to step aside from the throne," said the outgoing Queen.

　　In response to the announcement, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said, "I admire the extraordinary commitment of the Queen for more than thirty years."

　　"Since her inauguration in 1980, she has served Dutch society with heart and soul. On behalf of myself and the cabinet, I would like to express my gratitude," he said.

　　"She is a queen who stands in the heart of society," Rutte added. "She has always been there, in good times with sports highlights for example, but also and especially during the difficult moments as in the Bijlmer (airplane crash 1992), Enschede (fireworks disaster 2000) and during Queen"s Day 2009 (assault on Royal Family). She touched people and became an icon of the Netherlands."

　　Rutte also expressed his confidence in her successor Willem-Alexander.

　　"He faces a demanding task," Rutte said. "The monarchy should represent and bind people abroad, he once said. I believe that the new King and Queen will fulfill this tradition in a convincing way."

　　Diederik Samsom, leader of the Labor Party, reacted in the same way.

　　"We appreciate the way in which Queen Beatrix has fulfilled her arduous task as head of state," he said. "She has manifested herself as a committed queen. Also we appreciate her binding role in Dutch society."

　　Beatrix is the eldest daughter of late Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. In 1966, Beatrix married Prince Claus van Amsberg from Germany, with whom she has three children: Prince Willem-Alexander (1967), Prince Friso (1968) and Prince Constantijn (1969).

　　Beatrix's marriage caused a massive protest in Amsterdam, because her German husband was associated by a part of the Dutch population with German Nazism. Beatrix's husband died in 2002.

　　Beatrix was crowned Queen of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on April 30, 1980, as successor of her mother Juliana.

　　During the investiture, some people used the occasion to protest against poor housing conditions in the country and against the monarchy in general. The rioters clashed violently with the police.

　　On April 30, 2009, a Dutch man driving a car deliberately rammed into a crowd watching a royal parade in Apeldoorn, where the royal family were celebrating the Queen's Day with the public. The car missed the royal coach by 15 meters but five people were killed and 12 others were injured.

　　The traditional Dutch Queen's Day will not longer be celebrated on April 30, the birthday of Juliana. Instead, from 2014 on, the King's Day will be celebrated on April 27, the birthday of Willem-Alexander, said the Government Information Service (RVD).

　　Prince Friso was buried under an avalanche in Lech, Austria, while skiing in February 2012 and has been in a coma since then. He is currently treated in a hospital in London.

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