His mother, Beatrix, became Queen of the Netherlands in 1980, after his grandmother Juliana abdicated. He lived with his family at the castle Drakensteyn in the hamlet Lage Vuursche near Baarn from his birth until 1981, when they moved to the larger palace Huis ten Bosch in The Hague. He had two younger brothers: Prince Friso (1968–2013) and Prince Constantijn (born in 1969). His godparents are his maternal grandfather Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld, his paternal grandmother Gösta Freiin von dem Bussche-Haddenhausen, Prince Ferdinand von Bismarck, former Prime Minister Jelle Zijlstra, Jonkvrouw Renée Röell, and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. He was baptised as a member of the Dutch Reformed Church on 2 September 1967 in Saint Jacob's Church in The Hague. He was the first male Dutch royal baby since the birth of Prince Alexander in 1851, and the first immediate male heir since Alexander's death in 1884.įrom birth, Willem-Alexander has held the titles Prince of the Netherlands ( Dutch: Prins der Nederlanden), Prince of Orange-Nassau (Dutch: Prins van Oranje-Nassau), and Jonkheer of Amsberg (Dutch: Jonkheer van Amsberg).

He is the first child of Princess Beatrix and Prince Claus, and the first grandchild of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard. Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand was born on 27 April 1967 at the Utrecht University Hospital (now known as the University Medical Center Utrecht) in Utrecht, Netherlands. Early life and education Prince Willem-Alexander (left) at age 14 and his brother Friso in 1982 Until his accession to the throne, he was a member of the International Olympic Committee (1998–2013), chairman of the Advisory Committee on Water to the Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and the Environment (2004–2013), and chairman of the Secretary-General of the United Nations' Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation (2006–2013). Willem-Alexander is interested in sports and international water management issues.

He married Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti in 2002 and they have three daughters: Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange (born 2003), Princess Alexia (born 2005), and Princess Ariane (born 2007). He went to public primary and secondary schools in the Netherlands, an international sixth-form college in Wales, served in the Royal Netherlands Navy, and studied history at Leiden University. He became Prince of Orange as heir apparent upon his mother's accession as Queen on 30 April 1980, and succeeded her following her abdication on 30 April 2013. Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht as the eldest child of Princess Beatrix and German diplomat Claus van Amsberg. Willem-Alexander ( Dutch: Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand born 27 April 1967) is King of the Netherlands, having acceded to the throne following his mother's abdication in 2013.

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