Previously at the Palace: End of the Queen Streak

In this series, we capture the biographical and major news posts from this date in previous years so that you can "catch up" on your favorites or reflect on some topics you might have missed. The first paragraph is included here; click the title to see the full post.

Queen Wilhelmina
By UN Information Office via Wikimedia Commons

2013: End of the Queen Streak
"The world's longest period of female leadership will come to an end on April 30, 2013 when Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands voluntarily hands over her throne to her eldest son, Willem Alexander. She and her two immediate predecessors--her mother and grandmother--have kept the throne in female hands for nearly 123 years. In fact, before Willem Alexander's birth in 1964, no princes had been born in the Dutch royal house for more than a century. In other countries, this would have been a catastrophe that could have ended the monarchy. Not so in the more liberal Dutch nation."