Royal Family of the Netherlands

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands abdicated on Tuesday, handing over to her eldest son, Willem-Alexander, who became the first King of the Netherlands in over 120 years.

On 1 March 2012, Prince Friso was transferred to the Wellington Hospital in London where he and his wife had lived for many years.
On 19 November 2012, it was announced that the prince had started to show some signs of consciousness but it was still not certain whether he would ever wake up, and if he did, in what state.
On 9 July 2013, Prince Friso was moved back to Huis ten Bosch in the Netherlands. It was understood that his coma had then evolved into a minimally conscious state. As he was no longer in need of hospital-level medical care, he stayed with his family for the summer.
On 12 August 2013, it was announced that Prince Friso died in Huis ten Bosch due to complications from the accident. He was buried on 16 August in the hamlet of Lage Vuursche near Drakesteijn Castle, where he had spent his childhood and where Princess Beatrix is returning to live. The funeral service, at Stulpkerk church, was strictly private. Members of the public and media were not able to attend, nor did members of other royal families attend with the exception of Friso's godfather, King Harald V. A ceremony of commemoration will be held later in the year

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima were accompanied by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and met relatives of some of the 193 Dutch nationals who were victims of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17. The aircraft was travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed killing all 298 on board including 80 children. The aircraft was allegedly shot down by a missile and investigations continue over the perpetrators of the attack.

The Dutch King officialy opened the parliamentary year by reading a speech outlining the government plans for the year ahead.