Her official title is Her Majesty Beatrix, by the Grace of God, Queen of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, etc. etc. etc. It can go on for quite a bit, the additional titles of a noble line that goes back many years and to many places. The queen herself signs official documents with only “Beatrix.” In common parlance, she is The Queen or Her Majesty. Many of her subjects call her simply “Bea.”

Officially, Queen Bea will “abdicate” on April 30, 2013. “Resign” is altogether too Western and corporate a word for such an act by such a personage — certainly not noble enough a term for a queen. A queen is what Bea is and has been for 33 years. By all reports, it is a job she has done quite well. The local paper reported this morning that “the queen’s abdication . . . is sure to bring out an outpouring of sentimental . . . feelings among the Dutch, most of whom adore her.” I read those words to mean the people of the Netherlands care very much for their queen. To be loved by those around you is a very great compliment to anyone. I think for Her Majesty Beatrix there can be no greater compliment than to be loved by her people.

Bea will pass the crown to her eldest son, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander. The son is 45, a trained pilot and an expert in water management. For a country with a long and shifting relationship to the watery realms it borders and has, to some extent, appropriated, water management is an appropriate occupation for the crown prince. I can see him now flying his plane, hand outstretched and waving to the people below, on his way to fix the next leak in the dike. Like the little Dutch boy of legend, perhaps he, like his mother, will, in time, hold an endearing place in the hearts of his subjects. I like it that when he first introduced himself to his wife, Princess Maxima, he used only “Alexander,” though prince he was and king soon will be.

For us in the west, there is little of titled royalty in our midst. As I say that, I cannot help but think that for Her Majesty Beatrix there is more of royalty in herself than in any of the titles that trail her name. Perhaps the queen is not in the crown, but in the one who wears the crown. She wore it well and taught us that royalty in its lineage clean must that surmount to be truly queen.

To Bea, well done and thank you,

Grandpa Jim