Amsterdam, Apr 30 (EFE).- Willem-Alexander of Orange was sworn in Tuesday as the new king of the Netherlands at the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam during a joint session of the Dutch Parliament. "I swear that I will always defend and protect with all my strength the independence and integrity of the Kingdom's territory," the 46-year-old Willem-Alexander told Parliament and the country's other officials. Prime Minister Mark Rutte and a host of high-level officials and foreign dignitaries attending the monarch's swearing-in ceremony.

The Netherlands' Willem-Alexander became Europe's youngest monarch on Tuesday after his mother, queen Beatrix, abdicated and his country hailed the avowedly 21st-century king with a massive, orange-hued party. Beatrix, 75, shed a tear before signing the act of abdication at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam, which was then witnessed by Willem-Alexander, 46, his Argentine-born Queen Maxima, 41, and members of the government. A cry went up from the 25,000 crowd in the Dam, the main square opposite the palace where the signing was shown on giant screens.

The Netherlands' energetic queen Beatrix, who on Tuesday reverted to a princess after abdicating in favour of her son King Willem-Alexander, won many Dutch hearts in her 33 years on the throne by giving the monarchy a modern, hard-working image. Stepping into the shoes of her much-loved mother Juliana in 1980 at the age of 42, Beatrix quickly set out to make her mark on the country she was destined to rule by birth.

Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander becomes Europe's youngest monarch on Tuesday when his mother, Queen Beatrix, abdicates and his country hails the avowedly 21st-century king with a massive, orange-hued party. Willem-Alexander, 46, will be the first Dutch king since 1890 and the first of a new wave of relatively youthful European monarchs, with future kings and queens, including Britain's Prince Charles, attending.