Willem-Alexander ready to be Dutch King

AMSTERDAM - In her final speech to the Dutch people Queen Beatrix on Monday said that her son Prince Willem-Alexander is well prepared for the role of King.

Willem-Alexander will become on Tuesday the first Dutch king in more than 120 years following the abdication of Queen Beatrix earlier in the day.

Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander (R) and his wife Crown Princess Maxima arrive at a gala dinner organised on the eve of the abdication of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and the inauguration of her successor King Willem-Alexander at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam April 29, 2013. [Photo/Agencies]

In her speech recorded at the Huis ten Bosch palace in The Hague a few weeks ago and broadcasted on national television, Beatrix pointed to Willem-Alexander's "intensive work at the national and international stage and his broad interest in developments of our time."

She also praised Willem-Alexander's wife Maxima for her "big heart and pure sense of human relations."

The 75-year-old Queen also spoke highly of the support of her late husband Prince Claus, who died in 2002. "Perhaps history will show that the choice for him was my best choice," she said.

She also expressed her "deep gratitude" to the Dutch people at the end of her farewell speech.

"Without your heartwarming and encouraging signs of affection, the burden would certainly have weighed heavier," she said.

On Monday evening, Queen Beatrix hosted a dinner at the National Museum (Rijksmuseum) in Amsterdam on the eve of her abdication with Prince Willem-Alexander, Princess Maxima all the foreign guests who will be present at the inauguration on Tuesday.

Willem-Alexander and Maxima had arrived in Amsterdam earlier in the afternoon for the dress rehearsal of the inauguration ceremony.