Rijksmuseum Closed Again

Queen Beatrix will host a farewell dinner at the Hall of Fame of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam on Monday. The foreign guests who will attend the inauguration of King Willem-Alexander a day later have been invited to the farewell dinner. For the ceremony at the Nieuwe Kerk, many foreign royals have traveled to Amsterdam. Among the guests are Prince Albert II of Monaco, David Johnston, the Governor General of Canada, and Vice President Amado Boudou of Argentina. Because of the dinner, the Rijksmuseum will be closed to visitors all day. The Rijksmuseum was recently reopened, by Queen Beatrix, after being closed for ten years for a complete renovation. On Monday evening, the farewell speech of Queen Beatrix, which was recorded last week, will be broadcast. In her speech she looks back on her 33-year reign, which will end on Tuesday with the signing of the Act of Abdication in the Royal Palace at the Dam Square in Amsterdam. Monday is the dress rehearsal for the inauguration, as Willem-Alexander said earlier.