AP: Queen Beatrix swears in new government

Queen Beatrix is flanked by his newly sworn in cabinet members.

Queen Beatrix swore in a new centrist Dutch government under Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Monday, even as the conservative leader faced harsh criticism from members of his own party over a plan to hike health care premiums. Eight of the 13 Cabinet ministers swore an oath of office to the monarch in the ornately painted Orange Hall of the 17th Century Huis ten Bosch palace in a forest outside The Hague. 

The remaining five, including Rutte, had already taken the oath before taking office in Rutte's first administration. The brief ceremony — lasting less than three minutes — was broadcast live on Dutch television and online for the first time.