The Renovation of Castle Drakensteyn

[lucien]

Works on Drakenstyen Castle do not really go unnoticed.The castle gets a long needed extensive overhaul,moreover as it is deemed the future residence of HM,again,after a possible abdication.But that is pure speculation at present!It was here that she and Prince Claus spend the happiest times with the children.
A high fence was placed,much to the discontent of the villagers of Lage Vuursche who thought it HM's doing.It is not.

It is a security measure imposed on her by the Government.It might not look all that nice now,but it will be overgrown by nature in due time.The fence is "standard" at Royal residences,you can see the very same in the garden of Soestdijk Palace.

Different times call for,very,different measures,unfortunately.But we wouldn't like to end up regretting we didn't take enough measures now would we?Inspite all the Diana van Drakensteyn's.She's the,"eccentric" sister of the former owner who sold the Castle to the then Princess and opposes the fence,as it ruins the village view.Not that towards the Castle itself,that always was inviseble in the middle of nature.
PPE Agency

courtesy PPE/Nieboer.

[lucien]

Works on Drakenstyen Castle do not really go unnoticed.The castle gets a long needed extensive overhaul,moreover as it is deemed the future residence of HM,again,after a possible abdication.But that is pure speculation at present!It was here that she and Prince Claus spend the happiest times with the children.
A high fence was placed,much to the discontent of the villagers of Lage Vuursche who thought it HM's doing.It is not.

It is a security measure imposed on her by the Government.It might not look all that nice now,but it will be overgrown by nature in due time.The fence is "standard" at Royal residences,you can see the very same in the garden of Soestdijk Palace.

Different times call for,very,different measures,unfortunately.But we wouldn't like to end up regretting we didn't take enough measures now would we?Inspite all the Diana van Drakensteyn's.She's the,"eccentric" sister of the former owner who sold the Castle to the then Princess and opposes the fence,as it ruins the village view.Not that towards the Castle itself,that always was inviseble in the middle of nature.
PPE Agency

courtesy PPE/Nieboer.

[Henri M.]

Originally Posted by lucien

Works on Drakenstyen Castle do not really go unnoticed.The castle gets a long needed extensive overhaul,moreover as it is deemed the future residence of HM,again,after a possible abdication.But that is pure speculation at present!It was here that she and Prince Claus spend the happiest times with the children.
A high fence was placed,much to the discontent of the villagers of Lage Vuursche who thought it HM's doing.It is not.

It is a security measure imposed on her by the Government.It might not look all that nice now,but it will be overgrown by nature in due time.The fence is "standard" at Royal residences,you can see the very same in the garden of Soestdijk Palace.

Different times call for,very,different measures,unfortunately.But we wouldn't like to end up regretting we didn't take enough measures now would we?Inspite all the Diana van Drakensteyn's.She's the,"eccentric" sister of the former owner who sold the Castle to the then Princess and opposes the fence,as it ruins the village view.Not that towards the Castle itself,that always was inviseble in the middle of nature.
PPE Agency

courtesy PPE/Nieboer.

In the press it was claimed Queen Beatrix was unhappy about the immense fence which has to improve security around her private estate. But even it is her own estate and as Queen, she could not stop it. The Government is responsible for the safety of The Queen and apparently feels this gigantic fence with barbed wire, cameras and detectors is an absolute necessary to guarantee the safety of the royal resident.

The Queen had to accept it. She would have manoeuvred the responsible departments and security services in a difficult situation if she had not allowed them to do their job properly.

[Henri M.]

Originally Posted by lucien

Works on Drakenstyen Castle do not really go unnoticed.The castle gets a long needed extensive overhaul,moreover as it is deemed the future residence of HM,again,after a possible abdication.But that is pure speculation at present!It was here that she and Prince Claus spend the happiest times with the children.
A high fence was placed,much to the discontent of the villagers of Lage Vuursche who thought it HM's doing.It is not.

It is a security measure imposed on her by the Government.It might not look all that nice now,but it will be overgrown by nature in due time.The fence is "standard" at Royal residences,you can see the very same in the garden of Soestdijk Palace.

Different times call for,very,different measures,unfortunately.But we wouldn't like to end up regretting we didn't take enough measures now would we?Inspite all the Diana van Drakensteyn's.She's the,"eccentric" sister of the former owner who sold the Castle to the then Princess and opposes the fence,as it ruins the village view.Not that towards the Castle itself,that always was inviseble in the middle of nature.
PPE Agency

courtesy PPE/Nieboer.

In the press it was claimed Queen Beatrix was unhappy about the immense fence which has to improve security around her private estate. But even it is her own estate and as Queen, she could not stop it. The Government is responsible for the safety of The Queen and apparently feels this gigantic fence with barbed wire, cameras and detectors is an absolute necessary to guarantee the safety of the royal resident.

The Queen had to accept it. She would have manoeuvred the responsible departments and security services in a difficult situation if she had not allowed them to do their job properly.

[Marengo]

Well, I believe Diana Bosch van Drakensteyn, who is noble so who we will call eccentric instead of silly/crazy , said that they could have moced the fence back 1 meter or so and place some bushes against it.

I assume that is not possible as security needs a clear look over the fence. Perhaps she has to take a look at villa Eikenhorst btw, when she sees the great moat they dug there she will feel much happier about the Drakensteyn sollution.

[lucien]

On the renovation of Drakensteyn Castle:
Het Koninklijk Huis

Het Koninklijk Huis

[Marengo]

They want to prepare it 'for more intensive use'. It would be a good joke if Constantijn and Laurentien would be moving in there when the castle has been renovated...

[Marengo]

Well, Beatrix did that with Drakensteyn. I would hope that Constantijn will do the same when he settles here with his family, but I don´t expect that he can afford to by an estate, country house and the restauration of it all. It is more likely that he will settle down on one of the estates of the family, so de Horsten, Drakensteyn or in Apeldoorn.

If he will live in the Eikenhorst that would create a problem where to settle Amalia in the far future, though I don´t expect they plan these things 30 years ahead of course.

[Henri M.]

Originally Posted by Marengo

Well, Beatrix did that with Drakensteyn. I would hope that Constantijn will do the same when he settles here with his family, but I don´t expect that he can afford to by an estate, country house and the restauration of it all. It is more likely that he will settle down on one of the estates of the family, so de Horsten, Drakensteyn or in Apeldoorn.

If he will live in the Eikenhorst that would create a problem where to settle Amalia in the far future, though I don´t expect they plan these things 30 years ahead of course.

I wish Her Majesty a long and happy life -of course- but it will be most likely in her twenties that Princess Catharina-Amalia will leave the parental nest. At that time the Queen is way in her nineties. Most likely the Princess of Orange can opt for Noordeinde 66, for het Nieuwe Loo (the present house of Princess Margriet), Castle Het Oude Loo, Drakensteyn Estate, Villa Eikenhorst on De Horsten Estate, etc....

[Marengo]

Apparently the restauration will cost around 10 million euros. Boulevard magazine weekend shows aerial view pictures that show that the castle and the other buildings are being restaured.

[Marengo]

The works on Huis ten Bosch have been stopped as an inhabitant of Laage Vuursche (Diana probably) started a legal procedure against the municipalty of Baarn (to which Laage Vuursche belongs). The works will only proceed after the court has spoken a verdict about it.

Source: RTL News, they openly said that the Queen will withdraw there after her abdication, while the Court has certainly never said that.

[lucien]

Originally Posted by Marengo

The works on Huis ten Bosch have been stopped as an inhabitant of Laage Vuursche (Diana probably) started a legal procedure against the municipalty of Baarn (to which Laage Vuursche belongs). The works will only proceed after the court has spoken a verdict about it.

Source: RTL News, they openly said that the Queen will withdraw there after her abdication, while the Court has certainly never said that.

Uhh,not Huis ten Bosch,but Drakensteyn Castle.
The building of the barracks for the Royal Constabulary Force have been postponed till october 8th,after the hearing.

RTL assumes,but knows just as much for certain as we do here concerning HM plans for the future.But it seems plausible that HM would retreat there if anywhere.

[Marengo]

Apparently the gate on one side will be postponed too. It is actually a very ugly gate indeed. Perhaps they could place it a bit more inwards, and put plants before it.

[Marengo]

As posted by Marianne on the Benelux Royals MB:

There have been several discussions on this Board about the fact that Castle Drakensteyn is undergoing an extensive renovation.
Part of the discussion was also the huge fence that has been erased around the grounds surrounding Drankensteyn.
Local people complaining loud & clear about the fact that this new fence left minimal space for pedestrians/cyclists along the main road through the village, plus it being much higher than originally mentioned.
Another part of the discussion involved the neighbouring little church & church-yard.
At the far end of the church-yard the new royal fence was placed directly behind some graves, to the greater dismay of relatives of those who are buried there & who often visit the cemetry.
It has now been announced (see article in this Dutch news-paper)
http://www.nd.nl/Document.aspx?document=nd_artikel&id=109316
that the Queen recently has donated a larger areal (400 square meters) to the church/church-yard which now has more possibilities to use this extra space for new graves and adjustments.
However, it's not really pure kindness on the part of Her Majesty (although she didn't receive any Euro for this deal..) but as the article mentions too, that much-discussed fence will now be adjusted in a far better/more direct way around Drakensteyn-parc and this solution is for all involved a far more practical and less costly option !!


P.S. The article also mentions that both Queen Emma and Queen Wilhelmina went to this little church during the days when they stayed at nearby Soestdijk.
It even has its own Royal Pew!
Locals hope Queen Beatrix will also attend Mass in this church, in the future.

Some pics of the church here:
http://www.orgelsite.nl/kerken37/lagevuursche.htm