Dutch Royal Carriages, Cars, Ships and Airplanes


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It is in tip-top condition, as may be expected. The interior is not Trumpian but functional. Negatives for the plane are the limited range (for an example: the King can not travel to the Caribbean part of the kingdom without stops in-between) and it is -in comparison to alternatives- thirsty in kerosine and therefore has an unnecessary big carbon footprint.

Another reason is that KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, which operates this plane, ends the use of all Fokker airplanes in their fleet. This means that they no longer train pilots to fly in Fokker airplanes and that their technical service will loose know-how and experience in the maintenance of Fokkers. All this attributed to the decision to search for a successor of the PH-KBX which will possibly be registered as PH-KWA.
 
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The new main airplane for the King and other members of the Cabinet will be a new Boeing 737 Business Jet. Purchase price: 89 million Euro (appr. 95 million US Dollar).

An important reason for this choice is that KLM/Royal Dutch Airlines flies with Boeings, so the maintenance and operation can be done by KLM with plenty of qualified Dutch crews and controlled maintenance staff, a demand of the AIVD (General Intelligence- and Security Agency).

The interior will have Delft's Blue accents. The exterior is not yet known. Besides this plane, the fleet for the transportation of King and Cabinet also has a few Gulfstreams and helicopters.

Source: Gloednieuwe Boeing van 89 miljoen euro voor kabinet en koning - Binnenland - Voor nieuws, achtergronden en columns
 
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The new Boeing 737 Business Jet is more expensive than 89 million Euro: the current Fokker 70 has been sold. It is not made public what the revenue was, but the sum of 89 million Euro is with the net sum with the revenue from the sale of the old plane.

The former planes were registered as PH-PBX (prinses Beatrix), PH-KBX (koningin Beatrix). The expectation was that the new plane would be PH-KWA (koning Willem-Alexander) as that combination was free, but chosen is for PH-GOV, standing for Government.

In the Netherlands Constitution, the Government comprises of the King and the ministers. The King has priority on use of the plane but almost 85% of the flights is for the ministers, while nagging about the costs of the plane is always contributed towards the King and "his plane".

So it is wise to stress in the public framing: it is the plane of the Government, and as head of state and menber of Government, the King uses the plane as well. To avoid PH-KWA ("Willem-Alexander's plane") and to go for PH-GOV ("the Government's plane") the framing lies less on the person of the King and more on the Government as a whole.
 
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I think the Fokker 70 is very suited indeed as a VIP jet to fly between Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, etc. For normal use (as a regular passenger airplane) the costs are too high (the plane is quite thirsty for kerosine it seems).
 
royalfanvivian said:
Today it was announced that government aircraft PH-KBX is sold to the Australian Alliance Airlines.
Regeringsvliegtuig PH-KBX verkocht | De Oranjes
Click to expand...

HM the King aquired his pilot license/brevet for the Boeing 737 earlyer this month as was announced by the Government Information Service.
As is already known the government opted for a 737 BBJ as the successor of the previous Government aircraft.Great!:flowers:
 
Unexpected colour combination. The design of the livery does not immediately convince me. I like it that they do not surrender to English language and just state Koninkrijk der Nederlanden (Kingdom of the Netherlands).
 
Unexpected is one word for it... :whistling:.

Is the back of the plane black or a very dark blue?
 
Marengo said:
Unexpected is one word for it... :whistling:.

Is the back of the plane black or a very dark blue?
Click to expand...

Dark blue...I think the colour scheme is distinguised,with just a touch of Orange on the wing tips.
 
I thought it was black, but red-white and blue with a touch of Orange makes sense.
 
The new Government aircraft,PH-GOV undertook test flights yesterday from Woensdrecht airbase over NL and Germany.The aircraft will start service in May.

See post 67
 
Take a look aboard the new plane which will be used by the King and Queen. It is ready for service:

 
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Today's news is that the Gouden Koets (Golden Carriage) will not be returned to regular use at least for one more year. Restauration is expected to be done by late Spring next year and will be exhibited at the Amsterdam Museum from June to November. This includes the Third Tuesday of September, the only day in the year the carriage would normally be used to transport the king and queen from Noordeinde Palace to the Ridderzaal.

Over the last few years, one panel of the carriage has been the focus of much debate and it seems that this could be the definitive answer - it won't be used again but will be displayed in a museum (for now the Amsterdam Musem) instead. Formally, no final decision has been taken but to me it doesn't make sense to use it for a exposition in the period that it would normally be needed. So, I'm pretty confident that this was the end of it as the primary used carriage of the royal family. It has been retired but it's just not official yet...
 
This was always the most likely outcome. Now Black Pete has been changed for the most part, the obvious new target for protestors would be the carriage. The royal family should not be in the middle of such a controversy so I think this is the right decision for the moment & they are now ahead of the story. Just imagine the nightmare if the carriage -and as a consequence the king- would become the center of an extremely polarizing debate such as happened with Black Pete this last decade!

Of course the decision at present will be controversial to some people as well. The two extreme right parties and their supporters will see it as another sign of Dutch culture/ traditions supposedly being snatched away by lefties/liberals/immigrants/etc.. And I suppose it will be a matter of time before the protestors on the other side of the political spectrum will want to see the carriage removed from the museum too. Still, at this early stage & in the absence of a heated public debate, perhaps most people will shrug their shoulders about it all.

A pity because the carriage has been used for over a century and although the glass coach is IMHO prettier it has the disadvantage that the ceiling is too low for the king and queen, who seem to be hitting the roof when they are in it.
 
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Well, I am glad that they will not use it. Horrible carriage, way over the top. I much prefer the beautiful glass carriage they have been using the last few years.
 
SLV said:
Well, I am glad that they will not use it. Horrible carriage, way over the top. I much prefer the beautiful glass carriage they have been using the last few years.
Click to expand...


Tastes differ. I have the idea that smooth door panels without paintings, like the other carriages will please the eye. Not necessarily gold, make the panels in deep shiny oxblood red or deep shiny blue.

Look at the picture: above the door panels the Glass State Carriage is as ornamental as the Golden State Carriage but it is balanced by the calm blue panels:


https://wnl-static.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/07/ANP-377724541-scaled.jpg
 
I remember um-teen years ago the photo elsewhere on this forum of then-Queen Beatrix getting out from behind the wheel of her Ford Focus estate. It was charming that the monarch drove such an un-flashy car. Unfortunately, the link to the photo is now broken. If anyone knows where it, or any others of the aged Beatrix driving, are located, I would love to see. Thanks!
 
:previous:

I've not been able to find any photos of Beatrix driving a car herself, but I did find this interesting link of all the official cars used by the Dutch Royal Family almost up to the present day:

http://www.paul-wouters.nl/koninklijk.htm
 
IslandDweller said:
I remember um-teen years ago the photo elsewhere on this forum of then-Queen Beatrix getting out from behind the wheel of her Ford Focus estate. It was charming that the monarch drove such an un-flashy car. Unfortunately, the link to the photo is now broken. If anyone knows where it, or any others of the aged Beatrix driving, are located, I would love to see. Thanks!
Click to expand...

I thought Princess - Queen - Princess Beatrix has driven Volvo cars for more than 60 years. In private that is. I do remember a Ford Focus Station as private car indeed (or was it one of the staff fleet, loaned by the Queen?).

In the first two decades of her reign Queen Beatrix had Ford as standard supplier to the royal fleet. In her last decade Volvo became the standard car and now under King Willem-Alexander the official fleet consists of Audi cars. But outside the official fleet they drive Volvo XC90 .

The first two decades under Beatrix with Ford Granada and Ford Scorpio as official royal cars were horrible. I have never understood what the Queen saw in those cars.
 
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IslandDweller said:
I remember um-teen years ago the photo elsewhere on this forum of then-Queen Beatrix getting out from behind the wheel of her Ford Focus estate. It was charming that the monarch drove such an un-flashy car. Unfortunately, the link to the photo is now broken. If anyone knows where it, or any others of the aged Beatrix driving, are located, I would love to see. Thanks!
Click to expand...
I knew exactly which one you meant but it took me a while (btw it is a Ford Focus indeed)

https://www.anpfoto.nl/search.pp?pictureid=301043399&page=67&pos=1982
https://www.anpfoto.nl/search.pp?pictureid=301043400&page=67&pos=1981
https://www.anpfoto.nl/search.pp?pictureid=301043401&page=66&pos=1980
 
Are the vintage cars ever used by the RF or just on permanent display?
 
anirac said:
I knew exactly which one you meant but it took me a while (btw it is a Ford Focus indeed)

https://www.anpfoto.nl/search.pp?pictureid=301043399&page=67&pos=1982
https://www.anpfoto.nl/search.pp?pictureid=301043400&page=67&pos=1981
https://www.anpfoto.nl/search.pp?pictureid=301043401&page=66&pos=1980
Click to expand...

Thank you!!!

I wonder if it's ever been confirmed if she was indeed the person who drove the Twingo over the bollard.

https://www.motor1.com/news/101343/...It isn't clear if,, Scotland homes, after all.

We know from the Focus she's not above driving a cheap set of wheels.
 
The Golden carriage has been hoisted into the the courtyard of the Amsterdam museum last night. The carriage has a weight of 2800 kilos:

https://nos.nl/artikel/2384378-restauratie-klaar-gouden-koets-op-binnenplaats-museum-gehesen

https://www.volkskrant.nl/nieuws-ac...oninklijke-terugkeer-blijft-onzeker~b35c0e6f/

https://www.parool.nl/amsterdam/gou...-amsterdamse-expositieplek-getakeld~b19c14d8/

According to the Volkskrant it is unclear if the carriage will ever be used again. The King has been using the glass carriage since 2016. The newspapers says that Queen Wilhelmina was not very enthusiastic about the carriage and it was only used since 1923 on a regular basis. Apparently it went by the nickname 'pretty from afar but far from pretty'.
 
Today the king explained in a video message (see NOS) that (at least for now) the Golden Carriage will not be used. He stated that the time is not ready yet for the Carriage to be used again.

He also stressed that doing away with historical objectives or judging previous times with modern eyes isn't helpful. Nonetheless, we have to come to terms with the past and its influence in the present in a joined effort.
 
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