Dutch Royal Couple Begin Their State Visit to Australia, First Stop: Perth

At the invitation of the Governor General of Australia, Sir Peter Cosgrove, Their Majesties King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima started today, Monday October 31, their five-day state visit to Australia accompanied by three Dutch Ministers: Bert Koenders Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lilianne Ploumen Minister for Foreign Trade and Development and Henk Kamp Minister of Economic Affairs.

First stop of the state visit was at the Government House, the residence of Kelly Sanderson, the Governor of the State of Western Australia, where the Royal Couple were officially welcomed with a traditional Aboriginal Smoking Ceremony. The King and Queen had a meeting with the Governor.

Hallo NL! 6 uur geleden werden WA en Máxima met rookceremonie door Aboriginals verwelkomd in Perth. #NLStateVisitAUS pic.twitter.com/DKmvijTKCu

— Rick Evers (@Rick_Evers) October 31, 2016

Afterwards, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima went to the Port of Fremantle where they visited the Welcome Walls, over 400 panels commemorating the names of migrants who arrived from countries around the world.

In the Western Australian Museum, the King and Queen opened the exhibition “Travellers and Traders in the Indian Ocean World” that commemorates the 400th anniversary of the first European contact with Western Australia made by the Dutch sailor and explorer, Dirk Hartog.

The Royal Couple unveiled the Dirk Hartog Plate, a pewter dish inscribed in Dutch that attests the presence of Dirk Hartog and that was left in the Dirt Hartog Island, an island discovered by Hartog on the coast of Western Australia. The plate belongs to the Rijksmuseum of Amsterdam and it is on loan to the WA Maritime Museum. The Royal Couple also visited the Shipwreck Galleries, one of the most important maritime archaeology museum that contains remains of ships.

The last event of the first day was a meeting with the Dutch community living in Perth.

Filed under The Netherlands
Tagged Australia, King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands, Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, State Visit.