Prinsjesdag 2013-2022


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maxima looks magnificent. this dress doesn't top up last year's but comes a close second. i wouldn't be surprised if it was also jan taminiau - he sure knows how to dress the queen. blue is also maxima's colour, she looks great in it (just like during her inauguration).
 
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Apparently the dress is made by Claes Iversen. This is his sketch:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CszKnGeXEAEBFEm.jpg

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A large renovation of the Inner Court will start in 2020. Minister Blok has said that parlament should decide what they want to do for the opening of parlement: re-open the Hall of Knights for a day or move to a different location. A re-opening will result in a delay of the renovation, a sad-looking Inner court as it is under re-construction and extra costs, a majority of the chamber is against this idea. A possibility is to move the opening to the Grote Kerk (Great Church) of The Hague.

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Once again my absolute favourite Dutch royal event has come round and as ever I have been impressed by the grandeur, the pomp and ceremony, the formality and the importance of the event - I always love to hear the King's fanfare and to see the carriages and balcony appearance and simply cannot fault the whole event!
 
I was busy yesterday so didn't watch it on tv, and only got to see my first info and pics in my morning newspaper (which is a regional one, but strongly affiliated with one of the NL's big national newspapers) and what struck me, was that there was a pic of Q.Maxima on the front-page (very close-up, you can only see her face, not even her hair for instance) and other than that no pics of the king or queen at all...

Ofcourse prinsjesdag is about politics, but that there is no pic at all of the guy who read it, is peculiar...
 
I would make a plea for the King wearing an uniform again. I understand that Prinsjesdag is a civic affair but military wear grand tenue, as we can see in the Hall of Knights. As any retired officer the King can wear a military tenue for events.

Uniformed aides-de-camp from the Military House of the King were seated besides the royal dais. High ranked officers and Knights Militaire Willems-Orde were in grand tenue in the Hall of Knights.
 
I would make a plea for the King wearing an uniform again. I understand that Prinsjesdag is a civic affair but military wear grand tenue, as we can see in the Hall of Knights. As any retired officer the King can wear a military tenue for events.

Uniformed aides-de-camp from the Military House of the King were seated besides the royal dais. High ranked officers and Knights Militaire Willems-Orde were in grand tenue in the Hall of Knights.

No,HM can not wear a uniform to every occasion,especially NOT when it is non military but a State affair in his role as Monarch.The military outfits of adjutants,well,it's their working clothes...I thought you would have understood that after so many decades on fora..:whistling:

But protocol is protocol,and it is written at Palaces,not at votre maison monsieur:ROFLMAO:...
 
No,HM can not wear a uniform to every occasion,especially NOT when it is non military but a State affair in his role as Monarch.The military outfits of adjutants,well,it's their working clothes...I thought you would have understood that after so many decades on fora..:whistling:

But protocol is protocol,and it is written at Palaces,not at votre maison monsieur:ROFLMAO:...

A wedding is a civil engagement. A reception is a civil engagement. A state banquet is a civil engagement. Retired officers are free to wear a military tenue. The King included. By drawing a strict line between civil and military, it is like excluding the hardworking and courageous men and women in the armed forces from normal society. Until April 30th 2013 the Prince of Orange wore military tenues but also then he was by not in active military service but attached to the Reserve. This did not stop the Prince to wear military tenue at Prinsjesdag.
 
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I suppose he could wear the costume and sash that he used at his inauguration, which had a simular dress code. It looks rather strange, the queen in a big dress, jewels and sash and the king in his morning tenue. But I am sure they have the dress code correct. Prince Claus and Prince Bernhard both wore a morning coat (in Bernhards case after the Lockheed affair) to this event, without orders.

I never understood why HM gave up wearing militairy costumes in the first place. But I doubt that it will be changed. Perhaps they thought it looked too much like an operetta.
 
I suppose he could wear the costume and sash that he used at his inauguration, which had a simular dress code. It looks rather strange, the queen in a big dress, jewels and sash and the king in his morning tenue. But I am sure they have the dress code correct. Prince Claus and Prince Bernhard both wore a morning coat (in Bernhards case after the Lockheed affair) to this event, without orders.

I never understood why HM gave up wearing militairy costumes in the first place. But I doubt that it will be changed. Perhaps they thought it looked too much like an operetta.

The dresscode is correct, the only difference with the past is that Pieter van Vollenhoven and Claus von Amsberg (both were active in the military) preferred civilian tenue. In Ye Olde Days the King, with an escorte of princes, would head to the Hall of Knights. The commanders of the armed forces, the aides-de-camp of the Military House, the attachés from the Corps Diplomatique, the Knights of the Militaire Willems-Orde, all of them wore grand tenue. It is just part of the ceremonial.
 
A wedding is a civil engagement. A reception is a civil engagement. A state banquet is a civil engagement. Retired officers are free to wear a military tenue. The King included. By drawing a strict line between civil and military, it is like excluding the hardworking and courageous men and women in the armed forces from normal society. Until April 30th 2013 the Prince of Orange wore military tenues but also then he was by not in active military service but attached to the Reserve. This did not stop the Prince to wear military tenue at Prinsjesdag.

It didn't stop the Prince,no,indeed,but he's the Monarch now ,..happened little over 3 years ago...and as such represents the whole Nation,and a Monarch doesn't enter Parliament in Military adoo,never.:)
 
I read on royal blog that there were some complaints about the glass coach: the windows are smaller than in the golden coach, the ceiling is too low/ the seats too high, the windows reflect too much ... and to make matters worse: Queen Máxima's hat -called Belissima- covered most of the king's face for the spectators who were on her side of the road.
 
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It didn't stop the Prince,no,indeed,but he's the Monarch now ,..happened little over 3 years ago...and as such represents the whole Nation,and a Monarch doesn't enter Parliament in Military adoo,never.:)

King Felipe entered Parliament in uniform. King Philippe entered Parliament in uniform. Grand-Duke Henri entered Parliament in uniform. King Harald entered Parliament in uniform. All Dutch Kings entered Parliament in uniform.

The King is not wearing battledress and armour. It is just a ceremonial tenue of the armed forces. As Prince the King has always been so proud to belong to the armed forces and now..., pfff..., even on his own Investiture, he wears an evening attire (white tie) in combination with the ermine. It all feels like an artificial separation because of zelots who think a member of Government in uniform is like a military junta or so. Even during the National Remembrance the King is in civil wear, while he has been in the military since adolescent years! Typical calvinist prinzipienreiterei.
 
Oh dear, those calvinists from the North... fortunately the calvinist Dutch court could maintain a much higher number of ceremonial functions etc. than the surviving catholic kingdoms, both of which belong to the most business-like in Europe with few grand festivities, no stables, few (used) jewels etc. The uniform of the king is the only exception. Let's hope HM is not as attached to it as his grandfather was.

I looked it up, as I always forget why he does not wear a uniform. Apparently the reasoning is: as a member of the government he is forbidden to be an active member of the army. This was changed in the 80-ties, when the catholic Ruud Lubbers was prime minister. HM can wear the uniform at occassions when he thinks it is appropriate. I can not find an answer to the question why HM does not think Prinsjesdag is appropriate, but apparently he limits the use of a uniform to militairy functions only. It seems that the decision was his, not of the members various calvinist churches.

https://magazines.defensie.nl/defensiekrant/2014/09/koning
 
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It didn't stop the Prince,no,indeed,but he's the Monarch now ,..happened little over 3 years ago...and as such represents the whole Nation,and a Monarch doesn't enter Parliament in Military adoo,never.:)


Actually all monarchs, except the King of Sweden, wear uniforms in parliament.
And why only the royal ladies use their orders while the men don´t (although the King and his brothers wore orders during his mother´s reign at Prinsjesdag wearing also morning suit like today!) is beyond me...:ermm:
 
Actually all monarchs, except the King of Sweden, wear uniforms in parliament.
And why only the royal ladies use their orders while the men don´t (although the King and his brothers wore orders during his mother´s reign at Prinsjesdag wearing also morning suit like today!) is beyond me...:ermm:

No King there but i don't think that a danish King would wear a Uniform to the Opening of parliament there. And from the dutch Princes only Willem-Alexander wore an order during his mother's reign. Constantijn never wore his sash.
 
How did I forget about one of my annual royal highlights,thanks for the reminder!
 
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The ladies and their hats... - not as exciting as at Ascot though ;)


** belga gallery **


And first pics of the family:


** Pic 1 ** Pic 2 ** Pic 3 ** Pic 4 ** Pic 5 ** Pic 6 ** Pic 7 **


** anp gallery ** belga gallery **


Lovely Princess Beatrix waved from one of the windows:


** Pic ** anp gallery **


** gettyimages gallery Prinsjesdag 2017 ** ppe gallery ** rex gallery ** robinutrecht.photoshelter gallery **


** dailymail: A Dutch fairytale! Queen Maxima is elegant in a grey gown as she and King Willem-Alexander arrive in a horse-drawn carriage..**


 
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In the past some hats of female politicians were used to make political statements but this year it seems that they all went for less extroverted pieces. Even Marianne Thieme seems to have a decent hat this year, so that is nice.

Princess Laurentien was in grey and queen Maxima in a somber blue tone, the reporters were speculating that they chose these colors out of solidarity with the Caribbean part of the kingdom, as St. Maarten was hit by hurricane Irma. The king opened the speech with a reference to that disaster.

Laurentien's dress was from Hardies in The Hague, Queen Maxima chose Natan.

Next to princess Beatrix in the window of the cabinet of the King was the director of the cabinet. Next to her was Martine van Loon-Labouchere, former Grand Mistress of the court and a good friend of the princess. The cabinet of the King is a liaison office between the palace and the government.

The speech was shorter than usual, as the care-taker government has limited options for new policies. It will still take a few weeks before we get a new government. The king joked ijn the summer that he hoped that there will be one before Huis ten Bosch is finished. Due to the lack of new policies the traditional debates after the speech have been cancelled.

Traditionally the cabinet is installed in the Orange Hall of Huis ten Bosch but this time that is not possible, so it will have to be done in Noordeinde.

The queen was in a hurry: she and the prime minister will fly to New York directly after the speech and balcony scene. She will attend a benefit dinner for Microcredits tonight.
 
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Does anyone know which coaches were used this year?
 
The glass coach for the king, the gala glass berline for prince Constantijn. The latter coach was changed for the wedding of Princess Margriet and Pieter van Vollenhoven, more glass was added so the royals would be more visible. In the 50-ties and early 60-ties the princesses often used an open carriage.

They showed the golden carriage at the beginning of the broadcast: it seems to have been dismantled. It will take a few years for the restauration to be completed.

Last year it seemed (to me) that the king and queen almost hit the ceiling of the glass carriage, but this year the proportions seems to be less off. Maybe they lowered the bench.
 
Thanks for the royal coach identifications,it was also an added bonus to see former queen Beatrix,still miss her presence at these events!
 
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