The Prince of Orange, Current Events 1 (October 2005 - May 2007)

[carlota]

Welcome to the 2nd thread about Crown Prince Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands' Current Events

Please remember to credit all your images and articles, and if posting articles, to post only 20% of them then to provide a direct link to the article in compliance with our Copyright Rule.

[Marengo]

Part of his upcoming duties:

4 Nov: the prince of Orange will receive first copies of the complete works of dutch author W.F. Hermans
13-16 Nov: WA and Maxima will visit Marocco
18 Nov: PoO will present the Erasmus prize to science historians (one of Prince Bernhards old 'jobs')
19 Nov: Baptism of the princess with the unfortunate names
25 Nov: PoO and Maxima will be present at the opening of an art exhibition of Delores Zorreguietta, half-sister of Maxima.
29-11/1-12: state visit from Jordan
23-6-06: PoO will present the King Willem I award.

[fanletizia]

Prince with BECKENBAUER

from anp

[xxPatrickxx]

Originally Posted by fanletizia

Prince with BECKENBAUER

from anp

Picture 2: into The 'Eikenhorst' :)

[purple_platinum]

Polfoto 11-01-2006 U. S. Congressman William Jennings Jefferson, far left, U.S. Sen. David Vitter, second left, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, fourth right, Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, third right, U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, second right and Dutch Vice Minister for Transport, Public Works and Water Management Melanie Schultz van Haegen, far right, look at a scale-model of the Maeslant Barrier gates, during a visit at the Maeslant Barrier gates near Hoek van Holland, the Netherlands, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2006.

A delegation of 50 U.S. goverment officials, academics and business representives is on a three-day tour in the Netherlands to study flood prevention techniques in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The American visitors are focusing their attention on the so-called Delta Project, a 50-year project that constructed dikes, giant sea walls and flood gates that keep the low-lying country dry. The project was built after a similar flood in the Netherlands in 1953 left around 1,800 people dead. U.S. lawmakers Mary Landrieu, David Vitter and Bill Jefferson, and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco are leading officials on the visit.

[Maxie]

Oh yes, the weather is just lovely over here at the moment. Just a perfect day for a visit to the Deltawerken or other nice and rainy spots along the Dutch coast...

Thanks for the info and the pictures, purple! :)

[purple_platinum]

from http://www.koninklijkhuis.nl/content.jsp?objectid=14119

Prince of Orange receive visit by U.S. delegation at the Netherlands after hurricanes Katrina and Rita, 11 January 2006

His Royal Highness the Prince of Orange on Wednesday, 11 January, will be present at the visit of an American delegation to the Maeslantkering and the Oosterscheldedam, consisting of politicians and representatives of the business world from the state Louisiana.

This delegation is present till Thursday on invitation of assistant secretary Melanie Schultz of Haegen of Traffic and Public works a visit at the Netherlands. Several months ago, New Orleans was hit heavily by wave of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Therefore the visit is the sign of the Dutch water management stands. The delegation want to put self on the height of the Dutch water approach. Not only a visit will become brought at the delta work. There will also particular attention go out to the new manners on which the Netherlands goes around with water.

Today the program stands paramount in the sign of knowledge division. Tomorrow the delegation brings a visit at the Maeslantkering and the Oosterscheldedam. On Thursday, ondermeer a visit afgelegd at the Waterloopkundig Laboratory becomes Digs and the Hoogheemraadschap Delfland.

10 January 2006

[purple_platinum]

from koninklijkhuis.nl

Short address by the Prince of Orange

on the occasion of a visit by a US delegation to the Maeslant storm surge barrier, 11 January 2006

Members of the US Delegation, madam vice minister, ladies and gentlemen,
Senator Landrieu, senator Vitter, thank you for your kind words about the Netherlands.

Our countries are old friends and it makes sense for us to help each other in times of need. That happened in 1953, when the Netherlands was hit by major flooding and the United States rushed to our aid, amongst others with mobile pumps. And it happened in 2005, when Louisiana was devastated by hurricane Katrina, when we sent the first replacements of those pumps back across the Atlantic. I visited the United States in November and had the opportunity to speak to many people involved trying to alleviate the human suffering and economic damage that Katrina and later on Rita caused. These conversations, combined with the experiences of our teams on the ground in Louisiana and Mississippi, made great impressions on me as they should do on anyone living in flood prone areas below sea level.

In 1953 we said: ‘This must never happen again.’ The Delta Project was the direct result of that, and the Maeslant storm surge barrier is the last of the major works. In America you are facing a similar challenge today: how to protect your country in the long term from flooding. You’ve come to the Netherlands to find a possible answer to that question. It is a complex issue and one country’s solutions may not be suitable for export unchanged. But sharing knowledge and expertise is an important condition for success. Just as you can learn from the Dutch approach, we can learn from your experiences. With that in mind, I am pleased that this visit is taking place and that the Netherlands and the United States are strengthening their cooperation on water-related issues.

I would like to stress that flood protection requires our constant attention.

 Because there is always room for improvement.
 Because insights and circumstances change.
 And – last but not least – because the global climate is changing.

The Netherlands has learned these lessons the hard way. The disaster of 1953 resulted in the Delta Project and the river floods in 1993 and 1995 triggered a whole new discussion about safety policy. Vice-minister Schultz van Haegen has set out the focal points of her policy for you. The keywords are: be prepared and be aware. Both are very important. Even in the Netherlands, too few people realise that seventy per cent of our GDP is generated below sea level. That is also where most people live. If something were to go wrong, the damage would be massive, materialistic but above all the toll in human lives. And that is the reason behind my call for constant vigilance. As chair of the Water Advisory Committee, which has been entrusted with the work of the recently dissolved Technical Advisory Board on Flood protection, I will also be making my contribution. Later this year, the state secretary will receive a recommendation from the Committee about a re-evaluation of Dutch flood protection measures.

I would like to make one final remark. It is good to keep your eye on the big picture. Flooding is not something that affects only the United States and the Netherlands. The whole world is in the same boat, especially in this century of climate change. We have to face that reality together. Sharing knowledge about water management and flooding is a global issue. Access to that knowledge is crucial to many third-world countries. This year’s World Water Forum in Mexico will provide abundant opportunities for progress in this area. US-Dutch cooperation could serve as an inspirational example there.
Ladies and gentlemen,

We will never be able to eliminate flooding completely. But being well-prepared can minimise the impact. In other words: you cannot control the wind, but you can adjust your sails. And that is what I hope for your delegation; that you will find plenty of inspiration here in the Netherlands to adjust your sails, on your voyage to a safer future.

Thank you

[pollyemma]

I'm so proud of him. he is such a good representative for holland and he REALLY knows what he talking about with water management.

I personally get bored to tears with the very thought of the subject but I'm glad he works on it since it is so quintessentially dutch.

[fanletizia]

Images from anp

[purple_platinum]

agreed completely, pollyemma.

Willem-Alexander is now the Water Prince...

i just hope some of his events, like he did last year to China would get more coverage, similar to the ones his wife had.

[susan alicia]

lots of smiles, they seem like they are having a good time, it has been raining cats and dogs today,
liked the last part of his speech:

"We will never be able to eliminate flooding completely. But being well-prepared can minimise the impact. In other words: you cannot control the wind, but you can adjust your sails. And that is what I hope for your delegation; that you will find plenty of inspiration here in the Netherlands to adjust your sails, on your voyage to a safer future."

Originally Posted by fanletizia

Images from anp

[Marengo]

Thanks for the pictures. This is a very interesting visit, which hopefully will be of any use to the future safekeeping of US-gulfcoast. I read an article of senator Mary Landrieu (my favourite US senator), in 'The Economist' in which she already referred to this visit and about getting the know-how of their 'dutch friends'.

[California Girl]

I'm glad to see that the representatives from Louisiana have gone to visit the experts in water management. Louisiana's loss of costal wetlands, New Orleans' historic concerns with flooding, and our changing climate issues make this a national/international concern.

[California Girl]

By the way, how long has Willem-Alexander been involved in water management?

[pollyemma]

Originally Posted by California Girl

By the way, how long has Willem-Alexander been involved in water management?

I think since he finished college. i believe he studied history so that was not his degree but he's worked on it so long that he can definitely be called an expert.

[California Girl]

Thank you pollyemma. Living in the US we rarely receive information about other European royals and it is wonderful to find some information regarding these royal families.

[purple_platinum]

Polfoto 11-01-2006 From left: U.S. Sen. David Vitter, Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, Dutch Vice Minister for Transport, Public Works and Water Management Melanie Schultz van Haegen, during a press conference at the Maeslant Barrier gates near Hoek van Holland, the Netherlands, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2006.

A delegation of 50 U.S. goverment officials, academics and business representives is on a three-day tour in the Netherlands to study flood prevention techniques in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The American visitors are focusing their attention on the so-called Delta Project, a 50-year project that constructed dikes, giant sea walls and flood gates that keep the low-lying country dry. The project was built after a similar flood in the Netherlands in 1953 left around 1,800 people dead. U.S. lawmakers Mary Landrieu, David Vitter and Bill Jefferson, and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco are leading officials on the visit.

[Marengo]

The blonde, long-haired secretary of state who escorts the Crownprince, Melanie Schultz-Verhagen, is often mistaken for Princess Maxima (by afar), especially in the early days of the marriage...

[purple_platinum]

2 more from koninklijkhuis.nl without watermark