Dutch Court, Courtiers and Friends of the RF


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According to serviezendomein.nl, the new tableware of the King is a special edition of the series called Blossom Panache and this is a series produced by the Koninklijke Porceleyne Fles in Delft, one of the oldest still existing companies of the country (established 1653).

A bit of a guestlist will soon count 100 people, with sometimes more than 300 even. The Marshal of the Court has informed the King: the current 40-years old china is no longer sufficient. Like in every household, plates will break, some will have scratches or chips and therefore no longer be suitable for a representative diner. That 40-years old china will remain in use for smaller diners, by the way.

Every couvert in the new set has 9 parts:
- an under-plate
- seven plates in progressing size
- a mokka and tea-cup with plate

Picture: https://www.koninklijkhuis.nl/binari...s_compleet.jpg

The remarkable thing: there are no bowls, terrines, serving plateaus. This is because the Dutch Court uses the méthode à la Russe: lackeys will serve out from silverware unto the plate. By the way: the lackeys will only pass one time, there is no secound round, so the hungry guests better asks extra when the lackey comes along to serve out.

What is also missing: a plate for the bread. At the Dutch Court it is the use to lay a bread at the side of the plate.

The design was been made by a master at the Koninklijke Porceleyne Fles. Who that man or woman is, has not been published. The couverts are made in traditional Delfts Blue, but in a contemporary design. A golden crowned intertwined W and M refers to the royal couple. All parts are lined with gold. The main theme of the plate is the kingfisher, which refers to William of Nassau, Prince of Orange (1533-1584) whose motto was Saevis tranquillus in undis (Calm amidst the raging waves). This to the then widespread legend that Kingfishers made their nests above raging rivers, undisturbed by all that force of nature under them. (The reality is that Kingfishers build their nests in steep banks of streams and rivers). The colours of the Kingfisher are orange-blanc-bleu, referring to the colours of the principauté d'Orange.

Kingfisher: http://www.ijsvogels.nl/wp-content/uploads/ijsvogel_ALC6901.jpg
 
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There is a new chamberlain for the province of Gelderland: Prof. Dr. Daniël Wigboldus, chariman of the executive board of the Radboud University. He is succeeding Jhr. Roelof Jozef de Wijkerslooth de Weerdesteyn.

The new chamberlain was appointed by the king on January 1st but it has only been announced now.
 
As usual after three to five years there is a carrousel in the top functions at the Royal Household Agency.

It has pleased His Majesty The King to dismiss his Grootmeester (Grandmaster), Mr Jan Versteeg. The outgoing Grandmaster will be appointed as His Majesty's Ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain.

It has pleased His Majesty The King to appoint Mr Chris Breedveld as his new Grootmeester. Up until now Mr Breedveld served as the director of the Kabinet van de Koning (the King's Cabinet), which is the official secretariate supporting the King in his role as head of state. The Kabinet van de Koning is the official trait d'union between the King, the Cabinet, the Parliament and other High Colleges of State.

The Grootmeester is to be seen as the CEO of the Royal Household Agency, which employs 350 people directly working in the service of the King. It varies from the royal forestry to the intendance of the royal residences, from the treasury to HRM, from the aides-de-camp to the footmen, from the equerries to the facility services, from the ICT to the Chamberlains.

It is usual to recruit these functionaries from the diplomatic service. After their period at the Court, these functionaries are often appointed somewhere in the world.

Pic: the new Grootmeester behind Princess Beatrix (watching Grenadier Guards passing by) : https://nos.nl/l/2279153
 
Has anymore served more than 5 years in that position?
 
An Ard Ri said:
Has anymore served more than 5 years in that position?
Click to expand...

Yes, Versteeg's predecessor served for 7 years (probably because he had to lead the transfer from Beatrix to Willem-Alexander).
 
In the book "Aan het Hof" by Remco Meijer and Jan Hoedeman it was written that Princess Beatrix witnessed chaos and amateurism at the court of her mother Queen Juliana.

Functionaries were coming from "us-knows-us" and often staying for decades, resulting in little kingdoms in the organisation. During the Hofmans Crisis in the 1950's the young Princess Beatrix witnessed directly that the Household became split in a Juliana-clique which was pro Hofmans and a Bernhard-clique which saw Hofmans as a Rasputin holding the Queen in her spell.

In the 1970's Princess Beatrix visited several courts as a preparation on her kingship. Especially the organization structure of the Household of the new Queen Margrethe of Denmark made a good impression on the Princess.

When Princess Beatrix became Queen in 198O, she started with the modernization of the Household. First there came a separation of the Queen as head of state (at Noordeinde Palace) and of the Queen as a private person (at Huis ten Bosch). The new Queen found the situation at Soestdijk Palace (functioning as both official residence of the head of state as well as a private family home) not desirable.

Then Queen Beatrix urged that every function was described and categorized in a handbook and an organization scheme. The Queen urged that the Household had to work conform standard norms, standard procedures to reach a norm of quality (ISO-norms, NEN-norms and the like). Special management firms were hired to x-ray the Household and to advise the Queen.

No longer was the "us-knows-us" the pool for the Household. Internal recruiters and accessors open their eyes and ears, especially in the diplomatic service and the armed forces (as temporary deployments are a normal phenomenon there). When persons are known for their expertise, management, organization and discretion, they have a chance to be requested for a top function at the Court.

Besides this seen as a honour, it also provides the opportunity to have an unique insight in the monarchy, to build a formidable network, is a pearl in someone's curriculum vitae and is often an ideal jump for top positions in the diplomatic service, the civil service, the armed forces or the world of business.

The other side of the medal: a "cold Court" which is more like a small ministerial department than a "family firm" as it was under Queen Juliana. Note: this is about the management functions. The cleaning lady, the chauffeur, the falconner, the florister, the dresser, the groom, the sommelier, etc. are no part of this carrousel.

The Grootmeesteres sounds like a female equivalent of the Grootmeester. But she leads the Dames-du-Palais and the Hofdames. Protocollary on the same rank as the Grootmeester but in functional hierarchy completely different. These are honorary positions (the functional costs are met by the King, but there are no salaries). These ladies are no subject of this carrousel either and are often for decades at the service of the Crown.
 
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Duc_et_Pair said:
In the book "Aan het Hof" by Remco Meijer and Jan Hoedeman it was written that Princess Beatrix witnessed chaos and amateurism at the court of her mother Queen Juliana.

Functionaries were coming from "us-knows-us" and often staying for decades, resulting in little kingdoms in the organisation. During the Hofmans Crisis in the 1950's the young Princess Beatrix witnessed directly that the Household became split in a Juliana-clique which was pro Hofmans and a Bernhard-clique which saw Hofmans as a Rasputin holding the Queen in her spell.

In the 1970's Princess Beatrix visited several courts as a preparation on her kingship. Especially the organization structure of the Household of the new Queen Margrethe of Denmark made a good impression on the Princess.

When Princess Beatrix became Queen in 198O, she started with the modernization of the Household. First there came a separation of the Queen as head of state (at Noordeinde Palace) and of the Queen as a private person (at Huis ten Bosch). The new Queen found the situation at Soestdijk Palace (functioning as both official residence of the head of state as well as a private family home) not desirable.

Then Queen Beatrix urged that every function was described and categorized in a handbook and an organization scheme. The Queen urged that the Household had to work conform standard norms, standard procedures to reach a norm of quality (ISO-norms, NEN-norms and the like). Special management firms were hired to x-ray the Household and to advise the Queen.

No longer was the "us-knows-us" the pool for the Household. Internal recruiters and accessors open their eyes and ears, especially in the diplomatic service and the armed forces (as temporary deployments are a normal phenomenon there). When persons are known for their expertise, management, organization and discretion, they have a chance to be requested for a top function at the Court.

Besides this seen as a honour, it also provides the opportunity to have an unique insight in the monarchy, to build a formidable network, is a pearl in someone's curriculum vitae and is often an ideal jump for top positions in the diplomatic service, the civil service, the armed forces or the world of business.

The other side of the medal: a "cold Court" which is more like a small ministerial department than a "family firm" as it was under Queen Juliana. Note: this is about the management functions. The cleaning lady, the chauffeur, the falconner, the florister, the dresser, the groom, the sommelier, etc. are no part of this carrousel.

The Grootmeesteres sounds like a female equivalent of the Grootmeester. But she leads the Dames-du-Palais and the Hofdames. Protocollary on the same rank as the Grootmeester but in functional hierarchy completely different. These are honorary positions (the functional costs are met by the King, but there are no salaries). These ladies are no subject of this carrousel either and are often for decades at the service of the Crown.
Click to expand...

Fascinating! It must be to Queen Beatrix's credit that she was able to execute such fundamental changes over several decades. Indeed the more professional structure seems more suitable for a democratic monarchy.
 
Tatiana Maria said:
Fascinating! It must be to Queen Beatrix's credit that she was able to execute such fundamental changes over several decades. Indeed the more professional structure seems more suitable for a democratic monarchy.
Click to expand...

The King has all the freedom (but also the responsibility). Article 41 of the Constitution says that the King shall organize his House, taking due account of the public interest (= the ministerial responsibility). In Dutch practice the Cabinet seldom or never intervenes in the Household.

The last time the Cabinet interfered will have been in the 1950's during the Hofmans Crisis, when courtiers were dismissed after strong urges by the Cabinet. Queen Juliana reluctantly dismissed these courtiers, as she felt the ministers were interfering in her constitutional right to organize her own House.

A few decades later the Cabinet arranged an emergency brake:

Constitution since 1815:
The King shall organize his House.

Constitution since 1983:
The King shall organize his House, taking due account of the public interest.
 
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Beatrix ran a very professional court and to her credit restored a lot of the pomp to the Dutch Monarchy,her queenship was very successful.
 
An Ard Ri said:
Beatrix ran a very professional court and to her credit restored a lot of the pomp to the Dutch Monarchy,her queenship was very successful.
Click to expand...


Do you think there was "less pomp" under Queen Juliana ?
 
Mbruno said:
Do you think there was "less pomp" under Queen Juliana ?
Click to expand...

After the roaring Sixties Queen Juliana changed from a Queen into a social worker, let us say. But in all books it is claimed that Prince Bernhard had more eye for the theatre of state. Even in the late Forties / early Fifties there were conflicts between Queen and Prince because his daughters learned nothing in the experimental "free school" they were following. It was a clash of views: Queen Juliana wanted her daughters to become free self-exploring persons. Prince Bernhard thought this was rubbish: their daughters were royal princesses. Also here Prince Bernhard "won". Let me say: Queen Juliana could be a grand Queen, but for her "the dignity of the kingship" had a total other meaning than Prince Bernhard (and Princess Beatrix).

Queen Juliana was not so interested in the court organization. Also on the negotiations about the modernization of the royal finances it was Prince Bernhard with sharp interventions. Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard never lived in The Hague since WWII. And the court was in The Hague. There is a Dutch proverb: "When the cat leaves the house, the mice dance on the table". Compare it with Downton Abbey: the Earl and Countess of Grantham live in London for three decades and organize Downton from that distance. Anyone will understand that the organization will become sloppy, not up to the nines, a bit neglected, that little kingdoms grow at the palaces in The Hague, Amsterdam and Apeldoorn, all on a distance from the boss at Soestdijk Palace in an era with no internet, e-mail, etc.

Of course, in the end there was no bigger threat to the "dignity of the kingship" than Prince Bernhard himself, ironically the one whom initially cared the most about it.... His daughter had a lot of restoration work to do to the dignity of the kingship when she took over in 1980. Four years after the Lockheed Scandal and in the middle of an economic crisis. Her Investiture turned out in the heaviest riots Amsterdam has seen since WWII.
 
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The family's nurse got the 'Erekruis in de Huisorde van Oranje' (Cross of Honour in the House Order of Orange) on February 3. She is from Suriname (a former Dutch colony) and it seems the newspapers here only found out about it recently. See: DWT and SUnieuws.

This nurse is the one who was the only non-family member that could be seen walking with the family at princess Christina's funeral; the king called her by her first name in his speech last month.
 
Somebody said:
The family's nurse got the 'Erekruis in de Huisorde van Oranje' (Cross of Honour in the House Order of Orange) on February 3. She is from Suriname (a former Dutch colony) and it seems the newspapers here only found out about it recently. See: DWT and SUnieuws.

This nurse is the one who was the only non-family member that could be seen walking with the family at princess Christina's funeral; the king called her by her first name in his speech last month.
Click to expand...

What a nice honour. Such an Erekruis is usually bestowed during a private ceremony and is given for services to the King. It is totally apart from any decoration. One can already be a Knight or a Dame in an Order, but the Erekruis is private.

Märthe Röling, for artistic involvement in the use of royal residences: https://images2.persgroep.net/rcs/N...=21791a8992982cd8da851550a453bd7f&quality=0.9

Krijn van den Ende for leading the restoration of the Royal Palace Amsterdam:
https://www.schildersvak.nl/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/nieuws_afbeelding_1894.jpg

Herman Tjeenk Willink for being the trusted private counsel to the King:
https://images.fd.nl/wVtZCZJ-94HHwdBJ2lKFANnHO4s.jpg?auto=format&q=45&cs=tinysrgb&w=564

Mr Tjeenk Willink already is Knight Grand-Cross in the Order of Orange-Nassau, see him behind the lady in blue, showing that the House Order is another category: https://images.nrc.nl/Cl0Zws-kkqx9m...nrc.nl/inbeeld/files/2013/04/ANP-23179967.jpg
 
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Duc_et_Pair said:
What a nice honour. Such an Erekruis is usually bestowed during a nice private ceremony and is given for services to the King.

Märthe Röling, for artistic involvement in the use of royal residences: https://images2.persgroep.net/rcs/N...=21791a8992982cd8da851550a453bd7f&quality=0.9

Krijn van den Ende for leading the restoration of the Royal Palace Amsterdam:
https://www.schildersvak.nl/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/nieuws_afbeelding_1894.jpg

Herman Tjeenk Willink for being the trusted private counsel to the King:
https://images.fd.nl/wVtZCZJ-94HHwdBJ2lKFANnHO4s.jpg?auto=format&q=45&cs=tinysrgb&w=564
Click to expand...
It was a nice private ceremony indeed at Huis ten Bosch with all important members of the Dutch royal family present (at least: Willem-Alexander, Máxima, Beatrix, Mabel, Constantijn, Laurentien, Margriet, Pieter - most of them can be seen in the Dwt-picture) and lots of family and friends of Lygia (as can be seen in the Su-nieuws picture); they even had people fly over from Suriname.
 
Somebody said:
It was a nice private ceremony indeed at Huis ten Bosch with all important members of the Dutch royal family present (at least: Willem-Alexander, Máxima, Beatrix, Mabel, Constantijn, Laurentien, Margriet, Pieter - most of them can be seen in the Dwt-picture) and lots of family and friends of Lygia (as can be seen in the Su-nieuws picture); they even had people fly over from Suriname.
Click to expand...

Yes, fantastic that the King extended his praise to all Surinam nurses and the quality of their education and fantastic that guests from Suriname were flown over to the Netherlands to attend this ceremony.

Nurse Lygia has cared for Prince Claus, Princess Juliana and Princess Christina so she has seen the family in the most vulnerable moments of despair but always been a trusted rock of discretion. Such persons are a gem for any public family.

I do not know if Nurse Lygia also cared for Prince Bernhard and Prince Friso.
 
Duc_et_Pair said:
Yes, fantastic that the King extended his praise to all Surinam nurses and the quality of their education and fantastic that guests from Suriname were flown over to the Netherlands to attend this ceremony.

Nurse Lygia has cared for Prince Claus, Princess Juliana and Princess Christina so she has seen the family in the most vulnerable moments of despair but always been a trusted rock of discretion. Such persons are a gem for any public family.

I do not know if Nurse Lygia also cared for Prince Bernhard and Prince Friso.
Click to expand...

I assume she at least did so for prince Friso while he was at Huis ten Bosch - although that was a rather short period.
 
Came across this article (in Dutch) about the king's friends, starting with an anecdote about a friend he met at UWC where his daughter is about to start.
 
What a cv for "just" being a particulier secretaris. Looks way overqualified for the job but maybe Máxima has certain expectations.
 
I had to look up Sinologie.
Well, it will certainly be something new for drs. Wu and also look good on her cv for future use.
 
An obituary in the NRC announced the death of the 19 y/o son of Jhr. Frans de Beaufort. Frans is the godfather of Pss Alexia and a witness at the wedding of the King and Queen. The young man was a first year student at the University of Utrecht.

The obituary was signed by Alexander, Máxima, Amalia, Alexia and Ariane and used their first names only. The names of Marc ter Haar and Tijo baron Collot d'Escury (other two witnesses at the wedding) and their families were listed on the obituary too.

The mother of Frans, Cornélie (Corinne) de Beaufort, née Jkvr. Sickinghe was a governess of Beatrix and Irene. The two princesses were bridesmaids at her wedding in 1953. She died last year at the age of 98 in The Hague. Her niece Jkvr. Wilhelmina (Ina) Sickinge is married to a son of late president Valery Giscard d'Estaing.

The University campus provides councelling to those students that want to talk about the death and a condoleance register is opened at the campus. According to the Student Corps website, the student died after he went missing on tuesday. His house mates last saw him at 2:30PM.
 
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Those were the days when even gouvernantes were of the nobility. The mother of jonkheer Frans de Beaufort (the King's best friend, and witness, and godfather of Princess Alexia) was jonkvrouw Cornélie Jeanne Louise Mathilde ("Corinne") de Beaufort born jonkvrouw Sickinghe and indeed once a gouvernante to Princess Beatrix.


(Jonkheer/jonkvrouw is a predicate for untitled nobility, more or less comparable with Lord/Lady).
 
Duc_et_Pair said:
Those were the days when even gouvernantes were of the nobility. The mother of jonkheer Frans de Beaufort (the King's best friend, and witness, and godfather of Princess Alexia) was jonkvrouw Cornélie Jeanne Louise Mathilde ("Corinne") de Beaufort born jonkvrouw Sickinghe and indeed once a gouvernante to Princess Beatrix.


(Jonkheer/jonkvrouw is a predicate for untitled nobility, more or less comparable with Lord/Lady).
Click to expand...

Did Mrs Beaufort remain an employee of the Royal family after the princesses had outgrown the need for her help? The Swedish Miss Björnberg (born into the nobility on the entailed Stora Djupsås Manor) entered the service of the family of Hereditary Prince Gustav Adolf as a nanny in 1938 and after that went through different positions as housekeeper/companion to Princess Sibylla, extra nanny to the children of her ward King Carl Gustav and ended her days as housekeeper of the Royal Palaces before passing away in 1994 after almost 60 years of devoted service.
 
:previous:

No, she left the service upon her marriage -as was the custom in those days. She was replaced by Drs. Eléonore Françoise (Leonoor) Mees, of the Rotterdam branch of the patrician family. The latter got married in 1955 to Dr. Arnold Jacob (Ab) Teychiné Stakenburg and also stopped working for the court. The wedding reception in Schoonoord, Rotterdam was attended by Queen Juliana.

Untill 1955 all Dutch women would automatically get fired from a government-related job on the day of their wedding.

Princesses Margriet and Marijke (later Christina) had a French governess in 1951, named Mlle Jeanine Seston. She was from Paris and her father was Prof. William Seston, a professor of old history at the Sorbonne University.
 
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eya said:
"King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands is in mourning after the son of his best friend died. Jan de Beaufort, 19, died on 9 May. He was the son of the King’s best friend, Frans de Beaufort."


https://royalcentral.co.uk/europe/n...nder-in-mourning-for-best-friends-son-176810/
Click to expand...

The funeral took place yesterday (on queen Máxima's birthday) according to AD. In the afternoon, the king received Ukraine's Secretary of State/Minister of Foreign Relations. Weirdly, the Dutch Minister of Foreign Relations was on a trip to Israel at the same time.
 
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