* Impression of Princes Day 2015
The Dutch royal calendar has two key dates. The first one is the third Tuesday in September, Princes Day. The day the Golden Coach is dusted off, and the Dutch military dress in all their finery to take King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima to the joint session of the Houses of Parliament in the medieval Knight's Hall. The King in his speech from the throne will outline his government's plans for the next year. The second big day of course is King's Day, the very public celebration of the King's birthday in April.
Officially Princes Day (Prinsjesdag) is all about the King as head of state and member of government. He gets to read the mumble jumble composed by the different government departments under supervision of Prime Minister Mark Rutte. He gets the 'hurrah, hurrah, hurrah' at the end of the speech from the throne, and he is checked for speed of delivery and clarity of pronunciation.
But the truth is, the general public only has eyes for Queen Máxima. What will she wear, how will she wear it, what kind of hat did Belgian hat maker Fabienne Delvigne come up with this year. And an important question Tuesday: is the hat weather proof as stormy weather is expected in The Hague and both the inner court of the Houses of Parliament ('Binnenhof') and Noordeinde Palace can be quite windy. It is therefore safe to say it is Queen Máxima's biggest day of the royal calendar.
The King and Queen are not the only members of the royal family taking part in the big day. Willem-Alexander's youngest brother Prince Constantijn and his wife Princess Laurentien will travel ahead of the Golden Coach to Knight's Hall and listen to the speech. After the royal party has returned to Noordeinde Palace they too will appear on the balcony to wave to the crowd in front of the Palace.
* Joint session of Parliament, 2014
The Golden Coach will get extra attention this time round as it will be the last time it will be part of the procession. The Coach, built in 1898 and presented to Queen Wilhelmina at the time of her inauguration by the people of Amsterdam, needs urgent repairs and will be out of service for three or four years. Its place will be taken by the older of the two Dutch State Coaches, the Glass Coach, built in 1826 and a favourite of King William III and Queen Wilhelmina. The Coach has undergone an extensive restoration and was presented to the King in March. "We have a great alternate Coach now", the King said.
Beatutiful and at the same time kitchy the Golden Coach ('Gouden Koets') might be, it has its detractors both in and outside parliament. One of the sides of the Coach shows the people of the then Dutch colonies in West and East paying tribute and bowing down to the 'Dutch Virgin' - a tribute from present day Suriname, the Dutch Caribbean islands and present day Indonesia (the Dutch East Indies at the time).
The depiction is seen as both colonial and demeaning, and leftist parties and some activists have called for a permanent retirement of the Golden Coach in a museum. Another reason this example of Amsterdam's craftsmen work will be at the center of attention too.
[A photographic impression of Princes Day 2010]
[The Coach was used for several royal weddings: in 1901 for Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Hendrik (Henry), in 1937 for Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard, in 1966 for Princess Beatrix and Prince Claus, and in 2002 for Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Máxima, now the King and Queen]
© RB Hans Jacobs; Photos of the Golden Coach by © MPE Patrick van Katwijk
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