News Summary R O Y A L B L O G. N L

Danes mock King Willem-Alexander's media rule

* Copenhagen this weekend.

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands will make a State Visit to Denmark starting Tuesday. At Copenhagen Airport they will be welcomed by almost the entire Danish Royal Family. Not only Queen Margrethe and her husband Prince-consort Henrik will be on hand, but also Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary, Prince Joachim and Princess Marie and Margrethe's sister Princess Benedikte and her husband Prince Richard zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg.

Danish media already looked forward to the visit of one of Europe's 'junior' monarch to one its 'old hands' Queen Margrethe, who came to the Danish throne less than five years after Willem-Alexander – her godson – was born. According to the Dutch King there is much to be learned from Margrethe, whom he described as a truly devoted, experienced and modern monarch. Margrethe in turn says she has little advice for Willem-Alexander. 'I do not want to the wise aunt. I am not good at giving advice to people', the queen told Dutch visiting Dutch journalists in February.

The Danish press in recent days noticed a difference between speaking with Margrethe and Willem-Alexander. The Danish queen speaks on record, the Dutch King cannot be quoted. His words need to be paraphrased. What he says cannot be in quotation marks. 'I like the weather', King Willem-Alexander said is wrong. The Dutch king said he liked the weather, is the correct way. Archaic, as Danish newspaper Politiken suggested on Sunday. A modern monarch who cannot be quoted.

But the Dutch government has a good reason for the rule.

The Prime Minister is responsible for the king's words. By not quoting him, there is more room for free speech for the king and the alternative would be a silent monarch, like Queen Elizabeth who has never really spoken to the press. But it leads to incongruent situations.

The king for instance will meet with the Dutch media during his State Visit. The writing press is not supposed to quote him; radio and television however have him speaking freely, as the interview is recorded. Of course the papers can always quote the quotes of the king taken from television....

Danish media tried to explain this quaint rule. Billed Bladet gave up and just quoted the king anyway. Politiken (above) stuck to the request, but made the Dutch look foolish.

© RB Hans Jacobs

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Queen Margrethe pulls out all stops for Dutch visit

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King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands met with Danish journalists in preparation for his State Visit to Denmark next week. According to early reports in Danish media a wide range of topics was discussed, from Máxima's Catholic faith to the raising of the children and even the assurance that he and Máxima sleep together.

The King told Billed Bladet that he forms a good team with Máxima. They might have their own interests, but they work very good together, and complement each other and discuss a lot he said. Their children pick up some of the conversations and are aware that they live a life that is different from their classmates. The Dutch royal couple tries to shield them as much as possible from the public eye. The princesses need to first know themselves the King said, in order to be ready for a life in public.

Willem-Alexander is very much looking forward to the State Visit to his godmother. It is a special visit he said, the first to a European monarchy. He thinks as a 'junior' monarch he has lots to learn from an experienced hand like Queen Margrethe, who is 'one of the longest reigning monarchs'. She is a great example of a modern monarch, who has done a great deal for her country, Willem-Alexander told the visiting journalist at Noordeinde Palace.

His days are as busy as ever, and 24 hours are still not enough. He has less flexibility in setting his agenda, and travels less than before he became King in 2013. Queen Beatrix really prepared him well, and gave him a say in people being hired so that when he started he was surrounded by his own good team.

Willem-Alexander can still ask advice from his mother, something his friend Crown Prince Frederik will not be able to do when he comes to the throne. Denmark does not have the Dutch tradition of abdicating monarchs. When Frederik starts out, his mother will have passed away. © RB

Crown Princess Mary and Queen Máxima: time to compare as Dutch royal couple will visit Denmark

A battle royal! Queen meets Crown Princess. Who is prettier, better dressed, more popular, better conversed in her adopted language, more accepted in her adopted country. Queen Máxima will accompany her husband King Willem-Alexander on his State Visit to Denmark next week and Crown Princess Mary will play an important part in hosting the Dutch visitors. One reason to pit the two glamorous woman from the southern hemisphere against each other.

How do they match up?

The Dutch and the Danes will give different answers and will have different views. Máxima gets praise for her clothes, Mary has a reputation for being fashion savvy. The Australia born Crown Princess can be seen at fashion shows, and is actually promoting Danish and Australian designers. Máxima favours dresses designed by Belgian fashion designer Edouard Vermeulen, and Dutchman Jan Taminiau, but does not actually promote either.

Both Crown Princess Mary and Queen Máxima were told by their respective fathers-in-law to study the language of their new country well. Prince-consort Henrik, whose mother tongue is French, is still ridiculed by the Danes for his rusty Danish, almost 50 years after coming to the proud Scandinavian country to marry its Crown Princess Margrethe. Prince Claus of the Netherlands faired better.

He met with fierce resistance when his engagement to Dutch Princess Beatrix was announced in 1965. Not because of his person, but because of his nationality: German. One way to overcome the opposition from the Dutch, who still remembered the German occupation only 20 years earlier, was to learn the language quickly. Máxima did the same, astounding the Dutch the day her engagement to Prince Willem-Alexander was made public. Her simple words in the tongue twisting language won the population over.

Queen Máxima and Crown Princess Mary come from different backgrounds and different countries, but both hail from the southern hemisphere: Argentina and Australia. Mary has kept the ties to her native country alive much more than Máxima. The Danish Crown Princess has given exclusive access to Australian magazines, has promoted Australian dress makers, is even patron of several good causes in her former home country. Mary and and husband Crown Prince Frederik have also used the Australian interest in them to promote Denmark ‘down under’.

 Máxima on the other hand got criticized for supposedly ignoring her Argentinian roots. She did not support the Argentinian national football team for instance, not even when they were not playing the Netherlands. She was criticized for not singing the Argentinian national anthem [Queen Margrethe of Denmark, whose mother was Swedish does sing along with the Swedish anthem when it is played in her presence], stating she was Dutch now.

Máxima has visited her native country regularly, but only a few times in an official capacity: twice for her UN work, and once accompanying her mother-in-law Queen Beatrix on a State Visit in 2006. These days visits are family oriented, to spend Christmas with her elderly parents and her siblings. And there is no promotion of anything Argentinian – neither in the Netherlands, nor in Buenos Aires.

Crown Princess Mary has her devoted dissenters, people who get a kick out of ruthlessly dissing her every move [RoyalDish]. They claim the Princess is all about looking good, and not about substance despite some patronships for the UN. Queen Máxima has been given a more independent role, also for the UN, in which she is able to use her former skills as a banker. Criticism of Máxima has been milder by comparison. Her language has not improved in the last years, and she and her husband are seen as enjoying the royal life too much.

On Tuesday Máxima and Mary will meet in Copenhagen. The press will watch them closely, as the Spanish media did earlier when Máxima and Letizia met. For two days both women will be under a magnifying glass. And the winner is? 

© Royalblog, Hans Jacobs; Photos: © Monarchy Press Europe, BB

Queen Margrethe pulls out all stops for Dutch visit

It has to be an unforgetable and memorable visit, Queen Margrethe told Dutch journalists during a meeting at Fredensborg Slot some weeks ago. It is not often one gets a godson coming on a State Visit, and King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands is Queen Margrethe's godson. ,,It is very special", the queen said. 

So it comes as no surprise she chose Christiansborg Slot (palace) for the state banquet she offers on 17 March to King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima who arrive that day for their State Visit, only the fourth in the King's young reign. Christiansborg Palace, which serves as the seat of government and parliament, also houses several state rooms which the queen only uses on special occasions. And this is one of those occasions. 

The importance of the Dutch visit is is also apparent from the presence of the entire royal family at the banquet. Not only Queen Margrethe and her husband Prince-consort Henrik will be there, but also the Crown Princely couple, Frederik and Mary, and Prince Joachim and his wife Princess Marie. The Court also announced the presence of Princess Benedikte and husband Prince Richard and of Princess Margrethe’s cousin, Princess Elizabeth.

Princess Benedikte's a good friend of the Dutch royal family. She and her husband attended most major events, including the 2002 wedding of Prince Willem-Alexander and Máxima Zorreguieta.

© RB: Photos: © MPE Patrick van Katwijk

* The Danish Court earlier this week made a new logo and picture available ahead of the celebrations for the Queen's 75th birthday on April 17.

King Willem-Alexander king of tulips and daffodils

For only the second time in its 35 years of existence the Spring Garden ('Lentetuin') in Breezand received a royal visit. King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands on Wednesday travelled to the small community in the Anna Pavlovna polder - named after Russian Grand-Duchess and Dutch queen Anna Pavlovna - to open the annual flower exhibition.

His mother did that earlier in 2005, for the silver jubilee of the flower show. At that time she also revealed a statue of the namesake of the municipality and polder, Queen Anna Pavlovna, who passed away exactly 150 years this week (March 1).

The royal opening of the show suited this year's theme: 200 years Kingdom of the Netherlands. In their presentations the bulb growers reflected on two centuries of Dutch history.

© RB; Photos by © RPE Albert Nieboer

Frederik and Mary on hand for Dutch State Visit

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands will get to see quite a lot of their friends Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary during their upcoming State Visit to Denmark, March 17 to 19. The Danish Court on Tuesday announced that the Crown Princely couple will accompany the Dutch royal guests on at least two occasions: a conference about ‘A socially coherent society’ at Aalborg University in Copenhagen and a trip to the island of Samsø.

The Crown Princely will probably also be on hand when the royal visitors arrive at Kastrup airport, where they will be welcomed by Queen Margrethe and Prince-consort (or king-consort, as he would prefer to be called) Henrik. After the short ceremony they will be driven to Fredensborg Slot, the royal palace outside Copenhagen where the Danish queen resides while her palace at Amalienborg is being renovated.

Queen Margrethe will give a State banquet in honour of her special guests – King Willem-Alexander is her godson – at Christiansborg Slot, which triples as houses of parliament and seat of government. Christiansborg is also where the Dutch visitors will have lunch with the Danish Prime Minister in the Alexander Hall before heading to the conference where they will learn why the Danes are the happiest people on Earth.

On the second day of the visit the island of Samsø is at the centre of attention. The island strives to be self sufficient in energy and climate neutral. The royal visitors will be shown around, with Frederik and Mary in tow.

© Royalblog, Hans Jacobs; Photo by © Monarchy Press Europe, Patrick van Katwijk

Luxembourg becomes part of Kingdom of the Netherlands - at least on Dutch stamps issued to commemorate Kingdom's bicentenary

PostNL on Monday issued two new stamps to commemorate the bicentenary of the founding of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in 1815. The stamps, designed by Vanessa van Dam, show the evolution of the Kingdom’s territory in Europe.

In 1815 present day Belgium and Luxembourg were united under the crown of King Willem I, as shown on the first stamp which also bears the King’s signature. The second stamp shows present day the Netherlands, with the grand seal of King Willem-Alexander. 

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was technically not part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, as it was given to Willem as personal fief, and although it was pretty much ruled from The Hague and treated as a Dutch province, it officially stood apart. In that way the stamp is incorrect to show Luxembourg as part of the Kingdom.

The stamps, issued in a stamp sheet, complete a series started in 2013, to commemorate the founding of the Kingdom. Earlier stamps depicted the arrival of the Prince of Orange in November 1813 in Scheveningen – he was to become Sovereign Prince, than King of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands – and the bicentenary of the Constitution in 2014.

Stamps can be ordered on line through PostNL

• Royal celebration with Kings of Belgium & Netherlands and Grand-Duke of Luxembourg

Canadian PM gets second chance with Dutch King

The Dutch hope Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will get it right this time. Harper met Dutch King Willem-Alexander in March 2014 and his staff posted a picture of the meeting at Noordeinde Palace on the PM's official web site. Except: it wasn't the King with Harper, but the Grand Master of the Royal Court...

Here is the 'real' King Willem-Alexander, with the Canadian Prime Minister:

Hopefully Mr Harper has time to prepare for the upcoming Dutch State Visit, which was officially announced on Thursday. © RB

Official: Dutch State Visit to Canada in May

The State Visit of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima to Canada has been officially confirmed on Thursday. The Dutch royals will make a visit from May 27 to May 29. They are expected to travel to the United States in the following week.

The last Dutch State Visit to Canada was in 1988, when Queen Beatrix travelled to the country she called home during the Second World War. Her younger sister Princess Margriet was born in an Ottawa hospital in 1943. The Netherlands this year marks the 70th anniversary of the liberation from nazi-Germany. Canada played a major part in that liberation and the royal visit is a fitting tribute.

In past years it had fallen to Princess Margriet and her husband Pieter van Vollenhoven to visit Canada, by way of thanking the Canadian veterans for their part in the liberation of the Netherlands. Princess Margriet, nicknamed 'Canada's Princess, commemorated both the 60th and 65th anniversary of the liberation and the end of World War II in Europe.

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima will also pay a State Visit to Denmark. The visit will take place 17-19 March 2015. © Royalblog NL

Dutch Royal Family meets the press in Lech

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, along with their three daughters and former queen Princess Beatrix invited the international media to a short photo call on the sun kissed slopes of Oberlech in Austria.

The Dutch royals were fewer than in past years. Princess Mabel and her children Luana and Zaria left Lech, the favourite royal retreat in the Austrian Alps for over 55 years, on Saturday, as did Prince Constantijn and his family. The school holidays in London and Brussels did not coincide with the break for Willem-Alexander's brood Amalia, Alexia and Ariane.

Princess Beatrix initially had not wanted to take part in the annual, traditional photo call. But over the weekend she changed her mind, agreeing with her son that it would be more fun for all that way. Her presence was greatly appreciated by all and she willingly posed for the 50-odd photographers and cameramen. It gave the media the chance fo take a rare picture of the former queen, the present king and the future queen: Beatrix, Willem-Alexander and Amalia.

The weather cooperated nicely Monday. While Sunday had been grey and overcast with some light snow, the sun came out during the photo call, much to tye dislike of Princess Alexia, who had a hard time keeping her eyes open. "Yes you are enjoying it", her father said encouragingly, using reverse psychology on his second daughter. The royal family posed in different combinations before embarking on some 'light' skiing, while Princess Beatrix, 77, retired to a nearby hotel. She is still skiing but doesnt feel the need to show off.

VIDEO IMPRESSION

 

© Royalblog, Marius Cirtiu