Prince's Day

I made these photo's from television, so the quality is maybe not that good, but I will show you this because it is a special day in the Netherlands.

Prince's Day is the day on which Queen Beatrix addresses a joint session of the Dutch Senate and House of Representatives in the Hall of Knights in The Hague. The Speech from the Throne sets out the main features of government policy for the coming parliamentary session.

The Queen leaves her Palace in the Golden Carriage with the Crownprince Willem Alexander and his wife Princess Maxima for the Binnenhof, escorted by court dignitaries and a military escort of honour.

Some people think it is not done in modern times to have this pompous expression of carriages and so, but I think it is a little theatre once a year and nice to watch.

Where can you see this on the streets nowadays, it is like a movie though?

An inside look at the Golden Carriage.

When the Queen returnes to the Palace she traditionally salutes the gathered crowd from the balcony with other members of the Royal Family.

This is our Argentine born Princess Maxima and our future Queen as Queen Beatrix abdicates. Nobody knows when this will be, only the Queen herself, she is 73 years old now.