Monarchy of the Netherlands
Encyclopedia
The Netherlands has been an independent monarchy
since 16 March 1815, and has been governed by members of the House of Orange-Nassau
since.
is a constitutional monarchy
. As such, the role and position of the monarch are defined and limited by the constitution of the Netherlands
. An obvious consequence of this is that a fairly large portion of the Dutch constitution is devoted to the monarch; all in all, roughly a third of the constitution describes the succession, mechanisms of accession and abdication to the throne, the roles and responsibilities of the monarch and the formalisms of communication between the States-General of the Netherlands
and the monarch in the creation of law
s.
The constitution refers to the monarch of the Kingdom of the Netherlands as "The King". This is an indication of the role and refers equally to a man or a woman. This practice sometimes carries over into written language in Dutch, when the capitalized word "King" is used to distinguish the role of monarch from the person (who is then referred to as the uncapitalized "king" or "queen").This article will discuss both the constitutional position of King and several people who have held that position. For the purposes of distinction, the article will follow the same practice and refer to the constitutional position as King and to persons as "king", "queen" or "monarch"
to the heirs of William I
. The heir is determined through two mechanisms: absolute cognatic primogeniture and proximity of blood
. The Netherlands have followed absolute cognatic primogeniture instead of male primogeniture since 1983. The principle of proximity of blood is used to prevent the accession of a person who is not related to the monarch within three degrees of kinship. For example, the grandchildren of Princess Margriet of the Netherlands
have no succession rights because their kinship with Queen Beatrix
(her sister, and their great-aunt) is of the fourth degree (that is, the queen is their parent's parent's parents' daughter). Also, succession is limited to legitimate
heirs, precluding a claim to the throne by children born out of wedlock. A special case arises if the male King dies while his queen is still pregnant: the unborn child is considered the heir at that point, unless stillborn — the child is then considered never to have existed, so that proximity of blood can take precedence over primogeniture. This means that if the old king dies while his wife is pregnant with their first child, the unborn child is immediately considered born and immediately becomes the new King. If the pregnancy goes badly and the unborn monarch is stillborn, his or her reign is expunged and proximity of blood will determine which person will be the successor to the old king.
If the monarch is a minor, a regent is appointed and serves until the monarch comes of age. The regent is customarily the surviving parent of the monarch, but the constitution determines that the custody and parental authority of the minor monarch will be determined by law. This means that another person might also be appointed as regent, as legal guardian or both.
There are also a number of special cases which the constitution recognizes. First of all, if there is no heir when the monarch dies, the States-General may appoint a successor upon the suggestion of the government. This suggestion may also be made before the death of the reigning monarch, even by the monarch himself (in case it is clear that the monarch will die without leaving an heir).
Second, there are a number of persons who may be excluded from the line of succession. There are two categories of these:
in order for the government to function. For this reason, the new King assumes the duties of Kingship the moment that the previous King ceases to hold the throne. The only exception is if there is no heir at all, in which case the Council of State
assumes the role of the King pending the appointing of a King or regent.
The King is expected to execute his duties and responsibilities for the good of the nation. He must therefore swear to uphold the constitution and execute his office faithfully. This swearing-in must occur as soon as possible after the King assumes the throne, before a joint session of the States-General held in Amsterdam
. The language of Article 32 of the Dutch constitution speaks of a swearing-in in "the capital
Amsterdam", which incidentally is also the only phrase in the constitution that makes Amsterdam the capital of the Kingdom.
The King is not crowned (there is a physical royal crown for heraldic use, but it is too big for anybody to wear). The monarch's swearing of the oath described earlier constitutes his acceptance of the position of King. Note though that it is not so that the monarch becomes King by taking this oath: this would imply a vacancy of the throne until the new monarch swears the oath, which is not allowed to occur. The monarch ascends immediately after the previous monarch ceases to reign; the swearing-in only constitutes acceptance in public.
Death: A dead person cannot be King.
Abdication: A King may willingly step down as King.
Ceding the throne: The King may temporarily cease executing his office.
Removal from the throne: The government may remove the King if he is deemed unfit.
The first of these options is obvious. The first two are permanent: a deceased monarch cannot become alive again and an abdicated monarch cannot return (for this reason any children born to the abdicated monarch are not in line for the throne; children born before abdication are). Both these events cause the regular mechanisms of succession to go into effect. Interestingly, the constitution considers both permanent possibilities so obvious that they are not explicitly mentioned anywhere. They are both acknowledged, however, in that the constitution describes what happens after the king dies or abdicates; but the possibilities are never explicitly mentioned as causes of the end of a King's reign.
There is only one monarch, so an abdicated monarch becomes a prince or princess once again (and a dead person technically cannot have any titles at all in the Netherlands). However, a deceased monarch (abdicated or not) is customarily referred to again as "king" or "queen". So, for example, Queen Juliana
became queen on September 4, 1948 and princess again on April 30, 1980 following her abdication, but has been referred to as Queen Juliana again since her death on March 20, 2004.
The other two occurrences are both temporary and examined in detail in the constitution. A monarch can temporarily cease being King for any reason. This can be at his own request, or because the Council of Ministers
deems the monarch unfit for office. Although there is no limit on reasons for ceding the throne or removal, both the monarch and the Council are deemed to act responsibly and not to leave the country without a King frivolously. Taken in that light, both possibilities of temporary removal of kingship are intended to deal with emergency situations such as physical or mental inability to execute the office of monarch.
Both in case of ceding and removal an act of the joint States-General is needed to strip the monarch of authority. In the case of the monarch ceding the throne, the required act is a law. In case of removal, it is a declaration of the States-General. Procedurally these are the same — both are achieved following the same procedure as is used to pass a new law in the Netherlands. In case of removal it is not a law, however, since a law requires the signature of the King to come into effect (and presumably the monarch will not agree to being removed).
Since neither ceding nor removal is permanent, neither triggers succession. Instead, the States-General appoint a regent. This must be the heir-apparent, if the heir-apparent is old enough. In order for the actual monarch to resume his duties, a law must be passed to that effect (which is signed into law by the regent). The monarch resumes the throne the moment the law of his return is made public.
Although the King has roles and duties in all parts of the government and in several important places in the rest of society, the primary role of the King is within the executive branch
of the Dutch government: the King is part of the government of the Netherlands
. More than that: together with the Council of Ministers of the Netherlands
, the King is the government.
The role of the King within the government of the Netherlands is described in Article 42 of the constitution:
This article is probably the greatest paradox in the entire constitution, in that it is the basis of the full power and influence of the King and makes him beyond reproach before the law — yet serves to render the King all but powerless in the Dutch system of government.
The first paragraph of Article 42 determines that the government of the Netherlands consists of the King and his ministers. It is important to note that, even though the King is the head of state, there is no hierarchy: the King is not the head of government, the ministers are not answerable to the King within the government. This holds true even though the ministers are civil servants and as such technically work for the King (they are appointed by the King). It even holds against the fact that the Prime Minister
is commonly referred to as the head of government (which he is not; he is the chairman of the Council of Ministers). The essential thing to understand is that there is no distinction, no dichotomy, no segregation or separation: the King and his ministers are the government and the government is one.
This fact has practical consequences, in that it is not possible for the King and the ministers to be in disagreement. The government speaks with one voice and makes decisions as a united body. When the King acts in an executive capacity, he does so as representative of the united government. And when the government decides, the King is in agreement (even if the king or queen personally disagrees). As an ultimate consequence of this, it is not possible for the King to refuse to sign into law a proposal of law that has been agreed to and signed by the responsible minister. Such a disagreement between the King and his minister is a situation not covered by the constitution and is automatically a constitutional crisis
. These are quite rare in the Netherlands and have, on occurrence, always led to collapse of the government (resignation of the ministers), parliamentary elections and eventually to abdication of the monarch.
The second paragraph of the article, though, is what really renders the King powerless. This paragraph states that the King is inviolate. He is beyond any reproach, beyond the grasp of any prosecution (criminal or otherwise) for any acts committed or actions taken as King. If anything goes wrong, the minister responsible for the topic at hand is responsible for the failings of the King. This sounds like it makes the King an absolute tyrant, but in fact the opposite is true: since the ministers are responsible, they also have the authority to make the decisions. The ministers set the course of the government and the country, the ministers make executive decisions and run the affairs of state. And since the government is one, the King abides by the decision of the ministers. In fact the Kings of the Netherlands rarely make any executive decisions at all and practically never speak in public on any subject other than to read a statement prepared by the Prime Minister (since an unfortunate off-the-cuff remark could get a minister into trouble). The practical consequence of this limit on the power of the King is that the King never makes a decision on his own. Every decision, every decree must be countersigned by the responsible minister(s).
Technically, the King has a lot of practical power. For instance, no proposal of law actually becomes a law until signed by the King — and there is no legal requirement for the King to sign. In practice, the King will always give assent since most proposals of law are made by the government "by or on behalf of the King". And while proposals of law must be approved by the States-General, a lot of the practical running of the country is done by Royal Decree
(in Dutch: Koninklijk Besluit). These Royal Decrees are used for all sorts of things, ranging from appointments of civil servants and military officers to clarifications of how public policy is to be executed (in this they are like American
executive orders) to filling in the details of certain laws. Royal Decrees create ministries
, disband the houses of the States-General, and appoint and fire ministers.
However, since the ministers are responsible, Royal Decrees are in fact made by the responsible minister. And while the King must sign laws and Royal Decrees before they come into effect, the constitution determines that the responsible ministers and state secretaries must countersign. That, given the fact that the ministers have the authority, really means that they decide and it is the King who countersigns, and even that is a formality. Also, while the King may technically propose laws ("by or on behalf of the King"), ministerial responsibility means that he never does. And even though the government may refuse to sign a States-General approved proposal into law, this is practically unheard of and the King refusing to sign on his own is even more rare (and a constitutional crisis to boot).
There is one special case in which the King has, if possible, even less power than normal: the appointment of his ministers. Ministers are appointed by Royal Decree, which of course have to be countersigned by the responsible minister. The Royal Decree to appoint a minister, however, is countersigned by two responsible ministers rather than one: the outgoing minister responsible for the ministry and the Prime Minister.
Given the discussion above, it is a valid question whether the position of King of the Netherlands is entirely ceremonial. The answer however, is "no". Despite all appearances the King does have some actual power, relating to the formation of a new government after parliamentary election
s. And, even more interestingly, this power is traditional and is not described in the constitution.
After the parliamentary election there follows a period of time in which the leaders of the political parties in the parliament seek to form a coalition of parties that can command a majority of the newly elected parliament. The current nationwide party-list system, combined with a low threshold for getting a seat (two-third percent of the vote) makes it all but impossible for one party to win an outright majority. Thus, the bargaining required to put together a governing coalition is as important as the election itself.
This process of negotiations, which can last anywhere from two to four months (more on occasion...), is coordinated in the initial stages by one or more informateurs, whose duty it is to investigate and report upon viable coalitions. After a likely combination is found, a formateur
is appointed to conduct the formal coalition negotiations and form a new Council of Ministers (of which the formateur himself usually becomes the Prime Minister). If the negotiations fail, the cycle starts over. The informateurs and formateur in question are all appointed to this task by the King. The King makes his own decision in this, based on advice from the leaders of the different parties in parliament, as well as other important figures (the speakers of the new parliament and the senate are among them).
There is usually some popular discussion in the Netherlands around the time of these negotiations about whether the authority of the King in this matter should not be limited and whether or not the newly elected parliament should not make the appointments that the King makes. These discussions are usually based (to varying degrees) around the argument that decision by a King is undemocratic
and there is no parliamentary oversight over the decision and the King might make use of this to push for a government of his or her liking.
On the other hand, it is somewhat questionable that the King really has much opportunity here to exert any influence. The informateur is there to investigate possible coalititions and report on them. He could technically seek "favorable" coalitions, but the political parties involved are usually quite clear on what they want and don't want and the first choice for coalition almost always is the coalition of preference of the largest party in the new parliament. Besides, the kings and (particularly) the queens have traditionally known better than to appoint controversial informateurs, usually settling for well-established yet fairly neutral people in the political arena (the deputy chairman of the Dutch Council of State
is a common choice). Once a potential coalition has been identified the King technically has a free rein in selecting a formateur. However, the formateur almost always becomes the next Prime Minister, and in any case it is a strong convention that a government must command the support of a majority of the House of Representatives in order to stay in office. These considerations mean that the selected formateur is always the party leader of the largest party in the potential coalition.
. This parliamentary body consists of two chambers, the House of Representatives (also commonly referred to as the Parliament) and the Senate.
As in most parliamentary democracies the States-General are dually responsible for overseeing the government in its executive duties as well as approving proposals of law before they can become actual laws. In this respect it is of course vital for the government to maintain good relations with the States-General and technically the King shares that effort (although the King never officially speaks to members of the States on policy matters due to ministerial responsibility).
Constitutionally, the King deals with the States-General in three areas: lawmaking, policy outlining at the opening of the parliamentary year and dissolution.
Of the three, policy outlining is the most straightforward. The parliamentary year is opened on the third Tuesday of September with a joint session of the two houses. At this occasion the King addresses the joint States in a speech in which he sets forth the outlines for his government's policies for the coming year (the speech itself is of course prepared by the ministers, their ministries and finally crafted and approved by the Prime Minister). This event is mandated by the constitution in Article 65. Tradition has made more of this occasion than a policy speech though, and the event known as Prinsjesdag
has become a large affair with much pomp and circumstance, in which the States-General and other major bodies of government assemble in the Ridderzaal
to hear the queen deliver the speech from the throne after having arrived from the Noordeinde Palace
in her golden carriage. Both in constitutional aspects and in ceremony the event has much in common with both the British
Queen's Speech and the American State of the Union
.
Lawmaking is the area in which the King has the most frequent involvement with the States-General (although in fact he has very little to do with it in practice). Laws in the Netherlands are primarily proposed by the government and can be proposed "by or on behalf of" the King (this phrase is repeated often in the constitution). Technically this means that the King may propose laws in person, hearkening back to the days of the first kings of the Netherlands when the kings really could and did propose laws. However, this possibility is at odds with ministerial responsibility and the queens have always avoided the issue by never proposing laws in person. The King must still sign proposals into law though, a historical deference to the fact that the law of the land is decreed by the King.
While the King has no practical involvement anymore in lawmaking other than a signature at the end, one might get a different impression from reading the communication between the government and the States-General regarding proposals of law and the laws themselves. All communication from the States-General to the government is addressed to the King and communication in the opposite direction formally is from the King (it is also signed by the King, without a ministerial countersignature – such communication is not a decision or decree, so does not require a countersignature). The formal language still shows deference to the position of the King, with a refusal of the States-General to approve a proposal of law for example becoming "a request to the King to reconsider the proposal". The constitution prescribes a number of the forms used:
A law, once passed, is formulated in such a way as to be decreed by the King.
The final involvement of the King with the States is dissolution
. Constitutionally, the King is empowered to disband either house of the States by Royal Decree. Of course, this means that a minister (usually the Prime Minister) makes the decision and the King countersigns. The signing of such a Royal Decree constitutionally implies new elections for the house in question and the formation of a new house within three months of dissolution.
The constitution prescribes a number of cases in which one or more houses of the States are disbanded (particularly for changes to the constitution); this is always done by Royal Decree. In addition, traditionally the collapse of the government is followed by dissolution of the House of Representatives and general elections. Before World War II
, before it became common to form new governments with each new parliament, it would happen from time to time that a Council of Ministers found itself suddenly facing a new and unfriendly parliament. When the inevitable clash came, it was an established political trick for the Prime Minister to attempt to resolve the problem by disbanding the parliament in name of the King in the hope that new elections brought a more favorable parliament (but it was also possible for the trick to backfire, in which case the new, equally hostile and far more angry parliament would suspend the budget to force the resignation of the government).
Even though the King never speaks with members of the States-General formally, it was tradition up to 1999 that the queen would invite the members of parliament over once a year for informal talks about the general state of affairs in the country. Of course these conversations were held in the strictest confidence due to ministerial responsibility. The tradition was suspended after 1999 though, due to repeated incidents involving MPs blabbing about the contents of the conversations despite agreeing not to (and embarrassing the Prime Minister in doing so). In 2009 an attempt was made to resume the tradition, but this failed due to Arend Jan Boekestijn
resuming the tradition of revealing the contents of his conversation with queen Beatrix
anyway.
Although it does not say so anywhere in the constitution, the King is the head of state
of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
(this meaning is implied from the fact that the King is the King). As such, the King is the face of the kingdom towards the world: the ambassador
s of the Netherlands are emissaries of the King, foreign ambassadors represent foreign heads of state to the King. And even though head-of-government responsibility lies with the Prime Minister, it is the King that makes state visit
s to foreign heads of state as representative of the Netherlands. It is also the King whose face is shown on Dutch stamp
s and Dutch euro coins.
Constitutionally the King is the head of the Dutch Council of State
. The Council is a constitutional body of the Netherlands that serves two purposes. First, it is an advisory council to the government which advises on the desirability, practicability and constitutionality of new proposals of law. Second, it is the Supreme Court
for the Netherlands in matters of administrative law
. The position of the King as constitutional head of this Council means two things for the constitutional position of the King:
Of course, the role played by the King in the Council is largely theoretical due to ministerial responsibility. While the King is officially head of the Council, in practice the queen never votes in Council meetings and always turns over her responsibility as chair of the meetings to the deputy head of the Council. She is presumed to be part of the discussions though.
Despite the limitations on the role the King may play in the Council, his involvement is seen as valuable due to the experience and knowledge that a monarch accrues over the years. Reciprocally, being part of the Council deliberations is considered invaluable training and preparation for the role of King, which is why the heir-apparent is constitutionally an observer-member of the Council from the time he comes of age.
The King is also the Grand Master of the Dutch orders of knighthoods: the Order of Orange-Nassau
, the Order of the Netherlands Lion and the Military William Order.
Lastly, the King plays a very large but completely unofficial role in the running of the country as advisor and confidant to the government. This duty traditionally takes the form of a weekly meeting between the Prime Minister and the monarch in which they discuss the affairs of the week, the plans of the cabinet and so on. It is assumed that the queen exerts most of her influence (as such) in these meetings, in that she can bring her knowledge and experience to bear in what she tells the Prime Minister. In the case of queen Beatrix, several former Prime Ministers have remarked that her case knowledge of each and every dossier is extensive and that she makes sure to be fully aware of all the details surrounding everything that lands on her desk.
Perhaps somewhat surprisingly for a monarchy, the King is not formally the commander-in-chief
of the military of the Netherlands
. He was until 1983, but a large overhaul of the constitution that year shifted supreme command of the armed forces to the government as a whole.
Article 40 of the constitution states that the King is to receive an annual stipend from the Kingdom (in other words wage
s, except that it cannot be called that since the King is not employed by the country but rather the other way around). The exact rules surrounding these stipends are to be determined by law, as is the list of members of the Royal House who also receive them.
Under current Dutch law the King receives an annual stipend which is part of the annual budget, as do the heir-apparent, the consort of the King and the consort of the heir-apparent. The King receives this stipend constitutionally, the others because they are not allowed to work for anybody due to their positions. For practical purposes this means that the current recipients of royal stipends are Queen Beatrix
(€813,000 in the 2009 budget), Prince Willem-Alexander
(the heir-apparent; €241,000 in the 2009 budget) and Princess Máxima
(wife of Prince Willem-Alexander; €241,000 in the 2009 budget). This stipend is currently linked to the development of the wages of Dutch civil servants.
At the beginning of 2009 there was some upset in the parliament about the cost of the Royal House and the lack of insight into the structure of those costs. At the insistence of the parliament the development of the stipends of the Royal House members was then linked to the development of the salaries of the Dutch civil servants. During 2009 it was agreed collectively that the civil servants would receive a pay increase of 1%. In September 2009, at the first budget debate in parliament during the economic crisis, it was pointed out to the parliament that their earlier decision meant that the stipend to the queen would now also increase. This in turn was reason for the parliament to be displeased again.
Under the constitution, Royal House members receiving a stipend are exempt from income tax
over that stipend. They are also exempt from all personal tax
es over assets and possessions that they use or need in the execution of their functions for the Kingdom. The King and the heir-apparent are exempt from inheritance tax
on inheritances received from members of the Royal House.
The King has the use of Huis ten Bosch
as a residence and Noordeinde Palace
as a work palace. In addition the Royal Palace of Amsterdam is also at the disposal of the King (although it is only used for state visits and is open to the public when not in use for that purpose), as is Soestdijk Palace
(which is open to the public and not in official use at all at this time).
The King has the use of an airplane and a train
for state visits (although there is no train in current use and the airplane is not exclusively reserved for the King anymore). The King also has a small fleet of cars available, on which he may display the royal standard.
. By consequence so has the Royal House
(nominally the collection of persons in line for the throne and their spouses), to the extent that membership of the Royal House was limited by a change in the law in 2002.
Despite being a large clan, the family as a whole has very little to do officially with the Dutch government or the running of the Netherlands. Constitutionally an important role is played by the monarch. The heir-apparent is deemed to be preparing to ascend to the throne, so he has some limited tasks and a number of limits on his person (particularly he cannot hold a paying job, since this might lead to entanglements later on). Since neither King nor heir-apparent may hold jobs, they receive a stipend from the government. Their spouses are similarly forbidden from earning an income and receive a stipend as well. But constitutionally that is the whole of the involvement of the royal family with the Dutch government.
In particular (even though it is a common mistake to believe otherwise), members of the Royal House other than the King and the heir-apparent have no official tasks within the Dutch government and do not receive stipends. They are responsible for their own conduct and their own income. They may of course be asked to stand in from time to time (for instance to accompany the King on a state visit if the consort is ill), but this is always a personal favor and not an official duty. In addition, they are not exempt from taxation.
Many members of the royal family do hold (or have held) significant positions within civil society
, usually functioning as head or spokesperson of one or more charitable organization
s, patron of the arts and similar endeavors. Some members of the royal family are also (or have been) avid supporters of some personal cause; Prince Bernhard
for instance was always passionate about the treatment of World War II
veterans and Princess Margriet
(who was born in Canada
) has a special relationship with Canadian veterans specifically. As a rule of thumb, the members of the royal family who are contemporaries of Queen Beatrix tend to hold civil society positions as a primary occupation whereas younger family members hold these positions in conjunction with a regular, paying job. A notable exception to this rule is Pieter van Vollenhoven
(husband to Princess Margriet), who is chairman of the Dutch Safety Board
.
As noted before, the spouses of the monarch and the heir-apparent are forbidden from holding paying jobs or government responsibilities. This is to prevent any monetary entanglements or undue influences involving the (future) King. These legal limits were not a great problem when they were instituted in the 19th century; The Netherlands had kings and it was considered normal for a married woman to tend the household, raise the family and not to hold any position outside the home. The limits have been more problematic since the early 20th century, when the monarchy of the Netherlands passed to a series of queens and the consorts became men (starting with Prince Hendrik in 1901). The male consorts since then have all either been raised with an expectation of government responsibility (such as Prince Hendrik), or had established careers of their own before marrying the future queen (Prince Bernhard and Prince Claus). Upon marrying into the Dutch royal family they all found themselves severely restricted in their freedom to act and make use of their abilities. All of the male consorts have been involved in some form of difficulty or another (scandals involving infidelity
and finances in the cases of Hendrik and Bernhard, deep depression
in the case of Claus) and it has been widely speculated (and even generally accepted) that sheer boredom played at least a part in all of these difficulties.
Over time the restrictions on royal consorts have eased somewhat. Prince Frederik was allowed no part or role in the Netherlands whatsoever. Due to his war efforts, Prince Bernhard was made Inspector General
of the Dutch armed forces (although that role was created for him) and was an unofficial ambassador for the Netherlands who leveraged his wartime contacts to help Dutch industry. All that came to a halt in 1976 however, after the Lockheed bribery scandals
. Prince Claus was allowed more leeway still after having established himself in Dutch society (he was unpopular at first, being a German marrying into the royal family after World War II); he was eventually given an advisorship within the Ministry for Development Cooperation pertaining to Africa
, where he made good use of his experiences as a German diplomat in that continent. Nevertheless, neither Bernhard nor Claus ever fully got over the restrictive nature of their marriages and at the time of the royal wedding in 2002 it was broadly agreed in government circles that Princess Máxima
(who had a career in banking before marrying Prince Willem-Alexander) should be allowed far more leeway if she desires.
For Dutch citizens, the rules surrounding death and burial are laid out by the Funereal Law (Dutch: Wet op de Lijkbezorging). However, article 87 of this law states that the entire law is not applicable to members of the Royal House and that the Minister of Internal Affairs can also waive the law for other relatives of the King. The reason for this exceptional position of members of the Royal House is traditional. Ever since the burial of William the Silent
in the Nieuwe Kerk
in Delft
, members of the Orange-Nassau family have favored burial in the same crypt where William was entombed (some members of the family buried elsewhere were even moved there later). However, for health and hygiene reasons, burial in churches was forbidden in the Netherlands by decree of William I
in 1829 (the practice had been banned before under French occupation of the country, but returned after 1815). In order to allow entombing of members of the Royal family, all Dutch laws pertaining to burial have made an exception for the Royal House ever since the 1829 decree.
Burial of members of the Royal House is completely a matter of tradition, circumstance, practicality and spirit of the times (this due to the lack of any formal rules whatsoever). As a rule of thumb, the body of a deceased member of the Royal House is placed on display for a few days in one of the palaces, to allow the family to say goodbye. Depending on the identity of the deceased (a deceased monarch, for instance), there may also be a viewing for the public. Then, on the burial day, the body is transported to Delft in a special horse-drawn carriage. Current protocol specifies eight horses for a deceased monarch and six for a deceased royal consort (which is relatively new, since Prince Frederik was borne to Delft by eight horses). The current carriage is purple with white trim (this has also changed since the burial of Queen Wilhelmina in 1962, when the carriage was white). Currently, the route to Delft is lined by members of the Dutch armed forces (which is also new since the burial of Prince Hendrik, which was a very quiet affair).
Once in Delft, the body is entombed in the family crypt after a short service. Only members of the family are allowed into the crypt, through the main entrance in the church which is only opened for royal funerals (the mayor of Delft has a key to a separate service entrance, which is only opened in the presence of two military police officers and two members of the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service
for maintenance).
The monarchy of the Netherlands was established in 1815 as a reaction to the decline and eventual fall of the Dutch Republic
. It was observed at the time that a large part of the decline of the republic was due to a lack of a strong, central government in the face of strong, centrally led competitor nations such as Great Britain
and the French kingdom
. After the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1813 and the resurrection of the Netherlands, it was decided to reform the republic in the Kingdom of the Netherlands with a monarchy rather than the old stadtholder
system.
The original monarchy was absolute
in nature, with the States-General serving as more of an advisory board without the power to do much against the King. This state of affairs allowed the King great freedom to determine the course of the nation and indeed William I
was able to push through many changes that set the nation on the course towards industrialization and wealth. He also established the first Dutch railway system and the Nederlandsche Handel Maatschappij, which would later evolve into the ABN Amro
bank. On the other hand, his policies caused great discord with the Southern Netherlands, leading to the Belgian Revolution
and a years-long war. A backlash against these policies plus rising fear of early Marxism
led to acceptance by William II
of a series of reforms, starting with a new constitution in 1848 (which was the start of a continuing series of limitations on royal power).
Direct political power and influence of the King continued until 1890, although it slowly declined in the meantime. Both William I and William II
proved quite conservative rulers (although William II was less inclined to interfere with policy than his father was), both resisting major reforms until eventually conflict with the States-General and their own government forced their abdications. William III
's reign was a continuous saga of power struggles between the monarch and the parliamentary government (which he forced out a couple of times), plus major international crises due to the same stubbornness (including the Luxembourg Crisis
). As a result the Dutch government used the succession of William III by a female regent as an opportunity to make a power play and establish government authority over royal authority.
Queen Wilhelmina was not happy with the new situation and made several half-hearted attempts during her reign to reassert authority. She was partly successful in certain areas (being able to push for military rearmament before World War I
) but she never succeeded in restoring royal power. She did introduce a new concept to Dutch royalty though: the popular monarch. Establishing her popularity in military circles through her support of Dutch military prior to 1917, she was able to wield her personal popularity to uphold the government against a socialist revolution in 1917.
Royal power continued to decline until the start of World War II. Forced to flee to London
, queen Wilhelmina established to position of "mother of the Dutch state" through her radio broadcasts into the occupied Netherlands and her support for other Dutchmen evading the Germans and fighting from England. She tried to position her family into more influence by giving prince Bernhard an important position in the military, but was still relegated to a position of constitutional monarchy after the war.
Following Wilhelmina's abdication in 1948, the Orange family seems to have settled for a position of unofficial influence behind the scenes coupled with a role as "popular monarchs" in public. As such the monarchs are practically never seen in public doing their official work (except news footage of state visits and the reading of the government plans on Prinsjesdag) and instead their relationship with the public has become more of a popular and romanticized notion of royalty. The queen nowadays is popularly perceived to have a figurehead role, serving as "mother of the nation" in times of crises and disasters (such as the 1953 floods). In addition, there is a public holiday called Koninginnedag
, in which the royal family pays a visit somewhere in the country and participates in local activities and traditions in order to get closer to the people.
When the monarchy was established in 1815, popularity was not a major concern. Still, the Orange family held popular support in around 60% percent of the population following the fall of the French. This changed drastically over the following years as William I's policies alienated the Southern Netherlands, drew the country into civil war and established industries that favored the rich Protestants and not the general populace.
Royal popularity remained relatively low throughout the reign of the kings. William II was conservative, but on the whole did as little to lose popularity as he did to gain it. Economic decline drove most of his popular decline, although popular support for the monarch was still not considered of much import then. William III was unpopular under a wide section of the public, earning himself the nickname "King Gorilla" for his boorish way of behaving.
Royal popularity started to increase with Wilhelmina's ascent to the throne. She pushed for national reforms, was a huge supporter of the armed forces and strove for renewed industrialization. Around 1917 the country was generally divided into two camps: socialists in the cities, royalists elsewhere. This showed in the dividing lines during the failed Troelstra revolution
, where Troelstra gained popular support in the larger cities but the countryside flocked to the queen. Wilhelmina was able to muster popular support with a countryside "publicity tour" together with her daughter — this showing of popular support for the queen was instrumental in halting the revolution and stabilizing the government. Still, Wilhelmina remained deeply unpopular in the cities throughout the 1920s and 1930s.
Nationwide support came for Wilhelmina and the monarchy during World War II. Wilhelmina was forced to retreat to London, but refused evacuation all the way to Canada (although princess Juliana was sent there with her children). Wilhelmina regularly held radio broadcasts into the occupied Netherlands and staunchly supported the Dutch troops in exile. She became the symbol for Dutch resistance against the Germans, leading to the term "WOZO" (Wilhelmina, Oranje Zal Overwinnen, or Wilhelmina, Orange Shall Be Victorious) being graffiti'd over all manner of Dutch walls as a sign of resistance. Wilhelmina established popular support for the monarchy that essentially holds to this day.
Although a completely different type of queen than Wilhelmina, Juliana gained enormous popular support in her own right. Starting with her public appearances after the 1953 floods
, Juliana established herself as a "mother of the nation" type of queen. A far more homey, down-to-earth character than Wilhelmina, queen Juliana reigned with a "neighbour and housewife" air about her in a time when the Netherlands went through a period of social relaxation in the 1960s and 1970s (shrugging off the more rigid nature of previous Dutch society). Juliana was also a pacifist at heart at a time when Vietnam
was an unpopular war and opposition to nuclear weapons was on the rise. Amid all this, queen Juliana's socialist views and unassuming nature (she had a popular image of being a queen who prepared her own Brussels sprout
s) made her the "right queen for the time" and she maintained and increased the popular support she had inherited from her mother, even in the face of different scandals surrounding her husband.
Popular support waned for a time in the early 1980s, during the start of queen Beatrix' reign. She adopted a style of government more like that of queen Wilhelmina and was perceived as cold and distant in a country used to queen Juliana being everybody's grandmother. Over time the country has got used to her style though and acceptance has grown. This was also aided by the public image of prince Claus, who came to be perceived as charming and funny during her reign. Particularly his public love declaration for Beatrix a few years before the end of his life endeared him to many people. Popular support for the monarchy (which was only measured regularly since Beatrix' reign) has consistently been above 85% since the mid-1990s and reached a peak with the marriage of prince Willem-Alexander to princess Máxima in 2002.
Popular support has become more volatile over the last few years though, in the face of seeming improprieties by prince Willem-Alexander and other members of the royal family during the economic crisis. Prince Willem-Alexander always had a reputation for being a "naughty boy" (he became popularly known as "Prins Pils" ("prince beer") after being photographed drinking beer as a student and once drove his car into a ditch while in university as well). Despite ongoing efforts to prepare for being King (including internships throughout society, military service and a very public interest in water management), he has made some clumsy choices from time to time that have negatively impacted his popularity. When he became engaged to Máxima Zorreguieta (daughter of Argentine
junta
member Jorge Zorreguieta
), he publicly defended her by citing a letter describing her father's actions as harmless — the letter turned out to have been written by Jorge Rafael Videla
. The matter was set aside when princess Máxima described her future husband's actions as "een beetje dom" ("a little bit dumb") in fluent Dutch during her first press conference (this also established her reputation as a charming young lady in the Netherlands). In 2009 Willem-Alexander and Máxima were in the news again for investing in a vacation resort in Mozambique
. Even though there were good reasons to believe the project would have benefited the local populace greatly, the expenditure of money abroad during a crisis in a project involving some shady brokers did not sit well with the Dutch public. Also a purchase of an alternative vacation home in Argentina the same year was unpopular.
In and of themselves the incidents were not terrible, but they became public knowledge around the same time that other questions were being raised about the family finances of the Oranges. Even though the incidents caused only a slight drop in overall popular support (down to about 83%), they led to an increased support for moving to a fully ceremonial monarchy (around 43%), a freezing of the royal stipends (around 66%) or even a lowering of the stipends (about 33%) and removing the royal exemption on taxation (also around 40%).
Prior to the Napoleonic wars
, most of the semi-independent provinces of the Netherlands had been ruled by elected stadtholder
s, who were all drawn from the House of Orange-Nassau
.
The House of Orange-Nassau came from Dillenburg
, Germany
, seat of the Dukes of Nassau. Their title 'Prince of Orange
' was acquired through inheritance of the Principality of Orange
in southern France
, in 1544. William of Orange (also known as William the Silent) was the first Orange-Nassau stadtholder (ironically, appointed by Philip II of Spain
). From 1568 to his death in 1584, he led the Dutch struggle for independence from Spain
. His younger brother, John VI, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg, was the direct male line ancestor of the first King of the Netherlands.
The Netherlands remained, formally, a confederated republic, even when in 1747 the office of stadtholder was centralized (one stadtholder for all provinces) and became formally hereditary the House of Orange-Nassau.
The first King of the Netherlands was actually French
. In 1806, Emperor Napoleon installed his brother Louis Bonaparte
as ruler of the Kingdom of Holland
, a puppet state. The Kingdom of Holland was abolished in 1810.
The present monarchy was founded in 1813, when the French were driven out. Prince William V of Orange was proclaimed Sovereign Prince of the United Netherlands
(comprising certain northern provinces). The new monarchy was confirmed in 1815 at the Congress of Vienna
as part of the re-arrangement of Europe after the fall of Napoleon, and its status as a kingdom was also confirmed.
William VI became the first king of the constitutional monarchy
of the Netherlands as William I
.
The House of Orange-Nassau was given the modern day Netherlands and also Belgium
and Luxembourg to rule as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands
. In addition, the King of the Netherlands became hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg
. Until 1839, Luxembourg was both a Grand Duchy of the German Confederation and a Province of the Kingdom simultaneously.
Abdication of the throne has become a de facto tradition in the Dutch monarchy. Queen Wilhelmina
and Queen Juliana
both abdicated in favour of their daughters and William I
abdicated in favor of his eldest son
.
The present monarch, Queen Beatrix
, has stated she will not abdicate in the near future, to allow Crown Prince Willem-Alexander
and his wife Princess Máxima to spend time with their family.
, acted as regent until Wilhelmina reached the age of 18) Luxembourg, also a former member of the erstwhile German Confederation
, was not willing to accept a (female) Grand Duchess under Salic law
. Instead a family member, Adolf
, former Duke of Nassau, became Grand Duke of Luxembourg, ending the personal union
between the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
The 58-year reign of queen Wilhelmina was dominated by the two World Wars. She married a German prince, Heinrich von Mecklenburg-Schwerin, who unfortunately was not happy with his unrewarding role of husband-to-the-queen. Wilhelmina's strong personality and unrelenting passion to fulfill her inherited task overpowered many men in position of authority, including ministers, prime-ministers and her own husband. She is mostly remembered for her role during World War II
. The initial disappointment of many Dutch people because of her quick withdrawal to London
faded (though it was never forgotten and by some was never forgiven) when she proved to be of great moral support to the people and the resistance in her occupied country. Hendrik and Wilhelmina had one daughter, Juliana
, who came to the throne in 1948. They lived in The Hague
and in Palace 't Loo
(Paleis 't Loo) in Apeldoorn
.
She died in 1962.
For her early reign and character, the letters of Queen Victoria give a good perspective.
. She became involved in two major crises: the Greet Hofmans affair and the Lockheed bribery scandals
, both of which directly threatened the credibility of the throne. She married a German of noble descent, Prince Bernard von Lippe-Biesterfeld. Together they had four daughters, Beatrix
, Irene
, Margriet
and Christina
. After their return from Ottawa
, Canada
in 1945 (where Margriet was born), they lived in the Soestdijk Palace
(Paleis Soestdijk) in Soestdijk, about 20 km north-east of Utrecht
. She died on 20 March 2004. Her husband Bernhard died on 1 December 2004.
and her husband, the late prince Claus
, have three sons, Willem-Alexander
(married to Princess Máxima
), Friso (married to Princess Mabel
) and Constantijn
(married to Princess Laurentien
). Her sister Margriet
and her spouse Pieter van Vollenhoven
have four sons: Maurits
, Bernhard
, Pieter-Christiaan and Floris
. Four of these seven princes as well as princess Margriet, are all (potentially) legal heirs to the throne, although the first right goes to the crown prince, and after him his daughters Catharina-Amalia
, Alexia
, Ariane
, and then his brother Constantijn. Prince Friso lost his right to the throne because no approval was asked for his marriage to Mabel Wisse Smit to the States-General
. The two other sisters of Beatrix, Irene
and Christina
, have lost their rights to the throne because their marriages were not approved by the States-General. They both married Roman Catholics and Irene herself converted to Roman Catholicism, which at that time (the 1960s) was still politically problematic for an heir to the throne. An additional complication which the government wanted to avoid, was that Irene's husband, Prince Carlos-Hugo of Bourbon-Parma, (whom she later divorced) was a member of a deposed
Italian dynasty
who claimed rights to the Spanish throne. Traditionally, Dutch monarchs have always been members of the Dutch Reformed Church
although this was never constitutionally required. This tradition is embedded in the history of the Netherlands
.
since 1980. He studied history at the University of Leiden and became actively involved in water management
. His wife is Princess Máxima
(née Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti), an economy major, whose father was a minister of agriculture in the dictatorial regime under General Videla in Argentina
. Because of that their relationship was accompanied by fierce public debate and only officially sanctioned after quiet diplomacy, resulting in Máxima's father agreeing not to be present on their wedding day
(2 February 2002). Former minister Max van der Stoel
and prime minister Wim Kok
seem to have played a crucial role in this process.
On 7 December 2003 Princess Máxima gave birth to a daughter: Princess Catharina-Amalia
. On 26 June 2005 another daughter was born: Princess Alexia
. On 10 April 2007 a third daughter was born, Princess Ariane
. After Willem-Alexander they are second, third, and fourth in line to the Dutch throne.
. The children of prince Friso and prince Constantijn are instead count or countess of Orange-Nassau. Princess Margriet's and Princess Christina's grand children do not hold any title. Princess Irene's grand children only hold titles if they are (recognised) children of the princes Carlos and Jaime, according to the house rules of the House of Bourbon-Parma
. In addition to the titles King/Prince of the Netherlands and Prince of Orange-Nassau, descendants of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld hold another princely title - Prince of Lippe-Biesterfeld. The children of queen Beatrix and her husband Claus van Amsberg and their descendants, except for the children of prince Willem-Alexander and princess Máxima, also carry the appellative Honourable (Jonkheer/Jonkvrouw) in combination with the name Van Amsberg.
Queen Juliana, the only descendant of Queen Wilhelmina and Duke Hendrik of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, was also Duchess Juliana of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Since the title can pass only through the male line, Queen Juliana's descendants do not carry the title of Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
The title Prince of the Netherlands is the prerogative of the most important members of the Royal House (sons and daughters of king or queen and sons/daughters of the heir apparent, the Prince of Orange), which is smaller than the Royal Family. Members of the Royal House can lose their membership when they enter into marriage without asking (and receiving) consent from Parliament.
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
since 16 March 1815, and has been governed by members of the House of Orange-Nassau
House of Orange-Nassau
The House of Orange-Nassau , a branch of the European House of Nassau, has played a central role in the political life of the Netherlands — and at times in Europe — since William I of Orange organized the Dutch revolt against Spanish rule, which after the Eighty Years' War...
since.
Constitutional role and position of the monarch
The Kingdom of the NetherlandsKingdom of the Netherlands
The Kingdom of the Netherlands is a sovereign state and constitutional monarchy with territory in Western Europe and in the Caribbean. The four parts of the Kingdom—Aruba, Curaçao, the Netherlands, and Sint Maarten—are referred to as "countries", and participate on a basis of equality...
is a constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a constitution, whether it be a written, uncodified or blended constitution...
. As such, the role and position of the monarch are defined and limited by the constitution of the Netherlands
Constitution of the Netherlands
The Constitution of the Netherlands is the fundamental law of the European territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The present constitution is generally seen as directly derived from the one issued in 1815, constituting a constitutional monarchy. A revision in 1848 instituted a system of...
. An obvious consequence of this is that a fairly large portion of the Dutch constitution is devoted to the monarch; all in all, roughly a third of the constitution describes the succession, mechanisms of accession and abdication to the throne, the roles and responsibilities of the monarch and the formalisms of communication between the States-General of the Netherlands
States-General of the Netherlands
The States-General of the Netherlands is the bicameral legislature of the Netherlands, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The parliament meets in at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The archaic Dutch word "staten" originally related to the feudal classes in which medieval...
and the monarch in the creation of law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
s.
The constitution refers to the monarch of the Kingdom of the Netherlands as "The King". This is an indication of the role and refers equally to a man or a woman. This practice sometimes carries over into written language in Dutch, when the capitalized word "King" is used to distinguish the role of monarch from the person (who is then referred to as the uncapitalized "king" or "queen").This article will discuss both the constitutional position of King and several people who have held that position. For the purposes of distinction, the article will follow the same practice and refer to the constitutional position as King and to persons as "king", "queen" or "monarch"
Succession, accession, abdication and removal of the King
The cycle of monarchs is described in the first section of Chapter 2 of the constitution (which is dedicated to the government of the Netherlands).Succession
The monarchy of the Netherlands passes by right of successionOrder of succession
An order of succession is a formula or algorithm that determines who inherits an office upon the death, resignation, or removal of its current occupant.-Monarchies and nobility:...
to the heirs of William I
William I of the Netherlands
William I Frederick, born Willem Frederik Prins van Oranje-Nassau , was a Prince of Orange and the first King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg....
. The heir is determined through two mechanisms: absolute cognatic primogeniture and proximity of blood
Proximity of blood
Proximity of blood, or closeness in degree of kinship, is one of the ways to determine hereditary succession based on genealogy. It was at loggerheads with primogeniture in numerous medieval succession disputes....
. The Netherlands have followed absolute cognatic primogeniture instead of male primogeniture since 1983. The principle of proximity of blood is used to prevent the accession of a person who is not related to the monarch within three degrees of kinship. For example, the grandchildren of Princess Margriet of the Netherlands
Princess Margriet of the Netherlands
Princess Margriet Francisca of the Netherlands is the third daughter of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands...
have no succession rights because their kinship with Queen Beatrix
Beatrix of the Netherlands
Beatrix is the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands comprising the Netherlands, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and Aruba. She is the first daughter of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. She studied law at Leiden University...
(her sister, and their great-aunt) is of the fourth degree (that is, the queen is their parent's parent's parents' daughter). Also, succession is limited to legitimate
Legitimacy (law)
At common law, legitimacy is the status of a child who is born to parents who are legally married to one another; and of a child who is born shortly after the parents' divorce. In canon and in civil law, the offspring of putative marriages have been considered legitimate children...
heirs, precluding a claim to the throne by children born out of wedlock. A special case arises if the male King dies while his queen is still pregnant: the unborn child is considered the heir at that point, unless stillborn — the child is then considered never to have existed, so that proximity of blood can take precedence over primogeniture. This means that if the old king dies while his wife is pregnant with their first child, the unborn child is immediately considered born and immediately becomes the new King. If the pregnancy goes badly and the unborn monarch is stillborn, his or her reign is expunged and proximity of blood will determine which person will be the successor to the old king.
If the monarch is a minor, a regent is appointed and serves until the monarch comes of age. The regent is customarily the surviving parent of the monarch, but the constitution determines that the custody and parental authority of the minor monarch will be determined by law. This means that another person might also be appointed as regent, as legal guardian or both.
There are also a number of special cases which the constitution recognizes. First of all, if there is no heir when the monarch dies, the States-General may appoint a successor upon the suggestion of the government. This suggestion may also be made before the death of the reigning monarch, even by the monarch himself (in case it is clear that the monarch will die without leaving an heir).
Second, there are a number of persons who may be excluded from the line of succession. There are two categories of these:
- The heir-apparent who marries without the permission of the States-General loses the right of succession. This is a generalization of the historic law that the King may not marry a CatholicRoman Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, which was intended to prevent the return of SpanishSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
rule. Currently the rule is intended to prevent truly objectionable royal consorts. - A person who has done something to make him undesirable as King can be removed from the line of succession by an act of the States-General, upon the suggestion of the King. This possibility has never been used and is to be seen as an "emergency exit" (for example, in case the heir-apparent sides with an enemy of the Kingdom).
Accession
As with most monarchies, The Netherlands cannot be without a King (strictly in the constitutional sense; the role of King has been fulfilled by queens since 1890). There must be a head of stateHead of State
A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...
in order for the government to function. For this reason, the new King assumes the duties of Kingship the moment that the previous King ceases to hold the throne. The only exception is if there is no heir at all, in which case the Council of State
Dutch Council of State
In the Netherlands, the Council of State is a constitutionally established advisory body to the government which consists of members of the royal family and Crown-appointed members generally having political, commercial, diplomatic, or military experience...
assumes the role of the King pending the appointing of a King or regent.
The King is expected to execute his duties and responsibilities for the good of the nation. He must therefore swear to uphold the constitution and execute his office faithfully. This swearing-in must occur as soon as possible after the King assumes the throne, before a joint session of the States-General held in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. The language of Article 32 of the Dutch constitution speaks of a swearing-in in "the capital
Capital City
Capital City was a television show produced by Euston Films which focused on the lives of investment bankers in London living and working on the corporate trading floor for the fictional international bank Shane-Longman....
Amsterdam", which incidentally is also the only phrase in the constitution that makes Amsterdam the capital of the Kingdom.
The King is not crowned (there is a physical royal crown for heraldic use, but it is too big for anybody to wear). The monarch's swearing of the oath described earlier constitutes his acceptance of the position of King. Note though that it is not so that the monarch becomes King by taking this oath: this would imply a vacancy of the throne until the new monarch swears the oath, which is not allowed to occur. The monarch ascends immediately after the previous monarch ceases to reign; the swearing-in only constitutes acceptance in public.
Abdication and removal
The King may cease being King in any of four ways:Death: A dead person cannot be King.
Abdication: A King may willingly step down as King.
Ceding the throne: The King may temporarily cease executing his office.
Removal from the throne: The government may remove the King if he is deemed unfit.
The first of these options is obvious. The first two are permanent: a deceased monarch cannot become alive again and an abdicated monarch cannot return (for this reason any children born to the abdicated monarch are not in line for the throne; children born before abdication are). Both these events cause the regular mechanisms of succession to go into effect. Interestingly, the constitution considers both permanent possibilities so obvious that they are not explicitly mentioned anywhere. They are both acknowledged, however, in that the constitution describes what happens after the king dies or abdicates; but the possibilities are never explicitly mentioned as causes of the end of a King's reign.
There is only one monarch, so an abdicated monarch becomes a prince or princess once again (and a dead person technically cannot have any titles at all in the Netherlands). However, a deceased monarch (abdicated or not) is customarily referred to again as "king" or "queen". So, for example, Queen Juliana
Juliana of the Netherlands
Juliana was the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands between 1948 and 1980. She was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Henry...
became queen on September 4, 1948 and princess again on April 30, 1980 following her abdication, but has been referred to as Queen Juliana again since her death on March 20, 2004.
The other two occurrences are both temporary and examined in detail in the constitution. A monarch can temporarily cease being King for any reason. This can be at his own request, or because the Council of Ministers
Council of Ministers of the Netherlands
The Dutch Council of Ministers is the executive council of Dutch government, formed by all the ministers. This executive council initiates laws and policy. The Council of Ministers is distinct from the Cabinet which also includes state secretaries...
deems the monarch unfit for office. Although there is no limit on reasons for ceding the throne or removal, both the monarch and the Council are deemed to act responsibly and not to leave the country without a King frivolously. Taken in that light, both possibilities of temporary removal of kingship are intended to deal with emergency situations such as physical or mental inability to execute the office of monarch.
Both in case of ceding and removal an act of the joint States-General is needed to strip the monarch of authority. In the case of the monarch ceding the throne, the required act is a law. In case of removal, it is a declaration of the States-General. Procedurally these are the same — both are achieved following the same procedure as is used to pass a new law in the Netherlands. In case of removal it is not a law, however, since a law requires the signature of the King to come into effect (and presumably the monarch will not agree to being removed).
Since neither ceding nor removal is permanent, neither triggers succession. Instead, the States-General appoint a regent. This must be the heir-apparent, if the heir-apparent is old enough. In order for the actual monarch to resume his duties, a law must be passed to that effect (which is signed into law by the regent). The monarch resumes the throne the moment the law of his return is made public.
The reign of the King
As head of state, the King has many duties and responsibilities under the constitution. Most of these are ceremonial in practice, however.The King and the government
Although the King has roles and duties in all parts of the government and in several important places in the rest of society, the primary role of the King is within the executive branch
Executive (government)
Executive branch of Government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the idea of the separation of powers.In many countries, the term...
of the Dutch government: the King is part of the government of the Netherlands
Cabinet of the Netherlands
The cabinet of the Netherlands is the main executive body of the Dutch government. The current cabinet of the Netherlands is the Rutte cabinet.-Composition and role:...
. More than that: together with the Council of Ministers of the Netherlands
Council of Ministers of the Netherlands
The Dutch Council of Ministers is the executive council of Dutch government, formed by all the ministers. This executive council initiates laws and policy. The Council of Ministers is distinct from the Cabinet which also includes state secretaries...
, the King is the government.
The role of the King within the government of the Netherlands is described in Article 42 of the constitution:
This article is probably the greatest paradox in the entire constitution, in that it is the basis of the full power and influence of the King and makes him beyond reproach before the law — yet serves to render the King all but powerless in the Dutch system of government.
The first paragraph of Article 42 determines that the government of the Netherlands consists of the King and his ministers. It is important to note that, even though the King is the head of state, there is no hierarchy: the King is not the head of government, the ministers are not answerable to the King within the government. This holds true even though the ministers are civil servants and as such technically work for the King (they are appointed by the King). It even holds against the fact that the Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
is commonly referred to as the head of government (which he is not; he is the chairman of the Council of Ministers). The essential thing to understand is that there is no distinction, no dichotomy, no segregation or separation: the King and his ministers are the government and the government is one.
This fact has practical consequences, in that it is not possible for the King and the ministers to be in disagreement. The government speaks with one voice and makes decisions as a united body. When the King acts in an executive capacity, he does so as representative of the united government. And when the government decides, the King is in agreement (even if the king or queen personally disagrees). As an ultimate consequence of this, it is not possible for the King to refuse to sign into law a proposal of law that has been agreed to and signed by the responsible minister. Such a disagreement between the King and his minister is a situation not covered by the constitution and is automatically a constitutional crisis
Constitutional crisis
A constitutional crisis is a situation that the legal system's constitution or other basic principles of operation appear unable to resolve; it often results in a breakdown in the orderly operation of government...
. These are quite rare in the Netherlands and have, on occurrence, always led to collapse of the government (resignation of the ministers), parliamentary elections and eventually to abdication of the monarch.
The second paragraph of the article, though, is what really renders the King powerless. This paragraph states that the King is inviolate. He is beyond any reproach, beyond the grasp of any prosecution (criminal or otherwise) for any acts committed or actions taken as King. If anything goes wrong, the minister responsible for the topic at hand is responsible for the failings of the King. This sounds like it makes the King an absolute tyrant, but in fact the opposite is true: since the ministers are responsible, they also have the authority to make the decisions. The ministers set the course of the government and the country, the ministers make executive decisions and run the affairs of state. And since the government is one, the King abides by the decision of the ministers. In fact the Kings of the Netherlands rarely make any executive decisions at all and practically never speak in public on any subject other than to read a statement prepared by the Prime Minister (since an unfortunate off-the-cuff remark could get a minister into trouble). The practical consequence of this limit on the power of the King is that the King never makes a decision on his own. Every decision, every decree must be countersigned by the responsible minister(s).
The King and the law of the land
Technically, the King has a lot of practical power. For instance, no proposal of law actually becomes a law until signed by the King — and there is no legal requirement for the King to sign. In practice, the King will always give assent since most proposals of law are made by the government "by or on behalf of the King". And while proposals of law must be approved by the States-General, a lot of the practical running of the country is done by Royal Decree
Decree
A decree is a rule of law issued by a head of state , according to certain procedures . It has the force of law...
(in Dutch: Koninklijk Besluit). These Royal Decrees are used for all sorts of things, ranging from appointments of civil servants and military officers to clarifications of how public policy is to be executed (in this they are like American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
executive orders) to filling in the details of certain laws. Royal Decrees create ministries
Ministry (government department)
A ministry is a specialised organisation responsible for a sector of government public administration, sometimes led by a minister or a senior public servant, that can have responsibility for one or more departments, agencies, bureaus, commissions or other smaller executive, advisory, managerial or...
, disband the houses of the States-General, and appoint and fire ministers.
However, since the ministers are responsible, Royal Decrees are in fact made by the responsible minister. And while the King must sign laws and Royal Decrees before they come into effect, the constitution determines that the responsible ministers and state secretaries must countersign. That, given the fact that the ministers have the authority, really means that they decide and it is the King who countersigns, and even that is a formality. Also, while the King may technically propose laws ("by or on behalf of the King"), ministerial responsibility means that he never does. And even though the government may refuse to sign a States-General approved proposal into law, this is practically unheard of and the King refusing to sign on his own is even more rare (and a constitutional crisis to boot).
There is one special case in which the King has, if possible, even less power than normal: the appointment of his ministers. Ministers are appointed by Royal Decree, which of course have to be countersigned by the responsible minister. The Royal Decree to appoint a minister, however, is countersigned by two responsible ministers rather than one: the outgoing minister responsible for the ministry and the Prime Minister.
Formation of the government
Given the discussion above, it is a valid question whether the position of King of the Netherlands is entirely ceremonial. The answer however, is "no". Despite all appearances the King does have some actual power, relating to the formation of a new government after parliamentary election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
s. And, even more interestingly, this power is traditional and is not described in the constitution.
After the parliamentary election there follows a period of time in which the leaders of the political parties in the parliament seek to form a coalition of parties that can command a majority of the newly elected parliament. The current nationwide party-list system, combined with a low threshold for getting a seat (two-third percent of the vote) makes it all but impossible for one party to win an outright majority. Thus, the bargaining required to put together a governing coalition is as important as the election itself.
This process of negotiations, which can last anywhere from two to four months (more on occasion...), is coordinated in the initial stages by one or more informateurs, whose duty it is to investigate and report upon viable coalitions. After a likely combination is found, a formateur
Formateur
A formateur is a politician who is appointed by the head of state to lead the formation of a coalition government, after either a general election or the collapse of a previous government. The role of the formateur is especially important in the politics of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg,...
is appointed to conduct the formal coalition negotiations and form a new Council of Ministers (of which the formateur himself usually becomes the Prime Minister). If the negotiations fail, the cycle starts over. The informateurs and formateur in question are all appointed to this task by the King. The King makes his own decision in this, based on advice from the leaders of the different parties in parliament, as well as other important figures (the speakers of the new parliament and the senate are among them).
There is usually some popular discussion in the Netherlands around the time of these negotiations about whether the authority of the King in this matter should not be limited and whether or not the newly elected parliament should not make the appointments that the King makes. These discussions are usually based (to varying degrees) around the argument that decision by a King is undemocratic
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
and there is no parliamentary oversight over the decision and the King might make use of this to push for a government of his or her liking.
On the other hand, it is somewhat questionable that the King really has much opportunity here to exert any influence. The informateur is there to investigate possible coalititions and report on them. He could technically seek "favorable" coalitions, but the political parties involved are usually quite clear on what they want and don't want and the first choice for coalition almost always is the coalition of preference of the largest party in the new parliament. Besides, the kings and (particularly) the queens have traditionally known better than to appoint controversial informateurs, usually settling for well-established yet fairly neutral people in the political arena (the deputy chairman of the Dutch Council of State
Dutch Council of State
In the Netherlands, the Council of State is a constitutionally established advisory body to the government which consists of members of the royal family and Crown-appointed members generally having political, commercial, diplomatic, or military experience...
is a common choice). Once a potential coalition has been identified the King technically has a free rein in selecting a formateur. However, the formateur almost always becomes the next Prime Minister, and in any case it is a strong convention that a government must command the support of a majority of the House of Representatives in order to stay in office. These considerations mean that the selected formateur is always the party leader of the largest party in the potential coalition.
The King and the States-General
The one branch of government in which the King has no direct part is the legislative branch, which is formed by the States-General of the NetherlandsStates-General of the Netherlands
The States-General of the Netherlands is the bicameral legislature of the Netherlands, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The parliament meets in at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The archaic Dutch word "staten" originally related to the feudal classes in which medieval...
. This parliamentary body consists of two chambers, the House of Representatives (also commonly referred to as the Parliament) and the Senate.
As in most parliamentary democracies the States-General are dually responsible for overseeing the government in its executive duties as well as approving proposals of law before they can become actual laws. In this respect it is of course vital for the government to maintain good relations with the States-General and technically the King shares that effort (although the King never officially speaks to members of the States on policy matters due to ministerial responsibility).
Constitutionally, the King deals with the States-General in three areas: lawmaking, policy outlining at the opening of the parliamentary year and dissolution.
Of the three, policy outlining is the most straightforward. The parliamentary year is opened on the third Tuesday of September with a joint session of the two houses. At this occasion the King addresses the joint States in a speech in which he sets forth the outlines for his government's policies for the coming year (the speech itself is of course prepared by the ministers, their ministries and finally crafted and approved by the Prime Minister). This event is mandated by the constitution in Article 65. Tradition has made more of this occasion than a policy speech though, and the event known as Prinsjesdag
Prinsjesdag
Prinsjesdag is the day on which the reigning monarch of the Netherlands addresses a joint session of the Dutch Senate and House of Representatives in the Ridderzaal or Hall of Knights in The Hague. The Speech from the Throne sets out the main features of government policy for the coming...
has become a large affair with much pomp and circumstance, in which the States-General and other major bodies of government assemble in the Ridderzaal
Ridderzaal
The Ridderzaal is the main building at the Binnenhof in The Hague, Netherlands, which is used for the state opening of Parliament on the third Tuesday in September, Prinsjesdag, when the Dutch monarch drives to Parliament in the Golden Carriage and delivers the speech from the throne...
to hear the queen deliver the speech from the throne after having arrived from the Noordeinde Palace
Noordeinde Palace
Noordeinde Palace is one of the three official palaces of the Dutch royal family. Located in The Hague in the province of South Holland, it has been used as the "working palace" for Queen Beatrix since 1984.-From farmhouse to palace:...
in her golden carriage. Both in constitutional aspects and in ceremony the event has much in common with both the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Queen's Speech and the American State of the Union
State Of The Union
"State Of The Union" is the debut single from British singer-songwriter David Ford. It had previously been featured as a demo on his official website, before appearing as a track on a CD entitled "Apology Demos EP," only on sale at live shows....
.
Lawmaking is the area in which the King has the most frequent involvement with the States-General (although in fact he has very little to do with it in practice). Laws in the Netherlands are primarily proposed by the government and can be proposed "by or on behalf of" the King (this phrase is repeated often in the constitution). Technically this means that the King may propose laws in person, hearkening back to the days of the first kings of the Netherlands when the kings really could and did propose laws. However, this possibility is at odds with ministerial responsibility and the queens have always avoided the issue by never proposing laws in person. The King must still sign proposals into law though, a historical deference to the fact that the law of the land is decreed by the King.
While the King has no practical involvement anymore in lawmaking other than a signature at the end, one might get a different impression from reading the communication between the government and the States-General regarding proposals of law and the laws themselves. All communication from the States-General to the government is addressed to the King and communication in the opposite direction formally is from the King (it is also signed by the King, without a ministerial countersignature – such communication is not a decision or decree, so does not require a countersignature). The formal language still shows deference to the position of the King, with a refusal of the States-General to approve a proposal of law for example becoming "a request to the King to reconsider the proposal". The constitution prescribes a number of the forms used:
- If the government accepts a proposal of law and signs it into law, the language is that "The King accedes to the proposal".
- If the government refuses a proposal of law, the language is that "The King shall keep the proposal under advisement".
A law, once passed, is formulated in such a way as to be decreed by the King.
The final involvement of the King with the States is dissolution
Dissolution of parliament
In parliamentary systems, a dissolution of parliament is the dispersal of a legislature at the call of an election.Usually there is a maximum length of a legislature, and a dissolution must happen before the maximum time...
. Constitutionally, the King is empowered to disband either house of the States by Royal Decree. Of course, this means that a minister (usually the Prime Minister) makes the decision and the King countersigns. The signing of such a Royal Decree constitutionally implies new elections for the house in question and the formation of a new house within three months of dissolution.
The constitution prescribes a number of cases in which one or more houses of the States are disbanded (particularly for changes to the constitution); this is always done by Royal Decree. In addition, traditionally the collapse of the government is followed by dissolution of the House of Representatives and general elections. Before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, before it became common to form new governments with each new parliament, it would happen from time to time that a Council of Ministers found itself suddenly facing a new and unfriendly parliament. When the inevitable clash came, it was an established political trick for the Prime Minister to attempt to resolve the problem by disbanding the parliament in name of the King in the hope that new elections brought a more favorable parliament (but it was also possible for the trick to backfire, in which case the new, equally hostile and far more angry parliament would suspend the budget to force the resignation of the government).
Even though the King never speaks with members of the States-General formally, it was tradition up to 1999 that the queen would invite the members of parliament over once a year for informal talks about the general state of affairs in the country. Of course these conversations were held in the strictest confidence due to ministerial responsibility. The tradition was suspended after 1999 though, due to repeated incidents involving MPs blabbing about the contents of the conversations despite agreeing not to (and embarrassing the Prime Minister in doing so). In 2009 an attempt was made to resume the tradition, but this failed due to Arend Jan Boekestijn
Arend Jan Boekestijn
Arend Jan Boekestijn is a Dutch politician, who was a member of the Dutch House of Representatives from 30 November 2006 through 18 November 2009. He resigned after sharing information with the press regarding a confidential conversation with the Queen....
resuming the tradition of revealing the contents of his conversation with queen Beatrix
Beatrix of the Netherlands
Beatrix is the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands comprising the Netherlands, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and Aruba. She is the first daughter of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. She studied law at Leiden University...
anyway.
Other functions of the King
In addition to the duties and responsibilities described in previous sections, the King has several other functions as well. Some of these are (partly) constitutional, others are more traditional in nature.Although it does not say so anywhere in the constitution, the King is the head of state
Head of State
A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...
of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Kingdom of the Netherlands
The Kingdom of the Netherlands is a sovereign state and constitutional monarchy with territory in Western Europe and in the Caribbean. The four parts of the Kingdom—Aruba, Curaçao, the Netherlands, and Sint Maarten—are referred to as "countries", and participate on a basis of equality...
(this meaning is implied from the fact that the King is the King). As such, the King is the face of the kingdom towards the world: the ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
s of the Netherlands are emissaries of the King, foreign ambassadors represent foreign heads of state to the King. And even though head-of-government responsibility lies with the Prime Minister, it is the King that makes state visit
State visit
A state visit is a formal visit by a foreign head of state to another nation, at the invitation of that nation's head of state. State visits are the highest form of diplomatic contact between two nations, and are marked by ceremonial pomp and diplomatic protocol. In parliamentary democracies, heads...
s to foreign heads of state as representative of the Netherlands. It is also the King whose face is shown on Dutch stamp
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
s and Dutch euro coins.
Constitutionally the King is the head of the Dutch Council of State
Dutch Council of State
In the Netherlands, the Council of State is a constitutionally established advisory body to the government which consists of members of the royal family and Crown-appointed members generally having political, commercial, diplomatic, or military experience...
. The Council is a constitutional body of the Netherlands that serves two purposes. First, it is an advisory council to the government which advises on the desirability, practicability and constitutionality of new proposals of law. Second, it is the Supreme Court
Supreme court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of many legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, instance court, judgment court, high court, or apex court...
for the Netherlands in matters of administrative law
Administrative law
Administrative law is the body of law that governs the activities of administrative agencies of government. Government agency action can include rulemaking, adjudication, or the enforcement of a specific regulatory agenda. Administrative law is considered a branch of public law...
. The position of the King as constitutional head of this Council means two things for the constitutional position of the King:
- The King is constitutionally directly involved with practically all aspects of lawmaking except approval by the States-General (the representative of the electorate). From inception of the law through proposal to the States to finally signing into law, the King is involved. This involvement is derived from the days when the King was an absolute ruler and really made law. Originally, with the creation of the first constitutions, the kings strove to maintain power by maximum involvement with all aspects of lawmaking. Over time this has grown into a more advisory role.
- The King is constitutionally involved with at least part of the judicial branch of government as well.
Of course, the role played by the King in the Council is largely theoretical due to ministerial responsibility. While the King is officially head of the Council, in practice the queen never votes in Council meetings and always turns over her responsibility as chair of the meetings to the deputy head of the Council. She is presumed to be part of the discussions though.
Despite the limitations on the role the King may play in the Council, his involvement is seen as valuable due to the experience and knowledge that a monarch accrues over the years. Reciprocally, being part of the Council deliberations is considered invaluable training and preparation for the role of King, which is why the heir-apparent is constitutionally an observer-member of the Council from the time he comes of age.
The King is also the Grand Master of the Dutch orders of knighthoods: the Order of Orange-Nassau
Order of Orange-Nassau
The Order of Orange-Nassau is a military and civil order of the Netherlands which was created on 4 April 1892 by the Queen regent Emma of the Netherlands, acting on behalf of her under-age daughter Queen Wilhelmina. The Order is a chivalry order open to "everyone who have earned special merits for...
, the Order of the Netherlands Lion and the Military William Order.
Lastly, the King plays a very large but completely unofficial role in the running of the country as advisor and confidant to the government. This duty traditionally takes the form of a weekly meeting between the Prime Minister and the monarch in which they discuss the affairs of the week, the plans of the cabinet and so on. It is assumed that the queen exerts most of her influence (as such) in these meetings, in that she can bring her knowledge and experience to bear in what she tells the Prime Minister. In the case of queen Beatrix, several former Prime Ministers have remarked that her case knowledge of each and every dossier is extensive and that she makes sure to be fully aware of all the details surrounding everything that lands on her desk.
Perhaps somewhat surprisingly for a monarchy, the King is not formally the commander-in-chief
Commander-in-Chief
A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...
of the military of the Netherlands
Military of the Netherlands
The Armed forces of the Netherlands consist of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.The service branches consist of:* Koninklijke Landmacht , Royal Netherlands Army....
. He was until 1983, but a large overhaul of the constitution that year shifted supreme command of the armed forces to the government as a whole.
Stipend
Article 40 of the constitution states that the King is to receive an annual stipend from the Kingdom (in other words wage
Wage
A wage is a compensation, usually financial, received by workers in exchange for their labor.Compensation in terms of wages is given to workers and compensation in terms of salary is given to employees...
s, except that it cannot be called that since the King is not employed by the country but rather the other way around). The exact rules surrounding these stipends are to be determined by law, as is the list of members of the Royal House who also receive them.
Under current Dutch law the King receives an annual stipend which is part of the annual budget, as do the heir-apparent, the consort of the King and the consort of the heir-apparent. The King receives this stipend constitutionally, the others because they are not allowed to work for anybody due to their positions. For practical purposes this means that the current recipients of royal stipends are Queen Beatrix
Beatrix of the Netherlands
Beatrix is the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands comprising the Netherlands, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and Aruba. She is the first daughter of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. She studied law at Leiden University...
(€813,000 in the 2009 budget), Prince Willem-Alexander
Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange
Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange is the eldest child of Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus. Since 1980 he is the heir apparent to the throne of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. He is also the head of the House of Amsberg since the death of his father in 2002. He was in military service and he studied...
(the heir-apparent; €241,000 in the 2009 budget) and Princess Máxima
Princess Máxima of the Netherlands
Princess Máxima of the Netherlands is the wife of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, heir apparent to the throne of the Netherlands.-Early life and education:...
(wife of Prince Willem-Alexander; €241,000 in the 2009 budget). This stipend is currently linked to the development of the wages of Dutch civil servants.
At the beginning of 2009 there was some upset in the parliament about the cost of the Royal House and the lack of insight into the structure of those costs. At the insistence of the parliament the development of the stipends of the Royal House members was then linked to the development of the salaries of the Dutch civil servants. During 2009 it was agreed collectively that the civil servants would receive a pay increase of 1%. In September 2009, at the first budget debate in parliament during the economic crisis, it was pointed out to the parliament that their earlier decision meant that the stipend to the queen would now also increase. This in turn was reason for the parliament to be displeased again.
Royal privileges
Income tax
An income tax is a tax levied on the income of individuals or businesses . Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence. Income taxation can be progressive, proportional, or regressive. When the tax is levied on the income of companies, it is often called a corporate...
over that stipend. They are also exempt from all personal tax
Tax
To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
es over assets and possessions that they use or need in the execution of their functions for the Kingdom. The King and the heir-apparent are exempt from inheritance tax
Inheritance tax
An inheritance tax or estate tax is a levy paid by a person who inherits money or property or a tax on the estate of a person who has died...
on inheritances received from members of the Royal House.
The King has the use of Huis ten Bosch
Huis ten Bosch
Huis ten Bosch is one of the three official residences of the Dutch Royal Family, located in The Hague in the Netherlands. It has been home to Queen Beatrix since 1981. The other Royal palace in The Hague, Noordeinde Palace, is used for work-related purposes...
as a residence and Noordeinde Palace
Noordeinde Palace
Noordeinde Palace is one of the three official palaces of the Dutch royal family. Located in The Hague in the province of South Holland, it has been used as the "working palace" for Queen Beatrix since 1984.-From farmhouse to palace:...
as a work palace. In addition the Royal Palace of Amsterdam is also at the disposal of the King (although it is only used for state visits and is open to the public when not in use for that purpose), as is Soestdijk Palace
Soestdijk Palace
Soestdijk Palace is a former palace of the Dutch royal family. It consists of a central block and two wings.Although named after the village of Soestdijk, which is largely in the municipality of Soest, the Soestdijk Palace is just north of the border in the municipality of Baarn in the province of...
(which is open to the public and not in official use at all at this time).
The King has the use of an airplane and a train
Train
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
for state visits (although there is no train in current use and the airplane is not exclusively reserved for the King anymore). The King also has a small fleet of cars available, on which he may display the royal standard.
Positions of other members of the Royal House and royal family
The royal family has become quite extensive since the birth of Queen JulianaJuliana of the Netherlands
Juliana was the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands between 1948 and 1980. She was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Henry...
. By consequence so has the Royal House
Dutch Royal House
In the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Monarchy is a constitutional office and is controlled by the constitution of the Netherlands. A distinction is made between members of the royal family and members of the Royal House. The royal family is the Orange-Nassau family, however not every member is a...
(nominally the collection of persons in line for the throne and their spouses), to the extent that membership of the Royal House was limited by a change in the law in 2002.
Despite being a large clan, the family as a whole has very little to do officially with the Dutch government or the running of the Netherlands. Constitutionally an important role is played by the monarch. The heir-apparent is deemed to be preparing to ascend to the throne, so he has some limited tasks and a number of limits on his person (particularly he cannot hold a paying job, since this might lead to entanglements later on). Since neither King nor heir-apparent may hold jobs, they receive a stipend from the government. Their spouses are similarly forbidden from earning an income and receive a stipend as well. But constitutionally that is the whole of the involvement of the royal family with the Dutch government.
In particular (even though it is a common mistake to believe otherwise), members of the Royal House other than the King and the heir-apparent have no official tasks within the Dutch government and do not receive stipends. They are responsible for their own conduct and their own income. They may of course be asked to stand in from time to time (for instance to accompany the King on a state visit if the consort is ill), but this is always a personal favor and not an official duty. In addition, they are not exempt from taxation.
Many members of the royal family do hold (or have held) significant positions within civil society
Civil society
Civil society is composed of the totality of many voluntary social relationships, civic and social organizations, and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society, as distinct from the force-backed structures of a state , the commercial institutions of the market, and private criminal...
, usually functioning as head or spokesperson of one or more charitable organization
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
s, patron of the arts and similar endeavors. Some members of the royal family are also (or have been) avid supporters of some personal cause; Prince Bernhard
Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld
Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld , later Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, was prince consort of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and father of six children, including the current monarch Queen Beatrix....
for instance was always passionate about the treatment of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
veterans and Princess Margriet
Princess Margriet of the Netherlands
Princess Margriet Francisca of the Netherlands is the third daughter of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands...
(who was born in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
) has a special relationship with Canadian veterans specifically. As a rule of thumb, the members of the royal family who are contemporaries of Queen Beatrix tend to hold civil society positions as a primary occupation whereas younger family members hold these positions in conjunction with a regular, paying job. A notable exception to this rule is Pieter van Vollenhoven
Pieter van Vollenhoven
Pieter van Vollenhoven, Jr. is the husband of Princess Margriet of the Netherlands and a member of the Dutch Royal House.-Early life and career:Born in Schiedam, he is the second son of Pieter van Vollenhoven, Sr...
(husband to Princess Margriet), who is chairman of the Dutch Safety Board
Dutch Safety Board
The Dutch Safety Board; Onderzoeksraad Voor Veiligheid , is based in The Hague, The Netherlands. The first chairman was Pieter van Vollenhoven, who served until February of 2011...
.
As noted before, the spouses of the monarch and the heir-apparent are forbidden from holding paying jobs or government responsibilities. This is to prevent any monetary entanglements or undue influences involving the (future) King. These legal limits were not a great problem when they were instituted in the 19th century; The Netherlands had kings and it was considered normal for a married woman to tend the household, raise the family and not to hold any position outside the home. The limits have been more problematic since the early 20th century, when the monarchy of the Netherlands passed to a series of queens and the consorts became men (starting with Prince Hendrik in 1901). The male consorts since then have all either been raised with an expectation of government responsibility (such as Prince Hendrik), or had established careers of their own before marrying the future queen (Prince Bernhard and Prince Claus). Upon marrying into the Dutch royal family they all found themselves severely restricted in their freedom to act and make use of their abilities. All of the male consorts have been involved in some form of difficulty or another (scandals involving infidelity
Infidelity
In many intimate relationships in many cultures there is usually an express or implied expectation of exclusivity, especially in sexual matters. Infidelity most commonly refers to a breach of the expectation of sexual exclusivity.Infidelity can occur in relation to physical intimacy and/or...
and finances in the cases of Hendrik and Bernhard, deep depression
Depression (mood)
Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless...
in the case of Claus) and it has been widely speculated (and even generally accepted) that sheer boredom played at least a part in all of these difficulties.
Over time the restrictions on royal consorts have eased somewhat. Prince Frederik was allowed no part or role in the Netherlands whatsoever. Due to his war efforts, Prince Bernhard was made Inspector General
Inspector General
An Inspector General is an investigative official in a civil or military organization. The plural of the term is Inspectors General.-Bangladesh:...
of the Dutch armed forces (although that role was created for him) and was an unofficial ambassador for the Netherlands who leveraged his wartime contacts to help Dutch industry. All that came to a halt in 1976 however, after the Lockheed bribery scandals
Lockheed bribery scandals
The Lockheed bribery scandals encompassed a series of bribes and contributions made by officials of U.S. aerospace company Lockheed from the late 1950s to the 1970s in the process of negotiating the sale of aircraft....
. Prince Claus was allowed more leeway still after having established himself in Dutch society (he was unpopular at first, being a German marrying into the royal family after World War II); he was eventually given an advisorship within the Ministry for Development Cooperation pertaining to Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, where he made good use of his experiences as a German diplomat in that continent. Nevertheless, neither Bernhard nor Claus ever fully got over the restrictive nature of their marriages and at the time of the royal wedding in 2002 it was broadly agreed in government circles that Princess Máxima
Princess Máxima of the Netherlands
Princess Máxima of the Netherlands is the wife of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, heir apparent to the throne of the Netherlands.-Early life and education:...
(who had a career in banking before marrying Prince Willem-Alexander) should be allowed far more leeway if she desires.
Death and burial
Although Dutch lawmakers have historically favored being very conservative about creating special legal positions for members of the Royal House or the Royal family, there is one area in which the rules for members of the Royal House are very different than for other Dutch citizens: the area of death and burial. More specifically, there is only one rule that pertains to members of the Royal House in this area and that is that there are no rules.For Dutch citizens, the rules surrounding death and burial are laid out by the Funereal Law (Dutch: Wet op de Lijkbezorging). However, article 87 of this law states that the entire law is not applicable to members of the Royal House and that the Minister of Internal Affairs can also waive the law for other relatives of the King. The reason for this exceptional position of members of the Royal House is traditional. Ever since the burial of William the Silent
William the Silent
William I, Prince of Orange , also widely known as William the Silent , or simply William of Orange , was the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish that set off the Eighty Years' War and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648. He was born in the House of...
in the Nieuwe Kerk
Nieuwe Kerk (Delft)
Nieuwe Kerk is a landmark Protestant church in Delft, Netherlands. The building is located on Delft Market Square , opposite to the City Hall . In 1584, William the Silent was entombed here in a mausoleum designed by Hendrick and Pieter de Keyser. Since then members of the House of Orange-Nassau...
in Delft
Delft
Delft is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland , the Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam and The Hague....
, members of the Orange-Nassau family have favored burial in the same crypt where William was entombed (some members of the family buried elsewhere were even moved there later). However, for health and hygiene reasons, burial in churches was forbidden in the Netherlands by decree of William I
William I of the Netherlands
William I Frederick, born Willem Frederik Prins van Oranje-Nassau , was a Prince of Orange and the first King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg....
in 1829 (the practice had been banned before under French occupation of the country, but returned after 1815). In order to allow entombing of members of the Royal family, all Dutch laws pertaining to burial have made an exception for the Royal House ever since the 1829 decree.
Burial of members of the Royal House is completely a matter of tradition, circumstance, practicality and spirit of the times (this due to the lack of any formal rules whatsoever). As a rule of thumb, the body of a deceased member of the Royal House is placed on display for a few days in one of the palaces, to allow the family to say goodbye. Depending on the identity of the deceased (a deceased monarch, for instance), there may also be a viewing for the public. Then, on the burial day, the body is transported to Delft in a special horse-drawn carriage. Current protocol specifies eight horses for a deceased monarch and six for a deceased royal consort (which is relatively new, since Prince Frederik was borne to Delft by eight horses). The current carriage is purple with white trim (this has also changed since the burial of Queen Wilhelmina in 1962, when the carriage was white). Currently, the route to Delft is lined by members of the Dutch armed forces (which is also new since the burial of Prince Hendrik, which was a very quiet affair).
Once in Delft, the body is entombed in the family crypt after a short service. Only members of the family are allowed into the crypt, through the main entrance in the church which is only opened for royal funerals (the mayor of Delft has a key to a separate service entrance, which is only opened in the presence of two military police officers and two members of the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service
General Intelligence and Security Service
Algemene Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst , formerly known as the BVD is the General Intelligence and Security Service or The Secret service of the Netherlands. The office is in Zoetermeer...
for maintenance).
Importance and position within Dutch society
The importance and position of the monarchy within Dutch society has changed over time, together with changes in the constitutional position of the monarchy.The monarchy of the Netherlands was established in 1815 as a reaction to the decline and eventual fall of the Dutch Republic
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
. It was observed at the time that a large part of the decline of the republic was due to a lack of a strong, central government in the face of strong, centrally led competitor nations such as Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
and the French kingdom
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. After the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1813 and the resurrection of the Netherlands, it was decided to reform the republic in the Kingdom of the Netherlands with a monarchy rather than the old stadtholder
Stadtholder
A Stadtholder A Stadtholder A Stadtholder (Dutch: stadhouder [], "steward" or "lieutenant", literally place holder, holding someones place, possibly a calque of German Statthalter, French lieutenant, or Middle Latin locum tenens...
system.
The original monarchy was absolute
Absolute monarchy
Absolute monarchy is a monarchical form of government in which the monarch exercises ultimate governing authority as head of state and head of government, his or her power not being limited by a constitution or by the law. An absolute monarch thus wields unrestricted political power over the...
in nature, with the States-General serving as more of an advisory board without the power to do much against the King. This state of affairs allowed the King great freedom to determine the course of the nation and indeed William I
William I of the Netherlands
William I Frederick, born Willem Frederik Prins van Oranje-Nassau , was a Prince of Orange and the first King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg....
was able to push through many changes that set the nation on the course towards industrialization and wealth. He also established the first Dutch railway system and the Nederlandsche Handel Maatschappij, which would later evolve into the ABN Amro
ABN AMRO
ABN AMRO Bank N.V. is a Dutch state-owned bank with headquarters in Amsterdam. It was re-established, in its current form, in 2009 following the acquisition and break up of ABN AMRO Group by a banking consortium consisting of Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Santander and Fortis...
bank. On the other hand, his policies caused great discord with the Southern Netherlands, leading to the Belgian Revolution
Belgian Revolution
The Belgian Revolution was the conflict which led to the secession of the Southern provinces from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and established an independent Kingdom of Belgium....
and a years-long war. A backlash against these policies plus rising fear of early Marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
led to acceptance by William II
William II of the Netherlands
William II was King of the Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and Duke of Limburg from 7 October 1840 until his death in 1849.- Early life and education :...
of a series of reforms, starting with a new constitution in 1848 (which was the start of a continuing series of limitations on royal power).
Direct political power and influence of the King continued until 1890, although it slowly declined in the meantime. Both William I and William II
William II of the Netherlands
William II was King of the Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and Duke of Limburg from 7 October 1840 until his death in 1849.- Early life and education :...
proved quite conservative rulers (although William II was less inclined to interfere with policy than his father was), both resisting major reforms until eventually conflict with the States-General and their own government forced their abdications. William III
William III of the Netherlands
William III was from 1849 King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg until his death and the Duke of Limburg until the abolition of the Duchy in 1866.-Early life:William was born in Brussels as son of William II of the Netherlands and...
's reign was a continuous saga of power struggles between the monarch and the parliamentary government (which he forced out a couple of times), plus major international crises due to the same stubbornness (including the Luxembourg Crisis
Luxembourg Crisis
The Luxembourg Crisis was a diplomatic dispute and confrontation in 1867 between France and Prussia over the political status of Luxembourg. The confrontation almost led to war between the two parties, but was peacefully resolved by the Treaty of London....
). As a result the Dutch government used the succession of William III by a female regent as an opportunity to make a power play and establish government authority over royal authority.
Queen Wilhelmina was not happy with the new situation and made several half-hearted attempts during her reign to reassert authority. She was partly successful in certain areas (being able to push for military rearmament before World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
) but she never succeeded in restoring royal power. She did introduce a new concept to Dutch royalty though: the popular monarch. Establishing her popularity in military circles through her support of Dutch military prior to 1917, she was able to wield her personal popularity to uphold the government against a socialist revolution in 1917.
Royal power continued to decline until the start of World War II. Forced to flee to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, queen Wilhelmina established to position of "mother of the Dutch state" through her radio broadcasts into the occupied Netherlands and her support for other Dutchmen evading the Germans and fighting from England. She tried to position her family into more influence by giving prince Bernhard an important position in the military, but was still relegated to a position of constitutional monarchy after the war.
Following Wilhelmina's abdication in 1948, the Orange family seems to have settled for a position of unofficial influence behind the scenes coupled with a role as "popular monarchs" in public. As such the monarchs are practically never seen in public doing their official work (except news footage of state visits and the reading of the government plans on Prinsjesdag) and instead their relationship with the public has become more of a popular and romanticized notion of royalty. The queen nowadays is popularly perceived to have a figurehead role, serving as "mother of the nation" in times of crises and disasters (such as the 1953 floods). In addition, there is a public holiday called Koninginnedag
Koninginnedag
Koninginnedag or Queen's Day is a national holiday in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Celebrated on 30 April , Koninginnedag is Queen Beatrix's official birthday. Though Queen Beatrix was born on 31 January, the holiday is observed on 30 April as it was the birthday of her mother and...
, in which the royal family pays a visit somewhere in the country and participates in local activities and traditions in order to get closer to the people.
Popularity of the monarchy
The popularity of the monarchy has changed over time, with constitutional influence, circumstance and economic tides.When the monarchy was established in 1815, popularity was not a major concern. Still, the Orange family held popular support in around 60% percent of the population following the fall of the French. This changed drastically over the following years as William I's policies alienated the Southern Netherlands, drew the country into civil war and established industries that favored the rich Protestants and not the general populace.
Royal popularity remained relatively low throughout the reign of the kings. William II was conservative, but on the whole did as little to lose popularity as he did to gain it. Economic decline drove most of his popular decline, although popular support for the monarch was still not considered of much import then. William III was unpopular under a wide section of the public, earning himself the nickname "King Gorilla" for his boorish way of behaving.
Royal popularity started to increase with Wilhelmina's ascent to the throne. She pushed for national reforms, was a huge supporter of the armed forces and strove for renewed industrialization. Around 1917 the country was generally divided into two camps: socialists in the cities, royalists elsewhere. This showed in the dividing lines during the failed Troelstra revolution
Pieter Jelles Troelstra
Pieter Jelles Troelstra was a Dutch politician active in the socialist workers' movement. He is most remembered for his fight for universal suffrage and his failed call for revolution at the end of World War I...
, where Troelstra gained popular support in the larger cities but the countryside flocked to the queen. Wilhelmina was able to muster popular support with a countryside "publicity tour" together with her daughter — this showing of popular support for the queen was instrumental in halting the revolution and stabilizing the government. Still, Wilhelmina remained deeply unpopular in the cities throughout the 1920s and 1930s.
Nationwide support came for Wilhelmina and the monarchy during World War II. Wilhelmina was forced to retreat to London, but refused evacuation all the way to Canada (although princess Juliana was sent there with her children). Wilhelmina regularly held radio broadcasts into the occupied Netherlands and staunchly supported the Dutch troops in exile. She became the symbol for Dutch resistance against the Germans, leading to the term "WOZO" (Wilhelmina, Oranje Zal Overwinnen, or Wilhelmina, Orange Shall Be Victorious) being graffiti'd over all manner of Dutch walls as a sign of resistance. Wilhelmina established popular support for the monarchy that essentially holds to this day.
Although a completely different type of queen than Wilhelmina, Juliana gained enormous popular support in her own right. Starting with her public appearances after the 1953 floods
North Sea flood of 1953
The 1953 North Sea flood was a major flood caused by a heavy storm, that occurred on the night of Saturday 31 January 1953 and morning of 1 February 1953. The floods struck the Netherlands, Belgium, England and Scotland.A combination of a high spring tide and a severe European windstorm caused a...
, Juliana established herself as a "mother of the nation" type of queen. A far more homey, down-to-earth character than Wilhelmina, queen Juliana reigned with a "neighbour and housewife" air about her in a time when the Netherlands went through a period of social relaxation in the 1960s and 1970s (shrugging off the more rigid nature of previous Dutch society). Juliana was also a pacifist at heart at a time when Vietnam
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
was an unpopular war and opposition to nuclear weapons was on the rise. Amid all this, queen Juliana's socialist views and unassuming nature (she had a popular image of being a queen who prepared her own Brussels sprout
Brussels sprout
The Brussels sprout is a cultivar of wild cabbage grown for its edible buds. The leafy green vegetables are typically 2.5–4 cm in diameter and look like miniature cabbages. The sprout is Brassica oleracea, in the "gemmifera" group of the family Brassicaceae...
s) made her the "right queen for the time" and she maintained and increased the popular support she had inherited from her mother, even in the face of different scandals surrounding her husband.
Popular support waned for a time in the early 1980s, during the start of queen Beatrix' reign. She adopted a style of government more like that of queen Wilhelmina and was perceived as cold and distant in a country used to queen Juliana being everybody's grandmother. Over time the country has got used to her style though and acceptance has grown. This was also aided by the public image of prince Claus, who came to be perceived as charming and funny during her reign. Particularly his public love declaration for Beatrix a few years before the end of his life endeared him to many people. Popular support for the monarchy (which was only measured regularly since Beatrix' reign) has consistently been above 85% since the mid-1990s and reached a peak with the marriage of prince Willem-Alexander to princess Máxima in 2002.
Popular support has become more volatile over the last few years though, in the face of seeming improprieties by prince Willem-Alexander and other members of the royal family during the economic crisis. Prince Willem-Alexander always had a reputation for being a "naughty boy" (he became popularly known as "Prins Pils" ("prince beer") after being photographed drinking beer as a student and once drove his car into a ditch while in university as well). Despite ongoing efforts to prepare for being King (including internships throughout society, military service and a very public interest in water management), he has made some clumsy choices from time to time that have negatively impacted his popularity. When he became engaged to Máxima Zorreguieta (daughter of Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
junta
Military junta
A junta or military junta is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term derives from the Spanish language junta meaning committee, specifically a board of directors...
member Jorge Zorreguieta
Jorge Zorreguieta
Jorge Horacio Zorreguieta Stefanini is a former politician from Argentina. He was Minister of Agriculture in the regime of General Jorge Rafael Videla...
), he publicly defended her by citing a letter describing her father's actions as harmless — the letter turned out to have been written by Jorge Rafael Videla
Jorge Rafael Videla
Jorge Rafael Videla Redondo is a former senior commander in the Argentine Army who was the de facto President of Argentina from 1976 to 1981. He came to power in a coup d'état that deposed Isabel Martínez de Perón...
. The matter was set aside when princess Máxima described her future husband's actions as "een beetje dom" ("a little bit dumb") in fluent Dutch during her first press conference (this also established her reputation as a charming young lady in the Netherlands). In 2009 Willem-Alexander and Máxima were in the news again for investing in a vacation resort in Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
. Even though there were good reasons to believe the project would have benefited the local populace greatly, the expenditure of money abroad during a crisis in a project involving some shady brokers did not sit well with the Dutch public. Also a purchase of an alternative vacation home in Argentina the same year was unpopular.
In and of themselves the incidents were not terrible, but they became public knowledge around the same time that other questions were being raised about the family finances of the Oranges. Even though the incidents caused only a slight drop in overall popular support (down to about 83%), they led to an increased support for moving to a fully ceremonial monarchy (around 43%), a freezing of the royal stipends (around 66%) or even a lowering of the stipends (about 33%) and removing the royal exemption on taxation (also around 40%).
History
- For rulers of the Netherlands before 1806, see Stadtholder of the NetherlandsStadtholderA Stadtholder A Stadtholder A Stadtholder (Dutch: stadhouder [], "steward" or "lieutenant", literally place holder, holding someones place, possibly a calque of German Statthalter, French lieutenant, or Middle Latin locum tenens...
Prior to the Napoleonic wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, most of the semi-independent provinces of the Netherlands had been ruled by elected stadtholder
Stadtholder
A Stadtholder A Stadtholder A Stadtholder (Dutch: stadhouder [], "steward" or "lieutenant", literally place holder, holding someones place, possibly a calque of German Statthalter, French lieutenant, or Middle Latin locum tenens...
s, who were all drawn from the House of Orange-Nassau
House of Orange-Nassau
The House of Orange-Nassau , a branch of the European House of Nassau, has played a central role in the political life of the Netherlands — and at times in Europe — since William I of Orange organized the Dutch revolt against Spanish rule, which after the Eighty Years' War...
.
The House of Orange-Nassau came from Dillenburg
Dillenburg
Dillenburg is a town in Hesse's Gießen region in Germany. The town was formerly the seat of the old Dillkreis district, which is now part of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, seat of the Dukes of Nassau. Their title 'Prince of Orange
Prince of Orange
Prince of Orange is a title of nobility, originally associated with the Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France. In French it is la Principauté d'Orange....
' was acquired through inheritance of the Principality of Orange
Principality of Orange
The Principality of Orange was a feudal state in Provence, in the south of modern-day France, on the left bank of the River Rhone north of the city of Avignon....
in southern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, in 1544. William of Orange (also known as William the Silent) was the first Orange-Nassau stadtholder (ironically, appointed by Philip II of Spain
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
). From 1568 to his death in 1584, he led the Dutch struggle for independence from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. His younger brother, John VI, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg, was the direct male line ancestor of the first King of the Netherlands.
The Netherlands remained, formally, a confederated republic, even when in 1747 the office of stadtholder was centralized (one stadtholder for all provinces) and became formally hereditary the House of Orange-Nassau.
The first King of the Netherlands was actually French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. In 1806, Emperor Napoleon installed his brother Louis Bonaparte
Louis Bonaparte
Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, Prince Français, Comte de Saint-Leu , King of Holland , was the fifth surviving child and the fourth surviving son of Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Ramolino...
as ruler of the Kingdom of Holland
Kingdom of Holland
The Kingdom of Holland 1806–1810 was set up by Napoleon Bonaparte as a puppet kingdom for his third brother, Louis Bonaparte, in order to better control the Netherlands. The name of the leading province, Holland, was now taken for the whole country...
, a puppet state. The Kingdom of Holland was abolished in 1810.
The present monarchy was founded in 1813, when the French were driven out. Prince William V of Orange was proclaimed Sovereign Prince of the United Netherlands
United Netherlands
United Netherlands is an educational student-led organization that focuses on the theory and practice of international relations and diplomacy...
(comprising certain northern provinces). The new monarchy was confirmed in 1815 at the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
as part of the re-arrangement of Europe after the fall of Napoleon, and its status as a kingdom was also confirmed.
William VI became the first king of the constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a constitution, whether it be a written, uncodified or blended constitution...
of the Netherlands as William I
William I of the Netherlands
William I Frederick, born Willem Frederik Prins van Oranje-Nassau , was a Prince of Orange and the first King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg....
.
The House of Orange-Nassau was given the modern day Netherlands and also Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and Luxembourg to rule as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands
United Kingdom of the Netherlands
United Kingdom of the Netherlands is the unofficial name used to refer to Kingdom of the Netherlands during the period after it was first created from part of the First French Empire and before the new kingdom of Belgium split out in 1830...
. In addition, the King of the Netherlands became hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Grand Duke of Luxembourg
The Grand Duke of Luxembourg is the sovereign monarch and head of state of Luxembourg. Luxembourg has been a grand duchy since 15 March 1815, when it was elevated from a duchy when placed in personal union with the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
. Until 1839, Luxembourg was both a Grand Duchy of the German Confederation and a Province of the Kingdom simultaneously.
Abdication of the throne has become a de facto tradition in the Dutch monarchy. Queen Wilhelmina
Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
Wilhelmina was Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands from 1890 to 1948. She ruled the Netherlands for fifty-eight years, longer than any other Dutch monarch. Her reign saw World War I and World War II, the economic crisis of 1933, and the decline of the Netherlands as a major colonial...
and Queen Juliana
Juliana of the Netherlands
Juliana was the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands between 1948 and 1980. She was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Henry...
both abdicated in favour of their daughters and William I
William I of the Netherlands
William I Frederick, born Willem Frederik Prins van Oranje-Nassau , was a Prince of Orange and the first King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg....
abdicated in favor of his eldest son
William II of the Netherlands
William II was King of the Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and Duke of Limburg from 7 October 1840 until his death in 1849.- Early life and education :...
.
The present monarch, Queen Beatrix
Beatrix of the Netherlands
Beatrix is the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands comprising the Netherlands, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and Aruba. She is the first daughter of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. She studied law at Leiden University...
, has stated she will not abdicate in the near future, to allow Crown Prince Willem-Alexander
Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange
Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange is the eldest child of Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus. Since 1980 he is the heir apparent to the throne of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. He is also the head of the House of Amsberg since the death of his father in 2002. He was in military service and he studied...
and his wife Princess Máxima to spend time with their family.
Wilhelmina (1890–1948)
When Wilhelmina came to the throne in 1890 at age 10 (her mother, queen Emma, second wife of the then deceased William IIIWilliam III of the Netherlands
William III was from 1849 King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg until his death and the Duke of Limburg until the abolition of the Duchy in 1866.-Early life:William was born in Brussels as son of William II of the Netherlands and...
, acted as regent until Wilhelmina reached the age of 18) Luxembourg, also a former member of the erstwhile German Confederation
German Confederation
The German Confederation was the loose association of Central European states created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to coordinate the economies of separate German-speaking countries. It acted as a buffer between the powerful states of Austria and Prussia...
, was not willing to accept a (female) Grand Duchess under Salic law
Salic law
Salic law was a body of traditional law codified for governing the Salian Franks in the early Middle Ages during the reign of King Clovis I in the 6th century...
. Instead a family member, Adolf
Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Adolphe I, Grand Duke of Luxembourg was the last Duke of Nassau, and the fourth Grand Duke of Luxembourg.-Biography:...
, former Duke of Nassau, became Grand Duke of Luxembourg, ending the personal union
Personal union
A personal union is the combination by which two or more different states have the same monarch while their boundaries, their laws and their interests remain distinct. It should not be confused with a federation which is internationally considered a single state...
between the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
The 58-year reign of queen Wilhelmina was dominated by the two World Wars. She married a German prince, Heinrich von Mecklenburg-Schwerin, who unfortunately was not happy with his unrewarding role of husband-to-the-queen. Wilhelmina's strong personality and unrelenting passion to fulfill her inherited task overpowered many men in position of authority, including ministers, prime-ministers and her own husband. She is mostly remembered for her role during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The initial disappointment of many Dutch people because of her quick withdrawal to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
faded (though it was never forgotten and by some was never forgiven) when she proved to be of great moral support to the people and the resistance in her occupied country. Hendrik and Wilhelmina had one daughter, Juliana
Juliana of the Netherlands
Juliana was the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands between 1948 and 1980. She was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Henry...
, who came to the throne in 1948. They lived in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
and in Palace 't Loo
Het Loo
Het Loo Palace is a palace in Apeldoorn, Netherlands. The symmetrical Dutch Baroque building was designed by Jacob Roman and Johan van Swieten and was built between 1684 and 1686 for stadtholder-king William III and Mary II of England...
(Paleis 't Loo) in Apeldoorn
Apeldoorn
Apeldoorn is a municipality and city in the province of Gelderland, about 60 miles south east of Amsterdam, in the centre of the Netherlands. It is a regional centre and has 155,000 . The municipality of Apeldoorn, including villages like Beekbergen, Loenen and Hoenderloo, has over 155,000...
.
She died in 1962.
For her early reign and character, the letters of Queen Victoria give a good perspective.
Juliana (1948–1980)
Juliana reigned from 1948 until 1980, and whereas Wilhelmina reigned like a general, Juliana expressed a more motherly character. One of her first official acts was to sign the treaty of independence of the Dutch colony IndonesiaIndonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. She became involved in two major crises: the Greet Hofmans affair and the Lockheed bribery scandals
Lockheed bribery scandals
The Lockheed bribery scandals encompassed a series of bribes and contributions made by officials of U.S. aerospace company Lockheed from the late 1950s to the 1970s in the process of negotiating the sale of aircraft....
, both of which directly threatened the credibility of the throne. She married a German of noble descent, Prince Bernard von Lippe-Biesterfeld. Together they had four daughters, Beatrix
Beatrix of the Netherlands
Beatrix is the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands comprising the Netherlands, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and Aruba. She is the first daughter of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. She studied law at Leiden University...
, Irene
Princess Irene of the Netherlands
Princess Irene of the Netherlands is the second child of the late Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands.-Childhood and ancestry:thumb|left|215px|Princesses Margriet, Irene, and Beatrix in 1944...
, Margriet
Princess Margriet of the Netherlands
Princess Margriet Francisca of the Netherlands is the third daughter of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands...
and Christina
Princess Christina of the Netherlands
Princess Maria Christina of the Netherlands , Princess of Orange-Nassau, Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld, is the youngest of four daughters born to Queen regnant Juliana of the Netherlands and her Prince consort Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld.-Birth:She was born Maria Christina at Soestdijk Palace,...
. After their return from Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in 1945 (where Margriet was born), they lived in the Soestdijk Palace
Soestdijk Palace
Soestdijk Palace is a former palace of the Dutch royal family. It consists of a central block and two wings.Although named after the village of Soestdijk, which is largely in the municipality of Soest, the Soestdijk Palace is just north of the border in the municipality of Baarn in the province of...
(Paleis Soestdijk) in Soestdijk, about 20 km north-east of Utrecht
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
. She died on 20 March 2004. Her husband Bernhard died on 1 December 2004.
Beatrix (1980–present)
The Dutch royal family today is much larger than it has ever been. Queen BeatrixBeatrix of the Netherlands
Beatrix is the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands comprising the Netherlands, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and Aruba. She is the first daughter of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. She studied law at Leiden University...
and her husband, the late prince Claus
Claus von Amsberg
Prince Claus of the Netherlands was the prince consort of the current Queen regnant of the Netherlands, Queen Beatrix.-Biography:...
, have three sons, Willem-Alexander
Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange
Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange is the eldest child of Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus. Since 1980 he is the heir apparent to the throne of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. He is also the head of the House of Amsberg since the death of his father in 2002. He was in military service and he studied...
(married to Princess Máxima
Princess Máxima of the Netherlands
Princess Máxima of the Netherlands is the wife of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, heir apparent to the throne of the Netherlands.-Early life and education:...
), Friso (married to Princess Mabel
Princess Mabel of Orange-Nassau
Princess Mabel of Orange-Nassau is the wife of Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau ....
) and Constantijn
Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands
Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands is the third and youngest son of Queen Beatrix and the late Prince Claus of the Netherlands. His godparents are King Constantine II of Greece, Prince Aschwin zu Lippe-Biesterfeld, Axel Freiherr von dem Bussche-Streithorst, Max Kohnstamm, and Mrs. C...
(married to Princess Laurentien
Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands
Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands is the wife of Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands, the third son of Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus of the Netherlands, Jonkheer van Amsberg.-Early life:Petra Laurentien Brinkhorst was born in Leiden on 25 May 1966, the daughter of the former Dutch minister...
). Her sister Margriet
Princess Margriet of the Netherlands
Princess Margriet Francisca of the Netherlands is the third daughter of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands...
and her spouse Pieter van Vollenhoven
Pieter van Vollenhoven
Pieter van Vollenhoven, Jr. is the husband of Princess Margriet of the Netherlands and a member of the Dutch Royal House.-Early life and career:Born in Schiedam, he is the second son of Pieter van Vollenhoven, Sr...
have four sons: Maurits
Prince Maurits of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven
-External links:* * - References :...
, Bernhard
Prince Bernhard of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven
-External links:* *...
, Pieter-Christiaan and Floris
Prince Floris of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven
-External links:*...
. Four of these seven princes as well as princess Margriet, are all (potentially) legal heirs to the throne, although the first right goes to the crown prince, and after him his daughters Catharina-Amalia
Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands
The official origins of her given names:*Catharina has been speculated to be after Henriette Catherine of Nassau *Amalia is after Amalia of Solms-Braunfels *Beatrix is after her paternal grandmother, the Queen of the Netherlands...
, Alexia
Princess Alexia of the Netherlands
Princess Alexia of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau is the second daughter of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, heir apparent to the throne of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and Princess Máxima of the Netherlands, his spouse...
, Ariane
Princess Ariane of the Netherlands
Princess Ariane of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau is the daughter of heir apparent to the throne of the Netherlands Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Máxima...
, and then his brother Constantijn. Prince Friso lost his right to the throne because no approval was asked for his marriage to Mabel Wisse Smit to the States-General
States-General of the Netherlands
The States-General of the Netherlands is the bicameral legislature of the Netherlands, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The parliament meets in at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The archaic Dutch word "staten" originally related to the feudal classes in which medieval...
. The two other sisters of Beatrix, Irene
Princess Irene of the Netherlands
Princess Irene of the Netherlands is the second child of the late Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands.-Childhood and ancestry:thumb|left|215px|Princesses Margriet, Irene, and Beatrix in 1944...
and Christina
Princess Christina of the Netherlands
Princess Maria Christina of the Netherlands , Princess of Orange-Nassau, Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld, is the youngest of four daughters born to Queen regnant Juliana of the Netherlands and her Prince consort Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld.-Birth:She was born Maria Christina at Soestdijk Palace,...
, have lost their rights to the throne because their marriages were not approved by the States-General. They both married Roman Catholics and Irene herself converted to Roman Catholicism, which at that time (the 1960s) was still politically problematic for an heir to the throne. An additional complication which the government wanted to avoid, was that Irene's husband, Prince Carlos-Hugo of Bourbon-Parma, (whom she later divorced) was a member of a deposed
Abolished monarchy
Throughout history, monarchies have been abolished, either through revolutions, legislative reforms, coups d'état, or wars. The twentieth century saw a major acceleration of this process, with many monarchies violently overthrown by revolution or war, or else abolished as part of the process of...
Italian dynasty
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...
who claimed rights to the Spanish throne. Traditionally, Dutch monarchs have always been members of the Dutch Reformed Church
Dutch Reformed Church
The Dutch Reformed Church was a Reformed Christian denomination in the Netherlands. It existed from the 1570s to 2004, the year it merged with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to form the Protestant Church in the...
although this was never constitutionally required. This tradition is embedded in the history of the Netherlands
History of the Netherlands
The history of the Netherlands is the history of a maritime people thriving on a watery lowland river delta at the edge of northwestern Europe. When the Romans and written history arrived in 57 BC, the country was sparsely populated by various tribal groups at the periphery of the empire...
.
Willem-Alexander
The heir apparent to the Dutch throne is prince Willem-Alexander (born 1967), the Prince of OrangePrince of Orange
Prince of Orange is a title of nobility, originally associated with the Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France. In French it is la Principauté d'Orange....
since 1980. He studied history at the University of Leiden and became actively involved in water management
Water management
Water management is the activity of planning, developing, distributing and managing the optimum use of water resources. In an ideal world. water management planning has regard to all the competing demands for water and seeks to allocate water on an equitable basis to satisfy all uses and demands...
. His wife is Princess Máxima
Princess Máxima of the Netherlands
Princess Máxima of the Netherlands is the wife of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, heir apparent to the throne of the Netherlands.-Early life and education:...
(née Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti), an economy major, whose father was a minister of agriculture in the dictatorial regime under General Videla in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. Because of that their relationship was accompanied by fierce public debate and only officially sanctioned after quiet diplomacy, resulting in Máxima's father agreeing not to be present on their wedding day
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
(2 February 2002). Former minister Max van der Stoel
Max van der Stoel
Max van der Stoel, KCMG was a Dutch politician and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. He served as the first High Commissioner on National Minorities of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe....
and prime minister Wim Kok
Wim Kok
Willem "Wim" Kok ; born September 29, 1938) is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party . He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from August 22, 1994 until July 22, 2002....
seem to have played a crucial role in this process.
On 7 December 2003 Princess Máxima gave birth to a daughter: Princess Catharina-Amalia
Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands
The official origins of her given names:*Catharina has been speculated to be after Henriette Catherine of Nassau *Amalia is after Amalia of Solms-Braunfels *Beatrix is after her paternal grandmother, the Queen of the Netherlands...
. On 26 June 2005 another daughter was born: Princess Alexia
Princess Alexia of the Netherlands
Princess Alexia of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau is the second daughter of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, heir apparent to the throne of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and Princess Máxima of the Netherlands, his spouse...
. On 10 April 2007 a third daughter was born, Princess Ariane
Princess Ariane of the Netherlands
Princess Ariane of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau is the daughter of heir apparent to the throne of the Netherlands Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Máxima...
. After Willem-Alexander they are second, third, and fourth in line to the Dutch throne.
Full title
Most members of the Dutch Royal Family, in addition to other titles hold (or held) the princely title Prince of Orange-NassauHouse of Orange-Nassau
The House of Orange-Nassau , a branch of the European House of Nassau, has played a central role in the political life of the Netherlands — and at times in Europe — since William I of Orange organized the Dutch revolt against Spanish rule, which after the Eighty Years' War...
. The children of prince Friso and prince Constantijn are instead count or countess of Orange-Nassau. Princess Margriet's and Princess Christina's grand children do not hold any title. Princess Irene's grand children only hold titles if they are (recognised) children of the princes Carlos and Jaime, according to the house rules of the House of Bourbon-Parma
House of Bourbon-Parma
The House of Bourbon-Parma is an Italian cadet branch of the House of Bourbon. It is thus descended from the Capetian dynasty in male line. The name of Bourbon-Parma comes from the main name and the other from the title of Duke of Parma....
. In addition to the titles King/Prince of the Netherlands and Prince of Orange-Nassau, descendants of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld hold another princely title - Prince of Lippe-Biesterfeld. The children of queen Beatrix and her husband Claus van Amsberg and their descendants, except for the children of prince Willem-Alexander and princess Máxima, also carry the appellative Honourable (Jonkheer/Jonkvrouw) in combination with the name Van Amsberg.
Queen Juliana, the only descendant of Queen Wilhelmina and Duke Hendrik of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, was also Duchess Juliana of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Since the title can pass only through the male line, Queen Juliana's descendants do not carry the title of Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
The title Prince of the Netherlands is the prerogative of the most important members of the Royal House (sons and daughters of king or queen and sons/daughters of the heir apparent, the Prince of Orange), which is smaller than the Royal Family. Members of the Royal House can lose their membership when they enter into marriage without asking (and receiving) consent from Parliament.
See also
- List of monarchs of the Netherlands
- Line of succession to the Dutch throneLine of succession to the Dutch ThroneThe 1814 constitution stated that the oldest son of the monarch would succeed him , followed by the monarch's brother or his son. Only when there would be a complete lack of males in his near family, would the oldest daughter of the monarch succeed him...
- List of heirs to the Dutch throne
- Monarchies in the AmericasMonarchies in the AmericasThere are currently 13 monarchies in the Americas; that is: self-governing states and territories in North and South America where supreme power resides with an individual, who is recognised as the head of state...
External links
- Official Royal Website: lots of information about the monarchy and Royal Family, and virtual palace tours (texts in Dutch and English)
- Res Publica : The Netherlands an international anti-monarchy Web directory
- NL Planet : The Dutch Royal Family a guide looking at the recent history and current figureheads of the Dutch monarchy