One municipality did not hand out a ribbon: these are the stories of 3,375 recipients | Royal day

Last year, 2,832 people received royal recognition. This means that the number of ribbons has increased by almost 20 percent. The Chancellery of the Dutch Orders, which handles the ribbons, has no direct explanation for the increase.

According to a spokesperson, there is no campaign to nominate people. “Many people find a royal award a nice way to thank volunteers for their efforts.”

As in the past two years, about 64 percent of those decorated are men and about 36 percent are women. The most royal honors were awarded in Rotterdam this year. In the city, 49 residents received a ribbon on Friday. Amsterdam follows with 45 decorandus. The Hague and Tilburg each have 38 new members, knights and officers. Only in the Limburg municipality of Mook en Middelaar did no one receive a ribbon this year.

Among the provinces, the most ribbons this year were awarded to people from North Brabant. In that province, 636 residents received an award. South Holland, last year’s leader, is now second with 590 ribbons. This is followed by Gelderland (492), North Holland (393), Utrecht (286), Overijssel (264) and Limburg (260).

The oldest decorandus is 98-year-old Albert de Gooijer from Utrecht. He was active as a volunteer from 1966 to 2020, including with scouting and the Protestant church.

The youngest person to receive a ribbon is 29-year-old Jeron Groeneveld from the village of Zwammerdam in South Holland. He is a director at the local broadcaster Studio Alphen and a volunteer at the local brass band, amateur theater and a children’s play club.

In Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Sint Eustatius and Saba, 42 people received a royal decoration. Last year, thirty ribbons were awarded in those parts of the Kingdom, the year before 58 and the year before eighty. Three decorandus live in Belgium.

A Japanese also received an award. It concerns scientist and top civil servant Kenzo Hiroki. From now on he can call himself Commander in the Order of Orange-Nassau. This award is for people with “very special or important activities” or for achievements with “an international and even worldwide appearance and significance”. The Chancellery describes Hiroki as “an expert in the field of water management and disaster relief, who has contributed greatly to cooperation between the Netherlands and Japan”.

Other Commanders in the Order of Orange-Nassau include cyclist Annemiek van Vleuten, skater Ireen Wüst, former ombudsman Alex Brenninkmeijer, South African bishop Desmond Tutu and Fred Westerbeke, who was responsible for the investigation into the downing of flight MH17. .

Furthermore, various special volunteers were put in the spotlight during the ribbon shower. Among them is Mary van der Heiden-Hendriks from Leiden. She is a volunteer with the General Services team of Victim Support Netherlands. The team helps victims to restart their lives.

For years, Van der Heiden-Hendriks provided acute care in intense situations, such as the shooting incident in April 2011 in the Ridderhof shopping center in Alphen aan den Rijn, in which five people were killed. She has been appointed Member of the Order of Orange-Nassau.

Bea van der Meer received the same award. She stopped working as a truck driver in 1994 to care for her mother. She needs a lot of care due to brain damage. In 2017, her mother was admitted to a nursing home, which allowed Van der Meer to resume her work. Yet she still finds time every day to care for her mother.

Anita Ossewaarde from Klundert has been appointed knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau. She overcame her illiteracy and has been a language ambassador ever since. She now encourages other low-literate people to overcome their shame and seek help.

Couples have also been put in the spotlight. The Marlisa couple from Wijchen took care of about ninety children as foster parents, to whom they provided crisis, weekend and 24-hour care. Sometimes they had up to four foster children in the house at the same time. For this achievement they have been appointed knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau.

Another special story is that of Els Leijs from Bussum. As a family detective, she managed to track down biological families of people who do not know them. Leijs made important contributions to the reunion of hundreds of unknown biological relatives. She has also been appointed knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau.

Famous Dutch people also received a ribbon, such as Yvon Jaspers, Berget Lewis and Tania Kross. Jaspers was nominated by farmers.

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