LIVE | Prinsjesdag: Waving to Amalia at balcony scene

live blog

THE HAGUE – Many thousands of people are in The Hague on Tuesday for Prinsjesdag to watch the Glass Coach with King Willem-Alexander, Queen Máxima and Crown Princess Amalia. For the first time since 2019, people are allowed to stand along the route again. This was not allowed in 2020 and 2021 due to the corona virus. In this live blog we will keep you informed of all developments surrounding Prinsjesdag.

• From 12.25 pm you can watch the driving tour and the speech from the throne live on TV West, the website and app of Omroep West.
• Trams 1, 15, 16 and 17 and buses 22, 24 and 28 will have a different route due to Prinsjesdag until about 4.30 pm.
• Crown Princess Amalia is present at Prinsjesdag for the first time.
• Emergency order in The Hague due to farmers’ protest during Prinsjesdag.

The Speech from the Throne that King Willem-Alexander read is the longest Speech from the Throne to date. This year’s speech from the throne was 2838 words long on paper, which is almost 300 words longer than last year.

In the speech from the throne, which is written by the ministers and the prime minister, the king said that it is ‘painful’ that more and more people are having trouble paying the bills. He also called it “worrying” that people “in a mature democracy like ours are losing faith in the resolving power of politics and government.”

Afterwards, the family got back into the Glass Carriage. Once there, the traditional balcony scene followed, which the audience eagerly awaited.

While the Glass Coach travels the route to Koninklijke Schouwburg, many people along the route do their best to catch a glimpse of King Willem-Alexander, Queen Máxima and Princess Amalia. ‘I’m curious what Máxima is wearing’, a woman says cheerfully. Even the littlest ones in the audience wave fanatically as the carriage drives past. ‘Look, that’s the king!’, a mother says enthusiastically to her child on her arm.

Public looks forward to Glass Coach

At 1 pm the Glass Coach leaves from Noordeinde Palace to the Koninklijke Schouwburg. Traditionally, the king, queen and crown pinses salute the banner before stepping into the carriage.

During the tour through The Hague on Prinsjesdag, loud protests were heard in several places. Various groups express their dissatisfaction with government policy by whistling and booing. In addition, inverted flags were displayed in the public on Kneuterdijk and Lange Voorhout.

It is quite busy along the route of the Glass Coaches and the tension starts to rise. ‘The weather is nice, so we thought: let’s take a look,’ says a woman behind the crush barriers. ‘And we can go again after two years’, says another woman enthusiastically.

Excitement along the route of the Glass Carriage

The police officers of the National Unit on Horseback were also up early this morning to saddle the horses and polish the trumpets.

Here’s how it went in the stable this morning:

National Unit on horseback is ready for Prinsjesdag

The MPs are ready in the Koninklijke Schouwburg. It was a veritable hat parade that passed by.

The plastic protective cover is now being taken off the red carpet at the Koninklijke Schouwburg.

With over an hour left before the tour starts at 1:00 PM, it is getting busier along the route. The stands are filling up and more and more people are gathered around the Koninklijke Schouwburg. Around noon, the military guard of honor will set up and the MPs will come to the Koninklijke Schouwburg from the temporary locations of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Everyone must be in their seats by 12.45pm.

For years, the ADO Den Haag stadium has served as a logistics base for Prinsjesdag. More than 2000 soldiers depart from the Forepark towards the city center for the annual speech from the throne at the Binnenhof. The official ‘entry of the banners’ will take place on the sacred turf of ADO Den Haag.

Soldiers are getting ready in ADO stadium

Without make-up and with the hair still confused, MPs and ministers enter a hair salon in The Hague. It is an annual tradition that secondary vocational education students take care of the make-up and hair of the ministers.

Here’s how it went this morning:

This is how ministers and MPs are ‘beautifully made’ for Prince’s Day

Traditionally there is a church service before the meeting of the States General.

Traditionally, there is a lot of music on Prinsjesdag, and that includes the so-called ‘drum horse’. Timpani horse Bobby is a fixed value during the riding tour.

Finance Minister Sigrid Kaag signed the documents for the House of Representatives on Budget Day. The new government year begins on the third Tuesday in September. Minister Kaag and the state secretaries present the Budget Memorandum and the Tax Plan.

The first Orange fans have gathered at the Koninklijke Schouwburg in The Hague, where the speech from the throne will be read this year. About twenty people, some in orange clothes, are standing by the gates so as not to miss anything of Prince’s Day.

For example, Amira and Ilonka Perfors from Harderberg have been standing at the entrance since 7.15 am. “This is our third time here. We were there for the first time in 2018. For fun, we wanted to see what it’s like, experience it once. We liked it so much that we went again the following year,” says Amira.

“It’s really a bit addictive. At first we thought, we’ll skip this year. But Amalia is coming for the first time now, so you want to be there again. It’s really a historic moment,” Ilonka said. ‘And all those hats, and when they drive the carriage, those traditions of the past, we really like to see that.’

The official ceremony of Prinsjesdag will soon start in the stadium of ADODenHaag with the arrival of the banners. Soldiers of all shapes and sizes don their best suits and practice the march for the last time.

Many politicians want to make a statement with their clothes during Prinsjesdag.

A citizen deputation has also been set up along the route of the tour. For this purpose, volunteers from the province of Overijssel come with 110 people in a bus to The Hague.

Orange fan in heart and soul Johan Vlemmix is ​​already ready at Noordeinde Palace. He has a golden statue with him for Princess Amalia and hopes to personally hand it over to her.

Hats and Prinsjesdag are inextricably linked. The first photos of the headgear are shared on Twitter.

Major René Dekker has been involved in the procession as a soldier on horseback for 17 years. That is quite unique, because many soldiers are eager to join the carriage during Prinsjesdag. It is therefore a childhood dream for him to do this for years. ‘When I was little I went to London, then we went to see the Horse-carts. Then I thought: I want this too. It’s also a really honorable job.’

‘I’ve been doing it on horseback for fifteen years now, but it’s the seventeenth time I’ve come up, so I’m called up’, says de Majoor. Two years of those seventeen, the tour through The Hague was canceled because of corona, but he continued to practice with the military and was then also ready to trot. ‘We were prepared for those years, so we had to train for the day five times a year. But it never came to a horseback ride.’

Traditional scare training for horses Prinsjesdag this year without smoke bombs

People who want to stand along the route of the Glass Coach on Prinsjesdag in protest with an inverted flag can do so, it falls under the freedom of expression. But if a group does it, it counts as an unannounced demonstration, and officers may ask them to go to a special place for that. The municipality of The Hague announced this on Monday.

According to a city spokesperson, inverted flags should not be attached to municipal property in any case. These include benches, lampposts, trees and bollards along the road. Those flags will be removed.

It will be a sunny day with little wind. ‘Nice weather for the end of September,’ said weatherman Huub Mizee. And your hat won’t just blow off.

These are traditions and etiquettes that Amalia must take into account at Prinsjesdag