Holland royal family. Dutch royal family

In this article we will talk about the royal family of the Netherlands - the Orange dynasty (in Dutch - Oranje). And also about where and when you can see one of the family members in person, where their main residences are located and why the Dutch love their queens and kings so much.

A little about the family itself

The royal family is actually quite large. However, not all members of the royal family inherited the title. So, for example, not all grandchildren of Princess Margiet, the sister of Princess (until 2013 queen) Beatrix, are recognized as members of the royal family. This depends, as a rule, on the degree of relationship with the royal dynasty of Oranje and other (it is worth noting, very confusing) rules of inheritance and assignment of royal titles. For a long time, the royal throne in the Netherlands belonged to women. In 1948, Juliana became queen. It was Juliana’s birthday, April 30, that later became known to everyone as a holiday - Queen’s Day. On April 30, 1980, Juliana handed over the reigns to her daughter Beatrix. And she, in turn, on April 30, 2013, transferred the reign to her son Willem-Alexander. Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima (a foreigner) have three daughters: Catharina-Amalia, Alexia and Ariane.

Residences and palaces of the royal family

The royal family has four official residences in the Netherlands. The first of them is Paleis huis ten Bosch in The Hague. This palace was transferred to the personal use of the royal family in 1981. The second palace is Paleis het Loo in Loo. The third residence is the well-known palace on Dam Square in Amsterdam. The Fourth Palace – mainly workplace royal family. It is located in the very center of The Hague. You can only get into the palace located in Amsterdam. For information on how to get there on an excursion, read our article about the Queen's Palace in Amsterdam.

Where can you meet members of the royal family?

Quite often, members of the royal family attend social events, concerts and receptions. For example, on December 18 this year, Prince Pieter-Christiaan attended the musical Soldaat van Oranje. The premiere of this musical was in October 2010. Since then, the musical has been attended by an incredible number of members of the royal family. The thing is that this musical tells the story of a family member - Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema, known as `Soldaat van Oranje'.

Also, every year the royal couple - Willem-Alexander and Maxima travel through many Dutch provinces as part of King's Day. They are greeted with interesting performances, songs and dances. It is worth noting that Maxima speaks excellent Dutch and always happily communicates with children.

King/Queen taxes and protests against maintaining the Dutch royal court

Surprisingly, most Dutch people love it so much royal family that they meekly pay the annual tax on the King (not so long ago it was the tax on the Queen). This tax is quite large and averages about 300 euros per year per capita. Of course, low-income families have the opportunity to request an exemption (vrijstelling in Dutch) from such taxation. Also, for several years now, Parliament has been regularly trying to force the King himself (formerly the Queen) to pay taxes on the absolutely tax-free salary they receive.

It is worth noting that there is a certain percentage of Dutch people who have no particular love or favor for the royal family and the monarchy in general. For example, in 2013, during the first King's Day (Koningsdag) in a long time and as part of the transition of monarchical power to Willem-Alexander, T-shirts with the words `ik Will´em niet´ (a beautiful play on words that can be translated) were actively distributed in Amsterdam like `I don't want Willem'). With similar slogans, the party responsible for the T-shirts expressed its disagreement with the continued succession to the throne and, therefore, the continued existence of the monarchy in the Netherlands. Also, many Dutch people reacted very negatively to Willem-Alexander’s desire to marry a foreigner, Maxima, who, as many know, is a native of Argentina and the daughter of Jorge Zorreguieta, a politician and not the last person during the regime of Jorge Videla. . However, in reality, there are always significantly fewer opponents of the monarchy than its supporters, which allows the Netherlands to remain the Kingdom of the Netherlands (in Dutch, Koninkrijk der Nederlanden).

We wish you a pleasant trip to Amsterdam! Who knows, maybe you'll get lucky and meet one of the royals!

Frederica Louise Wilhelmina of Nassau-Oran was born on November 28, 1770 to Prince William V and Wilhelmina of Prussia. She was the second child of the couple, whose first child died unnamed a day after birth. The next year after Louise, another son was born, who also died at birth. Third son Wilhelm survived early childhood and subsequently became not only the Prince of Nassau-Oran, but also the King of the Netherlands. Another son, Friedrich, survived, but died young. Wilhelmina of Prussia personally supervised her daughter's upbringing. Louise was devoted to her mother and had a close relationship with her throughout her life. The Princess was educated by her governess Victoria Hollar and Professor Herman Tollius, and was taught Dutch and Calvinism, although her first language was French, as was customary among the nobility at that time. Louise was interested in music and theater, she was taught music by Johann Colizzi.

Child's portrait by Guillaume de Spini. 1774

Louise and her brothers. Portrait by Guillaume de Spini. 1774 Source: flickr.com/photos/thelostgallery

1783

The princess was wooed to the heir to the Prussian throne, but the plans were canceled. In 1789, Duke Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel officially nominated his eldest son and heir, Karl Georg August, born in 1766. The marriage was seen as a gesture of gratitude and alliance between the House of Orange and the Duke of Brunswick, who helped Louise's parents during the rebellion in 1787. Louise was not forced to agree to the marriage, but she herself agreed because she knew that it would be difficult for her to find another groom suitable in rank and religion.

Portrait by Johann Friedrich Tischbein. 1788

Portrait by Johann Friedrich Tischbein. 1788/1790. Source: flickr.com/photos/thelostgallery

The wedding took place in The Hague on October 14, 1790, and the couple settled in Brunswick. Louise was homesick, had difficulty adapting to new customs, and missed the more vibrant cultural life in the Netherlands. She began corresponding with her mother, governess and former teacher, which has survived and is considered an important source about life at the Brunswick court. Karl Georg August was born blind and mentally retarded, Louise was more of a nurse than a wife for him, the prince was completely dependent on her. The fact that the heir to the dukedom could not have children led to the fact that he had to renounce his status as heir in favor of his younger brother. When Louise's parents fled the Netherlands in 1795, the princess lost her personal income and became financially dependent on her in-laws.

Portrait by Johann Christian Schwarz. 1800s.

The Royal Family of the Netherlands, whose head today is King Willem-Alexander, occupies a special place among European monarchies. Its history begins in 1815, when Prince William VI of Orange became King Willem I of the newly formed Kingdom of the Netherlands. Following the example of their closest neighboring countries, the Dutch chose to leave the monarchical system, and it is believed that The Royal Family helps preserve the cultural and religious heritage of the nation.

His Majesty Willem-Alexander and his wife Queen Maxima prefer restraint, so the royal family of the Netherlands is usually mentioned in gossip columns only in connection with official events, but this does not mean that they are “boring and uninteresting.” Here are three interesting facts about modern Dutch monarchs.

Royals don't wear a crown

Oddly enough, unlike other royal families, the monarchs of the Netherlands practically do not appear with a crown at official events. It is worth noting that the crown of the Netherlands was created in 1840 for King Willem II, and compared to the crowns of other monarchs it is quite modest. The regalia was made by Amsterdam jeweler Adrian Bonebakker from silver and gold plated. There are no precious stones in the Dutch crown; it is trimmed with imitation pearls. The decoration is not on public display: the last time the crown could be seen was at the coronation ceremony of Willem-Alexander on April 30, 2013.

Celebrate birthdays in a special way

For more than 100 years, on April 27, the Dutch have been celebrating Koningsdag, the king’s birthday, with joy and grandeur (though until 2014 it was Koninginnedag, the queen’s birthday). On this day, anyone can sell anything (usually used items) and almost anywhere, without obtaining a permit or paying a tax, so on April 27, Holland actually turns into one huge flea market. Millions of locals take part in the celebration, wearing orange, the Dutch favorite color.

Willem-Alexander made his own wetsuit

In his youth, Willem-Alexander studied at three schools, including the Baarns Lyceum in the Dutch city of Baarn and the Atlantic College in British Wales. While studying in Wales, the prince joined a team of student volunteers at the Royal National Lifeboat Institution working on lifeboats in conjunction with the coastguard and made his own wetsuit. Until now, His Majesty pays special attention to hydraulic engineering and is an honorary member of major commissions on water resources.

A constitutional monarchy. Since the beginning of the 19th century, the country has been ruled by the Orange-Nassau dynasty. Now on the throne - Queen Beatrix. Bea Trix was born on January 31, 1938. Her childhood was spent in Canada, where her mother, Queen Juliana, went during the occupation of the country by Germany. There, in Ottawa, the princess went to kindergarten And primary school. The Queen of the Netherlands graduated from Leiden University, where she studied law and sociology. As the eldest child in the family, the heir to the throne (Beatrix has three sisters) became a member at the age of 18 State Council- an advisory body to the queen.
ANDit is known that “no king can marry for love”(c), however, Princess Beatrix refuted this statement....

Her affair with the German diplomat Klaus von Amsberg still ended in a happy marriage, although at first it caused sharp discontent among some members of the royal family, parliament and ordinary citizens. The fact is that Klaus, born in 1926, managed to get mobilized in 1944 and for six months fought on the side of the Reich in Italy, where he was captured by the Americans. The Dutch and especially the Dutch Jews, thanks to whom the Amsterdam diamond market was created, did not forget the hardships of the Nazi occupation, and for them such an alliance was unacceptable. But Beatrix was stubborn, and her parents had to agree to this marriage.

It took the Dutch parliament nine hours to decide on the marriage of the heir to the throne. The wedding took place on March 10, 1966 in Amsterdam, as Beatrix wanted. Klaus received the title of prince. Soon, within a year of each other, the couple had three sons: Willem-Alexander (born in 1967), Friso (1968) and Prince Constantijn , 1969). The crown prince is Willem-Alexander, and for the foreseeable future he will become king of the Netherlands - the first king in more than 110 years (that is how long Queens Wilhelmina, Juliana and Beatrix ruled the Netherlands).

Willem-Alexander studied at high school Baarna, then at the Lyceum there. After Beatrix's coronation, on April 30, 1980, she received the title Prins van Oranje (Prince of Orange). Since 1981, the prince has lived in The Hague and studied at the First Open Christian Lyceum. Later, Willem-Alexander serves in the Dutch CCM, studies at the Atlantic College of Wales, studies history (1987-1993) at the University of Leiden (lives on the campus of Rapenburg). Willem-Alexander's special interest (like many Dutch people) is “water management”. He is the patron of the IHE water institute in Delft, and under his leadership the Second World Water Forum was held in March 2000 in The Hague. Under his leadership, the World Water Committee was created, whose motto is “Global Water Partnership in the 21st Century.” The prince is very fond of sports; from 1986 to 1992 he constantly participated in the New York Marathon. Since 1998, he has headed the Dutch Olympic Committee.

On February 2, 2002, the wedding of Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Maxima Zorregueta of Argentina took place in Amsterdam, who received the title Her Royal Highness Princess Maxima of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Mrs. Van Amsberg.

Maxima (emphasis on the first syllable) was born in Buenos Aires on May 17, 1971. Her father is Jorge Zorregueta and her mother is Maria Cerruti. She got her grandmother's name. Maxima has 2 younger brothers and a sister. Maxima grew up in Buenos Aires, received her education at the English-language Northlands College, and since 1989 at the Catholic University of Buenos Aires at the Faculty of Economics. She was also a student at the Austrian School of Economics. Since 1996, she has worked in New York for Deutsche Bank. In 1999, Maxima met Willem-Alexander in New York. In September 1999, the Crown Prince introduces Holland to Maxima as his bride.

December 7, 2003 they had a daughter - Princess Katharina-Amalia, future heir to the Dutch throne. A June 26, 2005 - second daughter was born, Princess Alexia.

The queen's middle son has Prince Friso and his wife princess mabel On March 26, 2005, a daughter was born in London, who was named Emma Luana Ninette Sophie. Her official title is Countess Luana van Oranje-Nassau, jonkvrouw van Amsberg. Prince Friso renounced his right to succession to the throne by marrying Mabel Wisse-Smit without the approval of the Dutch government.