This weekend, the Netherlands observed NL DOET, when the whole country takes part in volunteer work. Formerly known as “Make A Difference Day,” it was renamed to give it a Dutch name which means Netherlands Does. In other words, “we don’t talk, we act.”
www.koninklijkhuis.nl/RVD
The Royal House of Orange took part in this volunteerism in the town of Nieuwegein, where most of them refurbished a local playground.
Holland’s monarch, Queen Beatrix, rolled up her sleeves to paint the brick walls surrounding the play area. Helping her out was daughter-in-law Crown Princess Maxima and her son, Prince Constantijn.
The other royals – Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, Princess Laurentien, Prince Maurits, Princess Marilène, Prince Bernhard, Princess Annette, Prince Floris and Princess Aimée – meanwhile repaired the gates, walls, and equipment. They used hammers and drills all day, and appeared to have fun doing so.
NL DOET began five years ago to mark the Queen’s 25th Jubilee. Since this is her 30th year as Queen, the royal family decided to do a project together.
Here’s a video from the Dutch royal’s YouTube channel:
This week, the Austrian television station ORF was told to remove photographs of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, her son Prince Constantijn and his family from its website. The pictures were that of the royals arriving in Lech for their annual skiing vacation.
Dutch Photo Press/Patrick van Katwijk
The Dutch royal household felt the pictures violated a mediacode, where private photos of the royal family are not allowed to be published. This despite that ORF showed video of the family arriving at the ski resort.
Media coverage of the Dutch royals coming to Lech has been existence for about 50 years. But this year, there was no photo call because Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and his family are currently in Vancouver for the Olympics.
This is the not the first time the House of Orange’s mediacode caused problems with the media. Last year, Willem-Alexander sued the Associated Press for photographing and publishing pictures of he and his family skiing in Argentina. The Crown Prince won his case even though many of those in the media felt that violated freedom of the press.
Some of Europe’s Kings and Queens gave their annual speeches this Christmas. Besides wishing their subjects the best during one of the biggest holidays of the year, the monarchs encouraged their subjects in being better citizens, and also touched on the difficulties many faced in 2009.
AP Photo/Angel Diaz, Pool
Spain’s King Juan Carlos delivered his speech on Christmas Eve. On national television, the King called for unity in order to have a better country. He asked his people to “overcome tensions and difficulties”, follow the Constitution’s values, and “to strengthen the internal cohesion and the international image of the country,” and to “make economy grow up again to create jobs as soon as possible.”
As every year, Juan Carlos remembered the victims of terrorism and gave his condolences to their families. “They count on the support, solidarity and affection of the Crown and also of the Spanish society. Finishing with terrorism is a target for all democrats in defense of freedom and basic human rights,” he said.
On Christmas Day, three other European monarchs spoke to their people. Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II called 2009 a “difficult” year during her speech which was broadcast at 1500 GMT.
REUTERS/John Stillwell/Pool
“2009 was a difficult year for many, in particular those facing the continuing effects of the economic downturn,” the 83-year-old Queen said. “We may ourselves be confronted by a bewildering array of difficulties and challenges, but we must never cease to work for a better future for ourselves and for others.”
She went on to pay tribute to those who lost their lives in the conflicts in Afghanistan.
“I am sure that we have all been affected by events in Afghanistan and saddened by the casualties suffered by our forces serving there,” she said. “Our thoughts go out to their relations and friends who have shown immense dignity in the face of great personal loss.”
Queen Elizabeth also praised the Commonwealth, which celebrated its 60th anniversary this year, and called it the “face of the future.”
“In many aspects of our lives, whether in sport, the environment, business or culture, the Commonwealth connection remains vivid and enriching…It is important to keep discussing issues that concern us all — there can be no more valuable role for our family of nations.”
Another Queen, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, chose to discuss technology and human interaction in her Christmas speech, airing first in the morning, and then in the afternoon.
“Real contact consists of words and deeds.In the past, people knew each other but today people are mainly busy with themselves. We tend to look the other way and close our eyes and ears to what’s going on around us. Nowadays even our neighbours are strangers,” she said.
Beatrix did not mention the tragic events on Queen’s Day this past April, where a motorist deliberately plowed into crowds at the celebrations in Apeldoorn, killing about a dozen people.
Last but not least at giving the annual Christmas speech was Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf. Like the British Queen, the King talked about the economic difficulties many Swedes experienced this past year.
Bengt Hansell/SR
“Many are young and many are immigrants. They are a great asset as we in our society find it difficult to fully take advantage of. I sincerely hope that we succeed in protecting these groups and their opportunities. It is hoped that all who are out of work soon to get to know the security of having a workplace to go to.”
The King shared with his people his dreams and hopes for young people.
“I and the Queen has for some time resulted in a common dream. To provide a forum for children and young people in the world – a World Child and Youth Forum – which aims to inspire and support so that the UNCRC is complied with. We hope that it might become as known as the Davos Forum, but with the light directed at children and young people’s situation.”
But perhaps the highlight of King Carl’s speech was him mentioning the upcoming weddings of his two daughters, Victoria and Madeleine. The Crown Princess will marry in June 2010, while her younger sister may marry either later in the year or early in 2011.
“To marry his heart’s choice was not always obvious when I was growing up. I am therefore very happy that my daughters, like me, may be the person they love most at his side. I would like to express my sincere and humble thanks for all the support and encouragement shown to us by the Swedish people.”
One of the reasons why many royal fans enjoy the Christmas speeches is because it is one of the rare moments the monarchs write their words, rather than have them written by someone from the government.
Wednesday night saw the royal family of the Netherlands award the Prince Claus Prize at Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ in Amsterdam.. The Prize is in honor of Queen Beatrix’s late husband, who died in 2002. It began in 1997, and has a theme every year.
This year’s theme was culture and nature, and the winner was Colombian architect Simon Velez, who has been researching on how bamboo can be used as building material. Velez has designed buildings in the United States, Germany and China. In the Netherlands he will make a design for the stage in the new Tolhuistuin in Amsterdam-Noord, which will consist of a bamboo structure.
Upon receiving the award, Velez said to the audience, “Every construction which consists of concrete, steel or wood, bamboo can also be built.” He added there were doubts about his bamboo-design for the Indian pavilion at the Expo in Shanghai next year. “They wanted it would be steel. Once they heard I had won the Prince Claus Award, they gave permission to use bamboo.”
The nature and culture theme for this year’s Prince Claus Prize seems to coincide with the UN Climate Change summit in Copenhagen. Even some members of the Dutch royal family made comments on the environment.
“People seem to have forgotten to draw modestly against nature,” said Prince Constantijn, who presented the award. “The natural resources are being depleted and global warming threatens the delicate balance of our climate.”
The Prince Claus Prize is given to artists, thinkers and other innovators from Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. Winners receive 100,000 euros as part of the award.
Imagine being in Stockholm Thursday and Friday. One would’ve seen a sight often seen at royal weddings, funerals and coronations! It was the gathering of nine royal women, plus two royal men to-be, coming together for the 20th anniversary of the United Nation’s Child Convention.
Billed Bladet/Martin Hoien
Queen Silvia of Sweden brought together the Queens of Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, as well as the Crown Princesses of Norway and Denmark, and finally the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg to mark this event. All of them have to some degree worked for the rights of children, particularly Silvia, with her World Childhood Foundation.
The royal women first met at the royal palace to discuss children’s rights. The Convention, signed by every country in the world besides Somalia and the United States, is to ensure children’s safety and welfare – both civil, political, economic, cultural and social rights.
After that, they went to the children’s center in Stockholm as part of the Convention’s anniversary.
Later on, the ladies held a conference, which also featured Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria and Princess Madeleine.
In the evening, there was a gala at Berwaldhallen. This time, Victoria and Madeleine’s fiancees, Daniel Westling and Jonas Bergstrom attended. This was the first time either man officially attended a royal event.
Friday ended the state visit to Mexico for Dutch royals Queen Beatrix, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Crown Princess Maxima. Their tour was made up of honors, ancient sites, and a language gaffe.
Reuters/Daniel Aguilar
On Wednesday, the Queen was awarded the keys to Mexico City during a reception at the capital’s city hall. She and the Crown Princely couple were then given a tour of the city. They stopped by an education and cultural center at Santa Maria la Ribera neighborhood.
After lunch, Queen Beatrix took a tour of the National Anthropology Museum. During this, her son gave a speech at the “Energy Efficiency and Sustainability from Producer to End-user” seminar. It was there that Willem-Alexander made a mistake using a Mexican slang. He said the phrase, “camaron que se duerme se lo lleva la chingada,” or “the shrimp that falls asleep is carried away by the current.” The problem is, the word “chingada” is a Mexican term for “prostitute.”
Mexico’s newpapers put the gaffe on their front pages. One publication, Reforma, said, “Either someone played a joke on him, or the Prince of the Netherlands wanted to make his message clear.”
Reuters/Jorge Dan
Willem-Alexander’s wife, Crown Princess Maxima, is a native Argentinian. However, that term is not used in her home country, so there was no way for her to understand what the fuss was about.
On Thursday, the Queen was informed about Mexico’s climate change at Las Yerbas training center, where young agriculturalists are trained to deal with the environmental changes. Later, Beatrix and her son and daughter-in-law went to Dolores Hidaglo to see where Father Miguel Hidalgo rang the church bells to launch Mexico’s independence. The royal trio then visited the home of Diego Rivera in Guanajuato.
Friday, the last day of their trip, the Dutch royals went to Teotihuacan to see the ancient pyramids, which date to 200 BC. The day ended with a reception for the Dutch community living in Mexico.
There seems to be a lot of state and official visits in the world of royalty these days! Earlier Tuesday, Holland’s royals – Queen Beatrix, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Crown Princess Maxima – began their four day visit to Mexico. They arrived just before noon, local time, and were greeted by President Felipe Calderon and First Lady Margarita Zavala.
AP Photo/Claudio Cruz
A welcoming ceremony took place at Mexico’s National Palace. The Queen then had a private meeting with President Calderon.
After that came a wreath laying ceremony at the Child Heroes monument.
The royals then met had a meeting with Dutch business leaders looking to invest in Mexico. A visit to the Senate followed.
In the evening, there was a state banquet held in honor of the Dutch royals at the Chapultapec Castle, once the home of Emperor Maxmilian.
This state visit is to last until Friday, November 6th. I will keep you updated on the daily happenings of this trip.
In 1944, the Dutch university town of Nijmegen was liberated from Nazi German forces. It was a brutal battle to set the town free, but in the end, it was worth it since it was a step to the end of World War II.
Reuters
65 years later, Holland’s Queen Beatrix presided over the anniversary of Nijmegen’s liberation. She was accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, himself a WWII veteran.
The two royals began the ceremony by inspecting the Guard of Honor, and laying a wreath at the Monument of the Resistance.
Queen Beatrix and the Duke then watched the military parade.
Also in attendance was the German ambassador to the Netherlands. The crowds of several thousand people cheered as he laid a wreath at the Monument.
The battle for Nijmegen began with Allied soldiers parachuting in and fighting over a three day period.
The liberation of Nijmegen was the only time the Germans pulled back from the Netherlands. The rest of the country – the north and central parts – remained under Nazi control until the end of the war in May 1945.
Yesterday, Dutch Queen Beatrix opened the parliamentary year with a speech from the throne. From there, she told the Netherlands about the budget cuts to be made in the economy due to the world economic crisis.
“People are losing their jobs, the number of bankruptcies is rising quickly, assets built up over years are shrinking and government finances are unavoidably showing large deficits,” the Queen said at the Hall of Knights in The Hague. Her speech – the 30th time she has done so – was written by Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende’s centrist coalition government.
“Our country faces an extraordinary, but in no way impossible, task,” she continued.
“Even with an average economic growth rate of 2 percent the state’s debt will increase by about 35 billion euros annually.”
The government will also look at spending cuts of up to 20 percent in some policy areas, the Queen added.
“if (budgetary) policy is not changed, serious and undesirable results will arise for the level of taxes and the affordability of services such as health care, education and pensions.”
After delivering her speech, the Queen and her family went to Noordeinde Palace and went out onto the balcony to wave at the large crowds below.
Security was extra tight this year for the opening of Parliament. Because of the failed attack on the royal family in April, there were barriers and extra policemen on the streets of The Hague.
Friday saw Queen Beatrix, along with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, open a satellite version of Russia’s famed Hermitage museum in Amsterdam.
AP
The inauguration was part of Medvedev’s official visit to the Netherlands. It also celebrates the relations between the two countries. In 1816, the future King Willem II married Anna Pavlovna, the daughter of Russian Tsar Paul I. Even Peter the Great studied shipbuilding in Amsterdam in 1697, and modeled his capital, St. Petersburg after Amsterdam.
Upon the inauguration, the President received Queen Beatrix, her son and heir Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, and his wife Crown Princess Maxima. Maxima raised eyebrows with fashion watchers by wearing a fuzzy purple jacket and heavy purple eye make-up. One publication said she looked like Grover, the Sesame Street character.
After signing guestbooks, the royals took a tour of the Dutch branch of the Hermitage, with Medvedev as the guide. The museum is located in Amstelhof on the banks of the Amstel river. It is 107,000 square feet in size, and once served as a nursing home in the 17th century.
Later on, Queen Beatrix attended a ballet with Medvedev by the Russian composer Modest Mussorgski.
About 1,800 pieces of art are on display here, compared to the over 3 million at the original Hermitage. All the artwork is on loan from St. Petersburg.
The current exhibit is about Russia’s tsars, showing the lavishness of the Russian court. It is open until January 31st 2010.
There are similar Hermitage satellites in London and in Las Vegas.
