At the opening ceremony on 23 July 2021 a few royals could be seen. Despite of all Covid-19 restrictions IOC-members were able to travel to Tokyo, among them royals, including Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, Prince Albert II of Monaco, Prince Faisal bin Al Hussein of Jordan and Princess Nora of Liechtenstein. And of course […]
Bobstart – Prince Albert in Groningen
A long time ago the Bobstart and Skeleton World Championships was being held in the city centre of Groningen a few times. At the time the Netherlands had quite a good bobsleigh team, with Arend Glas from Groningen, who was one of the organizers of the event. Unfortunately the event was always held in one […]
The first photosession of Princess Alexia – 2005
Today is the summer photosession of the Dutch royals at Palace Huis ten Bosch. Over the years I have been to two photosessions, in 2005 and 2013. Living in Groningen means that The Hague/Wassenaar is pretty far away, and travelling is not very high on my list at the moment. Nor is there as much […]
Queen Máxima turns 50
One thing is certain: the people in the Netherlands can hardly have missed the fact that Queen Máxima turns 50 on 17 May 2021. Already for weeks there are (special) magazines focusing on the event, several books have been published. There are tv-programs and a real interview. My mother, who got two books from me […]
A Royal House for Saint Nicholas
The moment all children in the Netherlands yearly are waiting for: the arrival of Saint Nicholas (Sinterklaas he is usually called here). Halfway November he arrives by steamer with his many helpers. While the youngest children think he is really existing, the elder children still shout “Sinterklaas” or “Piet” and are looking forward to all […]
Willem Lodewijk Year 2020
2020 was going to be the Year of Willem Lodewijk. 400 years after his death Count Willem Lodewijk of Nassau-Dillenburg was to be commemorated in the city of Leeuwarden all year long. This man, who during his lifetime always lived in the shadow of his more famous cousins Maurits and Frederik Hendrik, Princes of Orange […]
King’s Day with a twist
For me personally King’s Day wasn’t that much different from other years. Most of the time I am not with the royals in a city, but sit at home waiting for photos and news to come in. There is always a lot to do. I was not quite sure what to expect this year. Only […]
The history of Queen’s and King’s Day
My first Queen’s Day was in 1993 when the Dutch royal family visited Sneek, 2003 a friend and I were in Deventer as far as I remember. The first time I was there as a journalist was in 2004 when they visited Warffum and Groningen. I was there again in 2005 in Scheveningen, 2006 in […]
No King’s Day 2020 – How to celebrate anyway?
King’s Day 2020 will be more different than ever. The last time the royal visit on that day (Queen’s Day at the time) was cancelled was in 2001, when because of foot-and-mouth disease the royals couldn’t visit Hoogeveen and Meppel. It was possible to celebrate in some other parts of the country, but the royals […]
Singing – A new way to celebrate royal birthdays!
It seems to be the new way to celebrate royal birthdays at the moment. More than 100.000 Danes sang for their Queen, Margrethe II, on 16 April, and she watched it herself, as it was all shown live on national TV. At the end she shortly appeared in the doorway of the Fredensborg Palace and […]