Pre King’s Day Shopping

On King’s Day the Dutch like to dress in orange, like with national or international sports events. Orange, more than the colours of the flag red-white-blue, is the national colour. And of course it is also the name of the royal house: House of Orange-Nassau. Orange actually was the Principality of Orange, in the south of France. In 1544 William I the Silent inherited the Principality and the title of Prince of Orange from his cousin René of Châlon, Prince of Orange, Count of Nassau, who had inherited it from his mother Claude. Only in 1713 Orange was ceded to France, although the family kept the title.

Lots of shops have orange things on sale, like t-shirts and other stuff that you probably don’t need, but sometimes buy anyway. Above a small selection including masks with the heads of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima, that can be bought at So Low at the Vismarkt.

The male version of the official King’s Day t-shirt, that can be bought at the Tourist Information at the Grote Markt. For women there is an orange version with either gold or white print. On the right a nice bargain I found at Van der Velde Books. The travel guide “In het voetspoor van de Oranjes” (In the footsteps of the Oranges) can be bought for € 9,99 instead of € 25. As it was on my list of books I wanted (remember the Wilhelmina walk in London?), I of course bought it immediately. And I do have the t-shirt too. Unfortunately Bernards and my book wasn’t there yet.

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