Prinsjesdag (Little Prince’s Day) is an annual event on the Dutch royal calendar. The King addresses the United Assembly and lays out the major parliamentary issues for the year’s session. He is accompanied by the Queen and various members of the royal family. The women dress in formal day wear, including hats and long dresses.
2022 Updates
In 2022, the United Assembly will be held in the Royal Theater in The Hague. The usual venue is the Dutch Parliament and the Hall of Nights, however that building is under renovation and it will take several years to complete. The King and Queen will travel to the Royal Theater instead. They will still use the Glass Carriage and the Princess of Orange will accompany them for the first time.
Venue – History of the Royal Theater
Here is some information on the venue, from Friend-of-the-blog Triple A:
In 1766 Charles Christian, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg, brother in law of stadtholder William V, ordered the construction of a little city palace at the Korte Voorhout for his 23 year old wife Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau and himself. He gave the assignment to Pieter de Swart, who studied for two years in Paris, paid for by stadtholder William IV. De Swart was also responsible for several other prominent buildings in The Hague, such as the former Royal Library, the Lange Voorhout Palace and the Lutheran church. De Swart drafted a design in neo-Louis XIV style for a 77 meter wide and three stories high building around a semicircular cour d’honneur. At the front of the building, from left to right, a billiard room, bed room, cabinet and antichambre would be located. At the garden side of the building, a music hall, ballroom and party room would be located, with five goblins on the walls. He also made designs for two canapés, 18 gilded fauteuils and five bronze wall chandeliers. The curtains were to be made out of damask.
In 1769, Charles Christian moved to Weilburg, where Carolina died in 1787. This removed urgency from his side to finish the city palace. In 1774 part of the palace was finished, but architect De Swart died the previous year. The building could not be finished, and the designs were auctioned off. Because of the Batavian Revolution and the following French occupation, the building had to be stopped.
After Charles Christian died, his heirs sold all his possessions in The Hague, except for this unfinished palace. It remained empty and unfinished for a long time, and it was decided to tear it down, just before a group of citizens from The Hague rented it for 99 years to turn it into a theater. To test the structural integrity of the building, a regiment of soldiers with full packing was ordered to walk on the balconies; the building was determined to be sufficiently stable and it could be turned into a theater.
Schedule
The schedule for this years event can be found here. The royals will depart in the Glass Coach from Noordeinde Palace to the Koninklijke Schouwburg at 1:00 p.m. local time. Afterwards (at approximately 2:00 p.m. local time), the King, Queen, Princess of Orange, Prince Constantijn, and Princess Laurentien will appear on the balcony.
Arrivals
Thanks to the screen capturing ability of our friend Triple A (and Iselen in the comments) we have some early photos!
Queen Maxima is wearing a new-to-her (and us!) designer, Benchellal. The fabric is recycled mesh neoprene. The Princess of Orange is wearing a v-neck dark green Asos gown.
Princess Laurentien is wearing a wrap gown from Hardies Mode and a fascinator by Evelien Gentis-Smit, both in light pink crepe cady. ModekoninginMaxima has a post up if you are interested in more information!
We have a budding magpie on our hands, folks! This is Maxima’s Fabienne Delvigne hat, decorated with the Dutch diamond stars. You can read more about the Emerald Necklace at Triple’s A Instagram page.
We are waiting for official photos to figure out what Princess Laurentien has used as a necklace – stay tuned folks!
Official Photos
Comments
As soon as official photos become available we will update the post, but please add your comments and photos as you come across them.