Today, the 30th April, is Koninginedag, or Queen's Day. Let's start with a bit of history. The Netherlands has a monarchy and since 1890 this monarchy has had a Queen as the head. For the last 33 years Queen Beatrix has been at the helm of this small country. Queen's Day is the yearly day of celebration of the Queen, and is pretty much the biggest day in NL. Although the 30th April is really the old queen, Juliana's, birthday, they've stuck to that day, because Betrix's birthday is in the middle of winter, and therefore not the best time to party. Anyway, for Queen's Day the Dutch (and many international visitors) dress up in the national colour- orange. So the whole day you can see people walking around in orange in every form. Sunglasses, hats, fake hair, leis, pants, stockings, t-shirts, scarves, earrings, feather boas.
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| Just an example! |
Now, onto what makes this year's Queen's Day a very special one. Today Beatrix abdicated and her son, Willem-Alexander, became the king of the Netherlands. This is the first king in over 100 years! This means that it is the last Queen's Day!! Well at least for a while. Next year will be the first Koningsdag or King's Day and it will be on the 27th April, which is the new king's birthday. I find this change a bit crazy. I mean after a century of women on the throne and about 60 years of celebrating on the same day, things just change. That said, it's also an exciting time as it ushers in a new era in the life of the Netherlands. Here's some photos of how I spent Queen's Day. Happy last Queen's Day!!
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| Lunch with friends |
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| Drinks in the Grote Markt with the TV coverage of the offical Queen's Day stuff on the big screen |
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