02.02.2002 - 02.02.2012 :)

Precisely ten years ago Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Argentinian-born Máxima Zorreguieta were married.


Here is a NOS TV special about W-A & M., watched yesterday by more than 2 million people (Dutch, English, and Máxima sings a song in Spanish at about 45 minutes.)

Marta Eggerth: "Never retire."

I would not have known about Marta Eggerth's birthday had I not listened to a tribute to her on our local public radio station's Saturday Afternoon at the Opera. The host played a number of Merry Widow songs sung by her (in at least 4 languages!). He quoted Marta Eggerth's advice for a long life: "Never retire." She and her son have their own YouTube channel.

Marta Eggerth - 99 years old today - is one of the last of the great European operetta stars. Max Reinhardt directed her in Die Fledermaus.
In 1927. Franz Lehar wrote shows for her.

In 2004 when Queen Juliana died, a Dutch television history program called Andere Tijden (in English, Other Times) featured a segment about Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard's 1937 wedding and marriage. Part of it was spent at the Hotel Patria in the Polish ski resort of Krynica (on the Czech border). The hotel was owned by Jan Kiepura, the singer, who had recently married Marta Eggerth. There is a fascinating clip featuring Marta Eggerth - starting at 11:58 to about 25:00 - reminiscing about meeting and spending time with the royal couple at the hotel. She also sings in the clip - definitely she has not lost her theatrical and operatic allure. The program is in Dutch and Polish but Ms Eggerth speaks in English. I cannot embed it, so click here for the clip.

Last year when she was 98, one of her films was shown at MoMA in NYC.

UPDATED: Koninginnedag 2010/Beatrix 30

UPDATE

The Dutch Royal family and the families of the victims attended the unveiling of the memorial monument, at the crossroad Jachtlaan-Loolaan in Apeldoorn, made by Menno Jonker, commemorating the tragedy on Koninginnedag 2009. The very moving NOS (Dutch) broadcast is now online. Photos.


HM will celebrate Queen's Day tomorrow in the province of Zeeland, where I have my family roots.

Radio Netherlands: Queen Beatrix - still impeccable after 30 years

Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard van Oranje Nassau. Since 1980 she’s been the queen and symbol of the Netherlands. As head of state, Queen Beatrix is elevated above all other institutions. It is her task to unite all Dutch citizens. “In accepting this office I have vowed to propagate respect for the nation.”

It wasn’t easy at first. Both her marriage in 1966 to the German Prince Claus so soon after the end of the Second World War and her swearing in as queen exactly 30 years ago this month caused an uproar that echoed far beyond the country’s borders.

43 photos to commemorate the anniversary in this Parool.nl album.

Today, HM unveiled a monument in Apeldoorn to commemorate the victims of the killings that occurred on Koninginnedag 2009.

Photo: one of the official portraits taken this month at Huis ten Bosch by Vincent Mentzel. (Courtesy RVD)

Happy Birthday to HRH The Prince of Orange

HRH celebrates his 43rd birthday today. Van harte gefiliciteerd! Happy Birthday!

Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand, Prince of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau and Jonkheer van Amsberg, was born in the University Hospital, Utrecht, on 27 April 1967, the first child of Princess Beatrix and Prince Claus.

HM Queen Beatrix at 72

HM The Queen celebrates her 72nd birthday today. Van harte gefiliciteert!

Last night a documentary (in Dutch), made two years ago, was rebroadcast on Dutch television. Nice to see it again!



Photo: © Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst (RVD)

Prince Bernhard & his SS membership

RADIO NETHERLANDS WORLDWIDE

The Dutch government knew of the SS membership of the late Prince Bernhard as early as 1944, according to NRC Handelsblad.

The newspaper bases its finding on documents released by the National Archive in The Hague earlier this year. One of the documents refers to a coded telegram, dated September 1944, from Foreign Minister Eelco van Kleffens. The telegram reveals the cabinet knew Prince Bernhard had briefly joined the SS but suspected he had been unable to avoid doing so, "possibly in order to prevent something worse". In the telegram, the foreign minister instructs the Dutch ambassador in the United States not to refute claims, made by American media as of 1941, that Prince Bernhard had been a member of the SS.

Until now, it was not clear if the Dutch cabinet knew such allegations had any basis in fact. For many years Prince Bernhard remained evasive on his links with the Nazi NSDAP party and related organisations. In an interview with De Volkskrant, published shortly after his death in December 2004, the prince admitted to his SS membership for the first time. He always denied having belonged to the NSDAP.

More (in Dutch):

Volkskrant

Telegraaf

NRC|Handelsblad

Queen's Day Aftermath

There's a commentary by Robin Pascoe, the founder of DutchNews.nl about the events from last Thursday. It wasn't a Dutch 9/11, no al-Qaeda, just a lone, mentally unbalanced man taking revenge on the Queen and members of the royal family. We'll never know what was exploding in that man's head. Hundreds of uploaded videos of April 30 have dominated the hits on YouTube. The Netherlands is a small country, and naturally a tragic event on its national day is cause for reflections. While I agree with much of Pascoe's commentary about moving on, he just doesn't have a clue how important the Dutch royals interacting openly with the public is, especially on Koninginnedag:---

[...] It was a shocking event to witness anywhere but made even more so because it happened so close to home, on a sunny day when everyone was out having fun.

But three days on, there is a danger that the Netherlands is descending into a strange sentimentality. [...]

There are soul searching articles about how life in the Netherlands will never be the same again.

And will it?

The one important question is, of course, why? There is no terror cell at work here, no carefully coordinated attack by animal rights activitists or Al Quaeda. There is no enemy to vent anger at - just the action of a lone, and perhaps lonely man, who flipped for whatever reason.

We have been hit by this attack because we watched it happen and we are still watching it, again and again and again.

No amount of security would have stopped this man doing what he did. This time he drove his car through the crowd watching the queen. Next time he could be entering a school with a machine gun or a creche with a knife.

Life in the Netherlands has not changed for all of us, only for those who have lost loved ones or who were closely involved in the aftermath. And wallowing in sentimentality helps no-one. The tv images will fade - if we stop watching them. And we should not be hypnotising ourselves into thinking otherwise.

Today from Radio Netherlands, discussing future celebrations of Queen's Day (and Rememberance Day on May 4th and Liberation Day on May 5th),

The present Queen has also been known to be defiant in the face of adversity in the past. In 1980 she choose to hold her coronation in Amsterdam in spite of demonstrations planned by the squatter's movement to disrupt the event. The day was marred by serious rioting in the capital.

Prince Constantijn [the second son of Queen Beatrix] speaking outside the World Press Photo award ceremony on Sunday said that the royal family will continue to do the things it does with conviction,

"In this country and as a family we value openness and accessibility. So in that sense we will continue with our heads held high."

The print and television media have pushed the story to morbid extremes. Adding to the confusion - from an article [Dutch] in Volkskrant: the tabloid newspaper AD has apologised for posting a photo of a man they said was Karst T., but it turns out he wasn't. The man has the same surname as Mr T. At least the paper's official didn't give the usual excuse, "mistakes were made," but actually apologised (We betreuren het enorm dat dit is gebeurd...); AD won't relegate its correction to the back pages - it will appear on the front page. In this kind of media frenzy and rush to further sensationalize a tragedy, and sell papers (for it happens frequently in the US, too), I always wonder whether the legal department, editorial board and fact checkers are asleep on the job. Think of the harm potential harm to the man whose photo was published. Of course, these kinds of photo mistakes have occur often in US newspapers and on television, sometimes with tragic consequences - usually to ex-cons, notably sex offenders, who have already done their time, are rehabilitated and are set "free," but still receive harassment from "society."

Queen's Day attacker dies (Updated: Death toll reaches 7)

Update: Death toll reaches seven. It was a civilian working as chauffeur for the Royal Marechaussee, the special military police force which protects the Queen.

Radio Netherlands reports today that the Queen's Day attacker has died, bringing the total deaths from this tragedy to six.

The 38-year-old Dutchman who killed five people and injured 12 during Queen's Day celebrations in Apeldoorn is dead. He died in hospital last night from serious injuries sustained after driving his car at high speed into a crowd in an attempt to hit the open-topped coach carrying the Royal Family. The car missed the royal coach by 15 metres and came to a standstill when it crashed into a well-known monument.

The perpetrator was an unemployed security guard named as Karst Tates. His neighbours in the east of the country say he was made redundant a few months ago. They describe him as a quiet, withdrawn person.

The five people killed are three men and two women. Among the injured are three children, aged 9, 15 and 16. A number of Antillean musicians also were hurt.

400 flower bouquets in orange, red, white and blue that were to be displayed on the steps of Het Loo Palace, are now being placed at the scene of yestrday's tragedy.

Five dead as Queen's Day celebrations turn into tragedy (Update)

UPDATE II: Just received email from a Dutch friend:

"A shaken, dreadfully looking queen almost burst into tears when addressing her Dutchmen. Compare this with her perfect radiating majestic wellgroomed look this morning! Even her hairdo lost all energy... :( A black day in Dutch History.

3rd time NL lost its innocence (after Fortuyn, Van Gogh...). The laidback character of our country is ruined for ever."

Celebrations throughout the land for Koninginnedag have been canceled.

The queen may have escaped an attack. The car broke through the barriers, hitting people and crashing into a monumental column as the open-topped coach carrying the Royal Family passed.

Press conference about to start.

Updated: 4 dead now and the Queen has just addressed the people, almost in tears.

It was strange, when the royals were having fun with the spectators etc. "bathing in the crowd," fifteen minutes before - everything seemed soooo relaxed (smiling security officers...) Who would have thought a lunatic would get some weird ideas! It is not clear if the driver of the car acted intentionally, but he was clocked at going 80kms/hr.

It was supposed to be a fabulous day of joy, celebrating Koninginnedag and the start of the 100th anniversary of the birth of former Queen Juliana, but has turned into a day of sadness.

In celebration, I had put out my Dutch flag with the Orange streamer, but have taken it back inside. The flag on the sidebar is at half-mast, too.

Radio Netherlands Worldwide

A car ploughed into the crowd watching the Queen's day parade in Apeldoorn. Two spectators were killed and 23 reported injured, some of them seriously.

Eye witnesses speculated that the accident may have been an attempted attack on the Royal Family. Others say that the car went off course with a shattered windscreen and that the driver appeared to be slumped motionless over the wheel. The vehicle came to a halt after crashing into a monument (pictured right).

The incident occurred minutes after a luxury open-top coach carrying the Royal Family passed the spot (pictured below). The coach briefly stopped and was then accompanied to Het Loo palace by security forces.

Queen Beatrix has sent a message expressing her sympathy to the victims. The government information service says the queen and her family are deeply shocked by the incident.

The photo on the left shows the reaction of the Prince of Orange and HRH Princess Máxima after the accident.
Story developing...a press conference is scheduled in the afternoon (Dutch time). Follow this channel for the latest on line news. CNN coverage; BBC report.

The Prince of Orange celebrates his birthday amid abdication rumours

Prins Willem-Alexander (Foto: ANP)

Van harte gefiliciteerd! Happy Birthday! Again, there have been rumours that his mother will announce her abdication.

DutchNews.nl

Beatrix was 42 when her mother Juliana stepped down in favour of her daughter.

The prince is spending his birthday at home with family and friends, the state information service RVD said. On Thursday he will join his mother and brother in Apeldoorn for the traditional Queen's Day celebrations.

Swedish royals

Rumours that Beatrix is poised to abdicate were driven by Nos tv's claim to extra broadcasting time last week, but that turned out to be for a programme about the Swedish royal family's visit.

'This is the third hype in the past four months,' an RVD spokesman told the AD. 'But there is nothing to report.'

When she does decide to go, Beatrix will make her decision known in the form of a televised address to the nation, the AD states. And insiders say she will wait until next year, after celebrating her 30th jubilee as queen.

TWO STORMS

nrc.nl international editorial: Perfect storm in the Dutch economy.

While the common folk grapple with the economic problems, a vacationing Dutch royal family is stuck in Lech am Arlberg, Austria. Due to heavy snowfall Lech has become unreachable since the town has been hit by a severe winter storm. I don't think the royal vacationers need to worry about lack of food, beverage or a nice hot sauna.


They remain en famille at their chalet/hotel, untouched by the "perfect" storm at home.





© Dutch Photo Press, Patrick van Katwijk

DUTCH DON'T WANT BEATRIX TO ABDICATE

Next week Queen Beatrix celebrates her 71st birthday. Over the weekend there was a report on the role of the monarchy. And as in recent years, with each birthday, the question, Should Beatrix 'stay on' or abdicate?

Leidsch Dagblad (Dutch): - According to a research by a commercial marketing company called Synovate, 54% of the dutch people don't want queen Beatrix to abdicate right now.
84% think prince Willem-Alexander is ready to inherit the throne though.

The dutch people give an '8' to the queen.

84% want to maintain the monarchy, 10% are in favour of a republic.

On Saturday, KRO's In de Schaduw van het Nieuws asked (Dutch) Oranje-experts: Stay on or abdicate?, with an excellent video (Dutch).

COMMENT: I was surprised by the results of this poll. Abdication is not a dirty word in the Netherlands. It just means royal retirement. (The British example is ridiculous.) There seems no indication that Beatrix is tired or has had enough. Should she abdicate in favour of her son? Maybe if she no longer liked her 'job.' But she seems more enthusiastic than ever. On January Beatrix will become a year older, but she certainly seems 'young' to me! Zij doet 't prima toch! That said, however, most Dutch treat the queen with indifference - including most of my friends and family. And yet, thousands come out for Koninginnedag!

PRINCESS MARGRIET

Today HRH celebrates another birthday. My favourite Dutch royal! Gefiliciteerd!!

MORE SECRETS OF SOESTDIJK REVEALED

It's all the talk of Dutch media this week, but 52-year old news. It's about a political and royal scandal surrounding the role of Greet Hofmans, a faith healer, who became a confidante of then Queen Juliana and

sparked a marital crisis at Soestdijk Palace. Prince Bernhard leaked the story to the German press to force the Dutch government to take action and remove a potential threat to the monarchy. However, it took a second government commission as well as threats against the life of Greet Hofmans by former resistance fighters to persuade the queen to break all ties to the controversial faith healer.

There was talk of divorce and betrayal. What's been revealed this week were the death threats.

However, Juliana never stopped loving Bernhard, and the unSaintly Bernhard never stopped loving himself. The couple remained married for almost seventy years. I recall an interview with royal correspondent, Maartje van Weegen, where Juliana grabbed Bernhard's knee and asked, "We didn't do that bad, did we?" After the abdication in 1980, the couple seemed to become closer and had a mutual admiration for each other, despite Juliana's worsening Alzheimers.

nrc.nl/international has a background article on the Hofmans case here

MARC MULDERS UTRECHT

Photo: Marc Mulders - glas-in-loodraam voor het Oranjefonds

A Dutch friend has written me

This never hit the press.
The Orange Fund (Willem-Alexander & Máxima's wedding fund) commissioned Marc Mulders to make this stained glass window at their premises at Utrecht (at the Utrecht stately avenue/"mall" the Maliebaan). Our good man who designed the Silver Jubilee Window in Amsterdam...
Fascinating with that light falling through it.
It was unveiled by the couple Dec. 2007. They must love his work.
I hope they will commission him to make a work for one of the palaces once. Of course they will... The Orange artistic taste is impeccable.

Oranje Fonds window.

And yes, I was blown away by Mulders' Silver Jubilee window when I was in Amsterdam in 2000.

SEPTEMBER 6, 1948

GLITTERING ROYAL EVENTS

After 50 years on the throne Queen Wilhelmina, who herself became Queen at the tender age of 18 (back in 1898) 'handed down' her powers as Monarch to her only daughter & heiress, Juliana.
Amsterdam, September 6, 1948 was an exceptional day, both for the Dutch Monarchy as well for all those who wanted a new start in life after WWII. [Dutch monarchs are not "crowned."]

Photo: © Bettmann/CORBIS

I had arrived in the USA with my mother a few weeks before. I was just four months old.

A fascinating NOS-documentary (in Dutch) broadcast on 5 September 2008:

1948 is recalled in the documentary: abdication of Wilhelmina, inauguration of Juliana, the celebration for the two queens, post-war rebuilding, recollections of eye witnesses of the events of 6 September:

1948: 'Juliana, een nieuwe koningin'

NOS Short biography of Juliana (in Dutch):

JULIANA

Sixty years ago today, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands abdicated in favour of her daughter, Juliana.

FOUR FREEDOMS AWARDS

Each year, the Four Freedoms Awards are presented to people safeguarding the four essential human freedoms devised by former US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in a speech in 1941: freedom from fear, freedom of religion, freedom of speech and freedom from want.

Yesterday, in Middelburg, they were presented by Queen Beatrix and Princess Máxima of the Netherlands to the following recipients:

• International Four Freedoms Award 2008 Dr. Richard Freiherr von Weizsäcker (Former President of Germany)

• Freedom of Speech and Expression Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi (one of 'The Elders', the organization from which Princess Mabel is the director)

• Freedom of Worship Dr. Karen Armstrong (British author and expert on religion who contributed to better understanding of Christianity, Islam and Judaism)
  

• Freedom from Want Jan Egeland (Norwegian diplomat who played a key role in the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, resulting in the Oslo-agreements)
  

• Freedom from Fear Ms Willemijn Verloop (Co-founder, together with Princess Mabel, of War Child Netherlands, which invests in a peaceful future for children affected by war)

THE SPIJKER AFFAIR: LIFE HAS BEEN HELL FOR THE DUTCH WHISTLEBLOWER

This is one of the biggest scandals in recent Dutch history. One could call Fred Spijkers the Dutch Don Quixote in his long and bitter fight against the apparent injustice done toward him by the State.



Source: RADIO NETHERLANDS WORLDWIDE 18 April 2008 -

Whistle-blower finds support in royal circles

Pieter van Vollenhoven, husband of one of Queen Beatrix's sisters [Princess Margriet, shown in the photograph with Van Vollenhoven], wants to act as a mediator in the case of the whistle-blower Fred Spijkers. He says Mr Spijkers is a courageous man, who he gladly wants to help.

Almost twenty-five years ago, Mr Spijkers prevented a Ministry of Defence cover-up after the deaths of eight soldiers. The eight were killed by landmines with fatal design error in the detonating mechanism. At the time, Fred Spijkers, who was a social worker for the Ministry of Defence, refused to tell the widow of one of the soldiers that his death was caused by his own carelessness. As a result of his action, Mr Spijkers still faces problems with his income, pension and tax assessments today. Several parliamentary parties [Labour, Socialists, GreenLeft, Christian Union , the progressive liberals (D66) and MP Verdonk] have called for these problems to be resolved before the summer.

The Ministry of Defence was aware of the faulty detonating mechanism as early as 1970. But it was only admitted by Defence Minister Joris Voorhoeve in 1997.

Pieter van Vollenhoven analyzes problems rationally. And sometimes he meets criticism with a touch of humour and self-knowledge. He has a really independent mind and isn't afraid to put blame where it belongs. In the letter the state-secretary for Defence was urged to request Professor mr Pieter van Vollenhoven to act as mediator; the Dutch government still has to approve his offer to help Mr Spijkers.

'THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR WATER'

Ladies and gentlemen, more than 7500 people die every day because they lack adequate access to clean drinking water and safe sanitation. Only 62% of Africans have access to safe water and only 43% have access to adequate sanitation. Clean water and sanitation are not only about hygiene and disease. Sanitation is about health, dignity and development. If we invest in clean water and sanitation we invest in people and their social and economic development.