On November 29th the king will receive the biographies of king Willem I, Willem II and Willem III in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam. One of them has been written by a former teacher of mine (Dr. Jeroen van Zanten/ about Willem II). I am really looking forward to the biographies, they are the first academic ones in decades/ ever. Now let's hope that the fund can find money for simular biography on Queen regent Emma, who has been neglected in this project, but who had a more lasting impact on the monarchy than her husband.
On November 30th the day will start in Scheveningen, where the landing of prince Willem VI/ King Willem I is re-enacted. This is a tradition in Scheveningen, they do this every 25 years. Willem-Alexander participated in the event in 1988.
In the afternoon the celebrations will be started in the Hall of Knights
In the evening there will be a concert, with among others Caro Emerald. And they seem to have skipped the tackiest singers this time. 21 members of the RF will be present:
- The king and queen
- Princess Beatrix
- Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien
- Princess Margriet and Prof. Pieter van Vollenhoven
- Prince Maurits and Princess Marilene
- Prince Pieter-Chistiaan and Princess Anita
- Prince Floris and Princess Aimee
- Princess Irene
- Princess Christina
- The Duke and Duchess of Parma
- Prince Jaime and Princess Viktoria of Bourbon-Parma
- Princess Margarita of Bourbon-Parma and Tjalling ten Cate
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Of course there has been a fair amount of critisism on the celebrations, especially among historians - since the comittee forgets the shortlived kingdom of Holland under Louis Napoleon.
One of my own former teachers, Dr. Jouke Turpijn calls it a 'bizarre party':
'Herdenking 200 jaar koninkrijk is bizar feest' - opinie - VK. The 5 aspects that are commemorated seem to have been taken out of an election campaign and not from our history.