In the 18th Century, Prinsjesdag was one of the country's most popular public holidays and was originally used to celebrate the 8 March birthday of Prince William V.
Between 1780 and 1797 — known as the Patriot era — the day was used for demonstrations of loyalty to the House of Orange, which is probably why the name was chosen in the 19th Century for the ceremonial opening of parliament.
Historically, the constitution has stated that the opening of parliament should take place on a fixed date and in line with a constitutional revision in 1887, it was decided to hold the opening on the third Tuesday in September.
The opening of parliament was originally held on the first Monday in November in the first half of the 19th Century and then the third Monday in October, but when a constitutional revision introduced annual budgets in 1848, more time was needed to debate the budget, so the date was brought forward a month.
Monday was considered inappropriate, because many parliamentarians in distant parts of the country needed to leave their homes on Sunday to make it to The Hague in time, so the 1887 revision moved Prinsjesdag to Tuesday.
Throughout the years 1815 to 1904, the speech from the throne was given in the assembly room of the Lower House of Parliament, or Tweede Kamer, but was moved back to the Hall of Knights after an extensive restoration of the building at the start of the 20th Century.
The pomp and ceremony is still very much part of the day.