The Netherlands

The Dutch Royal House has announced that this year’s traditional balcony appearance on Prince’s Day will not take place. This is due to current health safety restrictive measures to prevent crowds of well-wishers from gathering and potentially spreading the COVID-19 virus.  Therefore, Prince’s Day, on 21 September this year, will be slightly different than usual. The…

On Tuesday, Noordeinde Palace in The Hague saw a gathering of the best athletes the country has to offer.  Just a month after King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima welcomed the Dutch Olympic delegation, the same Royal Palace hosted the country’s Paralympic athletes, returning from Tokyo with 59 medals, of which 25 were gold, 17 silver and 17 bronze. The delegation was welcomed by King…

On Friday, Queen Máxima of the Netherlands opened Youverta’s new school year with a passionate speech about the role these students played during the pandemic.  Youverta is one of many MBO schools in the country – MBO standing for the lowest of three levels of higher education in the Netherlands and one that teaches skills needed for more practical jobs.  In the speech she gave to…