Prinsjesdag or ‘Prince’s Day’
The King officially opens parliamentary year.
Prince's Day
In the Netherlands, Budget Day is known as Prinsjesdag or ‘Prince’s Day’, and is held on the third Tuesday in September. On this day, the King delivers the Speech from the Throne, officially opening the parliamentary year. The King’s speech contains the government’s key plans for the year ahead.
The programme for Budget Day 2020 will be different this year due to measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
The third Tuesday in September
Formerly, Budget Day (Prince's day) was on the first Monday in November, and later on the third Monday in October. But this didn’t leave Parliament enough time to finalise the national budget before 1 January. So in 1848 Budget Day (Prince's Day) was brought forward to the third Monday in September. But this created problems. To arrive on time, members of parliament living outside The Hague had to set out on Sunday. Protestant politicians, especially, objected to travelling on a Sunday. So, in 1887 Budget Day was moved to the third Tuesday in September.
The name ‘Prince's Day’
The name Prince's Day (Prinsjesdag) harks back to the 18th century, and the time of Prince William V. His birthday (8 March) was known as Prince’s Day. During the French occupation, supporters of the House of Orange-Nassau demonstrated their loyalty to the prince by continuing to celebrate this day.
No one really knows why, many years later, the name Prinsjesdag was given to the day on which Parliament opens. Nevertheless, even today it remains an occasion for people to show their affection for the royal family.
The Speech from the Throne
On Prinsjesdag the King travels in the Glass Coach to the Hall of Knights in The Hague, where all the ministers, state secretaries, members of parliament and other guests are assembled. Since 1904 the head of state (the King or Queen) has read the Speech from the Throne in the Hall of Knights, announcing the government’s main plans for the year ahead.
Later that day, the Minister of Finance gives the House of Representatives an overview of the cost of the plans announced in the Speech from the Throne.
©ANP
Hall of Knights.