Of all royal speeches, the Speech from the Throne is the most formal. But in times of crisis, monarchs sometimes turn to the nation personally, according to all 75 post-war speeches from the Throne.
The fact that our country is in the grip of a long-drawn-out disaster, corona, will certainly be reflected by King Willem-Alexander in his Speech from the Throne tomorrow. The question is how. Slightly more than his mother and grandmother, Queen Beatrix and Juliana, he is inclined to use the Speech from the Throne to encourage and encourage the people.
Strictly speaking, that is not the intention of this annual ritual. The Speech from the Throne is intended to have the king, on behalf of the government, explain the government’s plans to both parliaments (the States General). The Speech from the Throne is therefore by definition much more impersonal than the royal Christmas speech or occasion speeches. But they are not entirely uniform: Willem-Alexander’s Speeches from the Throne are often more personal and less vague than those of Juliana and Beatrix – albeit not nearly as pronounced as those of great-grandmother Wilhelmina.
King Willem-Alexander did not complain about a lack of interest in his speeches this year. On May 4, he made an impression at the National Remembrance Day on Dam Square when he said: “Sobibor started in the Vondelpark. With a sign: “Forbidden for Jews”, and added that Wilhelmina, “yet steadfast and fierce in her resistance”, had shown too little attention from London to the suffering of the Jews. “It’s something that won’t let go of me.”
The king also caused a lot of commotion on 10 March, when he apologized as head of state in Indonesia for the Dutch violence after the Second World War. These apologies had been carefully prepared by the King, Prime Minister Rutte and Minister of Foreign Affairs Blok together, and also with Indonesia, but they came as a surprise to other ministers.
Quartets about the content
Surprising ministers is almost unthinkable in Throne speeches: they are co-authors. A good month before Budget Day, the prime minister gathers policy intentions from all ministries that they would like to see reflected in the Speech from the Throne, followed by quartets from the king and the council of ministers about thickening and connecting the passages. Boring speeches guaranteed.
Whether speeches to the throne can surprise at all is the question, in times when million notes are leaked by default and the government publishes policy intentions all year round, but the ritual has old papers. From 1814 onwards, the king – William I – used to receive his ministers in audience and write down their ideas. He could ignore it or use it in his Speech from the Throne at will. That changed in 1848, when William II had to swallow the famous constitutional amendment that made the government responsible for all the king’s actions – including the Speech from the Throne.
Its intention is stated in Article 65 of the Constitution: “Every year on the third Tuesday of September (…) an explanation of the policy to be pursued by the government is given by or on behalf of the King in a joint meeting of the States General”. As a result, Speeches from the Throne are teeming with phrases such as ‘the government realizes,’ or ‘the government attaches importance to,’ although some constitutional purists would like princes to speak in terms of ‘my government’ to emphasize that they are part of the government and not only her messenger.
But the words ‘I’ and ‘my’ reserve princes after Wilhelmina almost exclusively for the concluding prayer (“You may be supported in your difficult task by the realization that many wish you wisdom and pray with me for strength and God’s blessing for you. ”). Or for the introductory words: “Now that I may address you today for the first time on Budget Day, I would like to say that in your United Assembly of April 30 you have initiated a heartwarming start to my kingship,” said King Willem-Alexander in his first Speech from the Throne, in 2013. “It is a day that I remember with great gratitude.”
Willem-Alexander’s grandmother, Juliana, said in her first Speech from the Throne in 1948: “I think back with emotion and gratitude to the way in which the 50th anniversary of my Mother’s reign was celebrated”.
Personal communications
That mother, Wilhelmina, had the least inclination of all monarchs for a century to reserve the word “I” in the Speech from the Throne for apolitical, personal announcements. In 1939, on the eve of the Second World War, she placed herself more or less above the government in her Speech from the Throne: “I have been forced to order the mobilization of the sea and land forces. To my great satisfaction, this mobilization took place in an exemplary way. ”
In her Speech from the Throne in 1945, she addressed the Dutch people directly, and seemed to speak not so much on behalf of the government as to the government. “It is with great satisfaction that I see the successful effort, aimed at providing emergency supplies in the afflicted areas and at restoring traffic and industry.” Mama is proud.
Especially on the subject of Indonesia, Wilhelmina more often expressed her emotions. “The development of events in Java fills me with great care. In tense compassion I follow the fate of countless children, women and men, robbed, in mortal danger or undelivered in the threat of a dazed crowd, ”she said in 1945.
Arid summary of government plans
When Juliana took office, the Speeches from the Throne immediately took on the character of a dry enumeration of government plans. Feelings of “concern” or “satisfaction” as expressed by her mother seldom spilled over to Queen Juliana’s speech at the Throne, except when talking about soldiers who fought or died in Indonesia and Korea. “With gratitude and reverence I think of those who fell victim to their duty,” she said in 1949.
And oh yes, she and Prince Bernard had felt “great joy” during their visit to Suriname and the Antilles in 1956. “We keep a grateful memory of the countless demonstrations of affection we received there.”
But when she spoke about the flood disaster in 1953 – she had already completed the first quarter of her Speech from the Throne – emotions only occurred in impersonal form. “For our country, 1953 will be remembered as the year of the flood, which brought so much suffering and caused so much damage. Inseparably, however, the remembrance of the moving compassion at home and abroad will remain inseparable, the warm spontaneity with which help was offered and the willingness to sacrifice shown ”, she said. “The Government is confident that the bill on claims settlement will be discussed soon.”
She did not address the people. During her tenure, several bloody hostage actions by Moluccan activists took place. In 1977, a few months after the train hijacking at De Punt and hostage-taking in the primary school in Bovensmilde, she referred for the first and last time in the speech from the Throne to the shocking events, in one sentence: “The government is concerned about certain developments within the South Moluccan population group and around the position of this group in society. ”
Indirect and neutral
During her tenure (1980-2013), Queen Beatrix also opted for indirect, neutral wording for international and national dramas. She did not discuss the murders of Pim Fortuyn and Theo van Gogh. About the fall of the Berlin Wall: “We are experiencing historical times in Europe. From October 3 there will be one Germany again. The division of Europe is coming to an end. The policy is aimed at supporting and encouraging democratic and economic developments in Eastern Europe. ”
In 1993, three months after the fall of Srebrenica, she said: “The dramatic events in Africa and in the former Yugoslavia show how limited the possibilities for the United Nations still are. The frustrations that accompany this should not prevent us from continuing to feel internationally responsible and to act accordingly. ”
She was less aloof the following year: “Heartbreaking images reach us from so close by, the former Yugoslavia to the distant Rwanda. It turns out that the boundaries of horror can be pushed again and again. ” In 2001, right after “9/11”, the shock resounded when she spoke of the “horrible attacks”. “Our thoughts are with the victims and their relatives, with the entire American people, in deep connection and solidarity.” Only exceptionally did Beatrix speak to or on behalf of the nation in her speeches from the Throne.
King Willem-Alexander does so almost every year, in direct terms. The difference in his Christmas speeches is most evident. Where Beatrix spoke about the fireworks disaster in Enschede in 2000 without addressing the victims (“When adversity dominates life, it is not so easy to talk about hope”), Willem-Alexander directly addressed young people in his first Christmas speech. suffer from pressure to perform: “Don’t worry too much if things go against you. Give yourself some space. It’s okay. ”
But also in his Speech from the Throne the king is more direct than his predecessors. In 2014, he spoke: “On July 17, a terrible fate struck the 298 occupants of flight MH17, including 196 fellow countrymen. As a result, the festive tradition of Prinsjesdag this year is surrounded by a mourning border of grief. Throughout the country, people were visibly one, in silence and mourning. That involvement and togetherness offer comfort to anyone who has to deal with a major personal loss. ”
In 2015, the year of the refugee crisis, he recalled the “poignant images of people adrift” and the “personal suffering” behind them. In 2017, he said of terror attacks in London, Marseille and Barcelona: “Places that almost everyone knows can easily turn into places of fear, sorrow and human suffering: the Promenade des Anglais, Westminster Bridge, the Ramblas. Yet we should not let fear rule us. The best answer to terrorism is to stick to our way of life. ”
In his speeches from the Throne, Willem-Alexander also spurs national pride more often than his mother and grandmother. “We live in a prosperous and attractive country, with good facilities, a good infrastructure and a strong rule of law. We have a lot to be proud of and to build on, ”he said in 2016. And in 2019:“ The Netherlands remains a country of volunteers and of sensible compromises in the broad middle. From young to old, from shop floor to boardroom and from Willemstad to Amsterdam, people want to participate and make their contribution. That is what binds us and what we should cherish together. ”
Tricky parquet for the king
What wording will the king choose when he talks about the corona pandemic tomorrow? In March he spoke to the nation about this, clearly wanting to encourage, comfort, and thank (the health workers, for example). He even addressed children. “I understand very well how you feel. Not able to go to school. Not to football or ballet class. Birthday parties that are canceled. That is quite difficult. ” He also made an appeal: “We cannot stop the corona virus. The loneliness virus is! ”
If tomorrow the king immediately appealed to the people about compliance with the rules of conduct, that would not be fully credible. After all, during his vacation he was caught in a “Grapperhaus”, an all too intimate photo opportunity with a Greek restaurateur. “In the spontaneity of the moment, we did not pay attention to that,” the royal couple said later. “Of course we should have done that. Because compliance with corona rules is also essential on holiday to get the virus under control. ”
This difficult parquet in which the king has brought himself can be an additional, albeit trivial, reason to look forward to the Speech from the Throne with interest.
Also read:
“We think of you in this difficult time”
King Willem-Alexander gave a speech about the corona crisis in March. Read the full text of the speech here.
A Speech from the Throne with profit warnings
King Willem-Alexander has emphasized in his Speech from the Throne that the Netherlands remains a country “of volunteers and of sensible compromises in the broad middle”.
