Upon his or her accession to the throne, the new

Dutch monarch The monarchy of the Netherlands is governed by the country's charter and constitution, roughly a third of which explains the mechanics of succession, accession, and abdication; the roles and duties of the monarch; the formalities of communica ...

undergoes an inauguration ceremony as required by the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

. The ceremony is taken as a

joint session A joint session or joint convention is, most broadly, when two normally separate decision-making groups meet, often in a special session or other extraordinary meeting, for a specific purpose. Most often it refers to when both houses of a bicam ...

of the two houses of the States General, and is held at the Nieuwe Kerk in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

Background

Just as in most other European monarchies today (except the monarchy of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

), in the Netherlands new monarchs are not crowned. The Dutch crown and other regalia have never been physically bestowed. Article 32 of the Dutch constitution states that as soon as the monarch assumes the royal prerogative, he is to be sworn in and invested in Amsterdam at a public joint session of both houses of the States General. An inauguration is strictly ceremonial as the successor to the throne accedes instantly when the previous one dies or abdicates. The last Dutch monarch to reign until his death was

William III William III or William the Third may refer to: Kings * William III of Sicily () * William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702) * William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg (1817–1890) N ...

in 1890. His successor was his daughter, Wilhelmina; however, she was not inaugurated until her coming of age in 1898, as the monarch may not exercise the

royal prerogative The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, Privilege (law), privilege, and immunity recognised in common law (and sometimes in Civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy) as belonging to the monarch, so ...

until reaching the age of 18. Her mother,

Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont (Adelheid Emma Wilhelmina Theresia; 2 August 1858 – 20 March 1934) was Queen of the Netherlands and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg as the wife of King-Grand Duke William III. An immensely popular member of the Dutc ...

, acted as

regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

from 1890 to 1898. Wilhelmina later abdicated and passed the throne to her daughter

Juliana Juliana (variants Julianna, Giuliana, Iuliana, Yuliana, etc) is a feminine given name which is the feminine version of the Roman name Julianus. Juliana or Giuliana was the name of a number of early saints, notably Saint Julian the Hospitaller, whi ...

in 1948.

Abdication

All Dutch monarchs since Wilhelmina have so far chosen to abdicate their throne after a certain period reigning. The monarch, the heir to the throne, the royal family and

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

led by the

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

meet in the State Hall of the

Royal Palace of Amsterdam The Royal Palace of Amsterdam in Amsterdam (Dutch: ''Koninklijk Paleis van Amsterdam'' or ) is one of three palaces in the Netherlands which are at the disposal of the monarch by Act of Parliament. It is situated on the west side of Dam Square ...

. The monarch first signs the instrument of abdication, which is then signed by their heir as the new monarch, then by members of the royal family and the government. As soon as the instrument is signed, the new monarch's accession is a legal ''

fait accompli Many words in the English vocabulary are of French language, French origin, most coming from the Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman spoken by the upper classes in England for several hundred years after the Norman conquest of England, Norman ...

''. The previous monarch then steps onto the balcony of the palace, and introduces the new monarch to the waiting public outside. After the signing, the new monarch proceeds from the palace to the Nieuwe Kerk, where the

States General of the Netherlands The States General of the Netherlands ( ) is the Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate (Netherlands), Senate () and the House of Representatives (Netherlands), House of R ...

and the cabinet along with guests of honour have assembled for the inauguration.

Ceremony

The ceremony takes place as a

of the two houses of the States General (''Verenigde Vergadering'') and is presided over by the president of the joint session (i.e. the

president of the senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the Speaker (politics), speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's Order of succession, succes ...

). The ritual is held at the Nieuwe Kerk, in the capital city of Amsterdam. Regalia such as the crown, orb and sceptre are present, but are never physically given to the monarch, nor worn by him or her. Instead, these are placed on cushions upon what is called a

credence table A credence table is a small side table in the sanctuary of a Christian church which is used in the celebration of the Eucharist (Latin ''credens, -entis'', believer). The credence table is usually placed near the wall on the epistle (south) sid ...

. The royal regalia surround a copy of the Dutch constitution. Two other regalia–the

sword of state A sword of state is a sword, used as part of the regalia, symbolising the supreme power of a monarch, given by God, to use the infinite might of the state to deter its enemies by use of deadly warfare, if thus dire, to maintain order in the r ...

and the standard of the kingdom bearing the

coat of arms of the Netherlands The coat of arms of the Kingdom of the Netherlands was originally adopted in 1815 and later modified in 1907. The arms are a composite of the arms of the former Dutch Republic and the arms of the House of Nassau, it features a checkered shield wit ...

–are carried by two senior military officers. During the ceremony, the monarch, vested in an ermine-lined heirloom mantle, is seated on a chair of state (as is their consort) upon a raised dais, opposite members of the States General. ;The two parts The new monarch has their master of ceremonies announce their arrival from the palace, and they take their seat on the chair of state facing the States General and the regalia. The monarch gives an address before swearing the oath to uphold the constitution and protect the people of the Kingdom. In reciting the final formula to swear the oath, the new monarch often displays the ''Spreekgebaar'': the gesture has them raise the right hand, extending upwards and joining only the

index finger The index finger (also referred to as forefinger, first finger, second finger, pointer finger, trigger finger, digitus secundus, digitus II, and many other terms) is the second digit of a human hand. It is located between the thumb and the m ...

and

middle finger The middle finger, long finger, second finger, third finger, toll finger or tall man is the third digit of the human hand, typically located between the index finger and the ring finger. It is typically the longest digit. In anatomy, it is al ...

. Following the monarch's oath, the monarch is paid homage to by the assemblage of people. The president of the joint session makes a declaration on behalf of those assembled and then swears or affirms this declaration. Following this, the names of members of the States General are called out, who then stand and swear or affirm this declaration in turn. They either display the ''Spreekgebaar'' like the new monarch and swear, "''Zo waarlijk helpe mij God Almachtig''" ("So truly help me, God Almighty"), or affirm with a simple "''Dat beloof ik''" ("That, I promise."). After every willing member has sworn or affirmed the declaration, the president of the joint session declares the ceremony to have been completed. This is followed by the senior King of Arms exclaiming that the monarch has been inaugurated and the president crying “Long live the King!” to the response of three hurrahs from those assembled. The other heralds proceed outside the church to

Dam Square Dam Square or the Dam () is a town square in Amsterdam, the capital and most populated city of the Netherlands. Its notable buildings and frequent events make it one of the best-known and most important locations in the city and the country. ...

where they also announce to the wider public that the monarch has been inaugurated, and also cry "Long live the King!" After the homage, the monarch and his retinue then exit the church and return to the palace. The ceremony is then followed by an official reception at the palace.

Medals

Since the inauguration of Queen Wilhelmina in 1898, the Dutch government issues for each inauguration a limited number of commemoration medals (''Inhuldigingsmedaille''). The obverse shows the profile of the new monarch, while the reverse features the royal monogram, surrounded on the rim with the name of the monarch and the date of the inauguration. The ribbon's colour is mainly in orange, the colour of the royal house, and blue.

End of military service

In contrast to most other monarchies, the Dutch monarch cannot hold a formal military position and retires from military service upon accession to the throne. This is based in the fact that in the Netherlands the supreme command is with the government (as a whole) instead of the monarch, who as head of state is part of that government. A special Royal Distinction not indicating any formal rank was created to allow the monarch to show his commitment to the armed forces.

References

External links

Wet beëdiging en inhuldiging van de Koning (Swearing-in and Investiture of the King act) wetten.overheid.nl
Law governing the oaths to be taken at the ceremony

wetten.overheid.nl
Abdication of Queen Wilhelmina and Inauguration of Queen Juliana
, Polygoon newsreel, 1948.

Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision The Dutch Institute for Sound and Vision (, ''NIBG'') is an archive center and museum located in Hilversum. It collects, preserves, and provides access to most of the Dutch audiovisual collection. In total, the institute has more than 750,000 hou ...

website. {{Coronation

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

Monarchy of the Netherlands Ceremonies in the Netherlands