Royal Stables | |
---|---|
Koninklijke Stallen | |
General information | |
Location | The Hague |
Address | Hogerwal 17 [1] |
Country | Netherlands |
Coordinates | 52°04′58″N4°18′09″E / 52.0828°N 4.3025°E |
Completed | 1876-1879 [1] |
Opened | 1881 [2] |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | H.P. Vogel, L.H. Eberson and J.P.C. Swijser [1] |
The Royal Stables (Dutch: Koninklijke Stallen) is a collection of equestrian stables of the Dutch royal family, the House of Orange-Nassau. It is a Rijksmonumental building that is part of the royal palace grounds located in the city center of The Hague in the Netherlands. The Noordeinde Palace and the Palace Gardens are also part of this same palace complex. [1] The Noordeinde Palace and its grounds are the official workplace of the Dutch King Willem-Alexander. [3]
The organising organ working at the Royal Stables, the Crown Equerry (Dutch: Koninklijk Staldepartement), is responsible for the care of the transportation modes of the Dutch Royal House and Officers of the Royal Household. [4] [5]
The eclectic-renaissance [1] building is designed by Dutch architect Hugo Pieter Vogel based on the older designs of L.H. Eberson and J.P.C. Swijser, and was built around 1876–1879. [1] [2] [6]
The building consists of the horse stables, where the royal horses are residing. Furthermore, the personal horses of the royal family are residing in the Royal Stables building as well. [4] There are indoor and outdoor horseback riding arenas to practice, and paddocks for the horses’ leisure time. Furthermore, several carriage houses are located in the building, which houses the Golden Coach and Glass Coach, among others. [7] One part of the building holds a carriage exhibition with an extensive display of (historical) royal carriages and other associated items. [2] The building is only open to the public during specific days of the year. [7]
The Stables is an official working part of the palace, where horses and people work on a daily basis, and where carriages and cars are in daily use supporting the work of the King as head of state. [3] The Stables forms part of the Civil Household and is headed by the Crown Equerry, who is responsible for organising the royal procession for Prinsjesdag (the annual state opening of parliament) and other public occasions. [8] Furthermore, the Crown Equerry is responsible for the transport of all members of the Royal House and Officers of the Royal Household. In these modern times, this means that the Crown Equerry cares for the royal limousines and the royal motor coach, as well as the royal horses, carriages, and coaches belonging to the Crown. [4]
The Crown Equerry was established in 1815 by King William I. Since 1878, the Crown Equerry is located in the Royal Stables at the grounds of the Noordeinde Palace in the city center of The Hague. [5]
Apart from the Royal Stables at the palace grounds in The Hague, the Dutch Crown has several other equestrian stables and carriage houses located at the former royal residences in the Netherlands. The Soestdijk Palace, [9] Het Loo Palace, [10] and Drakensteyn Castle [11] are equipped with such stables and carriage houses. However, these stables have been in private use by the palace residency, while the Royal Stables at Noordeinde Palace have been the working place of the Crown Equerry for the State since 1878. [5]
These former palace stables are momentarily not in use by the family, as the royal family is residing at Huis ten Bosch in The Hague. [12] These stables are transformed into a museum or event space, where the former stables and transportation modes of the royal family are exhibited. [9] [10]
The Hague is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of the Netherlands is Amsterdam, The Hague has been described as the country's de facto capital since the time of the Dutch Republic.
Beatrix is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 until her abdication in 2013.
Máxima is Queen of the Netherlands as the wife of King Willem-Alexander.
Het Loo Palace is a palace in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, built by the House of Orange-Nassau.
The Royal Mews is a mews, or collection of equestrian stables, of the British royal family. In London these stables and stable-hands' quarters have occupied two main sites in turn, being located at first on the north side of Charing Cross, and then within the grounds of Buckingham Palace.
Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange is the heir apparent to the throne of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the constituent countries of Aruba, Curaçao, the Netherlands, and Sint Maarten.
Soestdijk Palace is a palace formerly belonging to the Dutch royal family. It consists of a central block and two wings.
Noordeinde Palace is one of three official palaces of the Dutch royal family. Located in the city center of The Hague in the province of South Holland, it has been used as the official workplace of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima since 2013. The Noordeinde Palace and its surrounding palace grounds are property of the Dutch State.
Huis ten Bosch is a royal palace in The Hague, Netherlands. It is one of three official residences of the Dutch monarch; the two others being the Noordeinde Palace in The Hague and the Royal Palace of Amsterdam.
Jacob van Campen was a Dutch artist and architect of the Golden Age.
Princess Alexia of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau is the second daughter of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima. Princess Alexia is a member of the Dutch royal house and second in the line of succession to the Dutch throne.
Escher in Het Paleis is a museum in The Hague, Netherlands, featuring the works of the Dutch graphical artist M. C. Escher. It is housed in the Lange Voorhout Palace since November 2002.
Prinsjesdag is the day on which the reigning monarch of the Netherlands addresses a joint session of the States-General of the Netherlands to give the Speech from the Throne, similar to the annual State of the Union in the United States or the British State Opening of Parliament. This speech sets out the main features of government policy for the coming parliamentary session.
The Golden Coach is a coach owned and used by the Dutch royal family. The Golden Coach was used every year to carry the Dutch monarch from the Noordeinde Palace to the Ridderzaal in order to deliver the Speech from the Throne or the wedding of the Prince of Orange or the Princess of Orange. The Golden Coach is stored at the Royal Stables on the Noordeinde Palace grounds in The Hague.
Princess Ariane of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau is the third and youngest daughter of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima. Princess Ariane is a member of the Dutch Royal House and currently third in the line of succession to the Dutch throne.
The Lange Voorhout is a street in the old city centre of The Hague, Netherlands. It is L-shaped and runs from Kneuterdijk in the west to Toernooiveld in the east, reaching approximately 0.47 kilometres (0.29 mi) in length.
The Koninklijke Schouwburg is a theater in the city center of The Hague. The theater was built in 1766 and has been in use as theater since 1804. From 2017 it is one of the theaters in use by the national theater company Het Nationale Theater, but also other companies perform in the Schouwburg.
The Marechaussee Museum or Royal Marechaussee Museum is a museum on the history of the Royal Marechaussee of the Netherlands from its foundation by William I of the Netherlands on 26 October 1814 until the present day. It is based in the former Koninklijk Weeshuis in Buren, originally opened as an orphanage on 26 May 1612 by Maria van Nassau and remaining in that role until 1953.
The Glass Coach is a royal carriage that was used by the Dutch royal family for special events before Queen Wilhelmina received the Golden Coach. The coach was then used only for the monarch or the parents of the bride or groom on a royal wedding day. In 2015, it started to be used more frequently for state events because the Golden Coach needed to be repaired. It is the oldest coach the Dutch royal family owns. The Glass Coach is stored at the Royal Stables in The Hague.
Wexy, also called Vexy or Wexi was a horse owned by William II of the Netherlands when he was the Prince of Orange. The Irish half-breed animal played a role in the battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815, where it was wounded in the left hind leg. Wexy died in 1839 with reports of living up to 38 years and 7 months old. It was mounted during an exhibition in Antwerp by Jacques Kets.