Hurray! Hurray! Hurray! Tomorrow we celebrate King's Day. Our monarch may blow out 51 candles and the whole country may enjoy it. First with an orange tompouce in front of the TV and later (hopefully it is dry and not too cold) with a drink in the city.
King's Day is one of the few holidays that is truly unique to the Netherlands. Until sometime in the 19th century, we celebrated Waterloo Day on 18 June, in memory of the end of the French occupation in 1815. In all churches, an hour of silence had to be observed on that date for the battle, after which all kinds of activities were organised. When the memory of the battle faded, the day eventually passed unnoticed.
On August 31, 1885, on Princess Wilhelmina's fifth birthday, the first 'Princess Day' was organized. This noble initiative came from Mr. Gerlach, the editor-in-chief of the Utrechtsch Provinciaal en Stedelijk Dagblad (every catering entrepreneur in a city center should thank this Mr. Gerlach on his bare knees for this almost two-day party). His goal was 'to emphasize national unity'.
The new tradition started in Utrecht and slowly but surely spread to the rest of the country. When Wilhelmina's father Willem III died in November 1890, Queen's Day was celebrated for the first time in 1891. A holiday that was mainly for children.
In 1948, Juliana succeeded her mother Wilhelmina. This changed the date of Queen's Day from 31 August to 30 April, Juliana's birthday. Juliana was the first queen to actually be physically present at the celebration. She received a floral tribute at Soestdijk Palace, with many Dutch people walking in a kilometre-long procession along the steps with Juliana and her family and giving her gifts and flowers: the so-called defilé. After a joint Wilhelmus, it was time for traditional children's games, such as sack races and cookie biting. More and more people were given a day off, so that it could grow into the national holiday that it is today.
When Beatrix became queen in 1980, she chose to continue celebrating Queen's Day on April 30. Her own birthday is on January 31, not necessarily the most suitable day to plan a large outdoor event. From 1981 onwards, she visited one or two places in the Netherlands, preferably with as many of the royal family as possible. They then pulled out all the stops to make a good impression. And that's actually still the case. Only then on April 27, because that's our Willem's birthday.
Tomorrow it's Groningen's turn. It's always fun to see how the little princesses are sometimes visibly bored, how the big princesses move over the cobblestones in high heels, how Maxima sometimes has to make an effort to get her hand back and how WimLex enjoys everything to the fullest. I hope we can continue this tradition for a long time. Congratulations dear king and enjoy tomorrow.