Prinsjesdag

Hello viewers,

I'd like to welcome you all to the Plenary Hall of the House of Representatives. The third tuesday in September is Queen's Speech Day, or 'Prinsjesdag'. It's the official opening of the parliamentary year. In her Golden Carriage, the Queen enters the 'Binnenhof', then reads her speech from the throne in the Hall of Knights.

Next to me is the Hall of Knights. This is where the Queen, Senate and House members gather, and also the ministers, state secretaries, ambassadors, the members of the General Chamber of Audit and the Council of State. And, fortunately, more and more citizens.

Behind me is the throne from which the Queen reads her speech. She does this in a joint meeting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Her speech contains the government's plans for the coming year. The Queen does not write the speech herself. It is written by the ministers and state secretaries. They all contribute something from their policy area. The Hall of Knights always looks very colourful on Prinsjesdag. This is partly because of all the lovely hats the ladies wear. In the past, only female guests wore hats. But nowadays, more and more female Members of Parliament have started wearing hats too. As the hostess, I don't wear a hat.

After the Queens speech, the Minister of Finance comes to the House. He comes up this escalator. And he carries the Annual Budget. The national Annual Budget contains the government's plans. And for each plan, there's a budget. All these plans are in the Minister of Finance's famous briefcase. On one side, it says Third Tuesday, and the other side bears the Dutch Coat of Arms, which is also on Dutch passports.

After Prinsjesdag, the House and the Prime Minister hold a debate, known as: the national budget parliamentary debate. During that debate, the Part Chairs can say what they agree with, or make other proposals. For the government, this debate is crucial, as it needs a majority approval from Members of Parliament in order to implement the plans. You can follow the House's debates live on the House of Representatives' website.

This is the public gallery. Meetings are open to the public. You can attend our meetings if there is enough room in the gallery.

I hope I've given you quite a good idea of 'Prinsjesdag' activities, in and around the House of Representatives. As President of the House, I hope that you will attend a debate some time.