Today as every year on the third Tuesday of September, Her Majesty Queen Beatrix presided over the official opening of the Dutch Parliament.
The Queen together with the Crown Prince and Princess Maxima was driven in the Golden Coach from Noordeinde Palace to the Ridderzaal (Hall of Knights) in the Binnenhof, which houses the Dutch Parliament.
Here the Queen read the Troonrede, ‘Speech from the Throne’, written jointly by the Ministers and Secretaries of State. The Troonrede outlines the government’s financial plans for the coming year.