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History of the Dutch Queen's Day
Queen's Day nowadays is a national holiday, on which a lot of people celebrate the birthday of the Queen. But how did this big party came about? Find out by looking at this simple timeline. Enjoy! -
The Battle of Waterloo
It all started with the battle of Waterloo on the 15th of June eighteen-eigthyfive, in which the French army of Napoleon was defeated by the seventh coalition. -
The first kind of Queen's Day: Princessesday
So, Waterlooday was no more, but the people found something different to celebrate, something which can be translated as ‘Princesses-day’. -
Birthday of Princess Wilhelmina
Princesses-day came to life on the thirtyfirst of august 1885, when little princess Wilhelmina , daughter of King Willem the third and Queen Emma, turned five. -
First real Queen's Day
The first REAL Queen’s Day was observed on the 31st of August, in the year 1891, in which King Willem the Third, father of Wilhelmina, found his death. -
19th century: Waterlooday became an official holiday
In the 19th century, Waterlooday became an official holiday for many years. Up till the end of the century, when the memory of the battle decreased more and more. -
Queen Beatrix was born
Queen Beatrix, who is the Queen during the making of this timeline, is born. -
Queen Juliana takes over
Up till nineteen fourty-eight, Queen’s Day was celebrated on the 31st of august. But when the daughter of Wilhelmina, princess Juliana, followed in her mothers footsteps, the official queen’s day turned to be on the 30th of april, the day of birth of princess Juliana. -
Queen's Day became populair
Queen Wilhelmina and her family never took part in the celebration, but when princess Juliana became queen, she got a “tribute with flowers” each year, and after the 50’s the queen’s day could be followed on national television. More and more people stayed at home from work that day, which caused the growth of queen’s day to a real holiday. -
New Queens: Beatrix
When Queen Beatrix got acces to the throne, she decided to cherish the memories of her mother and reserved the 31st of april as the celebration of the birthday of the queen. And because the 31st of January, the real birthday of Beatrix, doesn’t offer any support for great activities in the open air, did also the whole form of the day change, under the reign of Beatrix. -
Queen's Day nowadays
Under de reign of Queen Beatrix, many things has changed. These changes are still noticible in this year (2012, the year in which this timeline is made). A lot of different activities take place at the last day of April. But perhaps the most famous are the outdoor festivals. -
Outdoor festivals: very popular
The most popular activity during Queen's Day in the Netherlands: the outdoor festivals! (particulary in Amsterdam)
