You are here:
Home
All issues
Royal House
Royal House
The monarch is the head of state and, together with the ministers, makes up the government. Under the Constitution, the monarch is ‘inviolable’, which means that the ministers are politically responsible for the actions of the head of state and, to a lesser extent, of the other members of the Royal House.
The Royal House consists of the monarch, the former head of state, the members of the royal family who are related to the monarch in the first or second degree of consanguinity and are eligible for succession to the throne, and their spouses.
Members of the royal family who were already members of
the Royal House before the 
transitional
arrangement was introduced in the Membership of the Royal House Act 2002
retain their status.
In the Netherlands all Acts of Parliament have to be co-signed by the Queen. The Queen also plays a part in the formation of new governments.
News
Country feels deeply for the Royal Family
Prime Minister Mark Rutte spoke to Queen Beatrix and Princess Mabel by telephone this morning. He told them that everyone in the ...
'In the thoughts of everyone in the Netherlands’
The Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, has spoken to Her Majesty Queen Beatrix about her son Prince Friso’s skiing accident. 'I told her ...
Princess Máxima at launch of investors’ principles
Her Royal Highness Princess Máxima of the Netherlands and the Minister for European Affairs and International Cooperation, Ben ...
Speech from the Throne 2010
On 21 September, Queen Beatrix addressed the joint session of the Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament and set out the main ...
Caretaker government
Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende believes that some very clear conclusions can be drawn from the Queen's consultations with ...
Documents and publications
Speech from the Throne 2011
On 20 September 2011, the Queen delivered her Speech from the Throne. The speech sets out the government plans for the coming ...
Queen accepts resignation of Labour ministers
The Queen has accepted the resignation of the Labour (PvdA) ministers and state secretaries and has asked the caretaker government ...
Appointment of Ministers of Finance and of Housing, Spatial Planning & the Environment
State Secretary Jan Kees de Jager has been appointed Minister of Finance and State Secretary Tineke Huizinga-Heringa has become ...
Twitter
Hyves
Facebook
LinkedIn