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 of 2002 retain their status.
In the Netherlands all Acts of Parliament have to be co-signed by the monarch.