Prinsjesdag 2008

Every third Tuesday of September Dutch governement presents the (concept) budget and the financial plan for the coming year (in Indonesia is comparable with RAPBN). The Queen read the plan in front of the whole cabinet & her royal family yesterday. It is a Dutch royalty show every year with loyal fans. Even the ministers are keen to be part of this tradition, as the female ministers are obliged to wear a hat, so on this matter Prinsjesdag is comparable with The Ascott race in England.

Queen Beatrix and her son Willem-Alexander en his Argentinian wife, Maxima arrived in a golden chariot at the Binnenhof (Dutch Parliament's building, in the middle of city center of The Hague). Other son of Beatrix, Friso and his wife, Beatrix's sister Margriet and her husband arrived after them, also in a chariot but an open one.

As a foreigner living here, I find it rather fascinating, partly because of my job and my private situation as a tax payer. I mean, when I lived in Indonesia, I was never ever interested in the RAPBN cause I kept being sceptical, nothing would change whatsoever! But here, due to the economy crisis in the USA, the Minister of Finance (or is it Minister of Treasury), decided not to apply the raising of VAT (taxes) with 1% as planned before. As a working mother I also profit from the regulation concerning childcare costs and so on and so on....The day after, today, the opposition parties revised this budget concept & showed how they would have planned it.

Hereby, the impressions through the pics I found in http://www.nu.nl/, some of the pics are from ANP.

Red carpet laid on the Binnenhof (parliament's building in the Hague)

The ride in the golden chariot through The Hague city center.

The wave to the folks at the Nordeinde Palace's balcony

This last pic reminds me of the middle age when prince and princess would wave just to satisfy to curiosity of ordinary people.