Since acceding to the throne, Grand Duke Guillaume and his wife Stéphanie have embarked on a series of courtesy visits, most recently, on Wednesday, to the Netherlands.
A month and a half has passed since Guillaume became Luxembourg’s head of state, following the abdication of his father, Grand Duke Henri.
Since then, the Grand Ducal couple has been visiting countries with particularly close ties to Luxembourg. This time, the trip took them to the Netherlands, more precisely, to The Hague.
Although The Hague is not the capital of the Netherlands, the city of around 570,000 inhabitants is the country’s third largest after Amsterdam and Rotterdam, and it hosts both the government and parliament. Since 1831, it has also been the royal residence of the Dutch monarchs.
The first item on the Luxembourgish couple’s agenda was an audience with King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima. Around 9am, they were welcomed at Huis ten Bosch Palace, where they shared coffee.
Whether their conversation touched on the contrasting fortunes of Luxembourg and the Netherlands in the football World Cup qualifiers remains unknown.
At around 10am, the Grand Duke continued on to the Catshuis, the official residence of the Dutch Prime Minister. For now, that position is still held by Dick Schoof. Although the Netherlands elected a new parliament at the end of October, it will likely take several months before a new government is formally sworn in. Until then, Schoof, who did not stand in the elections, remains in office in a caretaker capacity. Luxembourg’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Xavier Bettel, also attended the meeting. Later, he held separate discussions with his Dutch counterpart, David van Weel. The talks addressed both bilateral relations between Luxembourg and the Netherlands and broader international issues.
The Grand Duke then visited the Dutch parliament, specifically the Senate, which serves as the upper house of the Netherlands’ bicameral legislature. The President of the Senate, Mei Li Vos, was joined by the new President of the House of Representatives, Thom van Campen, for the Grand Duke’s signing of the guest book.
The final item on the programme was another meeting with the Dutch royal couple, this time at Noordeinde Palace, where Grand Duchess Stéphanie also joined. The visit began with a walk along the red carpet, flanked by an honour guard, and concluded with a luncheon. Unlike some other official visits, the national anthems were not played, as this is not customary in the Netherlands during a courtesy visit.
At around 1.20pm, the Grand Ducal couple completed their third courtesy visit, following trips to Brussels and Berlin. For those who paid attention in geography class, only one neighbouring country remains on the itinerary: France. A visit to Paris is indeed planned, though no date has yet been set, and it appears that French President Emmanuel Macron may have other pressing commitments.
