On Prinsjesdag (Prince’s Day) the King delivers the Speech from the Throne during a Joint Session of the two Houses of the States General. The speech sets out the government’s main plans for the coming year. This takes place every year on the third Tuesday in September.
On the same day, the Minister of Finance presents the Budget Memorandum and the central government budget to the House of Representatives. Prinsjesdag marks the start of the new parliamentary year.
History
Prinsjesdag (Prince’s Day) was originally the name given to 8 March, the birthday of Stadholder William V (1748-1806). In an era marked by political divisions between supporters and opponents of the House of Orange, Prinsjesdag was one of the country’s most popular holidays. The name Prinsjesdag was later given to festivities in honour of members of the Royal House.
From the 1930s onwards, the name was attached to the State Opening of Parliament. The 1983 revision of the Constitution abolished the annual opening and closing of parliamentary sessions, but Prinsjesdag and the annual Speech from the Throne were retained. Since then, Prinsjesdag and the delivery of the Speech from the Throne have marked the start of the new parliamentary year.
From 1815 to 1903 the monarch delivered the Speech from the Throne in the chamber of the House of Representatives. From 1904 onwards the speech was given in the Ridderzaal (Hall of Knights) in the Binnenhof in The Hague. Due to COVID regulations, in 2020 and 2021 the speech was delivered in the Grote Kerk in The Hague. Since 2022 the Speech from the Throne has been delivered at the Koninklijke Schouwburg (Royal Theatre), as the Binnenhof complex is being renovated.
The Constitution specifies that Prinsjesdag falls on the third Tuesday in September. However, this was not always the case. In the 19th century, the opening of Parliament took place initially on the first Monday in November and later on the third Monday in October.
When annual budgets were introduced in 1848, more time was needed to debate them. So the opening of Parliament was brought forward to the third Monday in September.
This was changed to the third Tuesday when the Constitution was revised in 1887, so that members of parliament who lived at a distance from The Hague would not have to travel on a Sunday to attend the opening.