Monday 16 May 2016

Our World Tuesday., ABC Wednesday, S for Soestdijk Palace

 








We do not know how old the palace is.We do know that it was bought by Cornelis de Graeff mayor of Amsterdam in 1638.  Mary Stuart  married stadtholder Willem III of Orange. She was a daughter of the English King James II. She and Willem III became the ruling couple William III and Mary II, who died in 1694 and William died in 1702. They had no children.


They were the first members of the House of Orange to live at Soestdijk Palace. The princes of Orange were stadtholders till Napoleon was defeated. His brother had been proclaimed king of the Netherlands in 1806. So our first king was a Bonaparte, a Frenchman.

As soon as William of Orange, who had spent his exile in England, returned to the Netherlands after the defeat of Napoleon,  the Dutch wanted him to become king of the Netherlands and Belgium, which became independent later.





 The kingdom of the Netherlands is now 200 years old and has known seven ruling monarchs: first three kings, then three queens and now a king again.

Queen Juliana, grandmother of our king, had lived in Soestdijk until she died. Her children had lived in this palace until they got married. Queen Beatrix, mother of our king, abdicated in 2013 in favour of her son Willem Alexander, who lives in a palace in the Hague.


We don't know what is going to happen with this beautiful palace.

 



 Diningroom


Welcome to Our World Tuesday! This meme continues in memory of the work of Klaus Peter, whose "that's My World" brought people together from around the world every Monday to share the wonders therein--big and small.Please click on our  logo for "Our World Tuesday" in the sidebar. Thank you Team of O. W. T.!

With thanks to Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC.For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar . This week we are looking for words beginning with S.


15 comments:

eileeninmd said...

Hello! The palace is beautiful, both inside and outside. Lovely collection of photos, thanks for sharing your visit. Happy Monday, enjoy your new week ahead!

Anonymous said...

Can you imagine living there? An amazing palace!

Photo Cache said...

Beautiful! I haven't been to a palace.

Worth a Thousand Words

carol l mckenna said...

Wonderful post and creative photos ~ for OWT and ABC Wed.

Happy Week to you ~ ^_^

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

A beautiful Palace (the stuff of dreams). I knew nothing about most of this history! Thank you for teaching me. I hope they save the Palace as a place where people can go to learn the country's history (I would certainly love to tour it).

Anonymous said...

Are there any rumors what will be done with this palace? Do you know, is it the biggest?
Thank you much for your kind comments about the studio, Wil! Can't remember if you had read my little blurb on FB that the studio is the reason why I couldn't come back to Holl. as we planned, because this studio has cost us quite a lot (no regrets though). Enjoy your week!

Lea said...

Interesting!
Hope you are having a great day!
Lea

Leslie: said...

Spectacular place! So much history and connections to other parts of Europe!

Leslie
abcw team

Hildred said...

William and Mary, - part of my school day history. The palace is glorious...

MelodyK said...

Prachtig Wil....echt heel mooi...... staat nog op mijn lijstje, ben er nog niet geweest, best wel raar eigenlijk he...

Lieve groet

photowannabe said...

Well, I certainly hope this amazing palace will stay just the way it is.
Lovely and a perfect choice for S.

Roger Owen Green said...

A nice bit of history. I could never keep those monarchs STRAIGHT!

ROG, ABCW

Anonymous said...

Mooie foto`s :) Ik ben er nog nooit geweest.
Het zal zonde zijn als het wordt afgebroken.
Ondanks dat ik weinig tot niets heb met het koningshuis.

Fijne dag vandaag

Nonnie said...

Your post introducing 's' is outstanding! After I comment on the ABC site, my comments never show up. I wanted you to know how much I appreciate the art on that 's' wall.

Anonymous said...

Magnificent palace and grounds!