The Royal Court

King and Queen begin state visit to the Netherlands

Drottning Beatrix välkomnar Kungen och Drottningen till statsbesöket i Nederländerna. Foto: Lex van Lieshout/EAP

Queen Beatrix welcoming The King and Queen on their state visit to the Netherlands. Photo: Lex van Lieshout/EAP

On Tuesday 21 April, The King and Queen began a three-day state visit to the Netherlands. The King and Queen were accompanied by Minister for Employment, Sven Otto Littorin, and Minister for Education, Jan Björklund.

Following a welcoming ceremony at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, Queen Beatrix accompanied The King and Queen on a visit to the 15th century church, Nieuwe Kerk, in Amsterdam.

On Tuesday afternoon, The King attended the seminar, “Work for all - Challenges and solutions in times of economic crisis", at De Bazel conference centre. The seminar was led by ministers Sven Otto Littorin and Piet Hein Donner.

The Queen paid a visit to Amsterdam's city library, and the exhibition of Swedish children's book illustrators - an exhibition that has been compiled by Illustratörcentrum, with support from the Swedish Institute.

Kungen och Drottning Beatrix av Nederländerna under välkomstceremonin på Paleis Noordeinde i Haag. Foto: Bas Czerwinski/AP

The King with Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands during the welcoming ceremony at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague. Photo: Bas Czerwinski/AP

Finally, The King and Queen, together with Minister for Employment Sven Otto Littorin, visited Fort Kudelstaart and the project, “Herstelling Foundation: Rebuilding forts as well as young people's lives", where young unemployed people are offered work experience at a project focusing on restoring old forts and defences, including a 135 km long defence wall around Amsterdam.

The evening ended with a state banquet given by Queen Beatrix at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague.