It is Prinsjesdag, the ceremonial opening of the new Dutch political year. It is a day of pomp and ceremony, a public celebration of the monarchy and the kingdom.
 
But it is also the day the Dutch government presents its budget for 2010. This is the first budget prepared during the current recession, and the cabinet has been forced to make cuts.
 
Cutting on the one hand, glitter and glamour on the other. Does this make sense?
 
"It's quite a tradition and I don't think that people would like to cut in the ceremony", that's what many people in the streets of The Hague answer when asked if the ceremony is not too expensive. 
 
Speech from the throne
The highlight of Prinsjesdag is the Queen's speech from the throne. Queen Beatrix reads a text written by the prime minister setting out the government's goals for the year to come.
 
The ceremony takes places in the five-hundred-year-old Hall of Knights. All the members of both houses of parliament are there, as are hundreds of other distinguished guests, both Dutch and foreign. The men are in tuxedos, the women in their finest dresses.
 
Infamous hats
And it's not just the dresses. The hats many women wear on Prinsjesdag have become infamous. Perhaps inspired by Queen Beatrix's own love for hats, many female politicians seem to spare no expense when it comes to covering their heads.
 
It's quite a sight. Though not admired by everybody: "Of course you can cut some of the glitter. The extremely expensive clothes they wear for instance. For one day! It can be a bit less, I think."
 
Golden Carriage
Another major part of the ceremony around Prinsjesdag is the parade. The Queen travels from her palace to the Hall of Knights in the Golden Carriage, drawn by an eight-horse team. The carriage is the crowning moment of a full-fledged parade, featuring numerous elite equine military regiments and bands.
 
The parade should stay, say bystanders in the city centre. "I don't think you should cut anything. In the Netherlands there is not a lot of ceremonial costs due to the parliament, so it's good to put them in a picture once a year."
 
As for budget cuts, very few of the people who came out to see the parade think its necessary to save money on Prinsjesdag. The recession has yet to severely affect the Dutch pocket book. And people are proud of the understated nature of their royal family. So even if everyone else has to pinch their pennies, Prinsjesdag seems safe from the budget cutters.
 

Photo: Camera in the shop (Flickr CC)