Issuu

Events & Activities Queen Beatrix last state visit, in Singapore We in Singapore had the honour of hosting the final state visit of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands before her planned abdication in April this year. Together with crown prince Willem-Alexander and his wife Máxima, Beatrix visited our little red dot from January 23rd to 25th. The purpose of the visit was to further strengthen relations between the two countries, and to increase cooperation in fields of economics, and environmental and water management. The visit started with a welcome ceremony at the Istana, the official residence and office of Singapore’s president Tony Tan Keng Yam, and a state banquet held in the royal visitors honour. The royal party met with many representatives of both Dutch and Singaporean companies, as well as visited the university and scientific centres, discussing Singapore’s growing role as an economic hub and knowledge economy. On the last day there was a reception to meet the Dutch community in Singapore, and off course many members of our Hollandse Club were present. Through the Embassy Dutch nationals could register, and a lucky 400 names were drawn, who were invited to the reception at the Fullerton Bay Hotel. Club member Catelijne Botterweck was one of the lucky draws. She tells us how she first saw the Queen: ‘It was during the so-called ‘passage’. A passage means that all attending guests form a long queue, and then they can shake hands with the queen, crown prince and princess. A dedicated person even calls out all the names and job functions of the guests. A heavy task for the Royal Family, shaking 400 hands.’ Also present for the passage were members Jan Willem Buist en Sandra van Campen: ‘We were told to come at least 30 minutes before the Queen arrived, and everyone was on time, no late comers. I guess everyone was excited indeed. After we had been waiting for quite a while in the main hall, we were ushered outside, to line up and re-enter in couples to be introduced to the Queen. It felt like stepping into a painting, as they look very familiar from all the pictures you have seen, but do not feel like ‘real life’ people. All three of them had large and warm smiles for each and every one of the 400 guests. Quite an achievement.’ As Events Volunteer and former member of the Main Committee Catelijne Botterweck was invited by Club president Robert Gorter to join the Hollandse Club ‘conversation table’ during the following reception. All these tables would be visited by one of the three royals for a brief chat. ‘After the passage, we had to go back inside, back to the conversation tables. The rest of the crowd stayed in the main area. It took quite a while before the crown prince arrived in our room, which contained 4 conversation tables. The crown prince very easily started nice conversations, and there was a lot of laughter. When he arrived at our table he asked the president of the Club about how the Club was doing. The discussion then touched on a few subjects, such as the reasons why it’s getting more difficult to get new members, the benefits of the Hollandse Club, but also about expat developments within ABN Amro, the cold weather in Holland, the quality of the ice, and even the mass hype of ice skating in Holland. It was very special to have this kind of small talk with such an important person.’ Jan Willem and Sandra were also invited to the evening program, a concert, and yet another reception: ‘This was a much more formal event with many Singaporeans, executives of large corporates, trade associations and some members of the Corps Diplomatique. We had another chance to be quite close, but again there was a lot of strict protocol around the Queen and the Singaporean President, who was her guest of honour. You couldn’t just go and talk to her, so we tried to be as casual as possible. No staring was allowed! But I have to admit I was tempted…’ Even people who would not normally describe themselves as fervent royalists felt it was a rather special thing to meet the royal family. As Jan Willem recalls: ‘Especially the Queen and Princess Maxima had such a charismatic presence, much more than we had expected. It was hard not to keep following them with your eyes.’ Catelijne was also impressed: ‘It was amazing to see her so close and even shake her hand. All three of them looked friendly and interested and smiled very genuinely. I had a big smile on my face after the ‘passage’. During their conversation with the Embassy staff we were not supposed to mingle, so we just looked at them. It was great to see how relaxed they looked, smiling, talking, just like anyone else. Queen Beatrix in real-life was even more sweet and friendly than I thought. I’ve only seen Queen Beatrix on TV, giving a serious speech. Now, she was relaxed. She’s quite short and actually, she looks like a very sweet grandma. Willem-Alexander was even taller than I thought, and very normal, a ‘one of the guys’ type. Joking, laughing, asking questions. Maxima is a beautiful lady, smiling and talking to all people.’ One of the first questions that comes to a lady’s mind when seeing royals is: what are they wearing? But when you are actually meeting them there is another, more stressful, one: what should you wear? Catelijne: ‘The protocol is quite old-fashioned in my opinion. For the men, it was easy, they had to wear a dark suit. Ladies are supposed to wear an ‘afternoon dress’. After a little research we agreed that this is a dress that is on or just over the knee, and ideally also covers the shoulders. Fortunately, I like to wear dresses, so I had a few options in my wardrobe. I did not wear stockings though; I reckoned that’s not necessary in this climate.’ Sandra commented: ‘There was a strict dress code, but, being Dutch, there still was a very large variety in how the dress code was interpreted...’ Protocols around any royal family are very strict, and had to be followed during the day. They did not seem to ruin the atmosphere of the event though. Jan Willem and Sandra told us: ‘Despite the strict protocol and the high levels of security the atmosphere remained relaxed, and especially during the afternoon reception for the Dutch community there was quite a happy buzz!’ Catelijne agreed: ‘The event was organized very well. There were a lot of protocols, and the communication language about it was quite old-fashioned to me. The atmosphere was a bit stiff in the beginning. In the queue towards the passage we had to be quiet, stand side by side, and I even felt a hand on my shoulder because I took one step too much.... but after the formal part it was very sociable en there was a typically Dutch, cosy, atmosphere.’