Our Royal Family: about orange and apples

A couple of years ago we visited the Palace Soestdijk, where our former-former Queen (Juliana) lived and our former Queen (Beatrix) grew up.
We walked the gardens, right into a veritable treasure trove of almost man-sized, sculpted apples, each adorned with the portraits of our King and Queen, their children and the childrens' grandmother, the aforementioned former Queen Beatrix.
We very much want to share these apples with you. They are.....amazing.
See for yourselves ;)

ps: for the non-Dutch at the end of this blog an explanation of orange (the colour) as a symbol of Holland and orange (the fruit) which we call apple - if you want to know how and why scroll on!

One of our 'Holland' - Dutch - symbols is the Orange Apple, het Appeltje van Oranje.

Orange is the colour of Holland. Not because of our flag (which is red-white-blue) but because of the Principality of Orange, situated in southern France.
It's title - Prince of Orange - was inherited mid 16th century by the first of many a Dutch Willem (William), hence Willem van Oranje. Our new King is (also) a Prince of Oranje.
So far the dynastic part.

Our 'appeltjes van Oranje', aren't apples but oranges. The Dutch word for the fruit orange is sinaas-appel (there's your apple) where the 'sinaas' is a degeneration of 'China', since the Latin name of the orange is citrus sinensis ---
phiew, I think we've come to the end of the etymological part as well.

Our former queen, a gifted sculptor, designed a charming life-sized apple some years ago. It's presented yearly by the Oranje Foundation as a reward for organisations that set up important social projects.

Where our Royal Family lived

We have a monarchy in Holland but in essence we're rather egalitarian and the Royal Family is henceforth considered far more 'normal' - and thus closer to the people - than in countries like England or Spain.
It is often said the Holland is a Republic, with a King (or Queen or both) at it's head.

Hence the almost total lack of 'palaces', at least the ones you associate with the idea of a palace: grandiose buildings with myriads of rooms, paintings, sculptures, ornaments - the works.
The palace of Soestdijk, where our royal family lived is not such a palace. I'ts nice and white with two long, curved wings and all, adorned with a colonnade and a small terrace in the middle, but not very 'palatial'.

A couple of years ago the palace was open to visitors and when combined with an exhibition of Klaas Gubbles in the palace's chambers we visited the place.

It's not large. It's homily. There are about six formal rooms, all centered in the middle.
One of the wings housed the royal family I grew up with: the late Queen Juliana and her husband Prince Bernard, plus their four children: Beatrix (our former queen) Irene, Margriet and Christina.

The household was frugal - in the good sense of the word - and once Juliana and Bernard had been given a dining room as a wedding present they sat on it for the rest of their lives. Wallpaper and carpeting were only replaced after they had died.
The kitchen and pantry would delight the most ardent vintage lovers (especially the creamy-yellow, square tiles!).

So there are the grand reception rooms, a couple of cosier salons decorated and used by former queens and princesses, and the living quarters of the Juliana and Bernhard generation. At their time they must have been absolutely, ground breaking modern, and first and formost breaking with the tradition of sumptuous palatial living. Personally I like that..