.kop Royal hair in the royal plugholeThis is Article 3 in our special series on the Royal Wedding of Prince Alexander and Maxima.
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‘Floor B’s doorbell is out of order, please try A ‘, the note reads, stuck to the door of Palace Noordeinde. Around the back of the property the imposing gardens and royal stables are absent. Instead: a tiled yard of five by five metres with a few bikes and a motorbike underneath a improvised, corrugated steel lean-to. This is certainly not Queen Beatrix’s estate, but rather the students’ residence ‘Palace Noordeinde’ at Noordeinde 1.
Tourists are often coinfused, especially when they read ‘Palace Noordeinde’, in flourished letters on the front door. Resident Jorien Schaaf: ”From the window I hear them laugh, sometimes. Usually they walk around the house and try to peep inside. We always answer the phone with ‘Palace Noordeinde’. It does occasionally fall silent for a while on the other end.”
Joris Groot, Jorine Koopman and Sandra van der Hulst are having lunch in the communal kitchen. The kitchen’s ceiling is bright orange. Groot: ”(The house of) Orange above all others, of course.” But the Orange sentiment goes beyond that, far beyond. An embroidered official portrait of Beatrix and Claus, a toilet reserved for royal visitors only, a man sized painting of a Beatrix stamp and Royal Orange-linoleum instead of carpet. Groot: ”It speaks for itself why we didn’t opt for Imperial Blue.”
Even the cleaning schedule isn’t exempt from a royalist touch. He who fails to remove the royal hair from the royal plughole, a part of the household chores, on time, faces diminished ‘royal status’. Does being of royal blood appeal to the residents? Koopman: ”Not for the world. I feel far too sorry for Maxima. She can’t move an inch without being watched.” Van der Hulst: ”I think she’s doing really well so far. With her charisma, I think she’ll soon start outshining Willem-Alexander completely. Well, that’s not very difficult: beside her, our Prince Pint doesn’t come across as particularly intelligent.”
Hey what’s this? Our crown prince lacking in intelligence? Weren’t we dealing with the most royalist student house in Delft? Koopman: ”I have very contradictory views on the royal family. On the one hand, the monarchy is a beautiful tradition and I think it’s all a bit of a fairy tale, but when you read Beatrix spend a hundred thousand guilders to go skiing, I think: it’s all ridiculous, really.”
Ridiculous or not, the wedding will be a massive celebration at Noordeinde 1. Groot: ”We wrapped up the house completely in orange for the Queen’s Birthday in 2000, for this new occasion we are going to suspend a red-white-and-blue stadium flag measuring twenty square metres from the facade.”
.kop Royal hair in the royal plughole
This is Article 3 in our special series on the Royal Wedding of Prince Alexander and Maxima.
‘Floor B’s doorbell is out of order, please try A ‘, the note reads, stuck to the door of Palace Noordeinde. Around the back of the property the imposing gardens and royal stables are absent. Instead: a tiled yard of five by five metres with a few bikes and a motorbike underneath a improvised, corrugated steel lean-to. This is certainly not Queen Beatrix’s estate, but rather the students’ residence ‘Palace Noordeinde’ at Noordeinde 1.
Tourists are often coinfused, especially when they read ‘Palace Noordeinde’, in flourished letters on the front door. Resident Jorien Schaaf: ”From the window I hear them laugh, sometimes. Usually they walk around the house and try to peep inside. We always answer the phone with ‘Palace Noordeinde’. It does occasionally fall silent for a while on the other end.”
Joris Groot, Jorine Koopman and Sandra van der Hulst are having lunch in the communal kitchen. The kitchen’s ceiling is bright orange. Groot: ”(The house of) Orange above all others, of course.” But the Orange sentiment goes beyond that, far beyond. An embroidered official portrait of Beatrix and Claus, a toilet reserved for royal visitors only, a man sized painting of a Beatrix stamp and Royal Orange-linoleum instead of carpet. Groot: ”It speaks for itself why we didn’t opt for Imperial Blue.”
Even the cleaning schedule isn’t exempt from a royalist touch. He who fails to remove the royal hair from the royal plughole, a part of the household chores, on time, faces diminished ‘royal status’. Does being of royal blood appeal to the residents? Koopman: ”Not for the world. I feel far too sorry for Maxima. She can’t move an inch without being watched.” Van der Hulst: ”I think she’s doing really well so far. With her charisma, I think she’ll soon start outshining Willem-Alexander completely. Well, that’s not very difficult: beside her, our Prince Pint doesn’t come across as particularly intelligent.”
Hey what’s this? Our crown prince lacking in intelligence? Weren’t we dealing with the most royalist student house in Delft? Koopman: ”I have very contradictory views on the royal family. On the one hand, the monarchy is a beautiful tradition and I think it’s all a bit of a fairy tale, but when you read Beatrix spend a hundred thousand guilders to go skiing, I think: it’s all ridiculous, really.”
Ridiculous or not, the wedding will be a massive celebration at Noordeinde 1. Groot: ”We wrapped up the house completely in orange for the Queen’s Birthday in 2000, for this new occasion we are going to suspend a red-white-and-blue stadium flag measuring twenty square metres from the facade.”
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