Monarchy of the Netherlands
The monarchy of the Netherlands is governed by the country's charter and constitution, roughly a third of which explains the mechanics of succession, accession, and abdication; the roles and duties of the monarch; the formalities of communication between the States General of the Netherlands; and the monarch's role in creating laws. The monarch is head of state and head of government of the Netherlands.
The once-sovereign provinces of the Spanish Netherlands were intermittently ruled by members of the House of Orange-Nassau from 1559, when Philip II of Spain appointed William the Silent as a stadtholder, until 1795, when the last stadtholder, William V, Prince of Orange, fled the country. William the Silent became the leader of the Dutch Revolt and of the independent Dutch Republic. Some of his descendants were later appointed as stadtholders by the provinces and, in 1747, the role of stadtholder became a hereditary position in all provinces of the thus "crowned" Dutch Republic.
The Kingdom of the Netherlands has been an hereditary monarchy since 20 November 1813, when it was constituted as a principality upon independence from Napoleonic France. It was raised to a kingdom on 16 March 1815. Following the abdication of his mother Queen Beatrix, Willem-Alexander has been King of the Netherlands since 30 April 2013.
Succession
The monarchy of the Netherlands passes by right of succession to the heirs of William I. The heir is determined through two mechanisms: absolute cognatic primogeniture and proximity of blood. The Netherlands established absolute cognatic primogeniture instead of male-preference primogeniture by law in 1983. Proximity of blood limits accession to the throne to a person who is related to the current monarch within three degrees of kinship. For example, the grandchildren of Princess Margriet of the Netherlands have no succession rights because their kinship with Beatrix when she was queen, was of the fourth degree. Succession is limited to legitimate heirs, precluding a claim to the throne by children born out of wedlock. If the king dies while his wife is pregnant: the unborn child is considered the heir at that point, unless stillborn – the child is then considered never to have existed. As such, if the preceding king dies while his wife is pregnant with their first child, the unborn child is immediately considered born and immediately becomes the new king or queen. If the pregnancy ends in stillbirth, his or her reign is expunged.If the monarch is a minor, a regent is appointed and serves until the monarch comes of age. The regent is customarily the surviving parent of the monarch but the constitution stipulates that custody and parental authority of the minor monarch will be determined by law; any person might be appointed as regent, as legal guardian or both.
There are also a number of special cases within the Constitution. First, if there is no heir when the monarch dies, the States-General may appoint a successor upon the suggestion of the government. This suggestion may be made before the death of the reigning monarch, even by the monarch himself. Second, some people are excluded from the line of succession. They are:
- Any heir who marries without the permission of the States-General loses the right of succession.
- A person who is or has become truly undesirable or unfit as monarch can be removed from the line of succession by an act of the States-General, upon suggestion of the reigning monarch. This clause has never been executed and is considered an "emergency exit". An example would be an heir apparent who commits treason or suffers an incapacitating accident.
Accession
The monarch is expected to execute his duties and responsibilities for the good of the nation. The monarch must therefore swear to uphold the constitution and execute the office faithfully. The monarch must be sworn in as soon as possible after assuming the throne during a joint session of the States-General held in Amsterdam. Article 32 of the Dutch constitution describes a swearing-in in "the capital Amsterdam", which incidentally is the only phrase in the constitution that names Amsterdam as the capital of the Kingdom. The ceremony is called the inauguration.
The Dutch monarch is not crowned—although the crown, orb, and sceptre are present at the ceremony—the monarch's swearing of the oath constitutes acceptance of the throne. Also, note that this ceremony does not equal accession to the throne as this would imply a vacancy of the throne between monarchs which is not allowed. The monarch ascends immediately after the previous monarch ceases to reign. The swearing-in only constitutes acceptance in public.
End of a reign
The monarch's reign can end in death or abdication. Both of these events cause the regular mechanisms of succession to go into effect. While the constitution mentions neither possibility explicitly, it does describe what happens after the monarch dies or abdicates. Abdication is a prerogative of the monarch, but it is also irreversible as the person abdicating cannot return to the throne, nor can a child born to a former monarch after an abdication has occurred have a claim to the throne.The abdicated monarch is legally a Prince or Princess of the Netherlands as well as a Prince or Princess of Orange-Nassau. After their death, legally the deceased monarch has no titles. However, after death, the abdicated monarch is traditionally referred to as king or queen again. For example, Queen Juliana became queen on 4 September 1948 and princess again on 30 April 1980 following her abdication, but has been referred to as Queen Juliana since her death on 20 March 2004.
Temporary loss of royal authority
There are two ways in which the monarch, without ceasing to be monarch, can be stripped of his or her royal authority:; Voluntary suspension of royal authority: The monarch temporarily ceases execution of his or her office.
; Removal from royal authority: The government strips the monarch of his or her royal authority, as he or she is deemed unfit for their tasks.
These cases are both temporary and are described in detail in the constitution. A monarch can temporarily cease to reign for any reason. This can be at his own request or because the Council of Ministers deems the monarch unfit for office. Although there can be any reason for the monarch to cede royal authority or be removed from it, both monarch and council are deemed to act responsibly and not leave the execution of the office vacant unnecessarily. Both cases are intended to deal with emergency situations such as physical or mental inability to execute the office of the monarch.
In both cases, an act of the joint States-General is needed to strip the monarch of authority. In the case of the monarch ceding royal authority, the required act is a law. In case of removal, it is a declaration by the States-General. Formally, both require the normal procedure for passing a new law in the Netherlands. The former case is signed into law by the monarch himself, the latter is not, so technically it is not a law.
Since neither ceding nor removal is permanent, neither triggers succession. Instead, the States-General appoint a regent. This must be the heir apparent if he or she is old enough. In order for the monarch to resume his duties, a law must be passed to that effect. The monarch resumes the throne the moment the law of his return is made public.
The monarch and the government
Although the monarch has roles and duties in all parts of the government and in several important places in the rest of society, the primary role of the monarch is within the executive branch of the Dutch government: the monarch is part of the government of the Netherlands.The role of the monarch within the government of the Netherlands is described in Article 42 of the constitution:
This article is the basis of the full power and influence of the monarch and makes him beyond reproach before the law, but also limits his practical power, as he can take no responsibility for it.
The first paragraph of Article 42 determines that the government of the Netherlands consists of the monarch and his ministers. The monarch is according to this article not the head of government; the ministers are not answerable to the monarch within the government. There is no distinction, no dichotomy, no segregation or separation: the monarch and his ministers are the government and the government is one.
This fact has practical consequences, in that it is not possible for the monarch and the ministers to be in disagreement. The government speaks with one voice and makes decisions as a united body. When the monarch acts in an executive capacity, he does so as a representative of the united government. And when the government decides, the monarch is in agreement. As an ultimate consequence of this, it is not possible for the monarch to refuse to sign into law a proposal of law that has been agreed to and signed by the responsible minister. Such a disagreement between the monarch and his minister is a situation not covered by the constitution and is automatically a constitutional crisis.
The second paragraph of the article states that the monarch is inviolable. He is beyond any reproach, beyond the grasp of any prosecution for any acts committed or actions taken as monarch. If anything goes wrong, the minister responsible for the topic at hand is responsible for the failings of the monarch. This sounds like it makes the monarch an absolute tyrant, but in fact, the opposite is true. Actual decision-making lies with the ministers. The ministers set the course of the government and the country, and the ministers make executive decisions and run the affairs of the state. Since the government is one, the monarch abides by the decision of the ministers. In fact, in modern practice this paragraph effectively leaves the monarch without any actual political power. Dutch monarchs rarely make any executive decisions at all and practically never speak in public on any subject other than to read a statement prepared by the Prime Minister. The practical consequence of this limit on the power of the monarch is that the monarch never makes a decision on his own. Every decision and decree must be countersigned by the responsible minister, who then assumes political responsibility for the act.