The Hague is the heart of political power in the Netherlands. Over the years, the city has also come to play an important role as an international political center. Every year on the third Tuesday of September the official opening of the new Parliamentary Year takes place here, also known as «Prinsjesdag (Prinsjesdag/The Opening of the New Parliamentary Year).
The Hague is not only the official seat of parliament, the city is known as the home of the Dutch royal family. If the flag is raised over the Huis Ten Bosch Palace, this means that the king of the country (currently — is Willem-Alexander Klaus Georg Ferdinand, who has ruled since April 2013) is in his residence.
According to tradition, on the third Tuesday of September, the royal family, accompanied by an honorary escort, approaches the parliament building — Binnenhof. The monarch officially opens the new parliamentary year by delivering an annual greeting. The greeting contains the government's plans and also announces the state and size of the country's budget for the new parliamentary year.
The royal motorcade departs at noon from Noordeinde Palace and arrives at the Houses of Parliament around 1 pm. The speech of the royal person begins exactly at one o'clock in the afternoon.
The center of The Hague is extremely lively and crowded on the day of celebration, even if the day is rainy. At all the houses along the road along which the motorcade follows, you can see thousands of people interested, groups of friends, family, journalists and other participants in the holiday. Most of them came to The Hague from other Dutch cities in pursuit of a «happy shot».
Traditionally, the royal family rode through the city in the famous Golden Carriage. However, in 2020, at the height of the BLM protests that swept across many European countries, the King of the Netherlands was forced to abandon the Golden Cortege, and the golden carriage was placed in a museum.