July 17, 2017

Dutch model to become Malaysian prince

Filed under: General,History by Orangemaster @ 5:00 pm

Tunku

Model and former semi-professional footballer Dennis Verbaas, 28, from Lisse, South Holland, now known as Dennis Muhammad Abdullah after converting to Islam two years ago, is set to marry Princess Tunku Aminah, 31, the only daughter of Sultan Ibrahim of Johor, Malaysia, a state that borders on Singapore.

The second of three children, Dennis wanted to play professional football, but had heart issues. His sister signed him up to a modelling agency, which kicked off his career. Verbaas travelled around the world for work and probably came into contact with royalty in Johor while doing so.

The pair will be married on 14 August in a ceremonial process that will start on 8 August with all the traditional obligations, including a ‘royal bath’ in the botanical gardens of the Sultan.

(Links and photo: nos.nl, straitstimes.com)

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April 12, 2013

Fungi named after the Dutch Royal family

Filed under: Science by Orangemaster @ 3:14 pm
Kdag2010-2

Researchers have discovered and recently presented five types of penicillium that are bright orange, reminding them of the main colour of the Dutch Royal family, aka the House of Orange-Nassau.

They call them ‘Penicillium vanoranjei’ (family) and fourth other kinds that belong to this family, named after Crown-Prince Willem-Alexander’s three daughters (Amalia, Alexia and Ariane) and wife and future Queen consort Máxima: Penicillium maximae, Penicillium amaliae, Penicillium alexiae and Penicillium arianeae.

(Link: www.knaw.nl)

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February 4, 2013

What the Dutch have against their queen and more royal news

Filed under: General by Branko Collin @ 8:31 am

After Queen Beatrix announced her abdication, the entire Dutch web was trying to find royal angles for their stories.

Phonology professor Marc van Oostendorp points out how un-Dutch the word for queen, koningin, is and how people subconsciously try to avoid pronouncing it the correct way, koa-ning-in. According to Van Oostendorp, the ng-sound is never followed by a stressed syllable in Dutch. Words like tango and bingo (borrowed from Spanish and American English respectively) are pronounced tang-go and bing-go.

That leaves the female form of koning in an awkward position. The word for a female role is often produced by taking the male or generic form and adding ‘-in’ to it—Van Oostendorp gives boerin (farmer) and bazin (boss) as examples. But with koning+in this leads to a problem, because the combination is un-Dutch. The result is that we, the rabble, sharpen our linguistic pitchforks and guillotines and cut the title of one of our most beloved figures to ribbons. The word becomes koa-ni-xin or even koa-ni-gin (x is like the ch in loch, but voiced).

Things could be worse. When Napoleon Bonaparte made his brother Louis king of a conquered Netherlands, the new king tried to speak Dutch, but he wasn’t (yet) very good at it. The story goes that he accidentally called himself Konijn van ‘olland, rabbit of Holland.

Did you know that when Willem-Alexander becomes king, he will not be crowned? This is because crowning symbolizes a divine right to rule, whereas in the Netherlands, the people confer that right, which makes sense because we built this land, not the gods. To be honest I did not know this either.

According to NRC, this tradition has religious roots. It was the Protestants that protested a coronation, as they considered it too Catholic. The article further lists the following titbits:

  • The abdication will take place at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam, the inauguration at the New Church (1600, next door).
  • Princess Máxima’s family will not be present (her father was a member of the Argentinian junta in the 1970s-1980s).
  • Titles: King Willem-Alexander, Queen Máxima, Princess of Orange Amalia Beatrix.
  • Fresh euro coins and stamps will have Willem-Alexander’s portrait on them (the old ones will still be valid). The names of naval vessels will be prefixed ZM instead of HM (Zijne Majesteit).
  • The King and Queen will move to one of palaces in The Hague, Huis ten Bosch. Currently Queen Beatrix lives there; she will move back to her old bachelor pad Castle Drakensteyn (‘dragonstone’) between Utrecht, Hilversum and Amersfoort—a house she bought when she was young.
  • The children of Princes Magriet and Prince Constantijn will no longer be members of the royal family after 30 April. The paper has a handy infographic explaining the line of succession.

Trendbeheer reports that Ad van Hassel has already made a state portrait of the future king. “Since Van Hassel did not have a suitable photo of the prince, he went to Madam Tussaud’s to use the wax statue of the prince as a model.” Filed under ‘the alternative circuit’.

Bright writes that there has been a rush on royal domain names. Last Monday twice as many domain names than usual were registered. Koningsdag2013.nl up to koningsdag2030.nl have all been registered. The RVD (Netherlands Government Information Service) can try and expropriate domain names through the courts if the names are likely to confuse visitors about who is behind a site.

(Photo by FaceMePLS, some rights reserved)

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April 10, 2012

Princess Máxima, ‘photogenic but phony’ say Belgians

Filed under: General by Orangemaster @ 12:14 pm

Belgian Princess Mathilde, wife of Prince Filip, was voted most professional European princess according to a poll conducted by the Belgian TV show Royalty, although her not very good Dutch constantly reminds the Flemish that she is supposed to represent all Belgians. The English Duchess Kate, wife of Prince William, was voted most glamorous, although her sister Pippa could arguably be more glamourous, but she’s not a princess — a technicality.

Our own Argentinian-Dutch Princess Máxima was voted the most photogenic of the European princesses, but Belgian viewers had a problem with her switching emotions on and off, depending on the occasion. I’m wondering, what else is she supposed to do? Mathilde has no range whatsoever last time I saw her on television. Máxima’s Dutch is way better than Mathilde’s Dutch will ever be, while also speaking Spanish, English and more. And she smiles more.

Both Mathilde and Kate became royalty in their own country, while Máxima went from working abroad away from her native Argentina to princess in a country she probably never even considered living in. It would be nice if she dressed a bit less stuffy and more her age, but what do I know.

(Link: Dutchnews.nl, photo from 2006 by the Netherlands Government Information Service, used with permission)

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February 19, 2011

Exhibition about Princess Máxima and her ten years in the Netherlands

Filed under: Fashion,General,Music by Branko Collin @ 4:51 pm

On 19 January 2001, Crown Prince William Alexander of the Netherlands asked Argentinian Máxima Zorreguieta to become his bride, and on March 30 of the same year, the engagement was announced to the public. To celebrate the ten years of Máxima’s presence in the Netherlands, the Loo Palace in Apeldoorn will hold an exhibition about the princess from 8 May to 4 September 2011.

The marriage was controversial as Zorreguieta is the daughter of a minister of the murderous Videla regime, and could only go through once it had become clear that her father would stay away from the wedding. At the wedding, Dutch bandeononist Carel Kraayenhof played Adios Nonino, written by tango composer Astor Piazzola in memory of his father.

(Photo by Wikimedia user Prolineserver, some rights reserved)

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October 29, 2009

Ad for lackey successful

Filed under: General by Branko Collin @ 8:28 am

The Queen is looking for a lackey, and according to jobtrack.nl her job ad drew 8 times the regular amount of responses for comparable positions, says NOS.

So what is expected of a lackey in her majesty’s service? He or she must

  • Have a high school level diploma, preferably hotel school.
  • Speak English
  • Know how to take care of silver and crockery
  • Know protocol
  • Have a service oriented attitude
  • Be able to work flexible hours, and
  • Have a driving license

The maximum salary offered is 2,338 euro per month.

(Via AD.nl. Photo by Arden de Raaij, some rights reserved.)

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