Huis ten Bosch Palace

Huis ten Bosch Palace, the home of the Queen since 1981, lies in the northeast of The Hague. The oldest part of the building dates from the 17th century. On 2 September 1645, Elizabeth, the “Winter Queen” of Bohemia, then living in exile in the Republic of the United Provinces, laid the foundation stone. The new building was to be a summer residence for Stadholder Frederik Hendrik and his wife, Amalia van Solms, who was the moving spirit behind the project.

The palace was designed by Pieter Post, the same architect who was involved in building the Mauritshuis, the assembly hall of the States of Holland (now used for meetings by the Senate of the States General) and the Oude Hof, now Noordeinde Palace.

When Frederik Hendrik died in 1647, his widow converted Huis ten Bosch from a summer residence into a memorial to her late husband. Under the supervision of the painter and architect Jacob van Campen, the main hall ƒ{ known as the Oranjezaal – was dedicated entirely to the Prince's life and work. The largest and most striking painting in the room, Jacob Jordaens’ Triumph of Frederik Hendrik, was completed in 1652.

Upon the death of Princess Amalia in 1675, the palace became the property of her daughters jointly, though the right of usufruct passed to the only one living in the Netherlands, Albertine Agnes, the wife of Willem Frederik of Nassau, Stadholder of Friesland. In 1686 Albertine Agnes sold this right to her nephew, William III, who needed a summer residence near the seat of government in The Hague. He made some changes to the furnishings and the gardens.

When William III ƒ{ the Stadholder-King ƒ{ died without issue in 1702, Huis ten Bosch passed to the King of Prussia, also a descendant of Frederik Hendrik. However, in 1732 he returned it to the House of Nassau, as represented by Prince William IV, who undertook large-scale alterations. Two wings were added, under the supervision of architect Daniel Marot. Thus enlarged, the Palace was frequently the residence of the last two stadholders, William IV and William V.

When the French invaded in 1795, they seized all the stadholder’s residences as the spoils of war. Huis ten Bosch was presented to the “Batavian people”, and has hence been state property from that day to this. Most of the furniture and works of art were sold.

Following a coup d'état in 1798, several members of the National Assembly were interned in the palace. The east wing was rented out. The building then served as a museum until 1805, when Rutger-Jan Schimmelpenninck, appointed Grand Pensionary by Napoleon, took up residence there. Fifteen months later, the palace briefly became the home of Napoleon's brother Louis Napoleon, who had been declared King of the Netherlands. But in 1807 the new King moved to Utrecht, where he lived until he could take possession of Amsterdam town hall at Dam Square, which had been converted into a palace at his behest.

Although he occupied it for only a short time, Louis Napoleon left his mark on both the interior and exterior of Huis ten Bosch. The extensions and embellishments he commissioned introduced the Empire style into the Netherlands, and many of his pieces of Empire furniture have remained in the palace to this day.

After William I was proclaimed King of the Netherlands in 1815, members of the royal family frequently lived in Huis ten Bosch. William I himself used it, and it later became the summer home of Queen Sophie, the first wife of King William III. During the First World War, Queen Wilhelmina exchanged her summer residence at Het Loo near Apeldoorn for Huis ten Bosch, and lived there again before she had to flee to England after the German invasion in May 1940, together with Princess Juliana and her family.

Huis ten Bosch suffered serious damage during the Second World War. The comptroller managed to thwart plans by the German occupying forces to demolish it to make way for tank traps.

At the end of the war the building was uninhabitable. Its art treasures had been removed and taken to a safe place, but its walls, ceilings and floors had been ravaged by bullets, shells and bomb fragments. The palace was restored between 1950 and 1956. The gardens were laid out as a gift from the nation in 1949 to celebrate the date on which Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard had been married for 12½ years.

On 10 August 1981, Queen Beatrix, Prince Claus and their children took up residence in Huis ten Bosch, and it remained the home of the Queen and Prince Claus, their private apartments being located in the Wassenaar wing. The central section is sometimes used for public functions and entertaining, while the Hague wing contains guest rooms and accommodates a range of services.

Huis ten Bosch is one of three palaces (the others being Noordeinde Palace and the Royal Palace in Amsterdam) which the State has placed at the Queen's disposal by Act of Parliament.