Noordeinde Palace

The Queen and Prince Claus used Noordeinde Palace as their place of work from 1984 onwards. The oldest part of the building dates from before 1533, when the steward of the States of Holland, Willem Goudt, had the mediaeval farmstead converted into a spacious residence. The farmstead's cellars are still part of the palace basement today.

The building changed hands in 1566. It remained in the new owner’s possession for some decades, after which it was leased in 1591, and then purchased in 1595, by the States of Holland. It was placed at the disposal of Louise de Coligny, the widow of William of Orange, and her son Prince Frederik Hendrik. In recognition of William's services to the nation, the States presented the building to his family in 1609.

Frederik Hendrik added several extensions to the house, which was then known as the Oude Hof. He bought up surrounding plots of land, lengthened the main section and had wings built on either side, creating the H-shaped building that we see today. The architects Pieter Post and Jacob van Campen, who built Huis ten Bosch Palace in 1645, were among those involved in the alterations.

After Frederik Hendrik died in 1647, his widow, Amalia van Solms, often resided in the Oude Hof. Her death in 1675 ushered in a period in which the house was little used. Eventually, after the death of the Stadholder-King William III in 1702, it passed to the King of Prussia, who was a descendant of Frederik Hendrik.

In 1754, Frederick the Great of Prussia sold his possessions in the Netherlands to Stadholder William V, who added the balcony on the Noordeinde side of the palace in about 1785. However it was William V’s son, the future King William I, who made his home in the Oude Hof. His residence there was short-lived, however, since the stadholder and his family had to flee to England following the French invasion in 1795. The Oude Hof was transferred to the Batavian Republic and hence became the property of the state, which it remains today.

In 1813, Willem Frederik, the heir to the throne, returned to the Netherlands to be proclaimed King William I. The Constitution decreed that the State must provide a summer and a winter home for the sovereign. Initially there were plans to build a new winter residence, but in the end it was decided to thoroughly renovate the Oude Hof.

King William I took possession of Noordeinde Palace in 1817, and lived there until his abdication in 1840. His successor, William II, never resided there. King William III, like his grandfather, used Noordeinde as his winter home, although he preferred to live at his summer residence, Het Loo Palace in Apeldoorn. It was William III who, in 1876, had the royal stables built in the gardens behind Noordeinde Palace. The royal family continued to use Noordeinde as their winter home after William III's marriage to Queen Emma. Princess Wilhelmina was born there in 1880, and Queen Emma and her daughter still spent their winters at Noordeinde after the King's death in 1890. In 1895, the Queen Regent commissioned a new building, the Royal Archives, to be located in the grounds.

In 1901, Queen Emma moved to Soestdijk Palace, while Queen Wilhelmina and her husband Prince Hendrik remained in The Hague at Noordeinde, with Het Loo as their summer residence. Until the German invasion in 1940, Queen Wilhelmina continued to make frequent use of Noordeinde Palace. She did not return there after the War, however, but chose to reside at Het Loo instead. The central section of the palace was destroyed by fire in 1948.

Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard preferred Soestdijk as their official residence, though some members of the household used offices in Noordeinde. Between 1952 and 1976 the Institute of Social Studies occupied the north wing. The intensive use of Noordeinde resumed in 1984 following a thorough restoration, as it became the “working palace” of Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus.

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