The Queen is speechless

"A completely different Prinsjedag [Day of the Princes]" headlines De Volkskrant. The daily reports on the public holiday full of pomp and circumstance, which is marked by the Monarch’s speech to members of both houses of the Dutch parliament gathered in the Hague. The speech usually focuses on government policy, but this year will be something of an exception because in the wake of a hung vote, the country still has no government three months after the general elections. As the daily notes, this effectively means that “the Queen will have nothing to say." MPs will be able to “sit back and relax” and "there will be no journalists eagerly hoping to capture a scoop." On the front page of De Volkskrant, this odd state of affairs is summarised in a cartoon by Collignon: at a junction, the car driven by Geert Wilders and pushed by Christian-democrat and liberal leaders has a green light to advance towards the Binnenhof (the Dutch house of parliament), while the Queen’s carriage is held up by a red light.