Jaap van 't Veen's photos with the keyword: Het Loo Palace

The Paleispark (Palace Park) is a part of Kroondomein Het Loo (Het Loo Royal Estate). With an area of 650 hectare the park is ideal for strolling and walking. It lies adjacent to “Het Loo Palace” and around Castle Het Oude Loo . Traditionally this park was for the relaxation of the royal residents of the palace. and their guests. The origins of the park can be traced back to stadtholder Willem III, who purchased hunting lodge Het Oude Loo in 1684 together with 200 hectare land. “Het Loo Royal Estate” was also very important for Queen Wilhelmina. She purchased many acres of land and donated this to the State in 1959, retaining the rights of usage for the reigning monarch. This explains the name for the whole area: “Het Loo Royal Estate”. The palace park is only a small part of “Het Loo Royal Estate”. The park features ponds, a tea pavilion (main image and PiP1), which was often used by Queen Wilhelmina, a bath-house (PiP2), a royal horse cemetery, an old shooting range, a hunting lodge and several follies. The park is open - against a small fee - the whole year round, the part around Het Oude Loo is open for visitors only during the months April and May.

Paleis Het Loo (Het LooPalace) was built in 1686 for Stadtholder William III and his wife queen Mary. It was used for almost 300 years as a (summer) palace by members of the Dutch Royal family. Queen Wilhelmina lived here till the year of 1972. After a huge restoration palace and gardens are back in their original state. Since the year of 1984 Paleis Het Loo is a national museum and open for public. In 2018 (again) major restoration work was necessary to ensure that the collection and the palace remain in good condition. Inside the palace was refurbished and outside the forecourt fully changed: instead of grass and a fountain there is now a wonderful water bassin, reflecting the palace. Surely the most striking thing is the expansion of the exhibition spaces underneath the new forecourt. One of them now houses the permanent presentation about the House of Orange-Nassau from Prince Willen van Oranje (1533 - 1584) till the present heir Princess Amalia (born 2003). This underground expansion of 5.000 m2 was officially opened April 2023.

Paleis Het Loo (Het Loo Palace) was built in 1686 for stadtholder Willem III and his wife queen Mary of England. The palace was the summer residence of the Dutch stadtholders, kings and queens from 1686 to 1975. Princess Margriet last inhabited parts of the palace. Het Loo was planned and created as a combination of a palace and baroque garden. This garden - designed by Claude Desgotz - was more than a royal hobby; it was a symbol for the position and power of the royal couple. All elements in the garden, such as the garden statues and the fountains, fit within this symbolic meaning. Flowers and plants play are important elements in the gardens of Paleis Het Loo . In the 17th century, a garden with exotic - and therefore expensive - flowers and plants meant that the owner had the wealth and contacts to have such a garden laid out and maintained. In the 18th century the baroque garden was replaced by an English landscape garden. However, the original gardens were restored from 1980 to 1984, when the palace and gardens became a national museum. The starting point was preserved design drawings, as well as excavations on site. Some of the plants at Het Loo change every year, both in the spring and in the summer. The aim is to achieve the most accurate possible reconstruction of the original garden. (During our last visit the garden was decorated with four monumental contemporary art works - 'The Garden of Earthly Worries’ - designed by the Polish-American architect Daniel Libeskind. It is the first time that contemporary art is on show in the garden of Paleis Het Loo .)