King's annual Budget Day speech moved for social distancing reasons

King Willem-Alexander's annual Budget Day speech will be moved from the Ridderzaal to the Grote Kerk in The Hague this year, the presidents of the Eerste- and Tweede Kamers decided. The Grote Kerk offers more room to adhere to social distancing and other measures in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus, NU.nl reports.

On Budget Day, the government presents its plans for the coming year and the King gives a speech in the presence of the Senators and parliamentarians. This year the gathering will be smaller, due to the coronavirus. Parliamentarians will not be allowed to bring their partners to the ceremony.

This will be the first time since 1904 that the Budget Day assembly does not happen on the Binnenhof. If the developments surrounding the coronavirus give cause to do so, the assembly may be scaled down even further.