King attends 250th First Salute commemoration on Sint Eustatius

King Willem-Alexander will attend the commemoration of 250 years of The First Salute on Sint Eustatius on the morning of Monday 16 November. Prime minister Rob Jetten and state secretary for Kingdom Relations Eric van der Burg will also attend the ceremony. The King and Jetten will arrive on Sunday afternoon and will be welcomed by island governor (gezaghebber) Alida Francis.

The ceremony will include a speech by the King and a re-enactment with salute shots. An American ship will take part, which closes the commemoration of 250 years of United States independence.

On Sunday evening the party will visit Fort Oranje for a sound and light show. They will then attend an official dinner at Knippenga Estate with representatives of the Statia community.

The King will open Museum Fort Oranje, which tells the history since The First Salute through the eyes of enslaved people. He will also cycle past virtual reality pillars of the Digital Heritage Route, part of the Regio Deal Statia 2026, and unveil the first pillar to open the route officially.

At Fort Amsterdam and battery Rotterdam, where thousands of enslaved people were brought ashore, a memorial site on the history of slavery is being created. The King and Jetten will receive an explanation of the restoration plans. They will speak with members of the Slavery History Commemoration Committee and with young people. Jetten will then follow a different programme.

In the afternoon the King will visit a nursing home to hear about a planned new centre. It is meant to house the nursing home, hospital, pharmacy, Mental Health Care and the municipal public health service (GGD) together, and is also part of the Regio Deal.

He will also visit Appeltjes prize winner Mega-D Youth Foundation. He will end the visit with a walk through the Golden Rock neighbourhood, where social housing is being renovated.