Dutch royal party to attend 250th anniversary of The First Salute

King Willem-Alexander, Prime Minister Rob Jetten and State Secretary Eric van der Burg will attend Sint Eustatius’s commemoration of 250 years since The First Salute on 16 November, the Dutch government says. The visit will also include events focused on the island’s history, heritage and public services.

The ceremony marks the 1776 exchange in which Fort Oranje fired a salute in response to the American ship Andrew Doria. The government describes the gesture as the first recognition of the United States by a foreign power. The anniversary falls in the year the US marks 250 years of independence.

The royal party is due to arrive on Sunday 15 November. That evening, Willem-Alexander and Jetten are scheduled to attend a sound-and-light show at Fort Oranje and an official dinner with representatives of the Statian community. Van der Burg is not listed in the programme for those Sunday events.

On 16 November, the King, Jetten and Van der Burg are due at the commemoration, which is to include a speech by the King and a re-enactment with an American ship. The King will also open Museum Fort Oranje, which presents the island’s history from The First Salute through the experiences of enslaved people.

The rest of the King’s programme includes visits to heritage sites, a care home, a youth foundation and social housing in Golden Rock. Jetten will follow a separate programme after visiting Fort Amsterdam and the Rotterdam battery, where plans for a memorial site will address the island’s history of slavery.