Chancery of the Netherlands Orders

The Chancery of the Netherlands Orders:

• houses the Civil Honours Council and the Military Order of William Council and assists them in the work of advising on nominations for royal decorations
• is responsible for the administration of the insignia of decorations and for sending the correct insignia to those who are to present them
• maintains the registers of recipients of decorations
• through the Chancellor of the Netherlands Orders, preserves the integrity and dignity of the Orders.

The Director, Ms Martine van Grieken, is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Chancery.

Organisation

The Chancery comprises:

• the Operational Management Unit, whose work includes registering and archiving details regarding decorations 
• the Decorations and Advice Unit, whose work includes the preparation of  the recommendations put forward by the Civil Honours Council on nominations for royal decorations
• the Information Provision and Automation Unit, whose work includes the management of the information provision and the ICT infrastructure.

The Chancery’s staff also includes an information officer.

History and premises

The history of the Chancery of the Netherlands Orders began in 1815, when the Military Order of William and the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands were founded, with a separate chancery and chancellor for each. At that time the chancery of the Military Order of William was in Brussels and that of the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands in Amsterdam. They merged in 1844 to form the Chancery of the Netherlands Orders.

In 1844 the Chancery moved to the Binnenhof in The Hague. After that it moved five more times, most recently in 1980. It now occupies a historic building on Nassaulaan in The Hague. The building of this street was commissioned by King Willem II in the mid-nineteenth century to provide homes for senior court dignitaries. An unusual feature of the Chancery’s building is its wide carriage entrance, also known as a porte-cochere.