Dinner with government leaders tonight in the Oranjezaal, which is full of peace symbols

The official part of the NATO summit will begin on Tuesday evening at 19:00 with an informal dinner for government leaders and their partners at Huis ten Bosch Palace, in the Oranjezaal. King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima will welcome, among others, the American President Donald Trump and the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – who will not participate in the summit itself – to their residential palace.

It is not yet known what will be on the three-course menu. Nor who will be sitting where at the nine round tables. It is known that the dinner will be held in the Oranjezaal, which is full of symbolism about power and how peace leads to prosperity.

As early as the seventeenth century, this Sael van Oranje was one of the most important sights in the Netherlands. Art historian Elmer Kolfin, who wrote a book about the Oranjezaal , told NRC a few years ago: “Huis ten Bosch was modern at the time, but not special. But the Oranjezaal was – and is – overwhelming. Everywhere you look, something is happening. It is as if you are stepping into another world.”

This is due to the murals that Amalia van Solms had painted after the death of her husband, stadtholder Frederik Hendrik (1584-1647). He is depicted as a warlord and a peacemaker. The entire room is full of references to war (the god Mars), conflict and division (trampled by horses), ingenuity (Minerva), shrewdness (a rooster), peace (olive branches) and prosperity (horns of plenty).

'Peace leads to wealth'

The message is that peace leads to wealth. Around Peace, a woman in a white robe, angels unfold the text: Ultimus ante omnes de parta pace triumphus (The highest victory is the triumph of the peace achieved).

The hall was also used in 1899 for the First International Peace Conference in The Hague, when a ban on poison gases and dumdum bullets was abolished and the Permanent Court of Arbitration was established, which still exists today (and is located in the Peace Palace).

There were a hundred guests then, tonight there will be 66. According to the Government Information Service, "local and/or regional products and seasonal products will be used as much as possible" at dinner tonight. The Blossom Panache tableware that Willem-Alexander and Máxima had made in 2017 will be used. Until then, a tableware set by Wilhemina was used, which was not dishwasher safe.

This Delft Blue tableware has a kingfisher on the top, which refers to the motto of William of Orange: “Saevis tranquillus in undis” (Standing firm in turbulent waves). For this, the guests would have to turn their plates over, the text is on the bottom.