Menu
Royals & pets and animals
Open this week
The Stables Square is open until 17 November, and from 7 December until 5 January 2020. The palace is closed until 2021 due to renovation.
13 November - 17 November
The Stables Square is open until 17 November, and from 7 December until 5 January 2020. The palace is closed until 2021 due to renovation.
13 November - 17 November
From lap-dog to elephant... The exhibition ‘Royals, Pets and Animals’, illustrates, with photos, prints and surprising stories, the special bond between the royals and their animals. Various activities and events are being organised in the gardens, stables and on the front square.
Animals have always played an important role in the life of the Oranje family. King-stadholder Willem III, who had Paleis Het Loo built, owned eighty hunting dogs. Stadholder Willem V had his own zoo at Het Loo, with exotic animals, including two elephants, and when Queen Wilhelmina was a child, she looked after several animals in her play house. She was extremely fond of her four ponies, her donkey and Swell, her dog.
Horses of the Royal Stable Department regularly spend some time in the stables at Het Loo and Benito, the favourite mount of Princess Beatrix, is enjoying his retirement in the palace stables and the meadows near Castle Het Oude Loo.