Speech by the Prince of Orange

Speech | 08-09-2009

Madam Secretary, Mayor Bloomberg, Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen,

It is an honour to be welcomed here by the Secretary of State and the Mayor of this great city.

Thank you for extending such a warm welcome to Princess Máxima and myself. Arriving in New York is always a great pleasure and the pleasure increases with every visit, because the better you know the Big Apple, the more you love this wonderful city.

We can only speculate about the feelings of that small group of men on board the Halve Maen when they first arrived on these shores exactly 400 years ago. They must have been struck by the beauty of these islands and by the riches they behold.

This Anglo-Dutch crew, led by an English captain, employed by the world's first multinational, the Dutch East Indies Company, had left Amsterdam three months earlier. The Dutch Republic had only recently fought for and gained its independence against overwhelming odds.

This independence was built on a passion for liberty, on freedom of conscience and on the unwavering belief that everyone has the right to the pursuit of happiness. These were the values the Halve Maen and all the other Dutch ships that made the same crossing in the years after 1609 brought to these shores and to New Amsterdam. These are the principles on which this great city was built and every New Yorker, regardless of their background, race or creed, will agree that these principles have always been and will always remain its defining characteristics.

In good times and bad, we have seen that great things can be achieved by people who are free to shape their own destinies and who respect the freedom of others to do the same. There is no city on earth that exemplifies this more than New York.

These are challenging times, certainly for the financial capital of the world. But there is no doubt in my mind that New York will emerge from this crisis stronger than before, simply because New Yorkers are hard-working optimists who have always been able to find new opportunities We, the Dutch, share this attitude and we see a prosperous and sustainable future before us.

But the challenges can only be faced if we work together, across the Atlantic. That is why we have come not only to celebrate 400 years of friendship and incredible achievements; but also to seek opportunities - together - to achieve even greater things in the next 400 years.

Thank you.