The King of the Netherlands has put a major national celebration on hold, briefly, as a mark of respect for Pope Francis.

Willem-Alexander is set to celebrate King’s Day on April 26, the day that the Pope is buried in Rome.

It’s a national holiday in the Netherlands and every year, the royals travel to a different town or city to enjoy the celebrations there.

This year, they are set for Doetinchem where events were due to begin at 11 in the morning.

King Willem-Alexander has now decided they will start an hour later, at noon, so that they only begin after the Pope’s funeral has ended.

However, no one from the Dutch royal family will travel to Rome for the funeral. Instead, the country will be represented by its Prime Minister, Dick Schoof, and by Caspar Veldkamp, the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

In 2005, the Dutch royals weren’t represented at the funeral of Pope John Paul II with only politicians attending that service, too.

There had been discussions about whether Queen Maxima would go to the service for Pope Francis. Like the Pontiff, the Queen of the Netherlands is Argentinian and the two were known to have got on well when they met.

King’s Day is a national holiday in the Netherlands and marks the birthday of the monarch. It is usually held on April 27, the anniversary of the birth of Willem-Alexander. However, as that is a Sunday this year, the parties will take place the day before, April 26 2025.