Dutch nobility

Those who belong to the nobility were entitled to certain privileges, in particular to take a seat in the "Ridderschap", a former executive and legislative assembly at the regional or provincial level, and therewith the power to select members for the States-Provincial.

[3] With the establishment of the Sovereign Principality of the United Netherlands in 1813, the rights of the nobility were restored, and the peerage regained official status.

[5] The last elevation into the Dutch nobility concerns Princess Máxima, in a Royal Decree of 25 January 2002 (Government Gazette 41), due to the fact of her marriage to the Prince of Orange.

[4][6] In 2016, a survey was conducted among nobles in which at least a quarter stated that they support the resumption of (non-royal) ennoblements, while approximately a third opposed them and the rest had no or a weak opinion.

Members of the Nederlandse Adelsvereniging, the organisation which represents the Dutch nobility in CILANE, are more likely to support ennoblement, and are more likely to uphold traditional noble values and marry endogamously.

[7] In 2020, nobility expert and director of the foundation Stichting Adel in Nederland John Töpfer also spoke out in favor of a new ennoblements in a radio interview.

[9] The Nederland's Patriciaat is a registry of non-noble armigerous families which have held influential roles in Dutch society for at least 150 years or six generations.

Thus, incorporation into Nederland's Patriciaat can be considered a substitution for ennoblement, a distinction families are accorded if they maintain a high level of merit and success for several generations.

Thus, it can be said that the Nobility and the Patriciate are two groups from which the aristocracy of the Netherlands is formed, and the relationship between them is somewhat reminiscent of that between the Peerage and the Gentry in Great Britain.