The Netherlands, a republican kingdom

A bit of history.

Revolutionaries erecting the Tree of Freedom in 1795

The Netherlands, or Holland as I will call it from now for the sake of brevity, was in its early independent state a republic established in 1588 during a long and eventually a successful war with Spain. The war's objective was to gain independence from Spain. The republic was ruled by the Staten-Generaal (a ruling counsel), the executive power was laid in the hands of the Stadhouder, a hereditary title granted to the Prince of Orange. This situation lasted until 1795 when under the influence of the French Revolution and the influx of French troops, the Bataafsche Republiek was established. The Prince of Orange fled to England, only to return after the first defeat of Napoleon in 1813.

In the meantime however Holland became a kingdom for the first time in 1806 when Napoleon's brother Louis was made king. Louis was one of the best kings we ever had. He worked hard for the sole interest of his new country. In 1810 Louis was sacked by his brother Napoleon and Holland was incorporated in the Napoleonic empire.

King Willem I in 1813

In 1813 Napoleon was beaten and Holland was liberated. The victorious allies wanted a strong counterbalance on the northern borders of France and the joined Holland and Belgium together and established a new kingdom with the Prince of Orange as king. This kingdom did not last very long and in 1831 Holland and Belgium separated after a short war, resulting in two kingdoms: Belgium and Holland.

A republican kingdom.
King Willem I started as a more or less absolute ruler. The patrician class who had ruled Holland since 1588 until 1795 were not very happy with this state of affairs. Gradually they chiselled the power of the king and his descendants away until the king was reduced to a constitutional monarch in 1848. Then the power was back in the hands of the Patricians (Regenten), just as in the times of the Republic. In those times the Stadhouders (the ancestors of the 19th century kings) were a power to be reckoned with. Some of them were military geniuses and politically very competent.
So in 1848 the Regenten were at the wheel of the republic again although it was disguised as a kingdom with a king without the considerable powers of a Stadhouder.

The republican kingdom in 2012.

Beatrix as a young Queen

Holland is still a kingdom in appearance but it operates as a republic. Queen Beatrix is intelligent and efficient and wields a considerable influence behind the scenes. But she has no real formal power.The late Prince Claus, the husband of Queen Beatrix described the political reality aptly: "Holland is a republic with a hereditary head of state". 

Prince Claus was a man with a great understanding of the political situation, his description of Holland as a republic cannot easily be dismissed as the uttering of a dilettant.

Monarchical republics in 2012
There is a strange sort of similarity between Holland and France.
France is monarchical republic. The French president resembles in the glory of his office, a French king. The powers of the French president are comparable with those of an enlightened ruling king. The same could be said of an American president albeit that his powers are strictly monitored by the American political system.