Queen's Chancellor of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands
| Queen's Chancellor of United Kingdom of the Netherlands | |
|---|---|
| Koninginskanselier van het Verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden (Dutch) | |
 Flag of the Queen's Chancellor of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands | |
| Government of the Netherlands | |
| Style | His Excellency |
| Residence | Royal Palace of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Appointer | Monarch of the Netherlands on the advice of the prime minister of the Netherlands |
| Term length | At Her Majesty's pleasure |
| Formation | 30 May 1848 |
| First holder | Gerrit Schimmelpenninck |
| Succession | Administrator of the Government of the Netherlands performs duties if necessary |
| Salary | €88,000 annually |
| Website | www.qc.nl |
The Queen's Chancellor of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands (Dutch: Koninginskanselier van het Verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden) is the unitary viceregal representative of the Dutch monarch, currently Queen Alexandra. The Queen, as the head of state of the Netherlands, traditionally resides in the country from June to December each year, while from January to May, her role as head of state is usually exercised by the Queen's Chancellor, whose role mirrors that of the governors-general of several Commonwealth countries. The Queen's Chancellor is appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, with the candidate normally being chosen from among former public servants whom are deemed "respectable" and "fully suitable" for the role. While the chancellor's tenure is indefinite and not fixed by any laws or regulations, the office is only actually active in the absence of the monarch, with the usual time period ranging from January to May each year, although, either due to special circumstances or the monarch's own personal choice, the office itself may remain "dormant" throughout those months, and would only become active in the later months of the year, a period in which the monarch would be residing in the United Kingdom instead, a circumstance that arose from a longstanding tradition whereby the monarch would alternate between living in the United Kingdom for one half of the year and living in the Netherlands and Luxembourg for the other half of the year.
The 13th and current chancellor is Jan Peter Balkenende, whom, like his predecessors, previously served as the country's prime minister and has since then maintained a largely positive reputation with the public, a trait that is deemed essential for a candidate appointed to the office. He was nominated on August 3rd 2016 to succeed Piet de Jong, whom passed away while in office on July 27th 2016. During the one-month-long interim between de Jong's passing and Balkenende's appointment as Queen's Chancellor, then-President of the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, Maarten Feteris, temporarily served in an interim capacity.