A palace full of leaders

You know what it's like.  You spend weeks waiting for a world leader to pop in for a cup of tea and then fifty or so all turn up at once.  King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands have been playing host to presidents, prime ministers and premiers for almost a week now after a string of visits and it all culminated with a dinner for dozens of global powers in The Hague.

That big staircase was bound to come in handy one day - the King and Queen of the Netherlands with their guests who just happened to be fifty or so world leaders gathered in The Hague for a summit

The Dutch monarchs were holding a dinner at Huis ten Bosch Palace in The Hague for the leaders attending the Nuclear Security Summit taking place in the city this week.  The leaders, including Barack Obama and Angela Merkel, lined up for an impressive group photograph after lots of individual snaps with the king and queen.  And Willem-Alexander has more hosting duties as the summit continues while his neighbouring new king, Philippe of the Belgians, is getting ready to receive Barack Obama who will be in Belgium in the coming days as part of the commemorations leading up to the centenary of the start of World War One.  And then the Dutch monarchs might just have a moment to put their feet up after a week packed full with a year's worth of visits from world leaders.