Baarn town council has finally agreed a zoning plan for the Paleis Soestdijk country estate, which was sold by the state to a private developer five years ago.

The approval means work can now go ahead on building houses and a hotel on the property, the former home of queen Juliana and prince Bernhard.

In total, 120 companies drew up proposals to develop the estate and the current owner won the beauty contest and auction with a bid of €1.7m in 2017.

Once the palace itself has been renovated, it will be partly turned into a ‘meeting place’ with exhibitions, guided tours and concerts in the garden.

In 2020, two of Juliana’s daughters, princess Irene and her sister princess Margriet, wrote to the council objecting to plans to clear some of the estate woodland for housing.

‘Our grandmother [queen Wilhemina] and our mother attached great importance to preserving as much of the woodlands as possible,’ Irene wrote.

Concerns have also been raised about the impact of car parking and staging large-scale events in the grounds of the palace.