When I was visiting my family in the suburbs of The Hague the last time, they took me on a drive past various palatial ambassadorial residences. And I got to hear the story of how in 1945, in gratitude for the sheltering of the Royal Family in Canada and the critical part played by Canadian troops in liberating the Netherlands, the Dutch government presented the Canadian government with a palatial official residence with extensive grounds, entirely free of charge. Bear in mind that Canada will still just a Dominion of the British Empire at that time, and the new official residence for its head diplomat was bigger and grander than many of the official residences of “real” countries.
But the building, however magnificent it might have been before the war, had suffered extensive bomb damage, and it took the Canadian government quite a lot of money to get it back to its former glories. It might have been cheaper for them to buy a less magnificent glamorous residence on the open market, rather than accepting a gift with so many strings attached.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2014-07-28 07:18 pm (UTC)When I was visiting my family in the suburbs of The Hague the last time, they took me on a drive past various palatial ambassadorial residences. And I got to hear the story of how in 1945, in gratitude for the sheltering of the Royal Family in Canada and the critical part played by Canadian troops in liberating the Netherlands, the Dutch government presented the Canadian government with a palatial official residence with extensive grounds, entirely free of charge. Bear in mind that Canada will still just a Dominion of the British Empire at that time, and the new official residence for its head diplomat was bigger and grander than many of the official residences of “real” countries.
But the building, however magnificent it might have been before the war, had suffered extensive bomb damage, and it took the Canadian government quite a lot of money to get it back to its former glories. It might have been cheaper for them to buy a less magnificent glamorous residence on the open market, rather than accepting a gift with so many strings attached.