King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands have announced that they will join Prime Minister Mark Rutte on July 17 for the unveiling of a national monument for the victims of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.
The flight was shot down over Ukraine in July 2014, claiming the lives of all 298 people on board. The majority of the victims, 193, were from the Netherlands.
The monument consists of 298 trees, one for each victim, planted in the shape of a ribbon and a memorial plaque.
Each of the trees will come with a memorial plaque with a name in the center.
The ribbon of trees was designed by landscape architect Robbert de Koning, while the plaque was designed by artist Ronald A. Westerhuis.
The theme of the monument will be "to live on." The unveiling of the monument will take place as the families walk through the ribbon of trees, with the king and queen walking in the front with 17 children from Vijfhuizen.
They will then meet with relatives of the victims.
Around 2,000 people are expected to come, including representatives from the other countries involved with the disaster.
