A mix of magic and jealousy: why Germans love our royal family so much

When the Government Information Service announced last month that King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima will be on a state visit to Berlin for three days from today, this led to a celebratory headline on the German website 24royal.de: “This visit makes German royalty fans rejoice!” said editor Eva-Maria Moosmüller and her colleagues. Royal family expert Anika Helm also devoted to it Instagram and her website Adelswelt.de immediately sends a message.

Moosmüller and Helm in Germany are not alone in their interest in the Dutch royal family. Major magazines such as Bunte and Gala pay attention to our royals almost every week, and also in programs such as Breaking on RTL Exclusive – the German versions of Show news on RTL Boulevard – the royal family often passes by. Where does this German interest in our royal family come from?

Anika Helm thinks it mainly has something to do with Queen Máxima. She told the NOS: “There is something contagious about her cordiality and cheerfulness. When she laughs or dances, it is as if the sun is breaking through on a rainy day. She embodies something that we Germans sometimes find difficult.”

Julia Melchior, royal family expert at the German public broadcaster ZDF agrees with Helm in this, but adds that it is about more than just Máxima’s smile. She refers to Princess Beatrix: “When she was still queen, she enjoyed great respect in Germany. We saw in her a strong stateswoman, with a great commitment to Europe. In addition, she was of course married to the German Prince Claus, of whom we knew that he was a good sparring partner for her, so the fact that Willem-Alexander and Máxima are so popular in Germany also has to do with their predecessors.”

Amalia already popular

And Crown Princess Amalia is already taking over that popularity effortlessly, say Eva-Maria Moosmüller and her colleagues from 24royal.de. “She has often proven that she is the perfect example of a new generation of modern royals. The Dutch royal family shows time and again that aristocracy does not have to be dusty or stiff. And that is also good for young people,” says Moosmuller.

According to Julia Melchior, there is also a slight jealousy in all this admiration: “We do not have a royal family in Germany. And despite all our famous athletes and actors, they do not have the same attraction. And a royal family has something binding. It is not for nothing that we at the ZDF for years extensively reported on Queen’s Day. We do not know such a holiday in Germany.”

Scandals make little impression

And if the royal family is in the news negatively, does that have nothing to do with their popularity in Germany? In the Netherlands, for example, confidence in Willem-Alexander and Máxima dropped sharply after their hastily cut short holiday to Greece last autumn.

In Germany, something like this makes little impression, says Melchior: “Of course we also talk about these kinds of things. And certainly in the tabloid press, such missteps always do well. But before that really affects the popularity of the royal family, it has to grow out. to a series of scandals. As long as that does not happen, the popularity of the Dutch royals will remain unabated.”

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