The Dutch king Willem-Alexander, his wife Máxima and their daughters have been back in their own country since Saturday evening. The royal family arrived at Schiphol in all discretion on Saturday just after 8 p.m. with a KLM flight from Greece. Willem-Alexander had to interrupt his holiday after severe criticism in his own country.
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Shortly after their arrival, the royal flag was hoisted again at Huis ten Bosch Palace in The Hague, a sign that the king is back in the Netherlands. The family was around 9 pm, according to the Dutch newspaper The Telegraph home again.
A van was waiting at the bottom of the plane to take Willem-Alexander and his family home in haste. The return flight of the royal family from Athens to Amsterdam with a scheduled KLM flight also appears to have been carried out with the utmost discretion. None of the passengers appeared to be aware of the royal family’s presence.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“We only heard about it when we were at the baggage claim,” say a few passengers The Telegraph. “We were never told on board that the King was on the same flight with his family. A pity, because we would have liked to see something of it. ”
The flight departed Athens ten minutes late. It is usually the case that high-ranking guests, such as members of the royal family, only come on board just before the door closes. They are therefore the first to leave the aircraft.
Outside residence with government plane
On Friday, Willem-Alexander announced through the Dutch Government Information Service (RVD) that he would abort his vacation to Greece. That report followed the heavy criticism from our northern neighbors after it was leaked that the king had departed earlier that day with a government plane to his country residence in Greece. And that while the Dutch population was explicitly called upon to stay at home as much as possible now that the corona figures are turning deep red.
The Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte had to confess on Friday evening that he was aware of Willem-Alexander’s vacation plans. He too came under heavy political criticism as a result. On Sunday afternoon he sent a letter to the Dutch House of Representatives in which he acknowledged that he had made “a wrong assessment”. “I bear full ministerial responsibility for this,” it said.
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