We do not accept partying young people in a tent during Corona time. We don’t accept it when people consciously ignore the rules. The majority of us believe that Ferd Grapperhaus should have resigned when he went wrong at his wedding. We do not tolerate ministers with a procession of officials in their wake having a drink after a debate and forgetting that no more than four people are allowed to sit at a table. And Prime Minister Rutte must stop constantly pointing out people’s own responsibility. Perform and be the boss, even if he prefers not to. Then he shouldn’t have become prime minister.
But the king and his family are going to vacation in Greece. The advice to only make necessary journeys is dismissed by the House of Orange. The Lower House is pissed off and Rutte is tongue-tied. According to the Government Information Service, the Oranges adhere to the travel advice. Then they did not pay attention during the press conferences of Rutte and De Jonge. Stay at home! Only travel if there is no other option! We hear no different in recent days. Rutte said it on Tuesday: “Don’t be that stubborn person who pushes the edges of the rules.” He did not know at the time that this stubborn person lives at Huis ten Bosch. At the palace they are East Indies deaf. And Rutte has something to explain to an indignant parliament.
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The family left Schiphol-East like a thief in the night. Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Hugo de Jonge, was unaware of the King’s departure. The RVD was silent, because no announcements are made about private trips. It was only when the outrage took on increasing proportions that the Oranges realized that a trip in corona time was simply not possible and they returned head over heels. They could have thought of that a little earlier.
Suddenly the RVD went off and came with a statement from the king that he was going to cut off his vacation. Because the reactions were intense ‘and they touch us’. Suddenly, the Oranges realized that the corona rules must be complied with to get the virus under it and that a discussion about their holiday does not contribute to that.
It shows the lack of empathy of the royal family, which does not seem to have an antenna for what is going on in society anyway. Rumor about a house in Mozambique or an expensive speedboat in Greece, or the annual discussion about the costs of the royal family; the Oranges go around with a big bow and remain silent. But it doesn’t have to be that difficult to win over the people.
At the time of the first corona wave, Willem-Alexander and Maxima called care institutions every day, with people who had been hit hard by the crisis. They traveled across the country to support victims and companies. The king’s popularity grew to unprecedented levels.
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But it is short-lived each time. If you say in the speech from the throne on Budget Day that we ‘have to brace ourselves for the consequences of a severe economic downturn’ and at the same time receive a salary increase of more than five percent, then that does not go well in this country. The income of the royal family is simply a sensitive subject. He may not even be able to help it, it is the law after all, but you can make a gesture. Prince Albert of Monaco returned 40 percent of his income to the state treasury because of corona. Willem-Alexander could donate his raise and make his daughter forgo a statutory benefit of 1.6 million because she turns 18. In Belgium, the heir to the throne will only receive this benefit if she actually starts fulfilling obligations as crown princess.
The royal family would do well to listen to the noises in society, which has now happened under pressure, and not to pretend. Close to home, in Room and Cabinet, it can absorb enough to realize that the trip to Greece was at the very least awkward. Minister Stef Blok of Foreign Affairs would not go on a flying holiday at this time, his colleague Grapperhaus emphasized that everyone should stay at home as much as possible. And in the House of Representatives, not only the opposition complains, but also an Orange-loyal government party such as the CDA finds it undesirable for the royal family to start a discussion about the corona rules.
The holiday of the House of Orange is over, hopefully they have a life lesson richer.
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