Why does the Netherlands still have a king?
The case against the Dutch royal family
After King’s Day, it’s a nice time to reflect on the fact that King Willem-Alexander is actually an unelected member of government. We cannot vote him, or his family, out. Meaning that we have no say over how they use their power.
If we, the voters, don’t like it it that the royal family takes enormous government handouts every year when victims of the benefits affair and Groningen gas extraction scandal can’t get compensated, or that the royals have amassed a billion-dollar fortune off the back of the dirtiest Dutch industries, or supposedly don’t interfere with politics yet have weekly calls with the prime minister and sign every single bill into law—there’s just nothing we can do about it.
Which is why I think that if the king wants to retain his ever-diminishing popularity, he should step down.
It’s easy and maybe even a little natural to be dismissive about the king. We're used to him! His role in the country is deeply ingrained. But we shouldn’t dismiss this! Voting for our leaders is the crux of representative democracy. It is… the entire point of the entire thing.
The counterargument here would be that not all state employees are elected. Like say, judges or civil servants or even the technocratic cabinet Geert Wilders floated in March.
But no civil servant rakes in tax-free millions every year. No one else has this significant of a role in government:
The King has weekly meetings with the prime minister, speaks regularly with ministers and state secretaries, signs all new Acts of Parliament and royal decrees and ratifies (as part of the government) international treaties...
On top of all that power, the Oranje-Nassaus are the tenth richest Dutch family, worth €1.3bn. The specifics of their finances are unknown, but it is assumed that the lionshare of their wealth comes from longstanding investments in big Dutch businesses like Shell and KLM.
A report last year showed that the King’s ancestors made a profit of €545m (in today’s money) off the slave trade of over one million people between 1675 and 1770.
Despite this massive personal wealth, the family takes jaw-dropping government salaries.
In 2024, the King will take a state-funded salary of €1.1m. For context, Prime Minister Mark Rutte makes €186,414 a year.
Queen Máxima will make €431,000.
Their salaries will rise by a combined €75,000 over 2023 because of... the collective labor agreement for central government employees. They are being compensated for inflation. Unlike many people in the country.
In addition to their salaries, the King’s annual budget is €55m euros. This includes maintenance of the palaces and 245 staff.
That's a lot of money! An argument in favor of this big budget goes like—that’s not a handout, they deserve it! They work hard on behalf of Dutch interests at home and abroad, fifty-five million euros is nothing in the grand scheme of the Dutch annual budget, and how else are they going to jet off to the UN for important meetings?
Let’s say I agree on that point. Which I don’t. In any case:
They are also exempt from inheritance tax, income tax, import tax, and asset tax. For some reason they report that they pay taxes on their cars. If the king were a private citizen, he would have to pay about €500,000 in tax on his €1.1m salary.
This is a handout.
There’s an expression that encapsulates the Dutch cultural value of equality: gelijke monniken, gelijke kappen—equal monks, equal hoods. Doe normaal—be normal, in the sense of not standing out—is a bit along the same lines. So it’s bizarre that this one family, even if it is the royal family, is afforded such exceptional treatment.
Although the tide may be turning—in the face of a sharp slide in the popularity of the royals, this year there is more parliamentary support than ever for making the family pay taxes.
The popularity of the royal family has been on a steady decline over the last decade. When the King was inaugurated in 2013, 80% of people were in favor of the monarchy. As of 2023, support has slid to 50%. Now, even 26% of people want the Netherlands to become a republic.
A variety of reasons contribute to this loss of popularity. In the middle of a housing crisis and terrible inflation (see some new stats below) it’s seen ridiculous that the king lives in such luxury; while the Netherlands was in corona lockdown in 2020 lockdown the royals were busted and shamed for fleeing to their mansion in Greece; and young people are much less likely to support the royal family than older people; with social media the royals are less mysterious and untouchable than they were to older generations.
And while I’m opposed to the royal family’s formal position as monarchs, I do think they have an important role to play in Dutch society. They do go to fancy meetings. They do provide a nationalistic rallying point that can be positive for the way it crosses class boundaries; the King and Queen belong to everyone, rich or poor.
Plus, there are not a lot of Dutch megastars. Max Verstappen? Clarice van Houten, Doutzen Kroes? Not really. It’s only natural to want someone Dutch on the world’s stage.
The Dutch monarchy is established in the constitution. To abolish it would require approval of both chambers of the parliament and then—guess what—the king would have to sign it! If he didn’t it would trigger a constitutional crisis at least and a revolution at worst. Which is why you shouldn’t have an unelected official signing bills into law. Anyway...
There’s an idea that the Dutch royal family has retained their power while others in Europe did not (see: France) by keeping their heads down, living in low-key castles out of town, and not flaunting their wealth.
Which is why I think the royals, if they want to maintain their popularity, should do the measured, democratic thing and step down of their own accord. They should live off their own billions, pay taxes, stop the phone calls with the prime minister, and stop signing bills into law. We can give them a nice little budget for maintaining the castles and security and travel, fine.
And let’s be honest, if they simply started voluntarily paying taxes their popularity would skyrocket.
Keep King’s Day. Call it King’s Day! The Dutch royals could become like Louis Alphonse de Bourbon, the heir to the defunct throne of France, who creates unhinged Instagram posts, with his wife in an actual tiara (embarrassing, really), longing for the glory days (1780). And why not! He’s a private citizen. He can do what he wants.
Princess Amalia is supposedly dating a so-called prince who’s the heir to the defunct Bulgarian crown. They met because Queen Máxima is friends with his mother. See? When you disband your monarchy it’s not even like you're ostracized from elite social circles.
In this world, the Dutch royals would have to maintain their power, their role as megastars / nationalistic figureheads, on the basis of their charisma and politics. Just like everyone else. It would be hard, as former Prince Harry and Megan Markle's absolutely disastrous favorability scores demonstrate.
But the Dutch royals can afford it.
And if the king insists on staying in office because it’s his divine right or whatever, will someone please at least put him in touch with the tailor to the King of Spain?
🔥 Hot Linkjes
Society
After a nine-year battle for “urination equality” Amsterdam will invest €4m in female-friendly public toilets. (Guardian)
The Dutch economic climate continues its steady decline. (CBS)
The NL is a great place to be a super-rich: on 2016, the average Dutch taxpayer paid a tax rate of 45%; billionaires paid only 17%. (New York Times)
Politics
Turkey now supports Mark Rutte’s NATO chief bid. Only Romania, Slovakia and Hungary still holding out—a unanimous decision is required. (Bloomberg)
A few new studies show how green energy policies are driving people to the far-right—this happens when individuals feel they have to bear the cost of the energy transition. (Washington Post)
Business
Grocery delivery service Getir is leaving the Netherlands. (NL Times)
Chinese-owned and Eindhoven-based digital optics developer Anteryon was the latest Dutch company to get caught up in concerns over national security threats. (The Next Web)
Tech & Health
The number of whooping cough cases are the highest in 10 years; four babies and two elderly adults have died. (Dutch News)
Crime
A Dutch woman was arrested in connection with the non-fatal 2023 shooting of the founder of the far-right Spanish Vox party. (Guardian)
🥳 Leuke Dingetjes
The Holland America Line is introducing a culinary “Dutch Day” on high seas around the world. They’ll serve poffertjes, shrimp, erwten soep, puff pastry with hollandaise sauce, bami goreng, tompouce, and apple pie, among other things.
A new single from Helsloot
The (too brief!) good weather got me in the mood for dance music.
📺 Kijk/Lees/Luister List
What I enjoyed watching, reading, and listening to this week.
TV / Movies
Baby Reindeer on Netflix was incredible, I can’t recommend it enough. Such total vulnerability and honesty on the part of the writer / actor and combined with pacy storytelling worked so well.
Articles / Books
I tore through The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood, about the making of the movie Chinatown. The collision of the life stories of Robert Towne, the writer, Jack Nicholson, Roman Polanski, and producer Robert Evans is def stranger than fiction.
“Two for the Pod Save America Crowd” by
Again, a great and informative article. I did not know that about the royals. I think that a monarchy is so antiquated. Thank you, keep those terrific stories coming.