© photo: Anneke Janssen
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In his Christmas speech, the Dutch king King Willem-Alexander on Saturday called for people to continue working together despite their differences. The monarch mentioned the corona pandemic and climate change as problems that “affect us all”.
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jvhSource: BELGIAN
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Willem-Alexander acknowledges that there are many differences between people, but hopes for more connection. “Even if we know that we can never agree on one subject, we have to keep looking for what we do share. Even though points of view are far apart: we must continue to live together,” he said in the speech from Huis ten Bosch Palace.
The king sees that both young and old are willing to help solve problems. “Like the corona pandemic. But also the climate change, which we have created ourselves and of which we are now experiencing the consequences.”
Doing something together to “protect our lives on earth” can be part of “our story”, according to Willem-Alexander. “It’s hard to believe in a society without a story. We make that story ourselves. A new cabinet cannot be missed. Everyone is needed.”
Incidents
Willem-Alexander said nothing in his speech about the corona rules and the fact that he and his family sometimes had difficulty following them in the past year. The last time it went wrong was this month during Princess Amalia’s eighteenth birthday. The eldest daughter of the royal couple had invited more people than was allowed to a party in the garden.
The king himself made a mistake, among other things, when he shook hands last summer and did not keep his distance from football supporters in The Hague at a match of the Dutch national team during the European Football Championship.
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