The Dutch princess Amalia is going to refund her upcoming allowance during her studies. The seventeen-year-old princess made this known in a self-written letter to Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
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From her eighteenth birthday (on December 7), Amalia would receive 300,000 euros in salary on an annual basis and 1.3 million euros for preparation for the monarchy and a royal household. She therefore does not accept the 300,000 euros. Neither does the 1.3 million, but she will do that as long as she will not incur high costs in her position as Princess of Orange.
Very generous
Discontent had been lurking around the allowance for some time. Votes went up in the House of Representatives that the remuneration for the future head of state was very generous, especially because she has barely reached the age of majority. However, it is the House itself that has approved the remuneration structure for members of the Royal House.
Amalia has written to Prime Minister Mark Rutte herself to clarify her decision. She says she finds it “uncomfortable” to receive the money while she “cannot offer much in return and other students have it so much harder, especially in these uncertain corona times”.
Holiday to Greece
The palace’s announcement comes after a year of mounting criticism of the royal family. The failed holiday to Greece in October, for example, aroused resentment among many Dutch people and in politics, because it was planned at a time when citizens were being called upon to stay at home.
The leaked photo in which the king and queen did not keep a meter and a half away from a restaurant owner was also bad, as was the delivery of the king’s previously ordered speedboat, which reportedly cost 2 million euros. The allowance for Amalia only added to the list of annoyances. Meanwhile, the popularity of the Oranges declined, according to an opinion poll.
It is emphasized in royal circles that a monarchy will always have peaks and valleys and that people do not react ad hoc to advertising setbacks. Nevertheless, the return of Amalia’s allowance stands out as a signal that the royal family does not seem deaf to sentiments in society.
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