ANPPrincess Laurentien
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 01:36
Princess Laurentien’s involvement in the Allowances recovery operation already caused conflicts with civil servants at the Ministry of Finance three years ago. This is according to NRC based on conversations with more than twenty people involved and access to documents. Until now, it was only known that there were problems with the role of the princess as co-chair of the Foundation (Equal)worthy Recovery.
On Wednesday, King Willem-Alexander’s sister-in-law announced that she will immediately stop her work as chair of this foundation, which has been working on an alternative settlement of the benefits scandal since last year. “The very last thing I want is for it to be about me and to embarrass people and organizations that are close to my heart,” the princess said.
The princess has increasingly come under fire in recent months. For example, she has publicly expressed strong criticism of the way in which the Ministry of Finance deals with affected benefit parents. There have also been reports about the princess’s actions, in which the term ‘transgressive behaviour’ was used.
State Secretary intervened
The NRC investigation shows that Princess Laurentien clashed with ministry officials and other stakeholders in 2021, earlier than was known. At the time, it was about a scheme for children of affected benefit parents.
A foundation by Laurentien, Missing Chapter Foundation, was working with the ministry to set up a so-called child scheme. According to the newspaper, disagreements arose about all sorts of things, such as the substantive stamp the princess wanted to put on the creation of the scheme. The newspaper writes that the princess accused the civil servants of a lack of respect. And she allegedly made derogatory remarks to the civil servants.
Former State Secretary Van Huffelen of Allowances is said to have intervened. She decided that the princess would only be allowed to have contact with two civil servants of the ministry, the newspaper writes based on internal documents. But the situation did not improve completely and at least one civil servant is said to have asked the State Secretary to take more measures against the princess.
In NRC, Princess Laurentien responds to the new accusations. She does not recognize herself in the situations, the newspaper writes. She also denies having spoken to the State Secretary about conflicts or her working methods. According to her foundation, the Princess has succeeded in restoring the trust of children from the benefits scandal.