In the carnival regions of the Netherlands, more and more women are standing up as Prince Carnival. In the coming days they will hold the key to their residence, while traditionally it was always a man who fulfilled this role. The women also trickle into the Council of Eleven.
The gender of Prince Carnival has not been a topic of discussion in Waalre for years, says councilor and former carnival prince Tanja de Leeuw. She also sees women standing up as princes or princesses in the surrounding villages. “Only in Eindhoven have I never seen one.”
In 2006, De Leeuw became one of the first female Carnival Princes of the Netherlands. “It took a bit longer to lobby before it got there,” she tells NU.nl. “But there was no real resistance.”
At the time when De Leeuw entered the position, it was still called Prince Carnival, regardless of the fact that she is not a man. “Just like mayor or minister, Prince Carnival is neutral,” she explains. Nevertheless, residents of Waalren now speak of a princess when there is a woman.
Venlo gets a princess for the first time
Vera Tax, MEP in daily life, is this year the first Princess Carnival ever in Venlo at carnival association de Gaaskaetel. Tax himself has “no idea” why this has taken so long. “When the first carnival association in Venlo was founded in 1842, women did not yet have the right to vote, but that is different now.”
Tax is “very proud that the glass ceiling has been shattered” by her arrival. According to the princess, the reactions are very positive. And she’s not the only female newcomer. From this year, three women will also be on the Council of Eleven, the board of a carnival association, for the first time. That was a requirement for Tax. “I didn’t want there to be a one-off princess, it had to be something permanent.”
Carnival association De Beerpiëp in Tegelen, also in the municipality of Venlo, has a princess for the first time this year. And she has two female aides, says chairman Léon van Deur. “Finally!” was, according to him, the most common response. Van Deur thinks that this example will “definitely” be followed, but “women in the role of monarch, the mouthpiece of the association, or in the Council of Eleven, are still a rarity.”
The Schottelsacks in Over d’n Dam, a collective name for five villages between Ravenstein and Oss, have had princesses since the year 2000, says chairman Johan Kuijpers. According to him, a change has taken place this year, because for the first time there are two women in the Council of Eleven.
Den Bosch officially does not allow a princess
In Den Bosch, the city that goes by the name Oeteldonk during Carnival, no princesses are officially allowed. There is, however, the unofficial Princess Carnival association, which has proclaimed a Princess Carnival for the third time this year.
According to a spokesperson for Princess Carnival, the Oeteldonksche Club, an official carnival association in Den Bosch, has a female flag bearer for the first time this year. “Now there is hope for all those girls and women who want to become princesses one day and I wish them that,” said the spokesperson.
