Pro-monarchy Dutch baulk at royal expenditure in a time of economic crisis

The Dutch are often staunch defenders of their royal family. Eighty-six percent think their country should remain a monarchy, according to a poll released on Thursday.

However, that same survey shows that over a third say their support for the royal House of Orange has been weakened by a recent debate over royal expenses and the news than Crown Prince Willem Alexander is building a holiday home in Mozambique.

The prince’s supporters say the idyllic project in a southern African beach resort will help the local economy, but critics say the project does little to aid development and there are growing calls for the prince to pull out.

News of the plans of the heir to the throne for a luxury African hideaway have intensified a wider debate about the cost of keeping the royal family at a time when the Netherlands is being forced by the economic crisis to count every euro.

Politicians on the left and right are demanding a freeze or cut in funding for the royal household saying Queen Beatrix and her family should share the burden of coping with the crisis.

However, the center-right government is pushing ahead with plans to increase the Queen’s income by 30,000 euro next year. Willem Alexander and his wife Maxima get an extra 7,000 euro each. The government has budgeted 39.6 million euro for the royal family which includes 5.1 million euro for the queen in salary and expenses.

Unusually, the far-right politician Geert Wilders earned support from other parties in parliament, when he called for a royal spending freeze. The monarch has also faced criticism over news that royal relatives had opened trust funds in the tax haven island of Guernsey and the court case launched by Willem Alexander against The Associated Press over seemingly innocuous photos of his family taken on vacation in Argentina.

All of which has come at a bad time as rumors persist that 71-year-old Queen Beatrix is considering abdicating after almost 30 years on the throne. However, Willem Alexander seems to have little need to worry. The TNS NIPO poll showed 59 percent of the Dutch want him to succeed to the throne with no weakening of the monarchy.

http://www.globalpost.com/notebook/europe/091009/pro-monarchy-dutch-baulk-at-royal-expenditure-time-economic-crisis