The Netherlands’ current king is Willem-Alexander. He’s married to Queen Maxima, and they have three daughters. Every time I see photos of this family, they look completely happy, joyful and jolly. Maxima and Willem-Alexander clearly adore their three daughters and, in recent years, they’ve been introducing their teen daughters to the media (to mixed results) and to the Dutch people. Their oldest girl is Princess Catharina-Amalia, and she’s the crown princess who will one day be queen of The Netherlands. Catharina-Amalia turns 18 years old later this year, in December. And apparently she does not want to receive some kind of government handout in the form of a $2 million allowance. WOW.
Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands, heir to the Dutch throne, is waiving her right to a hefty annual allowance. The eldest daughter of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima sent a hand-written letter to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Friday, informing him of her decision to turn down her nearly $2 million allowance until she takes up royal duties.
“On 7 December 2021 I will be 18 and, according to the law, receive an allowance,” Princess Amalia said in a letter published by Dutch public NOS. “I find that uncomfortable as long as I do not do anything for it in return, and while other students have a much tougher time of it, particularly in this period of coronavirus.”
Amalia added that she intended to take a gap year before starting her undergraduate studies. She said she would repay the nearly $400,000 she was entitled to during her time as a student and would not claim $1.6 million in expenses “until I incur high costs in my role as Princess of Orange.”
Princess Amalia passed her final exams at the Christelijk Gymnasium Sorghvliet in The Hague last week, graduating cum laude. In keeping with Dutch tradition, she raised the country’s flag along with her backpack in a video shared to the family’s social media accounts. “I just got a call with the news that I passed!” she said. “I want to congratulate all other graduates and wish other students good luck with any resits in the second period.”
Buttons Linchpin has 48 hours to respond! Seriously, a beautiful, teenaged Dutch princess is like “no, I don’t want the money.” How many teens would do the same? Very few, I think. I wonder if this is something she wanted to do on her own, or if she’d talked to her parents about all of this for a while. Maybe she’s considered what the money means and whether taking it might indicate that the press and the Dutch people already have a claim to her life. She wants to do a gap year and then go to university – it’s very likely she sees “refusing the money” as the best way to give herself some space to enjoy those years without everyone looking over her shoulder or telling her how to live. Anyway, I love this.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
This girl is brilliant! (And gorg!)
More stories about her!
I adore the Dutch RF and wish they were covered more, if for nothing else, the fashion! Maxima is such a gracious and dazzling Queen and seems like a lot of fun. It says a lot that you can tell that that whole group of European and Scandinavian royals–Maxima, Mary, Victoria, Mathilde, Mette-Marit–all seem to get along very well and seem like good friends with one another. The Dutch royals have a had one or two tone-deaf scandals (like trying to take off for a skiing trip during the height of the pandemic), but other than that they at least haven’t driven any in-laws out of their country.
There are very very strong familial ties between the Scandinavian royals. The Danish Queen and the Swedish King are literally first cousins – but there’s a history of intermarriage between the three Scandi RF’s as well as very close friendships. Queen Margrethe II of Denmark is very close to Queen Sonja of Norway. Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden regards Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark as a kind of surrogate brother. The CP couples of Denmark, Sweden and Norway are all good friends. The King of the Netherlands is the godson of the Danish Queen – and the Dutch king and Queen see the Danish CP couple privately. Furthermore, it was revealed at Margrethe’s 80-birthday that most of the younger European royals (including the kings of Holland and Spain) calls her Aunt Daisy (they all made video congratulations because the festivities were cancelled due to Corona). A former high-placed employee of QMII also revealed that several younger European royals approach Margrethe for advice on things.
In short, all the European royals are related by varying degrees of closeness – and they see each other regularly, both in private and for official occasions. The only ones who don’t really participate in these social relationships are the British royals, especially the younger generations (Charles’ generation and his children).
There’s a recent Scandinavian tv-show called Atlantic Crossing which is about the Norwegian RF during WWII – but it actually really conveys the fact that all the European RFs are related in terms of family. It is actually pretty good though heavy fictionalized. It has Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, British and American actors in it (Kyle McLachnan plays Roosevelt) and both Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and English are spoken. Sadly, I don’t know if it is available with English subtexts.
Wow, thank you for all that great info! Yes, it’s very obvious they are all close. It’s actually nice to see in Royal watching. Yes, they’re all over-privileged and live in a bubble, but that’s royals for you.
I haven’t watched it yet and know little about the production details (didn’t know its origin was Scandanavian tv), but Atlantic Crossing just ran on US PBS stations and is available for watching via their Passport.
Thanks for the interesting background details; the PBS description already sounded interesting, and will make sure to watch it soon.
I watched Atlantic Crossing and it was wonderful. You can stream in on Amazon Prime’s-PBS channel or on PBS Passport if you subscribe to either.
Atlantic Crossing is a much see for all royal watchers.
I’m glad it is available outside of Scandinavia. It was very much marketed in Denmark as the Scandinavian equivalent to The Crown and that made me a bit wary initially. But my father said that I should watch it and I’m glad that I did. I almost passed because the trailers were a bit overblown and “dramatic” in the bad way – but I was pleasantly surprised. Plus, the production values are really good. I really liked that the Norwegian king was played by a Danish actor who spoke Danish (because the king was a Danish prince before he was elected king of Norway), the Crown Prince was played by a Norwegian actor who spoke Norwegian and the Crown Princess was played by a Swedish actress who spoke Swedish because CP Märtha was a Swedish princess. One of the aspects that I was very leery about before I watched the show was the focus on Märtha’s relationship with Roosevelt because I feared it would veer into a cheesy or histronic territory – but while it may have been heavily fictionalized, I think that they really did portray the relationship well as an emotional affair.
@ArtHistorian, I just watched Atlantic Crossing and it did have subtitles. It did do an excellent job of showing the relations between families, right from the beginning. I am in Canada, so we can’t stream it from PBS but they do rerun shows on a regular basis. (At least the Spokane affiliate does!)
Shame Maxima’s dad was a fascist though .He was part of the Junta that liked to throw people from helicopters
Humbugged – He was not part of the Junta Militar. He was Minister for Agriculture. He was not part of the 3 assholes in charge. Get your facts right before accusing someone of human rights violations.
Members of INTA got dissapeared while he was in charge of it .And there was a lot more than 3 people involved
This story brought tears to my eyes. She’s beautiful both inside and out. I wish more people with privilege were like her.
Agreed. I teared up as well.
While I love the idea of her not accepting this money, I’m sure her parents will continue to pay for everything she needs. It’s not like she’s going to get a job at the local grocery stores and live only on that. And I’m sure she still gets her protection officers. She seems very very happy even with the people who have commented about her weight in the past. Lovely family, I’m sure it helps that they don’t have people analyzing their every move as other royal hose holds may have.
Yeah, with as many strings as I’m sure that money comes with, I’d refuse too. I’m sure she wants for nothing anyways and it’s not wasting money. At least not on her.
The House of Orange-Nassau which is the Dutch Royal Family is one of the wealthiest Royal Families in the world. We at talking Royal Dutch Shell here.
I think she turned down the “heir-to-the-throne” allowance because she is still living with parents and does not have a household to support which was a smart thing to do on her and her advisors part.
She returned it because there was a controversy about it.
@Cecilia – really? I’m intrigued. Do you have more info?
Yep. When it became public that she would receive an allowance of 1.6 million euro’s people were outraged. Especially in light of the covid pandemic, and the amount of businesses that had to close because of it. Students have been hit extremely hard, not just financially but also mentally.
And keep in mind that this is not the first time that there was anger over the dutch royal family and their spending.
Cecilia I’m interested to hear the “there’s more to the story”. It’s not as selfless as it appears?
It’s definitely not selfless but its the right pr move to make.
People were so angry over the fact she would get 1.6 million it even made the 6o’clock news. And the dutch royals never make the news unless its kings day, Prince’s day (opening of parliament) and their birthdays.
Aaaaaand there it is. I was pretty sure she wasn’t just doing this out of the kindness of her own heart.
It may be true that she also wants as little attention on her college life as possible, and this may be a way to help achieve that. But let’s be real here – monarchies have to be getting a little worried about their position in life as their uselessness and extreme spending get more and more exposed, especially after COVID.
But it’s a good PR move. And if she really will not touch that money then it’s not just PR. I mean, Keenbridges should hire her people. I get it all though, and I am antiroyalist, but even if it’s PR – she and her team made a good decision here. Until people and goverments get rid off royals it’s better if they acknowledge vox populi. I just wish I knew where that money would be going. Maybe I skipped it from the article. Sorry.
See British RF, that’s how it’s done. They are all super rich anyway so I see it more as a gesture showing she’s not going to get all the money she can. But it’s not like she is going to work as a waitress to support herself too.
Anyway, smart move to reduce tabloid intrusion in her life, I hope she gets those university years for herself and is not pressured to share her life before she has to.
It’s a huge non story! This Rf cost a lot and she’s not giving anything up really, she said while she’s a non working royal, which is to be expected. She’s taking a gap year or something and studying, but she’ll take the money when she starts royal work. They’ve been trounced for their cost.
But she’s going to take the money when she starts royal duties. They caught a lot of flack for going on vacation to Greece during the pandemic last year when I believe people were prohibited from traveling. When the public found out they had to cut trip short and apologize. The King was also criticized for buying a new expensive boat. So I think this really is about the Dutch Royal Family trying to get back public support. It’s still a good gesture but you have to question whether it would have been done if they didn’t suffer a dip in popularity.
Exactly, amy! Who falls for this crap.
I didn’t realize that they were caught leaving the island as I don’t follow them, but I should. At least they have a populace that are very vocal about how their taxes are being used and the royal family listens, unlike other royal families. I think that all of these monarchs should be abolished and convert to a democracy as they seem to continue to suck off the lives of others, especially Monaco. But good for her, I guess good for her since she seems to understand her privilege will be scrutinized.
@BothSidesNow Good point about the Dutch royals being able to read the room and adjust accordingly. If this were the BRF, the BM would be bombarding the public with gaslighting articles full of lies and distortions.
The Netherlands is not an island, though 😉
Whaaat? The Dutch family went in vacation during the Covid crisis last year? And the king bought an expensive boat during these difficult times?These ppl really live in a bubble…I really thought that the Nordic monarchies were better run than the British one..but they are the same..it’s just that one public accept less b**** than the other but they will try it until they get caught…I was ready to applaud the girl but it’s just for PR
The Netherlands is not a Nordic country.
All monarchies are bad.
@ Lara,sorry for my mistake I wanted to say European monarchies
@Tealily yup not a fan of monarchies either
The Netherlands is not one of the Nordics.
Yeah, and with the Greece trip Amalia and her sister “needed” to return a few days after her parents. The royal family had flown to Greece for the 2nd time during corona on a government plane, but returned via public airline.
I’m an expat married to a Dutchy. The Dutch royals are more palatable than the British ones. Maxima has a brain, and Wim Lex apparently does know something about business. That said, the Dutch royals costs the Netherlands more money than the British royals do the UK. This was a smart pr move, especially because the younger generation is a bit less pro royals.
Yeah I’ve heard the Dutch royals are mega-mega-rich.
Dutch are most expensive RF I think. Here I their (the government) jet. Plus the palace they moved into cost over 50m euro to renovate and the public paid that.
https://us.hola.com/royals/gallery/20190715fj92n1ysoe/queen-maxima-king-willem-alexander-new-plane-swng/1
It’s true, the Dutch royals received quite some backlash for that. Businesses were falling one after the other and still waiting for government support. Their popularity pretty much took a nose dive after that, so I think this is the least she can do to regain some of that goodwill from the general public.
She’s not taking the money unless she needs it basically. If she finds herself in need of more, she will use it.
She has already been bullied for her figure. Turning down the money is a great way for her to assert that she does not belong to the people, and they have no right to the minutia of her life. People feel entitled to judge/scorn/debate women’s bodies, choices, and experiences anyway, so this way, she asserts some self expression. It’s also a great choice in that she is one of 5 future women as Queen remnants of Europe. They have a chance to rewrite this entire European royal story. These girls aren’t going to act like factory assembled trophies a la Kate (yes they are born to the role and Kate isn’t—Kate has chosen to be royal Barbie, but these girls give Charlotte a set of different examples to observe).
Good for her!
Also, I’d like to add that she will take the money eventually when she starts doing royal duties. That’s not unexpected or wrong. I still think it’s important that she’s not taking it now, as she is not yet a working royal, and that money will certainly come with strings.
Queen regnant*, not Queen remnant**
*regnant = ruling
**remnant = remaining
Typo on my part—my bad!!
She turned it down due to PR, it’s not about control.
Things like this is why we don’t hear a lot of foolishness front other royal houses. You can look at William and he wasn’t trained properly early on.
William was her age in a totally different era though. She’s of the age that she would be very social media savvy, very aware of how the internet influences real life. Willi didn’t grow up in such an environment, he was nearly 20 around the time facebook just started wasn’t he?
It might be a PR move/doing it so popularity doesn’t fall but it’s a good move actually. I’m not Dutch so I don’t know how people would feel but I personally think it’s a good idea.
My bff is Dutch and it’s totally seen as pr to them
This isn’t for benign reasons, no royals just willingly give up their taxpayer funds out of the goodness of their hearts, they believe they are better than us peasants and deserve to live of our collective backs – it’s a PR move certainly.
Yep. That part.
These people believe they are ordained by God to rule over the rest of us. This is a PR move, period.
Maybe as an American I’ll never “get it” but I truly do not understand how monarchies exist in the year 2021.
Same here. Why would anyone with common sense want to pay for a lifestyle of luxury for people that are wealthy and can afford to pay their way? They are the bloodline considered as favored so why are the unflavored paying for them? You will always be irrelevant and beneath them. I don’t understand that mentally and I don’t want to either.
I honestly didn’t even know there was a monarchy there! I’ve never been much of a royal watcher, I’ve only heard of a few here and there around Europe, it’s kind of surprising there’s still so many, and that they still take money and do “royal duties“.
@stripe as a British person I don’t get it either. Even if the majority of British people wanted to get rid our government would never allow us to. I think the vast majority of us are just apathetic about the whole institution, we know it’s there and that it’s incredibly unjust and unfair, but we can’t do anything about it so why bother. To me it’s all linked to the idea of empire and so many politicians are still stuck thinking Britain is still a global empire that to even consider disbanding the monarchy is a personal affront.
@Stripe, the American presidential elections are often mentioned as an argument why a monarch is preferable to a presidency.
Neither is perfect, but a monarchy is less disruptive.
There is no district system, so everyone’s vote gets counted equally, wherever you are in the country. Coalitions are formed that deliver ministers from different parties that need to compromise, instead of 1 winner takes all
Perfect? Not at all, but I prefer it to the American system.
I think that it’s extraordinary what the European RF can get away with because the British one is so messy that they get all the attention. The Dutch royal family has been accused of overspending and going on holiday abroad while on lockdown hence Catharina Amalia giving up on her allowance.
Yup I always thought that the European monarchies were ‘better’ run than the British one but they are the same:they live in a bubble of privilege and just don’t understand ordinary lives..
the rest of the world isn’t up in arms about the BRF either — there are Commonwealth nations that are considering leaving but it isn’t because they don’t like Chuck or Willy, it is because the time is overdue and it would have likely happened already if TQ didn’t have the longevity she does.
It’s a good, heartwarming story, but I’m suspicious.
as other commenters have pointed out, this is an optics move. and a smart one, but still: optics.
i’m someone easily blinded by attractive looking people, so i will say she looks very beautiful in these pictures, *especially* because of her figure (apparently she’s been bullied for it in the press?)
This is how you do good royal PR. She’s still a teen, going to school, bankrolled by her parents and not doing full time public duties. Of course she doesn’t need this money.
Wow, she is a beauty.
Yes she is!
Lizzie, yes she is, and she’s intelligent. I’m looking forward to seeing what she does and how she does it. Meghan and Harry have shown another way to help people. I really hope that takes root in some of the European Monarchies. The brf is not going to change, but I wonder if the other royal families are paying attention?
Sounds like this girl is taking the fall for her family’s PR blunders during the pandemic. I’m sure her parents will keep her “comfortable” in the mean time.
Anyway, abolish all monarchies.
That was honestly my first thought, Catharina-Amalia is being used to deflect from the recent criticism. I do admire how Willem and Maxima have raised their daughters though, they’re more relaxed than the British royals, and I wish we saw more stories about them on here.
How much $$$ did her parents pull in during the pandemic and are they returning any of it to the people because it wasnt used?
She’s 18 yo and doesn’t need the money. Whether it’s for PR or not, it’s a good policy. No reason for her to have the allowance, when she isn’t working for the Crown.
She’s declining the money because there is a big stink in the Netherlands right now about the outrageous spending of the royal family. This article is from the Times(conservative newspaper)…and if they are reporting on it then you know its a big issue.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/dutch-pm-agrees-review-of-budget-for-the-monarchy-xjbtvtkxb
she did it because of the negative press the dutch royals have been getting, especially because of their finances.
she doesnt need it anyway
Weren’t they in a bit of hot water over a Greek vacation while the country was in lockdown? I assume she’ll still get money for expenses, just not this much. That is a lot of money to do nothing and she didn’t want to get dragged over it.
In the end, royals are royals and the whole notion in the 21st century is absurd. People fall into the mistake of elevating the other ones against the British ones but they’re no different in living a life of unearned privilege with shady money dealings except that their PR is better. In fact it would be better if the other royal families were as incompetent as the British ones so people do away with this illusion of “good” royals. I don’t think they are necessarily terrible people but the unearned privilege and taxpayer funding of billionaires are absurd. Like good for her I guess in giving up her “allowance” and doing the PR savvy thing but her getting one in the first place is ridiculous
Look at being better than the entire RBF. ( And yes, that includes Harry and Meghan)
I live in the Netherlands and they’re an interesting family. They do cost more than the British RF but also are much more down to earth and less fussy. The King knows water management, he knows how to fly a plane and for many years flew regularly as a pilot for KLM, putting actual work hours in without royal treatment. So there’s certainly a lot of interesting contradictions here.
I just wanted to drop in and see she looks just like Jillian from Workaholics!
Who falls for this PR crap?
ABOLISH MONARCHY.
The ability of Princess Catharina-Amalia (yes, I had to copy/paste the spelling of my new favorite “working royal”) to recognize the level of privilege she has, at her age, is astounding. It’s almost like a teenager is firing a shot across the bow, to other European royals, that she, as a teenager, recognizes if she receives anything related to honest working people paying taxes, she should actually work. Huh.