Königstag: Dutch cheered their monarchs

The Dutch celebrated their king’s 58th birthday with street parties in the sign of the national color of Orange on Saturday. Not far from the border with North Rhine-Westphalia, the official jubilee reception for Willem-Alexander took place in the city of Doetinchem.

He understands that this was “a day with two faces”, the king said on the same day on St. Peter’s Square in Rome with a view to the funeral service for Pope Francis. Francis had succeeded in touching “the core of what life is about, the king said in a video message:” Love, humanity and mutual care “. This “community spirit” is also characteristic of the annual royal day, which is “a festive day of attachment”.

At the funeral service for the Pope, the Netherlands were represented by their Prime Minister Dick Schoof. Meanwhile, there was a lot of applause for the king and Queen Máxima (53), who appeared in a short -sleeved dark blue ensemble and loop hats, and the princesses Amalia (21) and Alexia (19). The 18-year-old Princess Ariane was apologized for her exam preparations to a college in Italy.

The royal family was also pleased with an increase in its popularity values: 62 percent of the Dutch currently support the monarchy-an increase of five percentage points compared to the previous year, according to the Königstag survey commissioned by the public service broadcaster NOS.

In addition, trust in King Willem-Alexander is personally in the upward trend after years with doubts and criticism of his office. Run NOS rose to 51 percent after only 44 percent in the previous year. When the king took office in 2013, however, this value was still around 75 percent. Willem-Alexander and Máxima caused trouble in their “subjects” during the Corona crisis when they jetted in a holiday villa in Greece, although the Dutch should actually stay at home.