The Dutch royals are botching covid-19 etiquette
After an ill-judged holiday, the House of Orange has lost a bit of juice
POLITICALLY, COVID-19 has been good for Mark Rutte, the Netherlands’ prime minister. Polls show his party’s support has risen from about 15% to 25% since March. Not so for his sovereign, King Willem-Alexander. In April 76% of Dutch said they trusted the king; in December that had dropped to 47%, according to Ipsos, a pollster. Support for the monarchy as a whole fell from 74% to 60%. The main cause seems to be two disastrous holidays. In August Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima were photographed breaking social-distancing rules in Greece. In October the family returned there during the Dutch autumn break, even as the Netherlands headed towards a lockdown. The trip was cut short by public outrage.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Bruised Oranges”
Europe January 9th 2021
From the January 9th 2021 edition
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