Can the Dutch insult the royals (and get away with it?)

Soon, the whole country comes together to celebrate King’s Day. However, not all Dutch people are fans of the monarchy.

During the Prinsjesdag celebrations of 2022, some Dutchies decided to flip off the king, and you may be wondering: can they actually do that? 👀 

Technically, nee. The Dutch are not as egalitarian as we think they are.

During that Prinsjesdag, a few thousand demonstrators came to The Hague and gave the royal family a piece of their minds. Some protestors yelled “coward!” at King Willem-Alexander.

What happened to these protestors?

Although insulting the king was decriminalised in 2020, you still can’t get away with it. This is because it’s now being treated the same way as insulting any other public servant — and yep, that’s a crime. 

Right after the new laws came into force, a man was sentenced to public service for calling Queen Maxima “the daughter of a murderer,” referring to her dad’s position in the Argentinian junta. 

Now, the royal family is only protected by general defamation laws, which are much lesser crimes than the previous “insulting the king” allegation that could get you up to five years in prison.

Back to our protestors: It would be the question of whether calling someone a “coward” counts as defamation. Moreover, it is difficult to identify specific perpetrators amid a large crowd.

However, if someone is caught defaming the Dutch royal family, they could be fined as much as a few thousand euros — and may even have to do community service.

Why do people do it? 

Many people are upset with the current government, which hasn’t been able to solve the country’s inflation crisis, and they want King Willem-Alexander to take action. 

According to the protestors, the king — as the formal head of the government — is a coward for not sacking Prime Minister Rutte amid a cost of living crisis. 

While constitutionally, the king could or would never be able to do this (with the little kingdom still being a democracy and all), apparently, this wasn’t their concern. 

“The king is at the head of the government. He could have sent the ministers home because things are going wrong in this country. The fact that he does not do that makes him a coward,” a protester in The Hague told RTL Nieuws. 

What do you think about the protestors’  demonstration? Tell us in the comments below!