The Princess of Orange, News and Events Part 2 (Jan 2024 - present)

[Marengo]

The Princess of Orange has written a letter to Prime Minister Rutte. She announces that from 2025 onwards she will no longer return the income she receives from the government, as she has been doing these last years.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1787849900115263901

Note that the princess only talks about the B-part of the income. Her own personal income of 300.000 Euros will still be transferred back to the state.

The princess states the money is needed for her function, to cover material and staff costs.

 

[Somebody]

Transparent and announced well in advance. It makes me curious what the plans are for her public role and support from next year.

 

[An Ard Ri]

There must be big plans for The Princess of Orange in 2025!

 

[Somebody]

She will graduate next year, so it will be interesting to see what kind or 'royal agenda' she will undertake next to preparing for her graduate studies. The message clearly states that she will not keep the income part until she has finished her studies, so I am quite sure a master's degree will follow.

In her letter she also references the 'unexpected circumstances', so they might have decided that she needs her own secretary (and place to work and live) a bit earlier than expected as thorough preparation is necessary for anything she undertakes.

 

[Somebody]

The prime minister fully understands Amalia's decision. He stresses that she is getting more 'visible' in her role as 'crown princess' (unofficial term) for example during the recent state visit but also at other events - and needs to prepare for her changing role now she is progressing in her studies. He also mentions that she won't keep the 'income part' yet and that she was entitled to all of the money from the moment she turned 18, so it is praiseworthy that she decided against it at first, but of course, is fully understandable that she decides to keep it when she needs it.

Prinses Amalia gaat toch toelage van 1,5 miljoen euro per jaar gebruiken

Demissionair premier Rutte heeft dit aan de Tweede Kamer bekendgemaakt. Het gaat om een bedrag van 1,5 miljoen euro.

nos.nl

 

[Marengo]

The PM clarified more during a talk with RTL Nieuws. He says that the income will be used to build up an independent secretariat, a reservation will be made for future living/ and working place and thirdly eventual other costs due to her visibility and the expectations around representation. The latter will be limited for now so the largest part will go to the second component, the reservation for a future place to work and live.

The Prime Minister adds that due to the Law on the Royal House she will be entitled for a house and an office provided by the state. She will not be using that as it would have brought along many costs as well. Instead this contruction now has been chosen, as was the case for her father (Noordeinde 66 and later Villa Eikenhorst) and her grandmother (Drakensteijn Castle).

Amalia houdt vanaf 2025 haar onkostenvergoeding van ruim 1,5 miljoen

Prinses Amalia houdt vanaf januari 2025 het geld dat zij jaarlijks krijgt voor onkosten. De 20-jarige troonopvolgster zag de afgelopen jaren af van de toelage omdat zij dit 'ongemakkelijk' vond zolang ze geen tegenprestatie leverde. 'Met het verstrijken van tijd' denkt ze daar nu anders over...

www.rtl.nl

Let's hope she has a frugal nature as real estate prices in The Hague and Wassenaar have also increased a lot & will certainly need substantial savings. I suppose in due course the easiest thing would be to have another villa constructed on the Horsten estate near Eikenhorst as the security infrastructure will still be there, though I am not sure there is that much space without the cutting of trees and such, which will probably lead to never ending court cases by evironmental organisations and neighbours. It would be refreshing if she opted something a bit further from The Hague. I believe Beatrix owns the largest part of the forest between Drakensteijn and Soestdijk. Time will tell.

 

[SOS]

The Prime Minister's explanation makes sense, but it doesn't really clarify the 'unexpected circumstances' she mentioned.

 

[Somebody]

The Prime Minister's explanation makes sense, but it doesn't really clarify the 'unexpected circumstances' she mentioned.

A heightened security risk most likely brings along higher costs for her living/working arrangements.

 

[tommy100]

I'm confused, if the state provided her with a residence why does she need to save for a residence?

Otherwise, I get as her roles increases she needs some of her allowance to pay for increased expenses and costs. Even if it is just some secretarial support in the background, it costs.

 

[Somebody]

I'm confused, if the state provided her with a residence why does she need to save for a residence?

Otherwise, I get as her roles increases she needs some of her allowance to pay for increased expenses and costs. Even if it is just some secretarial support in the background, it costs.

As the PM explained, the state is in practice not providing her with a residence - instead a different and more cost-effective construction is chosen... However, I also don't fully understand the inner workings of this arrangement.

 

[Marengo]

I find the logic a bit odd as well, but it has been done before. I imagine it evades a public outcry the moment she does find a place for herself and the public will be angry at expensive doorknobs and golden taps which she will supposedly want all paid for by the proverbial 'hardworking Dutch tax payer'. And it will evade too much haggling between the court/Amalia and the Rijksgebouwendienst (State building service) about the decoration, she will be more free to do as she pleases with the property.

In addition it is a solid investment for her which she would otherwise not have.

 

[tommy100]

I have to say I'm stumped by this, is the plan she uses her official allowance to save up for a residence of her own? If so, surely that would be state property and not her own? It would seem more logical to say she is taking the personal part of her allowance and saving that up as that is her "salary" (even if we want to say royals don't get paid for the work they do) thus her own to do as she pleases with.

I appreciate it may be nothing like that at all and I'm just fully misunderstanding it all.

 

[Somebody]

I have to say I'm stumped by this, is the plan she uses her official allowance to save up for a residence of her own? If so, surely that would be state property and not her own? It would seem more logical to say she is taking the personal part of her allowance and saving that up as that is her "salary" (even if we want to say royals don't get paid for the work they do) thus her own to do as she pleases with.

I appreciate it may be nothing like that at all and I'm just fully misunderstanding it all.

It seems that is what the prime minister is saying. He stresses that this is part of the system/monarchy and also emphasizes that it is the responsibility of the state to take care of that but that -like her father and grandmother- she doesn't use that facility that is lawfully hers but wants to do it independently... I guess most people would be able to do so 'independently' if they would receive 1,5 million yearly from the government to do so... However, she is the only heir to the throne...

The PM stated that the money will be used for 3 different purposes:
1) building up her private secretariat (this will increase of the years as she is building a more active portfolio)
2) reservation for future work and living quarters (the largest part for now)
3) everything related to her increased visibility (I assume that includes clothing etc)

 

[Marengo]

Jeroen Snel -the usually well informed royalty reporter for RTL Boulevard- mentioned that the 'surprising circumstances' in the letter indeed refer to the situation in Spain, which has led to increased costs (renting an additional appropriate location for example). He also refers to Eveline van der Bent as her secretary. Officially Van der Bent works for the King and Queen but -according to Snel- in practice he says she works full time for Amalia.

Amalia besluit toch deel van toelage te behouden: 'Heeft veel uitgaven'

Bij aanvang van haar studie aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam in 2021, deed Amalia (20) afstand van haar toelage van ruim 1,8 miljoen euro. Echter, enkele uren geleden heeft ze demissionair premier Mark Rutte laten weten dat ze vanaf januari 2025 toch een deel van deze toelage wil behouden.

www.rtl.nl

 

[kalnel]

Does anyone know if that's a complete photo of the letter? It seems odd for an official letter from the princess to the prime minister with no letterhead or business formatting.

 

[victor1319]

I did totally not recognize, that the Crown Princess makes use of her apanage now. Today the German tabloid BUNTE online had a bit about it, concentrating very much onto the critics of the Royal House. "Can't resist the money", "Amalia should go back home, where everything she needs will be provided" and so on...

My 2 cents: In my humble opinion it is her good right and her money! I am unaware of the exact circumstances in the Netherlands, but very often one finds, that the money Royals recieve from the state coffers, is given to them for former rights they did let go.

So, to the specific case of Princess Amalia: If I remember it right, she was already receiving the money, but gave it regularly back and planned to continue to do so for the time of her studies. Well, this was, if one looks at the aftermath now, obviously a severe mistake! Also: If a right is not used on a regular basis and that for a long time, it becomes void - so, this affair here might have had let to a legal situation, where a Crown Prince/ss has to give up on the income, the apanage, for the time of the education!

But what, Money is nice and it rustles so beautifully!

Now the public relations demage is done and the critics of the Monarchy have a field day - and all because of inappropriate humbleness...

 

[Somebody]

The Princess of Orange is not making use of her apanage now. She announced that she will start making use of it from January 2025; this year she continues to refund the apanage she receives (as she has done since December 2021).

And nobody is having a field day... this was announced a month ago and it has received very limited attention - a little on the day it was announced but that was about it. And I don't think it is considered a mistake by the royal house. I am pretty sure they still stand behind Amalia's decision at that time. I am quite sure there would have been much more criticism had she kept the money while she was enjoying a gap year...

Most people are very understanding of Amalia's circumstances and are mainly happy that the situation has somewhat improved so she can at least live in the Netherlands again - even though the costs might be a bit higher than previously anticipated.

 

[lucien]

The Prime Minister's explanation makes sense, but it doesn't really clarify the 'unexpected circumstances' she mentioned.

That was in relation to the changes as her life was in danger,rather unexpected circumstances indeed.

 

[Muhler]

So, she's being accused of being greedy. But does she even need her apanage to cover her private expenses? (Most of it is after all supposed to cover her staff, representation, expenses, administration etc. - with only a small part being her "salary").
As far as I understand the Dutch royals are not without means - to put it mildly.

So accusing her of greed is a bit off target IMO.

Anyway, getting an apanage is also about learning how to build up a staff of her own, laying out a budget and so on. Because even though she will get the best advise available, she is the one who is ultimately responsible for covering her expenses and it is absolutely possible to get it wrong in the beginning.
- As some of us may have learned, when we moved away from home...

 

[Michiru-Kaiou]

So, she's being accused of being greedy. But does she even need her apanage to cover her private expenses? (Most of it is after all supposed to cover her staff, representation, expenses, administration etc. - with only a small part being her "salary").
As far as I understand the Dutch royals are not without means - to put it mildly.

The Dutch apanage is divided into two parts, the one covering expenses for the fulfillment of her function, the second is the personal income. The Princess of Orange will, come 2025, still return the personal income, but keep the part, that is meant to cover the costs of her role.

best wishes Michiru