According to a survey, the Dutch royal couple lost the trust of many compatriots due to rule violations during the Corona crisis. Only a little more than half of the population (55 percent) are in favor of maintaining the monarchy, the public broadcaster NOS reported today.
This is the lowest value determined by the Ipsos Institute since the inauguration of King Willem-Alexander (55) ten years ago. At that time, 78 percent of those surveyed said they supported the monarchy.
The April 30 jubilee poll also found increasing support for converting the kingdom into a republic – 24 percent, up from just 11 percent a decade ago.
Outraged behavior during pandemic
The polls for the royal family plummeted when it became known in autumn 2020 that they had flown to their holiday home in Greece on a government plane, although the authorities had called on all citizens to stay at home as much as possible because of the risk of corona infection remain.
The outrage was so great that Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima canceled their vacation and apologized to the people via video. A photo had previously caused indignation in the summer: it showed the royal couple in Greece with the owner of a restaurant – without the safety distance of 1.5 meters prescribed at the time.
According to Ipsos, the trust in the king himself, which has fallen as a result of these corona missteps, has not recovered since the end of the pandemic: 46 percent had “a lot or quite a lot of trust” in Willem-Alexander – ten years ago 74 said so Percent. Máxima (51) was rated a little better: 59 percent trusted her, but overall her reputation fell compared to the time before Corona.
According to the NOS, the declining support for the royal family is part of a broader societal trend in the Netherlands. What is striking, however, is that more people still trust the royal family than the media and politics.
