By ASHLEY HALL
The Netherlands is about to have its first King since 1890. Queen Beatrix last week announced she would step aside for her son Willem-Alexander after more than 30 years on the throne. The Prince has worked hard to bolster his image in the past 15 years, swapping his reputation as a beer-guzzling party animal for the trappings of a family man. The Royal correspondent, Marc van der Linden, says the decision to abdicate came as no surprise to the Dutch.
Crown Prince Willem-Alexander
MARC VAN DER LINDEN: We’ve got a history of monarchs that abdicate in favour of the heir to the throne at certain points. We had three kings and three Queens and four of them altogether abdicated. So the system we use, we are used to it. We like the system, we like the fact that at a certain age the monarch is stepping down and we get a younger generation as King and as Queen. And that’s happening now.
ASHLEY HALL: What was the reaction like?
MARC VAN DER LINDEN: Well Beatrix is extremely loved, people respect her. She is a very – she’s been a very good Queen. There’s hardly any discussion about that. So people were very grateful for what she’s done for the country, emotional because it comes at a time that the Queen has a difficult period, a difficult time in her life. Her son had a very tragic accident last year, he’s in a coma since.
But most people also, you know, wish her some nice years, some peace, some rest, time for her hobbies, time to travel, time to enjoy grandchildren. So, you know, it’s a double feeling.
ASHLEY HALL: So she stands aside to hand over the reins to her son Willem-Alexander. What sort of indications are there about what kind of King he will be?
MARC VAN DER LINDEN: Well he said that he liked the way his grandmother was a Queen; close to the people, down to earth, extrovert, very open. His mother had a more business like style, she was (inaudible) there was always a little distance, but in the last years, especially since her husband died, her parents died, the accident of her son, the attitudes changed and Queen Beatrix became more open and more emotional in public sometimes.
And that, you know, that formed a very strong bond between her and her people.
ASHLEY HALL: Willem-Alexander did have a reputation as a bit of a party animal for – in his earlier years; has he managed to put that behind him?
MARC VAN DER LINDEN: Yes. He was, like all young men, enjoying his beers, he had some girlfriend, and when he married a lot of things changed. He became more serious, but he also became more open. We saw him as a father; he’s a very, you know, happy father, very loved by his – very much loved by his daughters. And we saw a lot of footage of him in his role as a father. And he’s given a lot of interviews, he’s very open to the press, he’s got a good relationship with the press at the moment.
So, compared to his mother, that’s completely different. And his mother never gave quotes on TV, never gave quotes for radio. When she was talking to the press we were not allowed to use her quotes as a quote. We could just, you know, paraphrase it but not quote her. And he’s very, very easy with that.
So, it’s going to be different, but it’s going to be good. He’s going to be a 21st Century monarch.
ASHLEY HALL: Give me an insight, Marc, into reporting on royalty in The Netherlands. Most of the royal reporting that we see in Australia relates to the British Royal family, contrast that a little for me or give me some insight into how you go about your work there.
MARC VAN DER LINDEN: The good thing for the Royal family in England is that the whole world is watching them. That’s also the downside for them. That puts on a lot of pressure, that makes the media always a little bit of a circus; it’s very hard to get very close to the Royals.
I’ve been travelling with the Queen and the Crown Prince and Princess Maxima last week to Brunei and Singapore and it’s really very easy to get close to them, to speak to them. We’re invited to the parties, we’re invited to see the same concerts, we are invited to eat the same food as they do.
So it’s different, it’s very close towards the family. Of course there’s always a distance because we are the media. They are, you know, writing a lot in Germany about the Dutch Royal family. The Belgians envy our Royal family, their own king and their royal family are not very popular, and they’re always saying ‘look at them, look at how they’re doing it.’
ASHLEY HALL: Marc van der Linden is a Royal biographer and one of the anchors of the daily news show RTL Boulevard. He spoke to me from Amsterdam.
The original story: http://www.abc.net.au/correspondents/content/2013/s3681801.htm
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