King Willem-Alexander’s Christmas speech is not received with loud applause by Frits Huffnagel. The Shownieuws expert thinks the direction is bad. “Why those hands in the picture?”
King Willem-Alexander can be seen every year with a TV speech on Christmas Day. 1.1 million people watched it yesterday, spread over several channels. “And that is very little”, knows viewing figures expert Tina Nijkamp. “It is not only the popularity of the king that is declining, but also the viewing figures of his Christmas speech.”
Not shape well
According to Tina, the viewing figures are not good. “Last year there were a total of 1.5 million. In 2020 there were 2.2 million. Historically poor Christmas viewing figures for our king. No less than 400 thousand less than the previous low,” she writes in her Instagram stories.
Frits Huffnagel tells Shownieuws that he liked the king’s message, but that the form is just not right. “The form is of course also important, because we all know that Willem-Alexander is not one natural is. That is not someone who speaks fantastically easily.”
Not natural
You have to help the king a little in terms of direction, says Frits. “If you look at his colleagues, you see that many of his colleagues are not naturals. The Belgians have not been very lucky in that respect, but you also see that if someone speaks more easily, like Charles, the form becomes much easier.”
It has now gone wrong with the hands of the king, he thinks. “You always see, whether it’s a Christmas speech from a king or someone else: what do you do with your hands? And I actually thought he was portrayed in such a way that that was accentuated extra, so I don’t really understand why they don’t zoom in a bit more like they did with Charles.”
Light softer
Colleague Tooske Ragas agrees. “Yes, with Charles the light was also much softer. It was all a bit friendlier and with Willem I also saw: and that door was open, and there were flowers, and there was another cupboard, and there was still a light on. It was so busy!”
Royalty fan Sandra Schuurhof: “I do think he is getting better. We have also seen Christmas speeches that were difficult, but you can see that he is getting a certain relaxation. But yes, like Charles… That is just a talent in itself, isn’t it, with that beautiful voice.”
Compliment
Does Frits also have a compliment in store for the king? “I think it’s good that Willem-Alexander has stood up, because I think that if you sit behind a desk, it still creates a distance and makes it a bit stiff.”
The King’s Christmas Message:
