It means “an awful lot” to King Willem-Alexander that King’s Day can continue after two years, he told reporters in Maastricht on Wednesday, where King’s Day is celebrated. “What it also means, in particular, is that we should be thankful that we can celebrate this together in peace and freedom after being locked up for two years.” Queen Máxima also told the NOS that she has missed “that feeling of connection” over the past two years.
To questions about the criticism of the royal family and the loss of confidence that emerged from the polls that One today and made the NOS public on Wednesday morning, King Willem-Alexander said that polls do not mean much to him. “What I do like is constructive criticism. If you don’t get it, you could end up like Putin and nobody wants that.”
The polls showed that confidence in the king has fallen sharply since the start of the corona crisis. From the moment he took up his position in 2013, the percentage that had confidence in his performance was always around 80 – now it is 54 percent, writes EenVandaag. A NOS survey shows that only 47 percent of the Dutch have “(very) much confidence” in the king.
On Wednesday morning, a reporter from NPO Radio 1 reported at the house of the mayor of Maastricht that her home had been defaced. The words ‘fuck the king’ and ‘fuck the monarchy’ were written in graffiti on the facade. In addition, a group of about forty republican demonstrators stood on the Vrijthof on Wednesday with banners that read ‘Willem the Last’. They say they were sent away from the square around 12 noon.
55th birthday
The royal family arrived in Maastricht around 11 a.m. on Wednesday morning, where the festivities around King’s Day take place. They were received by the mayor of the city, Annemarie Penn-te Strake, at the Sint Servaasbrug. In a speech she congratulated the king on his 55th birthday.
“We start at the Maas, our source, Mother Maas,” explained Penn-te Strake. “We hope that when you get back on the bus later, you take a little bit of the love for our city north with you.” The group walked in two hours from the Sint Servaasbrug to the Vrijthof, where the program came to an end. Along the way, local entrepreneurs, artists and athletes will present their ideas and products to the royal family.
“In 2020 and 2021 you said: what is in the barrel does not sour,” the mayor told the king. “Today you make it happen.” King’s Day would also take place in Maastricht in 2020 and 2021. It was canceled both years due to the measures in force against the spread of the corona virus.
On the Onze Lieve Vrouweplein André Rieu and the Johan Strauss Orchestra played the Maastricht song ‘Mestreech is neet breid’ for the royal family. The Spanish-language ‘Cielito Lindo’ was performed for Queen Máxima.