The somewhat false royalty expert Rick Evers is threatening to hunt the Oranjes now that they do not adhere to the media code that they have imposed themselves. “Is there still a deal?” he wonders.
Rick Evers is furious. Very fierce. He wants the Oranje to arrange a second photo opportunity as soon as possible, because otherwise the royalty reporter is in danger of no longer adhering to the media code, and Willem-Alexander and Máxima must therefore take into account that he will also go after them privately. And behind their three daughters.
No second photo
There is a lot to be said about the Oranje’s decision not to organize a second photo opportunity this year, as has been customary in recent decades. It was intended as a kind of reward for the media who adhere to the media code imposed by them. In exchange for two photo opportunities, they are then left alone in private time.
Why was the second photo opportunity cancelled? Nobody knows that. According to Shay Kruger, one of the experts in RTL Boulevard, Willem-Alexander is angry because of a cover of the weekly magazine Privé that showed his daughter Princess Alexia getting into the car with hit singer Antoon.
Rick is angry
That’s all well and good, but Rick is angry. “It is a crucial agenda item in the Oranjeagenda. The photo is the compensation for the media code, the agreement imposed by the RVD on the press to leave the Oranje alone in private time,” he writes in his column in the Weekend.
He continues: “The time when the Oranjes were spied on from boats at their holiday home during holiday time has been behind us for decades. That is precisely why it is striking that the photo has not been taken this year. Without explanation.”
Rituals
Those photo moments of the Oranjes are of course never newsworthy. “Nevertheless, the photo opportunity confirms: the ritual continues, the agreement still applies. Rituals function as long as they are repeated. We have not seen any photos from Lech for years.”
In the past, the royal family was photographed during winter sports. Maybe that will happen again, Rick threatens. “Anyone who unilaterally suspends an agreement without explanation changes the nature of the deal. Not legally, but symbolically.”
Is there still a deal?
It is in the hands of the Oranges themselves, Rick decides. “The press adheres to the media code because they get something in return: access, predictability, moments of visibility.”
“The fact that there is no photo opportunity now means that confirmation of the deal between the Oranjes and the media is missing. The photo was never just a photo. It was a handshake. Without a handshake, the question inevitably arises: is there still a deal?”