King's salary under fire

According to MP for PvdA, Jan Vos, King Willem-Alexander is earning too much money, and must hand in a significant portion of his salary.  Vos believes that the royal salary must return to the Balkenende norm, around €230,000 which means that Willem-Alexander will have to do with €600,000 less. "The King is doing fantastic work, but I think that he does earn a lot of money", Vos says. The King's yearly salary is €825,000. Queen Máxima gets €372,000. Next to that, a large portion of the costs for the palaces, the personnel, the security, the cars and the aircrafts are compensated for. Vos believes that the King can live just fine on the reduced salary. He will discuss his standpoint with his fraction in the Autumn, which is when the royal budget will be on the table at the House of Parliament. Vos does not agree with his fraction's standpoint. They believe that the King's salary is not too high. "If you want a representative Royal House, then it's understandable that that costs money", says PvdA spokesperson Royal House Jeroen Recourt. "You don't let the Queen wear an H&M dress on a state visit." A majority of Parliament, VVD, PvdA and D66, agree with the PvdA's position that members of the Royal family should pay salaries and income tax. King Willem-Alexander said in April last year on tv that he understands this point of view, and emphasized that cuts to his court staff would have to be made to honor any economizing.