MP investigating if Dutch royals clamp down on satire, parodies

D66 Parliamentarian Kees Verhoeven wants to know whether pressure from the Royal Family is affecting parodies and satire about them. This follows comments made by NOC/NSF boss Gerard Dielessen in NRC that after the Royal Family reacted angrily to satire on the 2012 Sports Gala, the satire on the Sports Gala is much tamer, AD reports.

"I got a phone call of royal displeasure during the broadcast already", Dielessen said. Verhoeven wants to know from Prime Minister Mark Rutte whether this is true. "Do members of the Royal House call themselves? Is it the Government Information Service or the court?" he said to AD. "We want to know how often this happens." He finds it very worrisome that satire became less offensive after that broadcast.

The makers of Koefnoen put then-Queen Beatrix in the spotlight during the offending broadcast, according to the newspaper. She was in the kitchen, smoking and fumbling while trying to prepare a meal for athletes. Then crown prince Willem-Alexander was portrayed as a drunk idiot.

NOC/NSF distanced itself from the satire on the same evening as the broadcast, presumably after the "phone call of royal displeasure".