King Willem-Alexander's approval rating drops to lowest level since his inauguration

A majority of the Dutch have confidence in King Willem-Alexander, but it has fallen to the lowest point since his inauguration in 2013 in the past year of the coronavirus pandemic.

This has mostly to do with his controversial holiday to Greece and the higher allowance that the king receives, EenVandaag reports on the basis of its annual King's Day survey among more than 28,000 members of the Opinion panel.

In it, 63 percent indicate that they have confidence in the king, compared to 74 percent last year. Support for Queen Máxima is also declining: from 78 percent last year to 69 percent now.

About three-quarters think it is unjustified that the king receives more money from the state in the middle of the coronavirus crisis. His allowance will increase this year by 200,000 euros to 1 million euros in income, plus 5.1 million for personnel and expenses. "Corona urges society as a whole to austerity. This is a very wrong signal from a king who wants to be close to his citizens," said a participant in the study.

Almost half (46 percent) say that the royal family's early trip to Greece last October is still negatively affecting their image. Willem-Alexander called off the holiday after public outrage arose. He later apologized.

Four out of ten people think the royal couple is not visible enough. One interviewee says: "Of course, we sometimes see images of him during a working visit. But being really present and supporting the whole country is apparently not his thing."

According to EenVandaag, the research takes into account six variables, namely age, gender, education, marital status, distribution across the country, and political preference.