3,432 Dutch awarded royal ribbons; Personal best for King Willem-Alexander
King Willem-Alexander awarded royal ribbons to 3,432 people during the lintjesregen on Friday, a personal best for the King and the highest number since 2010, when Queen Beatrix still awarded the royal honors the day before celebrating the monarch’s birthday. Court reporter Saskia Belleman and thriller writer Tomas Ross are among the well-known people who received a ribbon today.
Last year, 3,375 people received recognition for King’s Day; the year before that was 2,832. The increase is due to more people being committed to society, the Chapter for Civil Orders said in a statement. “We are active in the sports club and in the community center. In church, synagogue, and mosque. With the elderly, or with refugees.”
In the list of royal distinctions, “welfare” is mentioned over 1,300 times as a reason for awarding a medal. The term “religious life” appears almost 1,000 times, sports over 500 times, and combating poverty 100 times. 29 people received medals for helping refugees and asylum seekers. They likely include the five COA volunteers to whom Minister Marjolein Faber of Asylum did not want to award a medal, causing major political fallout.
The oldest person to get a ribbon today is 97-year-old P.S. Roeland from Alblasserdam. He was a volunteer organist in the church between 1968 and 2018 and is still involved in a local seniors’ organization. The youngest person is 25-year-old Sjoerd de Graaff from Capelle aan den IJssel. As a child, he became involved with the local radio station, which he now heads. He also plays an important role at a local broadcaster in Amsterdam. Both were appointed Members of the Order of Oranje-Nassau.
Rotterdam awarded the most royal distinctions this year, awarding a medal to 50 people. In Amsterdam, 43 people received a royal distinction, 42 in The Hague, and 38 in Utrecht. Vlieland is the only municipality where not one medal was awarded. Four municipalities honored one resident - Uitgeest, Baarn, Eemnes, and Doesburg.
Like in all previous years, more men than women received a royal distinction, though the difference is slowly decreasing. This year, 37.1 percent of the medals went to women, compared to 35.8 percent last year.
Women are more likely to receive the lowest distinction, Member of the Order of Oranje-Nassau. This mainly goes to people who do a lot of volunteer work in their own towns or cities. Of all the women who received medals this year, 91.6 percent received this one, compared to 87.3 percent of men. Men are more often appointed a Knight in the Order of Oranje-Nassau, a step higher. This award is intended for “merits with a regional or national appeal and significance.” About 11 percent of men and 7.4 percent of women received this medal this year.
