Dutch Royals' popularity still struggling to recover from pandemic scandals

Netherlands residents scored King Willem-Alexander a 6.6 out of ten and Queen Maxima a 7.1 in a survey done by Ipsos for the broadcaster NOS. The king’s approval rating improved slightly compared to the previous poll before King’s Day in April. Then Willem-Alexander scored a 6.5. The slight improvement could be down to a seasonal effect.

Neither the king nor queen has seen a restoration of confidence lost since a series of public scandals during and after the coronavirus pandemic. In April 2020, their approval was at a record high, with Willem-Alexander scoring a 7.7 and Maxima scoring an 8.0.

Then, in October 2020, the Royal family spent a holiday in Greece, while the rest of the Netherlands faced strict travel restrictions due to measures in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Willem-Alexander later called that vacation his “biggest error in judgment.” A year later, the Royal family held a bigger party for Crown Princess Amalia’s 18th birthday than allowed under the Covid restrictions.

In 2020, 76 percent of Netherlands residents had confidence in the King. After the pandemic missteps, that dropped to 47 percent in 2022 and 46 percent in April this year, when Ipsos did its King’s Day survey.

Support for preserving the monarchy has fallen to 50 percent, down from 55 percent in April. Over a quarter of Netherlands residents (26 percent) think the country should become a republic, compared to 24 percent earlier this year. When Willem-Alexander took the throne ten years ago, nearly 80 percent of Netherlands residents wanted to preserve the monarchy.