Dutch royal holiday cut short amid Dutch wrath on partial lockdown

The Dutch royal couple returned to the Netherlands on Saturday after their Greek vacation had to be abandoned due to a riot at home, where people are urged to stay home as much as possible.

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima said in a statement that they saw the people’s reactions, “which are intense and move us.” As a result, they said they would cancel the rest of their vacation.

“Let there be no doubt: to beat the Covid-19 virus it is necessary to follow the rules. The discussion that our vacations raise does not contribute to that, ”they said.

The seven-day moving average of daily new cases in the Netherlands has more than doubled in the past two weeks, to 42 cases per 100,000 people on Friday.

Dutch bars and restaurants closed on Wednesday as part of a partial lockdown that will last at least four weeks to counter the sustained increase in coronavirus cases in the Netherlands.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the nation needed to take another step toward a total shutdown because otherwise hospitals would be so overloaded that people with other urgent needs could not receive treatment.

“We have to be tougher on ourselves,” Rutte said in a speech to the nation. A royal vacation during the partial confinement countered that advice.

“The holidays show the great gap between the king and society,” headlined the public broadcaster NOS.

Now politicians are asking Rutte to explain whether he advised the royal couple not to go.

“If Rutte had said this was a bad idea, it can be assumed that the king would have changed his plans,” said Peter Rehwinkel, leader of the PvdA party.

The trip was an “error in judgment” and was the “only correct decision” to cancel the trip, added the GroenLinks party.

-AP