King Willem-Alexander may celebrate his 54th birthday today, but his approval rating is still recovering from his ill-timed holiday to Greece.
A survey held by Ipsos late last year showed a steep decline from 76% in April 2020 to just 47%. This figure has now risen slightly to 57%. This is still significantly lower than in previous years. Queen Máxima’s approval rating also suffered as a result of the holiday to Greece, and she has an approval rating of just 68%. Around 75% of those questioned also felt that the allowance for his eldest daughter Princess Amalia, which she will receive upon her 18th birthday in December, is much too high at 1,6 million euro.
The overall support for the monarchy is still greater than any support for a republic, but that too fell from 75% to 58%. Around 25% said that the Netherlands should become a republic, most of which were young people. The Dutch people are also critical of the role of the King and Queen during the pandemic. Almost 50% believed they were visible enough last year, but this has now gone down to 26%. Just 23% felt they were being supported by the King and Queen, and 40% believed that the King and Queen have no idea what is going in the society right now.
