Last week, the eight o’clock NOS News reported plans to spice up Budget Day. On this third Tuesday of September, the King reads the Speech from the Throne and the government’s main plans for the coming year are announced. The king in the role of the cabinet’s puppet. There are calls to boost the declining interest in this tradition with performances by artists (André Rieu’s name was mentioned) and food trucks at the Binnenhof. The festivalisation of society at its best. And suddenly, King Willem-Alexander appeared on the archive footage of the NOS. ‘The Holiday King’, we shouted enthusiastically in unison at home. Because if there’s one thing our king is good at, it’s the holidays. The title ‘Holiday King’, which is often used disparagingly, is a nickname for him. The king and his family like to go on holiday and do not hide this hobby. Things went wrong for a while in the autumn of 2020, when the king forgot that as head of state he must set a good example and, despite new corona measures, cheerfully travelled to his holiday address in Greece. Can happen, but the Netherlands was too small when that came out and the king made his public apology. He had only wanted to indicate positively what was possible despite all the limitations. And that was going on holiday in the autumn holidays to a sunny country that was on yellow. And that code applied to Greece. But half of the Netherlands tumbled over him with indignation, which was probably motivated by pure jealousy. Why is he on holiday and we are not? But that’s what you’re king for, I think. Doing what others can’t. Would a king actually get holiday pay? He will be searched at the security check at Schiphol when the alarm goes off the gate. “Will you raise your arms for a moment, Your Majesty?” I see a role for Willem Alexander as a poster child for the travel industry. He is not an actor who feigns holiday joy in TV commercials, he is simply the ideal holidaymaker in his own right. Perhaps at Prijsvrij, which has been collecting talented people at a rapid pace lately. I can already see the first advertising slogans in front of me: ‘Holiday like royalty’ or ‘Rent your holiday home with the Holiday King’. (Photo Shutterstock).
