Meet the Dutch princess who turned down her €1.6m annual allowance

Princess Catharina-Amalia, the heir to the Dutch throne, has said that she doesn’t want to claim the €1.6 million allowance per year that she is entitled to until she takes up proper royal duties.

Amalia, the eldest daughter of King Willem-Alexander, who passed her school leaving examinations on June 10 with distinction, in a handwritten letter to Dutch PM Mark Rutte, wrote that accepting the money would make her uncomfortable, “as long as she didn’t do anything in return for it” and also “while other students have a much tougher time of it, particularly in this period of coronavirus”.

Princess Amalia, who will turn 18 in December this year, also said that she will return the €300,000 that which she received in income every year till she was a student. In addition, she said that she wouldn’t claim the €1.3m for household support, “until I incur high costs in my role as Princess of Orange”.

Last year, the Dutch government allocated €47.5m for the royal family in 2021, which excluded the cost of state visits and palace upkeep. While Alexander would receive a salary of €998,000 and €5.1m in official expenses, his wife, Maxima, was allocated €1.1m, the former Queen Beatrix €1.7m, and Amalia €1.6m. According to a 2012 study, the Dutch royals get the highest allowance from the government, even overtaking the British royal family.

Following pressure from the opposition, Rutte agreed to review the annual cost of the royal family, but he warned of calls for vote on the cost of monarchy.

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima faced criticism last year when the royal family went for a holiday to their holiday home in Greece amid the pandemic. The family had to cut short their trip and issue an apology after returning home.