King Willem-Alexander’s investiture on April 30 went considerably over budget, according to research by the NRC.

The paper says national government spent an extra €600,000 on the celebrations and may also have to help pay for the cost of policing, which could run into millions of euros.

The national budget for the event was put at €5.1m. Now the city council and local police chiefs says the justice ministry should foot the bill for policing the event because it was a national effort.

The €600,000 overspend is partly due to a €1m bill for special medals for everyone who ‘worked hard’ to make the event a success, which is double the original budget, the NRC said.