Royal family costs in the spotlight

MPs will debate the cost of the Dutch royal family to taxpayers on Monday night, following concerns about the lack of transparency in the €114m bill, Trouw reports.


The cost of the Dutch royal family is twice that of the British monarchy, Trouw says. But exact comparisons are difficult because no-one knows exactly what the money is spent on.
Last week, queen Beatrix said during her state visit to Lithuania that she supported putting her finances in the spotlight. ‘The entire family considers clarity welcome,’ the queen said. ‘Sometimes you don’t know yourself’.
For example, MPs want to know why the family’s security costs rose from €9m to €13m between 2007 and 2008 and why the cost of maintaining royal palaces has risen by €6m to €35m. The cost of running the pleasure boat De Groene Draeck and air travel are also extremely unclear, the paper says.
Beatrix, crown prince Willem-Alexander and princess Maxima receive a direct allowance of €6.1m between them.
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