Any plans by the national parks organisation to sell off the Malieveld open space in central The Hague and the Haagse Bos woods have been scuppered by William of Orange, the Telegraaf reports.

In 1576, prince William signed a decree saying both pieces of land could ‘never ever’ be sold. At the time, there was pressure to sell the woods to pay for the war against Spain. But protests by the people of The Hague led William to commit them to the state for eternity.
The national park body Staatsbosbeheer is being forced to sell 15,000 hectares of land to save €100m on its budget. It has not yet said which areas will be sold, but sources have told the Telegraaf, the two sites are on the list of potential divestments.