The Netherlands: The King of the Netherlands Reveals He Has Been Living a Secret Life for 20 Years - by Jamie Bland

King Willem Alexander could be flying your plane

King Willem-Alexander—aka King of the Netherlands—recently revealed his secret life as a KLM Airlines co-pilot to the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.

"I find flying simply fantastic," he told the newspaper. "You can't take your problems with you off the ground.

You can completely switch off for a while and focus on something else. That, for me, is the most relaxing part of flying."

For the past 21 years the King has secretly taken flight on the commercial planes and while very few have recognized him, he's had no trouble strolling through the airport in his pilot uniform going mostly unnoticed. In fact, unless passengers recognized the royal's voice via telecom, Willem-Alexander managed to keep his hobby and second profession completely under wraps...until now.

 

"The advantage is that I can always say I am speaking on behalf of the captain and crew to welcome them on board, so I don't have to say my name," Willem-Alexander further explained to the paper. "But then, most people don't listen anyway."

So what prompted the sudden reveal? Willem-Alexander is heading to training to fly Boeing 737s—the model of plane that is replacing the current aircrafts used by the airline company.

 

While it has been awhile since the king has been taking orders, he is excited to fly the new planes.

"It also seemed nice to fly to other destinations one day, with more passengers and bigger distances. That was the real motive for training on the 737," said Willem-Alexander.

Even with the new changes and public exposure, the king plans to keep up his hobby of co-piloting twice a month.

EU-Digest

 

The Netherlands: Amsterdam: how to celebrate King's Day - by Rodney Bolt

King Willem Alexanderthe

King's Day celebrations make the end of April a fun and lively time to be in Amsterdam and other Dutch cities. Our Amsterdam expert Rodney Bolt, has tips on where to go to enjoy the day.

Queen’s Day, on April 30, is the Dutch monarch's official birthday (it was the actual birthday of Queen Beatrix's mother, Queen Juliana, but when Bea ascended the date was kept the same).

However, Beatrix officially handed over the throne to her son Willem-Alexander last year, so the event is now known as King's Day. The king's birthday is April 27, but because celebrations do not traditionally take place on a Sunday, the festivities in the Netherlands will this year happen on Saturday April 26.

The day is celebrated with street parties all over the country, for example most cafes and many restaurants will set up on the pavement outside their doors. It is also celebrated with something quintessentially Dutch - a nationwide flea market.

People empty their attics and set up stalls on the street, selling anything you can imagine. Or they provide services (cakes and drinks, massage, make-up - anything they can turn their hand to). Children especially put on side-shows or have a go at busking.

Prices are low, and some people donate their earnings to a favourite charity. More recently, however, things have become increasingly commercial with real traders and fast-food vendors joining in.

Read more: Amsterdam: how to celebrate King's Day - Telegraph

Netherlands King Warns:" Dutch Welfare State Gone"

In his first major public address, the recently crowned Dutch King Willem-Alexander has warned his subjects that the welfare state of the 20th century is gone.

While still traveling past waving fans in an ornate horse-drawn carriage to the 13th-century Hall of Knights in The Hague, the monarch's traditional speech on the government's budget was gloomy.

In televised remarks, King Willem-Alexander said the traditional welfare state that has made the Netherlands famous is coming to an end.
 
"In its place," he said speaking carefully, a "participation society" is emerging, "in which people must take responsibility for their own future and create their own social and financial safety nets, with less help from the national government."

He stressed that, "The classic welfare state of the second half of the 20th century in these areas in particular brought forth arrangements that are unsustainable in their current form."

Note : EU-Digest: Regardless of the comments the King made about the end of the Welfare State had come to an end he still made use of the ornate gold-plated horse drawn carriage to take him to Hall of Knight. Said one onlooker: "if he wants us to tighten our belts  he should have driven to Hall of Knights with his wife in his own car."

Read more: Netherlands King Warns: Dutch Welfare State Gon

The Netherlands: 12 things you never knew about the Dutch royal family - by Luke Harding, Jon Henley and Leo Benedictus

Willem-Alexander the new Dutch King spent two years living in rainy Wales in the mid-1980s when he was a student at an international sixth-form college. His mum, Queen Beatrix, came to Atlantic College near Bridgend to drop her son off. Dutch TV crews were invited along to record the moment and were occasionally spotted afterwards lurking in bushes. The college, known as AC, is home to students from more than 90 countries. (There was a relatively big Dutch contingent; its slogan went: "If you're not Dutch, you're not much.")

AC has a strong idealistic ethos, with an emphasis on international understanding; most students are on scholarships. The campus boasts a Harry Potter-style medieval castle, a jousting field, and sweeping views of the Bristol Channel. Students study the International Baccalaureate. The teenage prince joined AC's student-crewed RNLI lifeboat service, which was sometimes called out for rescues; you had to sew your own wetsuit.

 He was also a pretty decent squash player. A laidback figure, Willem had a reputation as a party-lover and a bit of a Romeo. He dated several female students from Latin America and nobody was very surprised when he later married an Argentinian woman. LH

Read more: 12 things you never knew about the Dutch royal family | World news | The Guardian

The Netherlands: This is it: the public-inspired song for the new Dutch king Willem-Alexander -initial reaction: "horribly pretentious"

Willem-Alexanderand Maxima

A song for the new king, inspired by texts contributed by members of the public, had its first airing on Friday, sung by the likes of Marco Borsato and Trijntje Oosterhuis and with a rap from Lange Frans.

The music of the song for king Willem-Alexander was composed by John Ewbank and has been criticised for its similarity to Matt Redman's 10.000 Reasons.

The song will be sung at a concert in the Ahoy stadium on April 30 to celebrate Willem-Alexander's investiture.

Initial reactions to the song have been negative so far. On Twitter it has been described as 'horribly pretentious', as sounding like a Eurovision Song Contest entry and a good reason for Willem-Alexander to move to Argentina.

Click here to hear the song "Het Koningslied "

Read more: DutchNews.nl - This is it: the public-inspired song for king Willem-Alexander