King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands is set to make a huge apology on 1 July for the country’s own terrifying past involving slavery. A study commissioned by the country’s government revealed that the monarchy gained nearly €1B (in today’s currency) from the terrifying acts they helped commit.
With the country’s ‘Keti Koti’ day (emancipation day) coming a new government study has triggered a big move from the royal family. King Willem-Alexander is understood to be preparing a major full and very public apology for the monarchy’s role in slavery. A study commissioned by the government found that the monarchy gathered nearly $1B (if it were today’s money) while they had enslaved innocent Black and Brown people from all over the world.
Titled ‘State and Slavery’, was presented to MPs last week officially. It found that the House of Orange brought in the equivalent of €1billion (£853million) in today’s money during the Dutch slave trade and the era of colonialism. This comes just weeks after King Charles III gave his approval for a new study in the UK to determine how the monarchy in the past benefited from the slave trade.