The heir apparent will no longer pay back the considerable amount from next year.
After Princess Amalia announced in 2021 that she would not use the constitutional allowance she receives to prepare for the kingship, the princess received a lot of praise at home and abroad. Now the heir to the throne seems to have changed her mind. In a letter to Prime Minister Rutte, Amalia writes that she will stop refunding the allowance.
Refunded
In a personal letter, Amalia informed Prime Minister Rutte before her eighteenth birthday that she did not want to receive the million-dollar allowance. “I find that uncomfortable as long as I have little to offer in return and other students are having a much more difficult time, especially in these Corona times,” she wrote at the time. “I will therefore repay the income until the end of my studies. Moreover, as long as I do not have to incur high costs in my position as Princess of Orange, I will also refund the expense allowance. I hope you understand that.”
Changed mind
During Budget Day last year, it was announced that Amalia would also waive the allowance in 2024. However, the Crown Princess has now changed her mind. She will no longer refund the significant amount deposited into her account from 2025 onwards. She explains why in a letter to Mark Rutte. “With the passage of time and after surprising circumstances, it is now foreseeable that I will have to take into account personnel and material expenses with a view to an independent and independent fulfillment of my position, including a secretariat and reservations for a living and working accommodation” , she writes to the Prime Minister.
The amount that Amalia keeps from now on is the so-called B component: the money that Amalia can use to pay personnel costs. She will continue to refund the A component, or the ‘salary benefit’, for the time being.
Concept
In her letter, the princess asked for the Prime Minister’s understanding. She will get that, as becomes clear from a letter from Rutte to Parliament. However, it remains to be seen whether the rest of the population will have the same level of understanding for her decision…
Source: De Telegraaf, AD | Image: NL Image
