Netherlands Princess Catharina-Amalia rejects $2.5 million yearly allowance
A generous trust fund was due to kick in on her 18th birthday – but this member of royalty surprised everyone by refusing the money.
The heir to the throne of the Netherlands, Princess Catharina-Amalia Carmen Victoria, has rejected a A$2.5 million yearly allowance about to kick in at the end of the year.
Catharina-Amalia turns 18 in December, which is when she can start getting €1.6 million (A$2.5 million) from the royal treasury.
However, the princess is having none of it.
Last week, she penned a letter to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte saying she was uncomfortable with that amount of money, NOS reports.
She also said she plans to pay back the €300,000 (A$500,000) of royal funds she spent during her years as a school student.
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“On 7 December 2021, I will be 18 and, according to the law, receive an allowance,” she wrote in the letter, translated into English.
“I find that uncomfortable as long as I do not do anything for it in return, and while other students have a much tougher time of it, particularly in this period of coronavirus.”
Instead of taking the money, she outlined in the missive her plans to pay back the money she spent as a teen.
She won’t accept the trust fund “until I incur high costs in my role as Princess of Orange,” she wrote.
No-one has ever waived the allowance before, in the Netherlands’ entire history.
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Why is the princess being given a $2.5 million a year trust fund?
Two and a half million bucks sounds like a lot of money, even for royalty, but there’s a reason for it (other than having overly generous parents).
Catharina-Amalia is the eldest child of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima, making her the heir apparent of the Netherlands.
That makes her automatically entitled to the €1.6 million payout.
Only the heir is given the trust fund – other members of the royal family can’t access it.
When Catharina-Amalia takes over as queen, her trust fund is cut off.
She has two younger sisters: Princess Alexia, 15, and Princess Ariane, 14.
Both have missed out on their chance to score the lucrative trust fund, unless they ever find themselves first in line for the throne.
Who is Princess Catharina-Amalia?
Catharina-Amalia was born in 2003 and grew up in the Huis ten Bosch, the royal palace located in The Hague.
She went to Christelijk Gymnasium Sorghvliet, an elite private school ranked in the country’s top 10.
Earlier this month, on June 10, she graduated from high school.
She said she plans to take a gap year before going on to university.
Who are the royals of the Netherlands?
The teenager is from a royal bloodline stretching back to the 1700s.
William I was the first king of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg in 1803.
Catharina-Amalia became the heir apparent in 2013.
In April 2013, her father Willem-Alexander became King after his mother Queen Beatrix abdicated.
The ex-queen is aged 83.
Dutch royalty has no formal role in the day-to-day running of the Netherlands.
Royal controversy
Princess Catharina-Amalia’s selfless act is a stark contrast to her parents last year.
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima jetted off to Greece in October 2020 for a holiday, as coronavirus infections continued to rise around Europe.
They used a government plane to get there, prompting heavy criticism from around the globe, the BBC reports.
Due to the backlash, they were called back and ended up only spending a day in Greece.
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