The Dutch Royal Family

Oostpoort!, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

The Dutch Royal Family costs a lot of money and, in a time of economic crisis, they are apparently costing even more than before. A lot of money is being spent on security (well, what a surprise) and also on private flights made by 16 members of the Royal family.

And then there is the villa which the Criown prince and his Argentinean wife are having built on an island off the coast of Mozambique where they have come into contact with dubious estate agents and property developers and... why go all the way over there for a holiday home, when we are all concerned about global warming?

And then, what sort of monarchy do we want here? At present, the Queen plays an active role in politics, in much the same way as in the UK, if not meddling even more. Do we want to revert to the 'Swedish' model of just having a figurehead without any constitutional role?

These were the issues being debated in the Dutch parliament today, wher, as usual, the Prime Minister was made to look ineffective and indecisive.