King’s Day Leads To Online Bullying And A Sold-Out Dress

As discussed here, the Dutch royal family celebrated the king’s birthday on April 27th in Zwolle. And as usual the Dutch newspapers and population have used yesterday and today to discuss their impressions of the day, which led to online bullying and a sold out dress.

The three princesses were an utter delight. In previous years they were a bit more shy and in the background, staying close to their parents. This year they participated fully and talked to a lot of people in the public. Queen Máxima at one point exclaimed to the crowd: ‘Where are my daughters?’ In a short interview to the NOS, the princesses were asked what they enjoyed most. Princess Ariane claimed ‘everything’ while Princess Alexia thought the parade was the highlight. Princess Amalia -already quite the diplomat- said she was happy that the sun was shining and responded wisely that she didn’t see everything yet so she could only judge afterwards.

As usual, the anonimity of social media brought out the worst in some issue, which led to princess Amalia’s weight becoming a trending topic on twitter, some bullies even referring to ‘princess Obesia’. Many responded furiously to the bullies and pointed out that the princess is only 12 years old. The Netherlands’ largest newspaper featured an long open letter to ‘Princess Sunshine’ telling the princess she is a beautiful girl and explaining how the author’s daughter learned to respond to bullying and weight shaming.

In the mean time the dress of Princess Alexia became a hit. The dress is for sale at Zara for 27,95 euros. The retailer did not know that the princess would wear the dress, in many places the dress has been sold out.

The reporter of national broadcaster NOS had the impression that she was a school friend of the royal family and treated the royals with an unparalleled informality. She used the informal ‘jij’ instead of the more formal ‘u’; a first for the NOS. She also asked Prince Maurits and Princess Marilene if they wore special underwear against the cold. The prince and princess were good sports and told her they wear using ski-underwear. After which the reporter started to show of her own clothes.

Fo those who want to see more of the day, here a summary by RTV-Oost:

 

Filed under The Netherlands
Tagged King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands, Koningsdag, National Day, Prince Maurits of Orange-Nassau, Princess Alexia of the Netherlands, Princess Ariane of the Netherlands, Princess Marilène of Orange-Nassau, Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, Social Media, The Princess of Orange.

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