Crash: 7 Victims & Perpetrator Dead, 10 Wounded at Queen's Day 2009


If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
I was surprised to see the entire family traveling together in a single, open bus. I imagine small groups of the family could continue to appear very close to the public, but putting them all together this way seems very risky.

I hope that they will be able to come up with a way to secure the royals, without eliminating the closeness to the crowds that both the Dutch people and the Queen obviously enjoy.

As moved as I was by the Queen's speech, though, I thought the backdrop was very odd. I can appreciate that they staged it quickly and didn't want a festive background, it looked strange and dark to me. Between that and the way they started on a shot of her sighing, it seemed like they caught her as she was walking down a hall or something.

All was done at Het Oude Loo castle,adjacent to the Palace.It is an old medieval castle,a bit dark inside here and there.HM was in no mood,except shock and disbelief,and had no meaning of dishing it out better then it was.It was dark and gloomy.As was the day.Eerie.
 
I have changed the title of this thread to reflect the 6 VICTIMS of yesterdays events. I have not included the perpetrator in the total. If the majority of our members believe that he should be included, we will adjust accordingly.
 
I think 6 victims is right. He does not deserve to be counted because he was the evil perpetrator.
 
I think the RF is weel secured, but you never can imagin that somethig like that could happen. It is imposible to fight against this kind of things.
I agree you never imagine this happening. The truth is it can always happen, always and everywhere. If someone truly wants to hurt them, they can, no matter how many security people there are. The RF knows this. I think they will be more upset over 6 innocent people dying, than this being an 'attack' on them.

I am glad the May 4 & 5 events will go ahead as usual. I think the boatthing will happen just like last year and just like last year there will be sharpshooters on the roofs of surrounding building.

And a small security note - not that I am an expert in any way, none of us are - I do think maybe it will be wise not to have WA and Constantijn travelling in the same vehicle at public events from now on.
 
i guess if u want the title to be as accurate as possible with respect to the tragic events, and report the number of deaths, i would most certainly write 7 deaths...Otherwise, if u are expressing an emotion or opinion, and feel that the true victims are the 6 who died innocently as a result of the planned attack, then leave it at 6 victims. ;)
 
On-Line Condolence Book?

Is anyone aware of an on-line condolence book?

The Dutch people stood strong and firm for the people of the United States and in particular of New York City in the days after the September 11 attacks. The Dutch government authorized their airport firefighting crews to send 1/2 of their force to the site of the towers, and those who came paid their own way to help. As a (former but always) citizen of New York, and although it would be a very tiny bit of bandwidth, I would like to express my sympathy on this sad event.
 
The more I see, the more I´m convinced there are some really EVIL people in this world.I think it´s far too simple to say he is a lunatic or a crazy person. This was planned beforehand, was executed coldly with the intent to hurt the royal family, but as he couldn´t he killed other innocents and injured some as well. I´m sorry there is no death penalty in Holland. My deepest sympathies to all those who suffered throught the actions of this person - to all who lost loved ones, to the Royal Family for having to witness such an act. God bless them.
 
This was going to be a very special Queensday, I had been looking forward to it for months. Our beloved Queen Juliana would have turned 100 years and Queen Beatrix was going to open an exhibition at Paleis Het Loo that is supose to celebrate the life of her mother. All my hope and yoy turned into sadness and shock. I just could'nt believe what I saw, this was something out of a movie, this was so not something you would thing of happing in The Netherlands. My heart bleeds for all the victims but I am also happy that our Royal Family was not hurd. What would we do without them?? I have never seen our Queen look so sad and in such a state of shock... all I could do was cry when I saw her... It just makes you wonder... In what kind of world are we living in?
 
I have changed the title of this thread to reflect the 6 VICTIMS of yesterdays events. I have not included the perpetrator in the total. If the majority of our members believe that he should be included, we will adjust accordingly.

I completely agree with you.
He should not be included for the horrific damage he's caused to the injured and the dead, may the rest in peace.
x
 
I agree that we shouldn't include the driver in the death toll - I always find it annoying when news sites do that, as though the people responsible are equally victims in the tragedy. However, I did hear that one of the dead was a pregnant woman. I don't know if that's accurate, but if it is, I think we should include the baby in our count and make the number seven because of him or her.

My sympathies to the Dutch people, the injured, the families of the victims, the witnesses, and the Oranje family.
 
September 11th 2001 - terrorist attacks upon the World Trade Center.
thank you!
i wonder how the royal family will go on now with their security, i guess it would be more extrict, i am so glad the kids weren't there! i still in shock!
 
I agree that we shouldn't include the driver in the death toll - I always find it annoying when news sites do that, as though the people responsible are equally victims in the tragedy. However, I did hear that one of the dead was a pregnant woman. I don't know if that's accurate, but if it is, I think we should include the baby in our count and make the number seven because of him or her.

My sympathies to the Dutch people, the injured, the families of the victims, the witnesses, and the Oranje family.

Yes,sadly that is true,a pregnant woman was killed,gutwrenching.
 
The Dutch media says 7 deaths and leaves moral judgement aside
 
We have left moral judgement aside by correctly identifying the number of deaths saying 6 Victims & Perpetrator. Unfortunately we are limited in the number of characters we may use in the title, so I can not use the dutch "zes slachtofers, waaronder ook die verdacht/verdader" translated to english, as it would be too long.
 
i can't stop thinking that if the needle wouldn't have been there, the car would have probably hit the bus of the royals. i'm not saying that the people who were killed were less important or anything but what a drama would it have been if the queen or any of the members of the family died.

He was heading straight towards the royal bus but then he lost control of his car and it veered left and hit the Needle. If the Needle had not been there all the bystanders on the other side would have been killed or seriously hurt. The royal bus was not behind the Needle at the time. It is true that the Needle statue saved many lives.
 
And again I want to say that it was dangerous to have The Queen, The Crown Prince , Princes Constantin , Friso and all the Van Vollenhoven to-gether in an open bus.
As well written by Gardenia , if he did not lost the controle of his car he was heading towards the royal bus. Terrible.. and the members of the RF saw that too. Lucky were all their children safe at home.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I post it again,Apeldoorn today,a city in grief,people laying flowers at the scene,full churches where people burn candles,moving:

ANP Beeldbank

There also was a discussion on tv on showing graphic scenes due to several newspapers opening with such pics this morning.A very un-dutch thing to do,to show all the graphic bits.Many felt it was what we had on our lenses anyway as all was dished out like that to us yesterday morning,live.
 
Last edited:
I agree.. I know HM and the rest of the Royal Family are well-known for their love of connecting personally to the Dutch people...but to have them all in one bus, meant that Princess Amalia would have been Queen, probably with Princess Maigrit ruling as Regent..or whomever is the next eldest sister...of course, I am not sure if all three sons were on board the bus.

But the same could be said for the British Royal Family sitting on the dais in front of the Victoria Memorial, in open, for HM's Jubilee Celebrations....too easy a target..

How far does one go now with security? I am sure they are all mulling over that one..

My condolences to The Netherlands and the Dutch people...
 
I don't think that the RVD or the Dutch Royal family will let this dictate their future actions. They are, if nothing else, sensible people, who know that the only way to prevent this entirely is to shut themselves up in their homes, and never come out. There is no chance of that happening.

There was simply no way that this could have been prevented, and they are smart enough to know that and realize that this is not an every day occurance. Sure they will be as careful as possible, but I do not see them making wholesale changes to the way that they do things, as evidenced by the fact that they will go on with the activities for herdenkingsdag and arbeidsdag on May 4 and May 5.

____________________

On another note, for the Dutch to be out en masse in the Churches is certainly something to remark on, as they are not known as being overly religious, except perhpas in the south, where Catholicism still plays a significant role.
 
I agree.. I know HM and the rest of the Royal Family are well-known for their love of connecting personally to the Dutch people...but to have them all in one bus, meant that Princess Amalia would have been Queen, probably with Princess Maigrit ruling as Regent..or whomever is the next eldest sister...of course, I am not sure if all three sons were on board the bus.

But the same could be said for the British Royal Family sitting on the dais in front of the Victoria Memorial, in open, for HM's Jubilee Celebrations....too easy a target..

How far does one go now with security? I am sure they are all mulling over that one..

My condolences to The Netherlands and the Dutch people...
It is shocking to think that a kindergartener could have been Queen in a the space of a few minutes if the worst had happened. According to the posters at the BRMB, the only adult member of the Royal House not present on the bus was Prince Bernhard who is recovering from his recent surgery. I guess that would have left him as Regent and more than a dozen children would have been orphaned.
 
I think for sure that the 3 Princes , 3 van Vollenhoven and 1 Bourbon-Parme were in the bus..Princess Magriet too. The Regent should have been Bernard , the only Van Vollenhoven who was not there because he was ill..
God save the Queen and the Royal Family of the Nederlands we all love !
 
In all seriousness, I doubt that the entire royal family would have been killed had the bus actually been hit. They were several feet higher than the car, and while I am sure that there would have been injuries, I think that it is safe to say that most if not all would have survived. Let's try not to think the worst.
 
I think for sure that the 3 Princes , 3 van Vollenhoven and 1 Bourbon-Parme were in the bus..Princess Magriet too. The Regent should have been Bernard , the only Van Vollenhoven who was not there because he was ill..
God save the Queen and the Royal Family of the Nederlands we all love !

There was no de Borbon de Parma in the bus.HM,the three sons of HM and their spouses,three sons of HRH Princess Margriet and their spouses + Princess Annette,Princess Margriet and Pieter,they were present and no more then these.
 
In all seriousness, I doubt that the entire royal family would have been killed had the bus actually been hit. They were several feet higher than the car, and while I am sure that there would have been injuries, I think that it is safe to say that most if not all would have survived. Let's try not to think the worst.


True.We are lucky the guy didn't have any explosives on board.Then it would have been a different matter,now,nope.They would have been just as shocked as they were yesterday and today,nothing more.The giant Suzuki isn't that much of a giant compared to that bus.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Back
Top Bottom