Well I am stunned that this wasn't known. I have read or heard that years ago somewhere: that it was part of the deal in the 70's to restructure the finances of the Royal House. The amount was no longer sufficient as Queen Juliana had to pay palace and staff bills out of her own pocket and in combination with having to start paying taxes the total amount was raised to a level that would compensate the tax 'burden'. Soestdijk was also taken over by the State around that time, so all and all a handsome deal. As I have said before I get the impression the RF is quite shrewd when it comes to their finances. I think its perfectly reasonable to limit the budget for the Princess of Orange from the age 18 until 25. Willem-Alexander earned a large amount during those years while he was only moderately active as a royal. Meanwhile the RF sells off everything they can. Well as soon as they learn they still have items in the attic that are worth selling. Meanwhile when you look at the palace interior of Noordeinde, its practically empty if you compare it to palaces abroad.... Not that it needs to be cramped but empty?


--Previous Message--
: "... I beg to differ. The Tropenmuseum
: has works of him and this piece could have
: been an important addition to the collection
: of the Rijksmuseum. Most Dutch can't name
: more than 3 or 5 painters anyway..."
:
: The art deal is also mentioned in this
: article in newspaper AD. Along with that
: other 'hot potato': the recent discovery of
: the secret extra (make that extravagant !)
: benefits the royals received over the past
: 40 years ...
: Political parties, from left to right and
: everything in between, are absolutely
: appalled and I guess both the dodgy
: financial deal plus the art deal will be
: getting lots of attention in the days/weeks
: to come!
:
:
: http://www.ad.nl/show/deal-van-oranjes-stuit-op-onbegrip~a5b82b34/
:
: