Moscow, Oct 2 (RIA Novosti/GNA) – The Dutch royal house of Orange-Nassau derived about 500 million euros ($563 million) in today’s money from its centuries-long colonial practices, the NOS broadcaster reported on Friday, citing a Leiden University study.
The study was conducted by Leiden University over several years. It examined the colonial past of the royal family at the request of Dutch King Willem-Alexander.
Leader researcher Gert Oostindie said that the royal family provided “centuries-long active and unscrupulous support of colonialism, including slavery,” with members of the dynasty considering colonial wars and the violent suppression of uprisings inevitable and justified. Criticism of colonialism from the Oranges was first voiced under Queen Juliana, who ascended the throne in 1948.
The main financial benefit was gained from the Dutch East India Company and later from the Dutch East Indies, while the West India Company, which was involved in transatlantic slave trade and slavery in the Caribbean region, was largely unsuccessful and brought the Oranges mostly losses.
The apology made by King Willem-Alexander on July 1, 2023 for “the inaction of his ancestors, who did not intervene in the situation with Atlantic slavery,” is justified, Oostindie said.
GNA/RIA Novosti