The House of Orange-Nassau was deeply and consistently involved in Dutch colonialism, supporting colonial rule and benefiting financially from it, according to a three-year study commissioned by King Willem-Alexander.
The research examined the royal family’s role in Dutch colonial history from 1600 to 2025. Researchers concluded that the stadtholders, kings and queens of the House of Orange regarded colonialism as legitimate and important to the Netherlands, while colonial warfare and the violent suppression of uprisings were generally viewed as justified.
“There were no substantial reservations,” lead researcher Gert Oostindie said while presenting the report.
The study estimates that the House of Orange-Nassau earned the equivalent of almost €576 million from Dutch colonialism. Around €566 million of that amount came from the former Dutch East Indies, while the remainder was linked to territories once controlled by the Dutch West India Company, including parts of West Africa and the Americas.
The researchers found little evidence that the royal family earned money directly from the trans-Atlantic slave trade or slavery in the Caribbean. Much of its colonial income instead came during the 19th century through the Netherlands Trading Society and the Billiton Company.
King William I and his grandson Prince Hendrik were involved in founding those companies, giving the royal family a direct financial connection to Dutch colonial activities.
‘A painful and confronting conclusion’
Willem-Alexander described the findings as “unvarnished and deeply confronting,” particularly the conclusion that members of his family failed to challenge colonial policies.
Oostindie said that until the reign of Queen Juliana, there had been no public criticism of colonialism from the royal palaces and no calls from the House of Orange for a fundamentally different approach.
The king acknowledged the finding while noting that colonialism was widely accepted in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe at the time.
“They were people of their time,” Willem-Alexander said. But he added that this did not alter the conclusion that his predecessors failed to provide what the report calls “dissenting leadership” when it might have made a difference.
“That is a painful and confronting conclusion,” the king said, adding that the findings affected him despite being three generations removed from the royal figures examined by the study.
Colonial wealth also brought prestige
Researchers said the benefits to the House of Orange went beyond money.
The family’s involvement in colonialism was also reflected in the employment of Black servants, the collection of objects from overseas territories and relationships with colonial rulers based on unequal power structures.
Oostindie said colonial trade companies helped members of the royal family build collections of exotic objects and incorporate colonial imagery into their homes and gardens.
The relationship between the monarchy and colonialism gradually began to change during the reign of Queen Juliana, according to the researchers.
At the same time, the study found that the apparent loyalty and admiration for the House of Orange in former colonies cannot be understood separately from the unequal relationships of power that existed under colonial rule.
Researcher Esther Captain described a public image built around “carefully orchestrated displays of imperial unity and loyalty to the royal family,” while exclusion, inequality and resistance continued underneath.
Criticism of the monarchy and other forms of public resistance were often suppressed, she said.
Calls for education and redress
Civil-society organizations have broadly welcomed the report, although some have argued that acknowledging the past must be followed by concrete action.
Bianca Groen Gallant of Ninsee, an institute focused on the history of slavery in the Netherlands, said the report largely confirms what historians already knew but described the decision to commission the research as significant.
She said the next step should be a broader discussion about redress and the continuing impact of colonialism on people and their descendants.
Yvonne van Genugten of the Indies Remembrance Center also welcomed the king’s response, saying that the colonial and slavery past continues to influence Dutch society.
She described the revelation that the House of Orange accumulated around half a billion euros from the exploitation of the Dutch East Indies as particularly striking, arguing that public discussions about the Netherlands’ slavery past have often focused too heavily on the trans-Atlantic trade while paying less attention to slavery in the Indian Ocean world.
Peggy Brandon of the National Slavery Museum said the report also highlighted the responsibility of the education system.
She argued that Dutch history education has traditionally presented only fragments of the country’s colonial past and called for changes to what children are taught.
Government rules out further reparations
Prime Minister Rob Jetten said the government would not pursue additional reparations in response to the report.
The Dutch Cabinet allocated €200 million in 2023 for initiatives including commemoration and education related to the country’s slavery history.
Captain, however, stressed that symbolic recognition alone would not be enough. She said apologies should be accompanied by efforts to address inequalities and injustices that continue into the present.
Willem-Alexander said he regarded the study as a starting point rather than an endpoint.
“For me, your work is not an ending, but an encouragement to act,” he said. “I cannot change the past, but I can do my best to make a positive contribution to the present and the future.”
The king added that the report had given him an additional incentive to uphold the commitment he made at his inauguration: protecting the freedom and rights of all Dutch citizens and residents.
Be First to Comment