More than enough for the king, say Drenthe and Groningen residents: more than half have confidence in Willem-Alexander

This is evident from a representative survey among more than 1,100 residents of Groningen and Drenthe aged thirty years and older via the RegionNorthPanel by agency Enigma Research on the instructions of Dagblad van het Noorden .

The Royal House is rated highly satisfactory by Drenthe and Groningen residents. Queen Máxima receives the highest rating with an average score of 7.4. Crown Princess Amalia scores a 7.1 and King Willem-Alexander and Princess Beatrix follow with a 7.0.

Growth of the king

57 percent of Drenthe and Groningen residents say they have confidence in Willem-Alexander, compared to 20 percent with little confidence in his royal abilities. Women are 63 percent more likely to trust the king than men (52 percent).

For two-thirds of Drenthe and Groningen residents, confidence in the king has remained the same in recent years. Confidence has increased for 16 percent. They believe that Willem-Alexander has grown into his role and shows genuine interest. ‘The fact that Willem-Alexander is prepared to apologize (whether justified or not) for past mistakes by the government and the Royal Family confirms that he is a modern head of state. That is a guarantee for the future,” said one respondent.

On the other hand, there is a slightly larger group of 20 percent, whose confidence has decreased. For example, these respondents mention the costs and his trip to Greece as reasons. “Sometimes there are signs of little involvement, such as the holidays during the corona period while every Dutch person was asked to stay at home,” answers a participant.

Connecting role

Drenthe and Groningen residents consider the connecting role as representative of the Netherlands to be the most important task of King Willem-Alexander (59 percent). Half (49 percent) think it is important that the king makes commercial trips that are beneficial to Dutch business. Willem-Alexander’s most important task is number three: making state visits and receiving heads of state (37 percent).

The people of Drenthe and Groningen consider the king’s political tasks – such as the weekly consultation with the Prime Minister and the signing of laws and Royal decrees – much less important (14 and 13 percent respectively).

More attention for Ter Apel

Nearly 70 percent of Drenthe and Groningen residents consider Willem-Alexander to be a committed king. Three out of five also rate him as kind and sincere.

But 38 percent think the king should show himself more, especially around the refugee crisis in Ter Apel. With regard to the earthquake file, 44 percent think Willem-Alexander is involved, although a third thinks that this could be improved. Drenthe and Groningen residents also believe that Willem-Alexander is more visible in Groningen (34 percent) than in Drenthe (24 percent).

In addition to the earthquake problems and the asylum crisis, some respondents also expect the king’s involvement in, for example, combating poverty and the housing crisis.

‘It may perhaps be wise in today’s society for the king to hold a kind of consultation hour every now and then with people from a certain province and to develop action points from this. And then also show that the king is there for everyone by actually doing something with those action points,” someone suggests.

Monarchy may remain

If we then take stock, the monarchy is not hanging by a thread as far as Drenthe and Groningers are concerned. A large majority (62 percent) says the monarchy should remain. A quarter would like a republic and 12 percent don’t care.

Men (32 percent) more often choose a republic than women (one fifth), just like residents under the age of fifty (36 percent against 22 percent) and politically left-oriented people (34 percent against 23 percent).