Angela de Jong, one of the more popular & most read columnists of the country who is very present in the media, wrote a column about the absence of the royal family in the Algemeen Dagblad.
Hoe zou de koning woensdag naar Nederland-Engeland hebben gekeken, vraagt Angela de Jong zich af. Zeker nu Johan Derksen bewees dat er écht iets unieks aan de hand was rond het EK. ‘Met het schaamrood op de kaken dat hij er als koning niet was, mag ik hopen.’
www.ad.nl
She talks about a PR mistake of the King and the RF at the European football championship and wondered if the RF would feel any about their absence.
She concluded that the vacation in Greece is more important for the King and his family than to be part of the nationwide celebrations (volksfeest) of our team.
Not even a post on their social media was made, which really wouldn't have to be all that much trouble.
Of course Queen Beatrix seldom set foot in a sports stadium other than ones for horses. And she never attended such sports competitions either. But times have changed and if the King has no time or wish to be there, why not send his daughter, as his mother sent him.
Note that the King will be back in the Netherlands within six days for the national commemoration of the victims of the MH17 flight, which happened 10 years ago.
I imagine he may feel his holiday is rather short due to Olympics, which will start on the 26th. That gives him a vacation of 2 1/2 weeks. Most people can't have more than 2 or 3 weeks off in the summer.
The website of RTL Boulevard -the largest entertainment programme on television- had a poll. 60% thinks he should have been there while 40% thinks the King is free to decide if he wants to be there or not.
In Duitsland kleuren de straten al weken oranje door de vele voetbalsupporters die ons land komen aanmoedigen tijdens het Europees Kampioenschap. Duizenden fans zijn naar Duitsland afgereisd om de spannende wedstrijden te komen bewonderen, maar één Oranje-fan ontbreekt: koning Willem-Alexander...
www.rtl.nl