That year, Dutch monarchical history could have met a disastrous fate. Every April 30, the Dutch royal family celebrates Queen’s Day. On this date, the crowned tribe has the habit of going to a city in the country to celebrate this festive day. In 2009, the entire royal family visited Apeldoorn, in the province of Gelderland. But that day, everything didn’t go as hoped.
About 600 meters from the royal palace Het Loo, a 38-year-old man named Karst Tates drove his car, a Suzuki Swift, into the royal procession, instantly killing six people (including three children) in the crowd who had come to attend the party. The driver ended his race by hitting the monument By Naald just a few meters from the bus where the royal family was. The latter narrowly escaped the attack and immediately had all activities suspended. In all, eight people, including the attacker, died as a result of the attack.
Before his death, Karst Tates admitted to targeting the royal procession, including Queen Beatrix, Prince Willem-Alexander and other members of the Dutch royal family. According to the Dutch newspapers of May 1, the reasons for the attack were of a private nature, linked to the driver’s loss of employment and eviction from his accommodation.
Today, a work by the artist Menno Joncker is installed on the scene of the tragedy. This memorial represents balloons trapped behind a plate of glass.
⋙ PHOTOS – Máxima, Willem-Alexander, Amalia… The Dutch royal family celebrating for a very special day
The queen, a fragile symbol
On the day of the attack, Queen Beatrix spoke out. Addressing the nation on this fateful day, she declared, her voice white with emotion and holding back tears: “What started as a wonderful day ended in a terrible tragedy that shocked us all. The people who stood by, who saw it on television, everyone who witnessed it, had to observe this with amazement and disbelief.”.
“Queen’s Day will never be the same again”highlighted several newspapers the day after the tragedy, predicting that the protection of the royal family would be strengthened. “We will never again see a queen and her family that the crowd can freely approach”could we read in the columns of From Volkskrant. The royal house has always been “without too many complications”recalled the media Trouwwho cited as an example “a queen who simply rides a bicycle, but also a queen who can move among her people without conspicuous security measures”.
Photo credits: abaca