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Dutch royal house was ‘wholeheartedly’ involved in colonial exploitation, study shows

A three-year study found the House of Orange-Nassau benefited from colonial policies and helped the Dutch slave trade endure, researchers said.

  • On Friday, researchers presented a three-year study concluding the involvement of the House of Orange-Nassau in Dutch colonialism was "wholehearted and without any real reservations," holding the royal family responsible for the survival of the slave trade.
  • The royal family earned an estimated €576 million from slavery, mostly in the former Dutch East Indies, according to nearly four years of research involving 60 academics; the House has ruled the Netherlands since the late 16th century.
  • During a ceremony at the Academy Building in Leiden, King Willem-Alexander described the findings as "heartbreaking and confronting" after commissioning the study in 2022 and apologizing for the Netherlands' slave-trading history in 2023.
  • The National Institute for the Dutch Slavery Past and Heritage director Bianca Groen Gallant said research must contribute to "awareness, dialogue, corrections and additions to our national history in the school curriculum and the conversation about responsibility and reparatory justice."
  • Willem-Alexander acknowledged that "discrimination and economic exploitation unfortunately happen every day," while the government's €200 million social initiative fund has been dismissed by anti-racism campaigners as insufficient.
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17 Articles

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Here you can find information on the topic "Colonialism." Read now "Oranje princes earned half a billion colonies."

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The Dutch king commissioned a study on the history of his family in colonialism and slavery. The results are clear and "shaking."

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The ruling Dutch dynasty earned about Euro500 million in support of colonialism, receiving the main income through the Dutch East India Company, reported to NOS with reference to a study by Leiden University. The ruling Royal Netherlands Dynasty has for centuries benefited greatly from the support for colonialism, transmitting RIA News. According to the NOS Teleradio Company, which refers to the Leiden University study, the monarchs have activel…

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gelderlander.nl broke the news in Nijmegen, Netherlands (Kingdom of the) on Friday, October 2, 2026.
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