THE WALL STREET JOURNAL – OP ED: In a nation of equals, I shudder to hear fellow citizens addressed as 'your royal highness.'
In my country, one family has a monopoly on the position of head of state. No, I'm not from North Korea, but from the Netherlands, where after 30 years on the throne, Queen Beatrix of Orange will abdicate at the end of this month to her son Willem-Alexander.
The ceremony will receive world-wide attention—and since this is royalty we're talking about, expect it to be fawning. Television will present the fairy tale of a happy nation united under its new king.
Well, count me out. I am one of many Dutch citizens who think it is time for us to do what America and most other countries did long ago: take leave of our monarchs.
The United States made me a republican. (With a small R, that is.) Having lived there for 30 years, I can no longer tolerate a system that has just one requirement for the top job: being from the right family. Most republics select their heads of state based on merit, but in Holland no special talents are needed to become king.
Indeed, even monarchists have questioned whether Willem-Alexander is up to the job that he will inherit and from which he cannot be fired. They console themselves with the thought that Maxima, his Argentine wife and our future queen, is smart enough to pick up the slack if needed.
How is it possible that the Dutch continue to set such a low bar for their democracy? I don't want to call my countrymen brainwashed, but I have noticed that geographic distance has given me and many other Dutch émigrés a different perspective on the monarchy. As Americans living abroad know, it becomes easier to question one's national values when you are not constantly exposed to messages reinforcing them. In Holland the queen's face is on euro coins and on postage stamps, the national anthem is an ode to her family, and the Dutch observe the Queen's birthday in the way Americans celebrate Independence Day. Media coverage is by and large reverential if not unctuous. Scandals are quickly forgotten.
In a country known for its outspokenness, the monarchy may well be the last taboo. Unlike the U.K., Holland has no politicians publicly making a case against the monarchy. Ever since the queen announced her decision to abdicate, many aspects of the succession have been debated: May fur be used in the royal robe? Should parliamentarians pledge loyalty to the king? But almost no one has raised the most fundamental and obvious question: Should we call it quits? » | Max Westerman * | Wednesday, April 03, 2013
* Mr. Westerman, a former Newsweek reporter, covered the U.S. for 15 years as a correspondent for Dutch television.
