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Princess Maxima and Crown Prince Willem-Alexander on an earlier visit abroad
Rob Kievit's picture
Map
Machangulo, Mozambique
Machangulo, Mozambique

Dutch royals to sell controversial holiday villa

Published on : 20 November 2009 - 2:37pm | By Rob Kievit
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Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and his wife Princess Máxima are abandoning their project to build a holiday villa for themselves in Mozambique.

The move follows criticism in parliament about the handling of the affair by Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, who is formally responsible for public actions of the Dutch Royal family.

RNW's Eric Beauchemin visited the site and spoke to local residents

Watch Eric's video;

The holiday home that is currently being built as a part of a luxury resort will be sold once it has been completed. Prince Willem-Alexander wrote to Prime Minister Balkenende that he no longer wants the real estate project to be surrounded by adverse publicity.

Media
The prince wrote that he hoped his participation in the building project on the Mozambican peninsula of Machangulo would help the development of the local population. "But there is a risk now that the ongoing reporting in the media about our participation is overshadowing the favourable developments on the ground. As every mistake is focused on, the project is at a disadvantage."

In an apparent reference to the attention given to the case by MPs and the prime minister, the prince adds,

"Also, such a discussion costs time and effort that should be spent on other business instead."

Controversial
The princely couple bought four plots of land in Mozambique in 2007, one of which was intended for their own holiday home. The project was controversial from the outset, both inside and outside parliament in The Hague. There were doubt whether the project would have the intended positive effects on the poor local population. The Mozambican government confirmed that it would.

Princess Máxima and Prince Willem-Alexander have emphasised that their commitment to the project will continue, even though they themselves will not be holidaying there. "Our involvement has raised expectations with the local population, which we consider ourselves bound to," they wrote to the prime minister.

 

Royal holiday villa on Mozambican coast (NOS screenshot)

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Discussion

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actiondisplay 26 June 2011 - 9:44pm / Turkey

Günümüzün modern toplumuna ulaşmada en etkili reklam aracı olan açıkhava mecraları, 24 saat reklam imkanı ile firmalara hedef bölgeler belirleme; ürünlerini, hizmetlerini bu bölgelere yoğunlaştırma imkanı sağlar. Kapsam alanı geniş, görsel ve yaratıcı bir açıkhava reklamı daha fazla farkedilmenizi sağlar ve kuvvetli bir marka etkisi oluşturur.
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actiondisplay 26 June 2011 - 9:42pm / Turkey

Günümüzün modern toplumuna ulaşmada en etkili reklam aracı olan açıkhava mecraları, 24 saat reklam imkanı ile firmalara hedef bölgeler belirleme; ürünlerini, hizmetlerini bu bölgelere yoğunlaştırma imkanı sağlar. Kapsam alanı geniş, görsel ve yaratıcı bir açıkhava reklamı daha fazla farkedilmenizi sağlar ve kuvvetli bir marka etkisi oluşturur.
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actiondisplay 10 April 2011 - 10:52pm / turkey

Günümüzün modern toplumuna ulaşmada en etkili reklam aracı olan açıkhava mecraları, 24 saat reklam imkanı ile firmalara hedef bölgeler belirleme; ürünlerini, hizmetlerini bu bölgelere yoğunlaştırma imkanı sağlar. Kapsam alanı geniş, görsel ve yaratıcı bir açıkhava reklamı daha fazla farkedilmenizi sağlar ve kuvvetli bir marka etkisi oluşturur.
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anonymous 21 November 2009 - 7:54pm / GLOBE
To keep or not to keep, is the eternal dilemma. Wise move by the Royals to earn public sympathy!
Anonymous 21 November 2009 - 12:40am / uk
If he is not allow to buy a holiday home in Mozambique why should he then be allowed to buy a holiday home anywhere else but Holland?
Anonymous 20 November 2009 - 9:36pm / U.S.A.
Public opinion is no more than this: what people think that other people think.
Anonymous 20 November 2009 - 9:31pm / U.S.A.
There are lots of beautiful places in Argentina.
Anonymous 20 November 2009 - 4:15pm / uk
How sad. They should be able to buy what they want with their own money. What's even sadder now is that the local people were hoping the prince can bring some investment into Mozambique but it seems like the Dutch public don't care about Mozambique.
Tony 20 November 2009 - 3:28pm / NL
I feel sorry for Maxima and Willem-Alexander that apparantly they cannot invest their money in whatever project they want. It makes me sad to realise that I belong to a nation where 'public opinion' (read: media) dominates private decisions nowadays.

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