Naturally, the royal wedding has been the talk of the town, even here in Holland. So here's our round up of how the Dutch press is covering the big day.
 
William and Kate: a royal love match
All of the Dutch papers devote page after page to what AD is calling “the wedding of the century”. For anyone who’s been living on a desert island for the past few months, Britain’s Prince William has just married Kate Middleton at London’s Westminster Abbey.
 
“London is yearning for the kiss,” swoons De Telegraaf in full-on romantic mode: “love reigns... William and Kate will withstand every storm”. It describes Prince William as “a true romantic... who has resolved never to lose the great love of his life”.
 
Back down on earth, Trouw characterises William and Kate as “the killer combination of a laid-back prince and a modest girl” and asks “will they change much in the conservative British royal house?” Probably not if the headline is anything to go by “Priority number 1: a baby”.

The price of Dutch royalty
Meanwhile, the royal wedding overkill has rather eclipsed the Netherlands’ own royal party: Saturday’s Queen’s Day celebrations. De Volkskrant compares the two kingdoms, calculating that “the Dutch monarchy costs seven million less than the British,” but that the British royals generate many hundreds of millions more in revenue.
 
Columnist Peter de Waard asks: “Is the Netherlands fully exploiting its royal brand?” And concludes: “If you want to cling to the fairytale of hereditary succession, you’d better take care of the economics as well.”
 
Gossip magazines 
While you’d expect the wedding to be a great excuse for the Dutch gossip magazines to go to town, their coverage is actually surprisingly modest. They seem more interested in the Netherlands’ own Princess Máxima, who is turning 40 – even though her birthday’s not until 17 May!

The glossies tell us everything we did and didn’t want to know about Prince William’s new in-laws. From “The Middleton Mystery” to “How rich Kate’s parents really are”.
 
The marriage is also an excuse to look back on the circumstances surrounding the death of William’s mother Diana, revealing “mysterious death photos in London safe”. And bold headlines tell us that “William introduces bride to his Mum” and “Kate cries at Diana’s grave”.
 
TV commentator
It seems, too, that the Dutch are not as enthralled by what was clearly a show-stoppingly magnificent ceremony in Westminster Abbey. ''Very British/American and a bit stiff" was how a tv commentator for Nederland 1 described the service.
 
Well, as they say, you can't please everyone!
 
(js/ae)