Queen Beatrix and her family have fallen two places on Quote magazine's annual list of the Netherlands' wealthiest people. More importantly, their estimated wealth has for the first time dropped below the one-billion-euro mark. And it appears that they couldn't be happier about it.
 
For the first time in the 13 years of the Quote 500 list's existence there's been an official reaction to its estimate of the royal family's wealth. The Government Information Service (RVD) - which represents the royals - has applauded the lower ranking and confirmed that they indeed have less than one billion to their name.
 
In fact, according to the official statement, any downward adjustment of the estimate will "bring it closer to the truth."
 
Richest family
Although they're often referred to as the Netherlands' richest family, it's a closely guarded secret how much spending money the House of Orange actually has. "There have been a lot of estimates, from several hunderd million euros to many many billions," says the editor-in-chief of Quote magazine, Sjoerd van Stokkum.
 
"We're usually on the low side with our own estimate: somewhere between one and two billion euros. But this year we have a lot of sources that say they have lost a lot of money, so this year we estimated them at 800 million euros."
 
That's still a long way away from the 213 million euros that the Queen's late father, Prince Bernhard, is said to have mentioned in an angry letter to the US magazine Forbes in 2003, just a year before his death. "People may think we're stingy", the prince is reputed to have said. "But we actually have to be very careful about how much we spend."
 
Spending controversies
This year, the Queen and her family have even more reason than usual to be sensitive about what they own and earn. First of all because the economic crisis has lowered the tolerance of the Dutch for excessive wealth. But there have also been several controversies involving the royal family and its spending patterns.
 
One has focused on a villa in Mozambique that is being built as a luxury holiday home for Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, his wife Princess Máxima and their children. There have been calls for the prince to withdraw from the project. Critics say it's in poor taste for him to flaunt his wealth in one of the world's poorest countries.
 
And here have been hostile reactions to the news that last year, the House of Orange cost Dutch taxpayers 36 percent more than the year before. In total, the royals claimed 113 million euros from the public coffers, part of which they are entitled to spend on private pursuits like jetting around the globe.
 
More openness
"Due to the negative publicity around the Queen they are getting more open," is how Sjoerd van Stokkum explains the unexpected letter from the government information service.
 
"Because everything is paid from our tax money, people want them to be more open. And what you see now is that the Queen's salary and that of Crown Prince Willem-Alexander are published. And they're also more open about the estimate of 800 million we give them."
 
Still, the royals' reaction mentions no firm amount but only states that the lower the estimate the closer it is to the truth. Which could mean 400 million euros, but also 200. Or 20.
 
Why happy?
So could it be that they are actually relieved to be billionaires no more, because they're afraid to be seen by the Dutch population as wealthy tax spongers? Quote editor Van Stokkum thinks that goes too far:
 
"I wouldn't be happy if I had just lost that kind of money, and the Queen doesn't pay taxes. So why would she be happy?"

Photo: Dutch queen Beatrix (centre) with Mexican president Felipe Calderon (right) during her visit to Mexico City, Mexico, on 3 November 2009. On the left are Dutch crown prince Willem-Alexander and his wife Princess Máxima. EPA/Frank van Beek.