Dutch royal house shares responsibility for slavery, study finds
A Leiden University study says the House of Orange-Nassau supported colonialism and profited from colonial trade, while rarely determining policy.
A three-year study commissioned by King Willem-Alexander concludes the Dutch royal house shares responsibility for the survival of slavery and the slave trade. Leiden University said the House of Orange-Nassau supported Dutch colonialism over centuries, though it rarely determined colonial policy.
The study, covering 1600 to the present, found the royal family profited substantially from colonial trade, mainly in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia. Researchers estimated 19th-century profits at about US$650 million in modern terms. They said the family earned almost nothing from the slave trade.
Willem-Alexander said the findings were painful and confronting. He also pointed to his ancestors’ lack of “counter-current leadership” in the face of colonialism. The King apologised in 2023 for their lack of action against slavery.
The findings return attention to responsibility and reparatory justice. The Dutch government apologised in 2022 and ruled out reparations, instead establishing a €200 million fund for social initiatives.
The National Institute for the Dutch Slavery Past and Heritage welcomed the King’s decision to commission the research. Its director, Bianca Groen Gallant, said the findings should inform public awareness, education and discussion of responsibility and reparatory justice.
