The future Queen of the Netherlands wanted to study freely, go to clubs and live with fellow students. Instead, the 18-year-old now lives in her parents’ golden cage again. Security services fear an attack or kidnapping.
Crown Princess Catharina-Amalia Beatrix Carmen Victoria von Orange actually wanted to lead a normal life as a student. Going to lectures, living with fellow students, going to bars and clubs in the evenings. The heir to the Dutch throne only moved into a shared apartment in Amsterdam at the beginning of September. She had enrolled in the bachelor’s degree in Politics, Psychology, Law and Economics. Dressed in wide white jeans and sneakers, the 18-year-old waved happily to the photographers on her first day at the University of Amsterdam – just as casually and informally as the Dutch like their “royals”.
But last Thursday, during a state visit to Sweden, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima said their daughter had returned to the family palace in The Hague. There are indications that Amalia’s life is in danger. The crown princess must be guarded around the clock and can only leave the palace under strong personal protection. That has “enormous consequences,” said Queen Máxima, visibly agitated. “She doesn’t live in Amsterdam anymore, she can’t go out anymore. It’s very difficult for her.”
The royal couple gave no further information about the background to the threat. But the name “Mocro-Mafia” appeared in the country’s media in mid-September. According to a report in the newspaper De Telegraaf, based on information from the security services, the milieu of organized drug crime is planning kidnappings and attacks on leading figures in Dutch society.
Princess Amalia and Prime Minister Mark Rutte are mentioned explicitly. Additional security measures have therefore been taken for the future Queen of the Netherlands and the head of government. In fact, the Dutch have not seen a carefree cycling Rutte for a long time. Reports that organized crime was also targeting him surfaced last fall.
The “Mocro-Mafia” in the Netherlands is the name given to the network of gangs of Moroccan origin who deal primarily in cocaine. Its most influential head, the 44-year-old Ridouan Taghi, has had to appear before a court in Amsterdam since March last year, where he is accused of, among other things, six contract killings and several attempted murders. Taghi is also suspected of being behind the attack on the well-known crime reporter Peter R. De Vries.
Imprisoned drug lord wants nothing to do with the matter
Investigators assume that the drug lord can still switch and act relatively undisturbed from his cell in the high-security wing of Vught. His gang is not lacking in cash reserves. His relatives are said to have been looking for collaborators for an escape plan last year and offered a sum in the double-digit millions. Insiders suspect Taghi could be freed in exchange for a high-profile kidnapping victim like the Crown Princess.
In response to the alleged plans, Taghi is currently no longer allowed to make phone calls to his family, according to his lawyer. The former most wanted criminal in the Netherlands vehemently denies that such plans even exist and that he is involved in them.
And Amalia? It is guaranteed that the state will work day and night to protect the heir to the throne, Justice Minister Dilan Yesilgöz wrote on Twitter. The consequences of the international drug trade, which her government has declared war on, are of course terrible, according to Yesilgöz, “first and foremost for the princess”. In any case, there is no end in sight to the strict safety precautions for Amalia. And thus not the most “normal time” that the royal couple wanted to give her. So normal that the 18-year-old even waived the state appanage of 1.6 million euros a year to which she was entitled.