Dutch Royal Willem-Alexander Retires Golden Carriage Due To Its Racist, Colonial Past
News 18Dutch King Willem-Alexander announced Thursday that he is mothballing the royal Golden Coach which has been embroiled in a racism controversy. The opulent horse-drawn carriage, called “De Gouden Koets”, has traditionally transported the Dutch monarch to the opening of parliament and other state occasions, but has not been used since 2015. Called “Tribute of the Colonies”, the image depicts kneeling black people handing over produce like cocoa and sugarcane to their white masters — including to a young white woman on a throne representing the Netherlands. Next to her, a young white man is seen giving a young black boy a book as he is presented by his subservient father, an image which painter Nicolaas van der Waay in 1896 said was meant to portray “civilisation”. “The Gouden Koets won’t be used until the Netherlands is ready for it, and that’s not the case at the moment,” the king said.
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