Dutch King Willem-Alexander’s visit to an orange-decorated street in The Hague during the European Championship has garnered criticism for mingling a little too closely with soccer fans.
The head of the House of Orange visited the street on Thursday as the Netherlands played Austria at the delayed Euro 2020.
The king was seen shaking the hand of at least one person and not sticking to the country’s 1.5-meter social distancing rules in a video posted on social media and photos of the visit.
Caretaker Minister for Medical Care and Sport Tamara van Ark says “we didn’t introduce 1.5-meter social distancing for nothing.”
She adds that “you see that it sometimes goes wrong. I think out of enthusiasm.”
It is not the first time the Dutch monarch has been criticized during the COVID-19 pandemic. He apologized last year for taking his family on vacation to Greece. The family hurried home after a public outcry.
The vacation did not breach coronavirus restrictions but it came just days after the Dutch government introduced what it called a “partial lockdown” in a bid to rein in soaring infections.
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