The Dutch Royal Family will no longer use its ceremonial Golden Coach for official occasions because of its connection with colonialism and slavery, which are depicted on painted panels on the sides of the vehicle.
Instead of being used in parades, according to Dutch broadcaster NOS, it will become an exhibit in the Amsterdam Museum, with appropriate context. The coach was a coronation gift ‘from the people’ to Queen Wilhelmina in 1898.
The panel in question, officially ‘Tribute of the Colonies, but which has come to be known as ‘the slave panel’ shows black-skinned people paying homage to a white woman by bowing and offering gifts. King Willem Alexander last year rejected proposals to remove the panel, saying it is part of Dutch cultural heritage; the king has apologized to Indonesia and other former colonies for that part of Dutch history.
The carriage has just undergone a costly restoration, possibly another reason for retiring it now; there have been concerns about damage to it by protesters as well as by weather and the city’s streets. The museum to which it will retire is housed in a former city orphanage, whose orphan girls embroidered the carriage’s seat cushions.
