Dutch king will not use carriage criticised for colonial image

Footmen walk alongside the Golden Carriage as King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima arrive at Noordeinde Palace after officially opening the new parliamentary year in The Hague, Netherlands, in 2013 (Peter Dejong/AP)

The Dutch king has ruled out using, for now at least, the royal family’s Golden Carriage, one side of which bears a painting that critics say glorifies the Netherlands’ colonial past, including its role in the global slave trade.

The announcement was an acknowledgement of the heated debate about the carriage as the Netherlands reckons with the grim sides of its history as a 17th-century colonial superpower, including Dutch merchants making vast fortunes from slaves.