A Black Queen's Day
Museum Auntie called this afternoon with some shocking news: a car had sped through a Queen's Day crowd in Apeldoorn, apparently to try and hit the Dutch royal family who were riding in an open-topped bus. The driver missed his target, but five people have died and a dozen or more are injured. There are no indications that anyone apart from the driver was involved.
General feeling seems to be of shock and disbelief, leavened by relief that the suspect isn't Muslim.
The English media picked up the story, some more than others. I watched the BBC News at 10 and, oddly, they're running a few hours behind with their facts.
The Guardian added this highly peculiar remark to an otherwise decent report: "This year's Dutch national holiday celebrations had been marred by rumours that Queen Beatrix was about to abdicate to make way for her son." Which rumours come round on at least an annual basis and don't mar anything.
Of course, a detail that isn't mentioned, as it's only of interest to the nerds, is that the authorities are dusting off article 108 regarding assaults on a head of state.
It's slightly weird, knowing that this story absolutely dominates the Dutch media, and will for days to come, while it's only one of several top stories here in the UK today. I'd say I'm surprised that this incident gets even that much attention, but presumably the fact that there's always a live broadcast of the Queen's Day parade added to the newsworthiness.
General feeling seems to be of shock and disbelief, leavened by relief that the suspect isn't Muslim.
The English media picked up the story, some more than others. I watched the BBC News at 10 and, oddly, they're running a few hours behind with their facts.
The Guardian added this highly peculiar remark to an otherwise decent report: "This year's Dutch national holiday celebrations had been marred by rumours that Queen Beatrix was about to abdicate to make way for her son." Which rumours come round on at least an annual basis and don't mar anything.
Of course, a detail that isn't mentioned, as it's only of interest to the nerds, is that the authorities are dusting off article 108 regarding assaults on a head of state.
It's slightly weird, knowing that this story absolutely dominates the Dutch media, and will for days to come, while it's only one of several top stories here in the UK today. I'd say I'm surprised that this incident gets even that much attention, but presumably the fact that there's always a live broadcast of the Queen's Day parade added to the newsworthiness.