Around the World: Netherlands
China Daily | Updated: 2008-05-20 07:39
Let them eat cake!
Queen Juliana had wanted a mass pardon for petty criminals when she left the throne in 1980, according to the biography of an ex-Dutch prime minister published yesterday.
The story was related in the biography of Dries van Agt, who was prime minister from 1977-1982.
Mass pardons at major events were once common among European royalty, and Juliana wanted to do the same when she abdicated in favor of her daughter Queen Beatrix.
When the Cabinet told Juliana such a pardon was impossible in the modern era, she had difficulty accepting it, and asked whether all prisoners could at least be served cakes instead.
(China Daily 05/20/2008 page24)
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