Dutch royal house helped slave trade to survive, study finds

In-depth study also says the royal house made huge profits from the Dutch colonial policies in past centuries.

Dutch King Willem-Alexander delivers a speech after receiving the results of an independent study into the role of the House of Orange-Nassau in Dutch colonial history, at Leiden University in Leiden, the Netherlands, on October 2, 2026 [Piroschka van de Wouw/Reuters]

A historical study has found that the Dutch royal house benefited from the country’s colonial policies in past centuries and helped the slave trade to survive.

The in-depth study, commissioned by King Willem-Alexander and conducted by Leiden University, showed the House of Orange-Nassau “actively supported Dutch colonialism for centuries, but only rarely determined colonial policy”, according to the university’s statement, published on Friday.

list 1 of 3 Why has the Netherlands moved $10bn of its gold from the US?

list 2 of 3 Angry Dutch farmers blamed for railway sabotage: What happened?

list 3 of 3 Dutch riot police break up violent far-right protest in The Hague

“The involvement of the House of Orange-Nassau was wholehearted and without any real reservations,” Dutch historians and human rights experts concluded after a three-year study looking at the period from 1600 to the present.

“The research leaves us in no doubt that the House of Orange shares responsibility for the survival over the centuries of the Dutch slave trade and slavery,” the study said, noting that most of the rulers showed no objections to slavery.

King Willem-Alexander said on Friday he was personally affected by the “explicit” conclusions of the study.

“It is a painful and confronting conclusion. A conclusion that affects me, even though I am three generations removed,” Willem-Alexander said in a speech at the presentation of the research.

“We know the effects of colonialism and slavery are still being felt today. Discrimination and economic exploitation unfortunately happen every day,” he added.

The study also showed that the royal family at times profited substantially from the colonial system, mostly from trade in the Dutch East Indies, modern-day Indonesia.

In the 19th century, for instance, profits accumulated to about $650m in modern terms, the researchers said.

On the other hand, the royal family earned “almost nothing” from the slave trade, the research showed.

Apologies without reparations

The Dutch monarch, who in 2023 apologised for his ancestors’ lack of action against slavery, highlighted their lack of “counter-current leadership” in the face of colonialism.

Dutch historian Gert Oostindie, right, presents a volume of an independent study into the role of the House of Orange-Nassau in Dutch colonial history to King Willem-Alexander in Leiden, the Netherlands, on October 2, 2026 [Piroschka van de Wouw/Reuters]

The House of Orange has ruled the Netherlands since the late 16th century, first as “stadtholders” who presided over the republic, and later as the royal house when the Netherlands became a monarchy.

For most of this time, the Dutch ruled over vast colonies in Southeast Asia and the Caribbean, including what is now Indonesia and Suriname.

The findings could stir up the debate around reparations in the Netherlands. The Dutch government apologised in 2022 after acknowledging the Dutch state bore responsibility for transatlantic slavery. King Willem-Alexander apologised the following year.

The government at the time ruled out reparations, instead creating a 200 million euro ($238m) fund for social initiatives, which anti-racism campaigners have dismissed as insufficient.

The National Institute for the Dutch Slavery Past and Heritage (NiNsee) lauded the king for commissioning the study but said it should lead to a next phase.

“Research impacts society when the new insights into the past contribute to awareness, dialogue, corrections and additions to our national history in the school curriculum and the conversation about responsibility and reparatory justice,” NiNsee director Bianca Groen Gallant said.

The Dutch played a major role in the global slave trade from the 17th century until the Netherlands abolished slavery in the second half of the 19th century.

深入研究还表明，荷兰王室在过去几个世纪的殖民政策中获得了巨额利润。

2026年10月2日，荷兰国王威廉-亚历山大在荷兰莱顿大学接收了一份关于奥兰治-拿骚家族在荷兰殖民历史中的作用的独立研究结果后发表讲话。[Piroschka van de Wouw/路透社]

历史研究发现，荷兰王室在过去几个世纪中从该国的殖民政策中获益，并帮助奴隶贸易得以延续。

根据莱顿大学周五发表的声明，由威廉-亚历山大国王委托进行的深入研究表明，奥兰治-拿骚家族“几个世纪以来一直积极支持荷兰殖民主义，但很少决定殖民政策”。

问题 1（共 3 题）：荷兰为何将其价值 100 亿美元的黄金从美国转移？

列表 2/3：愤怒的荷兰农民被指责破坏铁路：发生了什么？

（共3条）荷兰防暴警察在海牙驱散暴力极右翼抗议活动

荷兰历史学家和人权专家在对 1600 年至今这段时期进行了为期三年的研究后得出结论：“奥兰治-拿骚家族的参与是全心全意的，没有任何真正的保留。”

该研究指出，“这项研究让我们确信，奥兰治家族对荷兰奴隶贸易和奴隶制几个世纪以来的延续负有责任”，并指出大多数统治者对奴隶制没有表现出任何反对意见。

威廉-亚历山大国王周五表示，这项研究的“明确”结论对他个人产生了影响。

“这是一个令人痛苦和难以接受的结论。即使我与他们相隔三代，这个结论也影响到了我，”威廉-亚历山大在研究成果发布会上发表讲话时说道。

“我们知道殖民主义和奴隶制的影响至今仍然存在。不幸的是，歧视和经济剥削每天都在发生，”他补充道。

该研究还表明，皇室有时从殖民体系中获利颇丰，主要来自荷属东印度群岛（今印度尼西亚）的贸易。

研究人员表示，例如，在 19 世纪，利润累计达到约 6.5 亿美元（按现代标准计算）。

另一方面，研究表明，皇室成员从奴隶贸易中“几乎没有”获得任何收益。

没有赔偿的道歉

荷兰国王曾在 2023 年为他的祖先在反对奴隶制方面缺乏作为而道歉，他强调了他们在面对殖民主义时缺乏“逆流而上的领导力”。

2026年10月2日，荷兰历史学家格特·奥斯廷迪（右）在荷兰莱顿向国王威廉-亚历山大赠送了一部关于奥兰治-拿骚家族在荷兰殖民历史中的作用的独立研究著作。[皮罗什卡·范德沃/路透社]

自 16 世纪末以来，奥兰治家族一直统治着荷兰，最初是作为共和国的“执政”，后来在荷兰成为君主制国家后成为王室。

在此期间的大部分时间里，荷兰统治着东南亚和加勒比地区的大片殖民地，包括现在的印度尼西亚和苏里南。

这些发现可能会在荷兰引发关于赔偿问题的辩论。荷兰政府在2022年承认荷兰国家对跨大西洋奴隶贸易负有责任后公开道歉。威廉-亚历山大国王于次年再次道歉。

当时的政府排除了赔偿的可能性，而是设立了一个 2 亿欧元（2.38 亿美元）的社会倡议基金，但反种族主义运动人士认为这远远不够。

荷兰奴隶制历史与遗产国家研究所 (NiNsee) 赞扬国王委托进行这项研究，但表示这项研究应该进入下一阶段。

“当对过去的全新见解有助于提高人们对国家历史的认识，促进对话，修正和补充学校课程中的国家历史，并引发关于责任和补偿性正义的讨论时，研究就会对社会产生影响，”NiNsee 主任 Bianca Groen Gallant 说。

从 17 世纪到 19 世纪下半叶荷兰废除奴隶制，荷兰在全球奴隶贸易中扮演了重要角色。