Satisfied faces in Meppel after the visit of King Willem-Alexander this afternoon. Fans of the king rejoice looking at the much desired selfies with the king, administrators and companies are satisfied with how they were able to tell their story to the majesty.
On Wednesday afternoon, four kids look at each other’s screens with big smiles. “Wooh, we did it,” one of the guys cheers. The phones show selfies of the boys with a smiling king also looking into the camera. “He IS just a normal guy, the way he is here,” says another.
In between company visits, the monarch has taken a moment for the public in Meppel, and many people come to see him. Immediately after getting off the water taxi, Willem-Alexander receives a gift from Paulien de Ram. “A box of chocolates,” he says. All day De Ram anxiously awaited the chance to see the king up close. “I saw him two or three times before. But now I’m also in a photo with him,” beams royal family fan Meppel.
Nicolai Romashuk from Assen also found a place on the seafront. A good place, because he also manages to put something in the king’s hands and have his photo taken. “A book about Armenians that I wrote myself,” says Romashuk, also originally from Armenia. “There have been good contacts between Armenians and Dutch since the golden age. I would like to tell this story.”
The king himself walks among the people with a big smile. “Good afternoon, have a good day, bye,” he chimes incessantly. Waving to someone on a rooftop along the way: “Yeah, see you.”
Shortly before, the king visits Daan van Veluwen at the boat builder Alumax. “I was only told yesterday that I was going to be interviewed. Luckily there wasn’t a lot of tension, but there was some healthy tension. It was a lot of fun. It got to see a great part of the company.”
Among other things, the difference between the use of steel and aluminum in boat construction is discussed. Asking questions is not an option for Van Veluwen. “He wasn’t allowed, he had to ask questions. We talked about my school, what kind of training I did and we talked about the company.”
Gijs Pappot from Distribugs introduces his royal guest to innovations in nutrition in the Circular Economy Field Lab. “He tasted a dried sausage made with mealworms and a hamburger, also made with mealworms. It was special and unexpected. He liked the taste, but the texture took some getting used to.”
Pappot calls the tour “very fun, but intense.” “He had gone into all the topics. For example, he asked whether we get all the insects from the Netherlands or from other parts of Europe. We get everything from the Netherlands. I thought they were interesting questions, they are questions you get more often, but if you ask them to receive from your king, this is obviously very special.”
This January 17 has become “a day to remember” for Pappot. Because despite the tension, everything goes as desired. “It went well all week, until he arrived. Then you get a little nervous. But as soon as you shake hands, you just tell your story and it actually goes very well.”
Zwolle port director Jeroen van de Ende did not suffer from tension, he says. “I thought it went very well. And I have the impression that everyone had a great time. That the king also received a lot of information and asked a lot of questions. So I thought it was a nice visit,” he concludes. “It is good that the king took the time to visit our port company.”
‘Excellent’, this is how mayor Richard Korteland summarized the afternoon’s proceedings. “I think we managed to show a lot of what we wanted to show: the port of Zwolle, the collaboration between Meppel, Zwolle and Kampen. The fact that we do it together with companies and educational institutions has worked well.”
Korteland receives confirmation from the king himself, who before leaving Meppel tells the hosts that he had a nice day and that he is looking forward to his next visit to Drenthe: King’s Day in Emmen.
View an impression of the king’s visit to Meppel:
2024-01-17 18:59:41
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