Dutch royal house helped slave trade to survive, study finds

By AFP and Reuters. Published On 2 Oct 20262 Oct 2026.

Key points

• 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 administration at the time ruled out reparations, instead creating a 200 million euro ($238m) fund for social initiatives.
• In the 19th century, for instance, profits accumulated to regarding $650m in modern terms, the researchers stated.
• The National Institute for the Dutch Slavery Past and Heritage (NiNsee) lauded the king for commissioning the study but remarked it should lead to a next phase.
• King Willem-Alexander remarked on Friday he was personally affected by the "explicit" conclusions of the study.

For context, a historical study has discovered that the Dutch royal house benefited from the country's colonial policies in past centuries and assisted the slave trade to survive.

Notably, the in-depth study, commissioned by King Willem-Alexander and conducted by Leiden University, indicated 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.

"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 remarked, noting that most of the rulers demonstrated no objections to slavery.

"It is a painful and confronting conclusion. A conclusion that affects me, even though I am three generations removed, " Willem-Alexander remarked 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 continued.

In practice, the study additionally demonstrated that the royal family at times profited substantially from the colonial system, mostly from trade in the Dutch East Indies, modern-day Indonesia.

By contrast, the royal family earned "almost nothing" from the slave trade, the research indicated.

In practice, 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.

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

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

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

Notably, the National Institute for the Dutch Slavery Past and Heritage (NiNsee) lauded the king for commissioning the study but remarked 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 remarked.

In practice, 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.

For now, dutch royal house helped slave trade to survive, study finds remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.