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Royal family at risk. Chinese Embassy |
The King of the Netherlands, Willem Alexander, is in trouble after rumors began to leak from royal sources that the ceremonial head of the country has contracted coronavirus from unknown sources.
The Dutch Royal Marechaussee, the military police which serves as the King's Secret Service but has also since the Police Law of 2012 been tasked with enforcing civilian law, is reported to be in a state of panic, attempting to determine how the King was infected by the deadly plague which threatens to destroy the global economy and kill thousands of Dutch citizens.
The Marechaussee believes that the virus was brought to the Netherlands via Schipol Airport, just outside of Amsterdam, by 39 Dutch citizens returning from the Westerdam cruise ship.
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From the airport to the Royal Family. Koninklijkhuis |
The Marechaussee is tasked with handling security at airports around the Netherlands, and it appears that a member of the military police unit infected other members of the corps, who eventually passed it on with someone who enjoys close access to the King.
It is not clear if the King was recently infected or if he has already recovered from the disease, but many speculate that he will refrain from making highly public appearances for the foreseeable future.
According to the King's Instragram page, he was recently in Indonesia, and the Marechaussee cannot possibly discount that he was infected there, but to protect relations with the former Dutch colony, the outbreak will likely be blamed on citizens of the Netherlands returning from East Asia or on Italians. Just this morning, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs highlighted the severity of the situation by asking its citizens from refraining to travel around certain parts of Italy.