The House of Orania, which includes the Dutch royal family, extracted about 3 million guilders from the Dutch colonies between 1675 and 1770, according to a report commissioned by the Dutch state and cited by Reuters.

guilderPhoto: Wrangel / Dreamstime.com

According to a study called The State and Slavery, this amount is equivalent to $600 million in today’s money.

It examined the role of the Dutch government and related institutions in colonial slavery and its consequences. It was unveiled in the Dutch parliament on Thursday, including details of the benefits received at the time by the House of Orange, which also includes Willem-Alexander, the country’s current king, and his family.

According to information provided to Dutch legislators, the princes of the House of Orange received 3% of the profits of the East India Company between the 17th and 18th centuries, although they were not its shareholders. The Dutch East Indies included most of the territory of modern Indonesia.

The Dutch colonial empire in Asia largely disintegrated during World War II, when its possessions here were occupied by Japanese forces.

The Netherlands is confronting its past as a colonial power

The presentation of the research comes as the Netherlands is reassessing more broadly its role in slavery and its past colonial policies.

King Willem-Alexander is expected to make a speech on the subject on July 1, the 150th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in the former Dutch colonies.

Early last year, the Dutch monarch refused to use his royal carriage because of its slavish connotations.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte already apologized last December for his country’s involvement in the slave trade.

“Today I apologize. For centuries, the Dutch state and its representatives allowed and encouraged slavery and profited from it,” he said during a televised speech at the Dutch National Archives on December 19.

“It is true that today no one is personally responsible for slavery, but the Dutch state is responsible for the enormous suffering caused to the enslaved and their descendants,” he added.

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