Five people were killed and 12 injured during Dutch national holiday celebrations today when a car deliberately ploughed through a crowd, narrowly missing an open-top bus carrying Queen Beatrix and the royal family.
Prosecutors said the incident had deliberately targeted the royal parade but was not an act of terrorism. Police did not indicate why the popular queen might have been the target of an attack.
A Dutch male, aged 38, driving a small black Suzuki appeared to deliberately try to ram the royal family's bus at high speed as they celebrated the queen's day national holiday with a parade through the city of Apeldoorn, 55 miles (90km) east of Amsterdam. The car ploughed through police cordons metres away from the royal bus before crashing into a stone monument to the late Queen Wilhelmina.
Police declined to identify the injured driver saying he had no police record or history of mental illness. He had been arrested but could not be questioned immediately as he was being treated in hospital. Twelve people were injured in the attack; four were in a serious condition.
Dutch media reported people flying through the air after the car swerved through railings and a large flag-waving crowd who had lined up to watch the popular royals parade past, waving to their subjects en route to the Het Loo palace.
Members of the royal family watched from their bus in shock as the car careered past them. Television footage showed Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and his wife, Princess Maxima, standing at their seats. Maxima held her hand over her mouth in apparent horror.
This year's Dutch national holiday celebrations had been marred by rumours that Queen Beatrix was about to abdicate to make way for her son. Dutch monarchs have a tradition of stepping down to favour their offspring. When Crown prince Willem-Alexander, an expert in water management, celebrated his 42nd birthday earlier this week, media speculated his time had come. His mother Queen Beatrix was 42 when her mother stepped down to let her take the throne.
"No one doubts that Willem-Alexander is ready to take over. He has been steadily groomed for his position as monarch," said NRC Handelsblaad this week, noting that the prince had lived down his young bachelor days as "Prins Pils" (the beer prince). He and his photogenic wife and three young daughters regularly appear in European society magazines.
The queen has 85% approval ratings and is more powerful than other European monarchs, playing a role in the running of government and overseeing legislation.
The Dutch government called off any remaining official activities for the annual holiday, when people in the Netherlands traditionally flood into city streets to drink, eat and set up stalls to sell bric-a-brac from their attics.
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