The freedom to criticise the feudal institution of monarchy has come under attack in the Netherlands and Spain A homeless man was convicted in Amsterdam last week for calling the hereditary head of state a “whore”. A journalist has also been arrested for wearing a tee shirt with the same insult.
According to Radio Netherlands insulting the hereditary head of state has been illegal since 1881 but the law has not been enforced since the 1960s. The penalty is a five year prison term.
In Spain 120,000 copies of a magazine were destroyed on the orders of a judge because the covered featured a picture of “Crown Prince” Felipe and his wife having sex. The magazine has been ordered to identify the creator of the picture who could face two years in prison. Both are victims of a law forbidding offence to the so called “royal” family.