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Dutch King Reveals 'Secret Life' As A Pilot

Dutch King Reveals 'Secret Life' As A Pilot

This is great.

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands has revealed he has been living a secret life as a co-pilot, flying twice as month, while passengers on board had no clue as to his identity.

Willem-Alexander ascended to the Dutch throne in 2013, after Queen Beatrix abdicated to make way for a younger monarch.

Since then, the 50-year-old has been a full-time king, while also running a side-hustle as a co-pilot with KLM, which he's been doing for 21 years.

This is great, isn't it? I'd love it if we found out that all this time Prince Philip had been moonlighting as a milkman or something.

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima. Credit: Barcroft

In an interview with Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, he said: "I find flying simply fantastic.

"You have an aircraft, passengers and crew. You have responsibility for them.

"You can't take your problems from the ground into the skies. You can completely disengage and concentrate on something else.

"That, for me, is the most relaxing part of flying."

I don't think I'd call being responsible for an aircraft, its passengers and crew 'relaxing', but fair play to the king.

Credit: PA

He went on to tell the paper that, since 9/11, cockpit doors are kept locked so pilots have less interaction with passengers - so despite the fact he's been flying for so long, he isn't regularly recognised by members of the public.

"Before September 11, the cockpit door was open. People regularly came to have a look and thought it was nice or surprising that I was sitting there," he said.

Yeah, pretty surprising, I imagine. Seeing a king in the cockpit.

Mind you, KLM are called the 'Royal Dutch Airlines', so maybe people would just think they take the name quite seriously.


He said: "The advantage is that I can always say that I wish everyone a heartfelt welcome in the name of the captain and the crew.

"So, I don't have to say my own name. But most of the passengers don't listen anyway."

It was widely known Willem-Alexander had a pilot's licence before he took to the throne, and that as part of the conditions of his licence he had to 'guest pilot' a number of flights.

However, until this interview it wasn't known how frequently he was flying.

Credit: Barcroft

He now plans to spend the coming months learning how to fly Boeing 737s, as KLM is about to upgrade its short-haul fleet.

Willem-Alexander can only fly short-haul, in case he needs to return to his country at short notice.

KLM pilot Maarten Putman who often flies alongside the King, said: "For the relatively few flying hours the king makes, he is always very sharp. He knows the procedures well."

I'll bet passengers who fly with KLM will be pleased to read that.

Featured Image Credit: Barcroft

Topics: Pilot