The Dutch royal family has apologised following the wrongful arrest of a radio DJ after he unwittingly drove on the same route as Crown Princess Amalia-Cathrina.
NPO Blend radio host Serginio Piqué was driving a rented car with friends in central Antwerp on August 2 when he was unexpectedly arrested by “men wearing balaclavas” and carrying guns, leading Serginio to wonder if racial profiling was at play.
The group of friends had unwittingly taken the same route as Princess Amalia from Amsterdam to Antwerp, who had previously been the target of a “Dutch mafia kidnapping plot”, sparking suspicion among the Dutch security service, who then informed Belgian authorities.
Police escorted the group out of their vehicle at gunpoint and forced them to kneel in the street with their feet crossed and their hands on their heads, before handcuffing them and taking them to a police van where they were questioned for about an hour, according to The times of Holland.
Speaking to FEMAIL, Serginio’s lawyer Vito Shukrula revealed that the group received a “personal” apology from a Royal House spokesperson and shared exclusive details of King Willem-Alexander’s response to the “deeply terrifying” experience.
NPO Blend radio host Serginio Piqué (pictured) was arrested by armed “men in balaclavas” in Antwerp on August 2
The radio DJ was travelling with friends from Amsterdam to Antwerp in a rented car when the incident occurred.
Unbeknownst to the group at the time, they had taken the same route as Princess Amalia, leading to their arrest at gunpoint in central Antwerp.
Authorities in the Netherlands have stepped up security measures to protect the country’s 20-year-old crown princess in recent times after she was ordered to return to her parents’ home from the University of Amsterdam in 2022 amid kidnapping fears.
Speaking to a Dutch media outlet USSerginio revealed that he questions whether his arrest was due to the color of his skin.
The radio host said: “A lot of things go through your mind. You start to wonder if maybe there was racial profiling. It’s a feeling that every person of colour experiences when they are unfairly detained.”
He added: “We could have put up a stop sign. Then they could have searched our car and we would have been done in two minutes.”
MailOnline has contacted the Dutch Palace for comment.
Serginio remained in the dark about the reason for his arrest until he arrived at the police station, where it was learned that the Dutch security services had asked the Belgian police to arrest the group.
Crown Princess Catherine Amalia of the Netherlands (pictured in 2023) was forced to leave her university residence due to a gangster plot to kidnap her in 2022
The Dutch radio host (pictured left) questioned whether the arrest was a result of racial profiling.
Serginio and his friends unknowingly drove from Amsterdam to Antwerp along the same route as Amalia.
After being declared innocent, Serginio said police told him: “Go and enjoy Antwerp, you have a good story to tell at Christmas.”
Speaking to FEMAIL, Serginio’s lawyer Vito Shukrula revealed that the Dutch royal family said the incident was an “unfortunate consequence of the need to protect the royal house.”
She said: ‘Yesterday we received a call from the Royal Family’s personal spokeswoman. She told us that the King, King Willem-Alexander, wants us to know that the Dutch Royal Family understands how deeply terrifying this experience must have been for my client and her friends.
‘Furthermore, the King wanted to let us know that he expresses his solidarity on behalf of the Royal Family, that the Royal Family recognises that he and his friends have become victims.
‘The royal family calls it an unfortunate consequence of the need to protect the royal house.
‘Princess Amalia has unfortunately been the target of the so-called mafia and was therefore forced to hide for over a year. The Spanish royal family was kind enough to help her find refuge in Madrid and took charge of her protection during this terrible time.
‘For me and my client, this case was a recognition by the Royal Family for the evil that happened to them.
‘The Dutch Royal Secret Service made a miscalculation and considered my client and his friends as a gift for the princess. It was all very unfortunate.
‘My client has accepted the Royal Family’s personal apology and we will not be taking any further legal action as we have achieved what we wanted, which is recognition for the terrible and unjust detention of my client and his friends.
Princess Catherine Amalia of the Netherlands at the University of Amsterdam. She was forced to return home to The Hague for fear that criminal groups were planning to kidnap her.
King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, Queen Máxima of the Netherlands and Princess Amalia of the Netherlands pose on Sorobon Beach on the Dutch Royal Family Tour of the Dutch Caribbean Islands: Day One on January 28, 2023 in Kralendijk, Bonaire
In April it was revealed that Amalia fled to Spain to escape threats to her safety from organised crime groups in the Netherlands and spent more than a year living there.
Amalia, 20, was forced to abandon plans to live in student accommodation over safety fears, just weeks after starting to study politics, psychology, law and economics at the University of Amsterdam in October 2022.
The heir to the Dutch throne was snapped beaming by photographers as she began her studies, and there was much talk about the fact that she planned to live in a student residence.
But the royal couple later said their daughter had been forced to return to the heavily guarded palace in The Hague after receiving threats of kidnapping.
A report from Dutch public radio US In April it was revealed that the ‘Princess of Orange’ had finally escaped the confines of The Hague and has been studying in Madrid for over a year, citing royal sources.
The eldest of three sisters and first in line to the throne, Amalia is said to be fluent in Spanish thanks to her mother, who is Argentine by birth.
Officials would not confirm details of Amalia’s initial departure from her Amsterdam studies, but the move came weeks after reports that Amalia and Prime Minister Mark Rutte were mentioned in communications from organised crime groups, raising fears of kidnappings.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte said at the time: “I feel very sorry for her and I am obviously very concerned about her.”
He added that Dutch authorities were doing everything possible to ensure the princess was safe.
“She cannot live in Amsterdam and she cannot leave the palace… This has enormous consequences for her life. For her, there is no such thing as student life as it is for others,” said an emotional Queen Máxima at the time.
Amalia herself told reporters during a royal family tour of the Caribbean early last year that she missed “normal student life” and was looking forward to enjoying the student experience like her peers.
“Unfortunately, the reality was different,” he said.
Her father, King Willem-Alexander, told the Through the Eyes of the King podcast that the situation had “had a very hard impact” on his daughter and her family.
“Uncertainty, lack of freedom, that’s not how you want to raise your children or what you want to pass on to them,” she said.
Justice and Security Minister Dilan Yesilgöz told reporters in the weeks following Amalia’s withdrawal from her studies in Amsterdam: ‘I guarantee that our security services are working hard day and night to ensure her safety.
“It is terrible that this is necessary, first of all for the Crown Princess herself.”
NOS said the threat to Amalia had not completely disappeared, but she was able to return from Madrid to live and study in the Netherlands again due to unspecified “measures.”
It was unclear what circumstances had changed to allow for his safe return.
He is said to have been living in Amsterdam again since February, continuing his studies.
In December, in a post on the Dutch royal family’s official social media accounts, Amalia thanked her followers and fans for their 20th birthday wishes, but made no mention of her living arrangements.
The words were accompanied by a black-and-white photograph of her smiling on a boat.
In her thank you message, the future Dutch queen said: “Thank you very much for all the congratulations I received on the occasion of my 20th birthday. All the touching messages made my day even more special.”