After the Elfstedentocht and the New York marathon, car racing became the new sporting goal of our current King Willem-Alexander in the early ’90s. The then Crown Prince was trained in the deepest secrecy. In honor of King’s Day, FORMULE1.NL treats us to a retrospective with all those involved: about a course, security guards, going out, confiscated film rolls, and a veto from Prime Minister Lubbers. Or was it Queen Beatrix?
Friday, October 8, 1993. On the front page of De Telegraaf, the headlines include a brothel owner with a kidnapped son and a prison sentence for the corrupt mayor of Brunssum. But soon the eye falls on the headline in the top right: ‘Prince passes for racing license’. It is the day when the Netherlands learns that the future King Willem-Alexander is a gifted car racer. He has been taking a course for some time, with the ultimate goal of passing his driving test and thus obtaining a racing license.
The photos accompanying the article speak volumes: the Crown Prince is ready to step into a Citroën Saxo AX in Zandvoort, a yellow racing car sponsored by Linea Directa. On the side, the driver’s name is displayed: ‘Alex van Oranje’. He wears a helmet from Bell, as elegant as it is pristine white; it completes the picture. The news then spreads like wildfire. One day the Crown Prince will be king of the entire country, but on this October day in 1993, he is at least already the king of Zandvoort and its surroundings.
Strictly Guarded
Rewind to 24 hours earlier. In the motorsport mecca of the Netherlands, daily life is getting underway. Children are getting ready for school, parents are going to work. Shopkeepers open their doors and on the beach, joggers and dog owners share the first rays of a weak autumn sun. A little further on, the roar of engines can be heard early on the Zandvoort circuit. There is a track day for all kinds of racing cars. And it is the day when Willem-Alexander steps into that yellow Citroën Saxo. He gets to put into practice what he has learned in Zandvoort. For example, from Tom Coronel and Sandra van der Sloot, well-known names who taught him as young drivers.
Also present is motorsport reporter Coo Dijkman. He wants to see for himself today on behalf of De Telegraaf how the Crown Prince is doing. However, not everyone is looking forward to publicity. “I was already at the circuit with photographer Johannes Dalhuijsen, but we were not welcome,” he recalls. “We were stopped by four strong men.” Dijkman is angry. “I was so indignant about it that I let circuit director Hans Ernst know that I would never set foot on his circuit again. He was shocked by this, later sent me an apology letter, and hoped that I would reconsider my decision.”
Deep Secrets
Thus it happened, but it was indicative of the fear of publicity surrounding Willem-Alexander’s racing adventure at the time. Efforts were made from higher authorities to keep everything under wraps. This was also noticed by Hans van Tilburg, a sports photographer at the time. Looking back thirty years later, he recalls, “I had a history with Willem-Alexander – I once hid in a cardboard box to capture him karting with Michael Bleekemolen. And after a tip, I was in the dunes this time, with a long lens. Security came, but I was in a spot outside the circuit. So, in principle, I could just stay there.”
At other times, Van Tilburg tried elsewhere. “Again in the dunes, I would hear the security guards looking for me. Just when I was on the circuit, I saw Willem-Alexander and was able to photograph him up close as a driver.” Chris Schotanus also took photos; he was allowed to be present from time to time, but had to hand over his film rolls to the entourage of the crown prince. “Then I would get the photos back later, but not the negatives,” he says today. Mysterious? “Mwoah,” says Schotanus, “I didn’t think anything of it.”
‘Almost the Entire Royal Family Was There’
And yet, there was a certain mystique. How did it come to this? We turn to Tom Coronel. One day, he and other instructors were asked to give lessons, and it turned out to involve even more members of the royal family. “Huub Vermeulen, from the Rensportschool Zandvoort, called,” Coronel recalls. “He said to us: ‘Guys, you need to come by Tuesday evening.’ We did, it was in the OCA building (of the marshals at Zandvoort). We walked in, and almost the entire Royal Family was there.”
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“So, for example, princes like Pieter-Christiaan and various princesses were also present; it explained a lot. ‘You have to guide a group on Tuesday evenings,’ we were told. But everything was closed when we arrived, there was security at the gate. So much so that you think: ‘Huh, what is all this?'”
On his journey towards a possible future as a racer, Willem-Alexander not only receives lessons from Coronel, but also from Van der Sloot. “Not very often, though, it was countable on one hand,” she recounts decades later. Was it special? “No, he’s just a human being like everyone else. That’s how I saw it even then. We were all young, just like him. So for us, driving with him was just like with anyone else.”
‘King Willem-Alexander, one of the guys’
Coronel confirms this. He frequently taught the crown prince at that time. “He was one of the guys, he didn’t act like he was very special.” The two got along well: “I just called him Alex. We are the same kind of people and roughly the same age (Coronel was born in 1972, the king in 1967). I liked and still like him.”
At that time, it was a driving skills training, not necessarily a racing course. But if you completed that training, you could race. The crown prince wanted to do this, and a license was needed for that; you obtained it by passing a test, which Willem-Alexander eventually did (as reported by De Telegraaf). The group received lessons in red BMW 318i’s. Coronel nods: “They were supplied by Arie Ruitenbeek.” Occasionally, things went wrong. Multiple participants recount how a friend of Willem-Alexander flew off the track and into the guardrail during one of the courses. He came out unscathed, but the news was not allowed to leak.
The crown prince himself always came out unscathed. No wonder, according to Coronel. Willem-Alexander has talent, is not fearful, and shows courage. “He had a great feel for cars and was intelligent. You could tell that from everything. Later I understood why: he was also into flying.” The latter did not go without consequence. As a thank you, the instructors received a flying lesson from Willem-Alexander. He gave it from Lelystad Airport, in a Cessna. Coronel nods: “I still have a logbook from it.”
Premier Lubbers and the Racing Adventure
But how did this whole racing adventure actually come about? Most involved suggest it followed an idea from the bodyguard of Prince Bernhard senior. This bodyguard himself took a driving skills course at the Zandvoort Racing School and thought it would be good for Willem-Alexander and other princes and princesses to do the same.
The Crown Prince eventually developed a taste for more; he wanted to race. This led to his participation in the Citroën Saxo Cup. Whether it was a free practice, a race, or even several, he took action, but how often or how long is unverifiable due to the use of pseudonyms. It is confirmed, however, that higher authorities soon put a stop to a racing career. It was deemed too dangerous and not good for the image of the Crown Prince and the royal family. “Former Prime Minister Lubbers put a stop to it in his final days,” says one. “It was Queen Beatrix who didn’t want him to race in France,” says another. In any case, it marked the end of a career before it had properly begun.
An Evening Out
Looking back, the period brings fond memories to all involved. And these go beyond just those on the track. Photographer Schotanus, for instance, recalls a course day that took place not in Zandvoort but in Assen, followed by a night out in Groningen. “Near the well-known café Drie Gezusters, there was an arcade. I was there with Willem-Alexander, racing each other in an arcade simulator. That was possible back then. We didn’t necessarily see him as the Crown Prince or future king; we just had a great time together. And so did he; a nice guy and a real racing enthusiast. Still is.”
How His Majesty the King himself looks back on his racing escapades remains unclear. ‘These are questions about the private domain of the King, to which we unfortunately cannot provide an answer,’ the Government Information Service informs when asked. However, there is no lack of love for motorsport. This was evident during his visits to the Dutch GP and his visible enjoyment of Max Verstappen’s success.
In the podcast Through the Eyes of the King, Willem-Alexander once shared how he experienced Verstappen’s decisive race – with a positive outcome – in the 2021 title fight: “I was watching at home, I had been nervous all day. I had also managed to get the children to watch. During the race, it didn’t look like Max was going to win. And then I thought to myself: ‘I’m not walking away from the TV now, because I’ve been busy with it all day and have whipped up the whole family to be present. If it doesn’t go well now, you have to stay seated.'”
