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Prime Minister Mark Rutte (archive): "It's terribly complicated"
Photo: Sem van der Wal / EPA
Same-sex marriage has been legal in the Netherlands since 2001.
So far, however, it was unclear whether this also applies to the crown because of the succession to the throne.
Now Prime Minister Mark Rutte has made it clear that every queen and every king can marry people of the same sex, as the Dutch newspaper »De Telegraaf« reports.
"The Cabinet does not provide that an heir to the throne or the king should abdicate if he or she wants to marry a same-sex partner," said Rutte in a response to a written question from his own party in parliament.
However, it is unclear what would happen to the succession if children were born from a same-sex royal marriage, for example through adoption or sperm donation.
"It's awfully complicated," said Rutte.
The Dutch constitution states that the king or queen can only be followed by a "legitimate descendant".
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