The sister of Dutch Queen Beatrix has stepped into the limelight to declare that the West should initiate peace negotiations with al-Qaeda in an interview with De Volkskrant, one of the country's top newspapers. She also offered some criticisms of President Bush who in her opinion subscribes to only one ideal:

"Which is: I know things better than you and I will dominate you. Period"

To my non-Dutch readers whose jaws have probably now all dropped, this may sound shocking and unbelievable but Princess Irene has been a certified moonbat for years, long even before Perry de Havilland coined the term. She was part of the big anti-cruise missile rallies during the 1980s, and left the Dutch nation speechless after revelations in another newspaper interview that she often engaged in dialogues with trees and dolphins.

Irene however is no nutter when it comes to assessing the media impact of her performances and knows extremely well how to time them. The “no new nukes” movement got a huge push just because of her presence and speech, and it turned out to be a watershed moment in modern royals talking politics, the re-runs of that particular performance continue to this day. For your Saturday pleasure I will translate the summary in the Volkskrant which basically says it all:

“Western leaders of government have to take some steps. Talking to al-Qaeda and demonstrating that by doing that you can put an end to the classic enemy-view with real and open discussions”, according to Irene. She clearly distances herself from the hard language from President Bush this week when he addressed fighting terrorism.

“Western governments have to leave their prejudices at home during peace talks”, says Irene. Otherwise they won’t hear anything during such a conversation. Because of that a mediator is required. “that person would be qualified to break down each side’s tunnel visions”

The root causes of Islamist violence can, according to Irene, be found in poverty, trade barriers, and wrong relations. “The differences between the haves and have-nots is totally out of balance”

Don’t laugh. There are a lot of people who actually believe this nonsense, especially when it has a royal imprint. And the Dutch royal family is known for its willingness and ability to influence decision making in The Netherlands, not being hindered by any astute sense of what’s going on in the real world. Or by the constitutional tradition for royals to not interfere with or comment on politics. Still, I think that this time even Princess Moonbat has overplayed her cards a bit. Time to reconsult some trees.

NOTE: Yes, I know. "Irene" comes from the Greek word for "peace". My wife's name is Irene too, but last time we spoke she didn't advocate sitting down in a cave with al-Zawahiri to remove some misunderstandings and start talking trade with OBL.

IDEA: Since they're one of the wealthiest families in the world, there is an excellent opportunity here for Irene and family to readjust the balance between haves and have-nots: al-Qaeda needs some cash.

UPDATE: Victoria comments and brings up another unsavory part of Irene's political past, and Betsy Newmark goes to the heart of the matter by underlining the inherent weaknesses of hereditary monarchies.