Assassinations as conversation topic

Queensday didn’t turn out as expected for most of the Dutch population. Instead we were bombarded with images of a botched up attempt to assassinate the royal family. Not since the assassination of Prince Willem the Silent in 1584, had the House of Orange been so close to annihilation. In those days, the perpetrator, Balthasar Gerard, met a grisly end, being hung, drawn and quartered. There are vivid accounts of his execution, which a history buff and moreover lover of all things morbid and obscure like myself have devoured hours over.

But the perpetrator, an ex-security guard by the name of Karst Tates, did not see the light of day to be meted out any punishment. Naturally the events of yesterday were on our lips this morning as Reinout was getting ready. If I’m a history buff then Reinout is the one taking an interest in composing and synthesizing conspiracy theories. In my world these are mere theories, hypothesis, plausible perhaps but yet to be proven. Reinout gives his opinion, and to him it’s the truth. No the perpetrator didn’t die of his wounds. He was dispatched of. Why risk a trial, when he will be quietly forgotten in a few years?

I leave him to his opinion. Challenging him won’t work. He will never side with me, even though our arguments are often purely about semantics. “It’s an interesting theory” I say, putting my emphasis on the word theory. After all in the land of rhetoric, the subtle details are where battles are won.