King and queen attend memorial with relatives of Dutch victims

King Willem-Alexander has spoken for the first time of the “immense grief” of the Netherlands at the downing of flight MH17 with the loss of 298 lives.

The disaster had inflicted “a deep wound” on all of Dutch society, he said, and the scar would remain for many years to come.

The king was speaking after he and Queen Maxima, accompanied by prime minister Mark Rutte, attended a private memorial ceremony with relatives of the 193 Dutch victims – amid some criticism that the royals have not been enough in evidence since the tragedy.

“We knew the only thing we could do today was to spend time with the families and relatives and listen to the poignant personal stories of their loved ones,” the king said afterwards, in a brief address televised on all the main national channels.

Grief

“The grief, powerlessness and despair of those left behind have touched us to the very soul.

“But in deepest distress come strength, compassion and inter-connectedness – and those are the qualities that our country always displays at times such as this.”

King Willem-Alexander said the royal family understood and shared the relatives’ need for clarity about the exact circumstances leading to the crash of the Malaysia Airlines jet, though, he added: “We know this will not repair their terrible loss.”

The royal couple signed a book of condolences on Friday, and issued a brief statement, but many Dutch are of the view that the king’s mother, Queen Beatrix, who abdicated last year in favour of her eldest son, would have addressed the nation in her role of comforter before now.

There have also been questions about why the royal family did not tell the Dutch public about how they spent Sunday, when churches throughout the country were packed for memorials to the victims, and clubs, schools, businesses and individuals paid personal tributes.

Photograph

Supporters of the royals – who say they’ve been waiting for a clearer picture of what happened – have not been helped by a photograph circulating on social media of a smiling King Willem-Alexander sharing a beer with Russian president Vladimir Putin during the Winter Olympics in Sochi last February.

Bringing home the bodies of the dead has now become a national priority, and there have been emotional “open letters” from friends and relatives either appealing to the humanity of the combatants or expressing raw anger – many of them vilifying Mr Putin.

Painfully determined not to apportion blame prematurely, one grieving man who lost his wife and 17-year-old daughter wrote yesterday: “Dear Mr Putin, separatist leaders or Ukrainian government, Thank you for murdering my wonderful wife and my lovely only daughter.”

Foreign minister Frans Timmermans flew to New York to maintain UN Security Council momentum behind the need for repatriation of bodies and behind consensus on the terms of any international investigation.

Having spent the weekend gathering support for a tougher EU line against Russia, Mr Rutte said the international community had agreed that the Netherlands should take the lead in the identification of the dead, and said a base was being set up in the regional capital, Kharkhiv.