Netherlands' King has been secretly flying passengers home for 30 years under a fake name — no one knew until now
For King Willem-Alexander, it's a hobby that helps him concentrate his mind, relax, and leave his celebrity fame on the ground
This story sounds like a suspense drama but is actually true. A group of travelers board a flight, at the end of which they come to know that the pilot flying their plane was none other than their own king. Interestingly, the scene has been playing out at KLM Dutch Royal Airlines, the world’s oldest airline, for nearly 30 years.
Ever since he got his license as a “guest pilot,” King of the Netherlands Willem-Alexander has successfully kept this secret and remained shockingly unnoticed while he took football fans to Prague, flew children to Lapland to meet Santa Claus, sailed holiday travelers to Ibiza, and picked up long-haul travelers from Amsterdam.
On March 11, 2026, his secret work made headlines as he completed his final flight as a guest pilot aboard KLM’s Boeing 737, as @theaviationcircle also reports. Turns out, many passengers had guessed it already, but no one knew it for sure.
As The Daily Show’s host Trevor Noah quipped in an episode, the scenario is reminiscent of Queen Elizabeth, who got training for the job of a driver and mechanic. In contrast, the Dutch king has openly expressed his fondness for flying. He has been flying since he earned his private pilot training certificate in the 1980s. But nobody could have guessed that he would continue the job even after being crowned on the throne in 2013. Nowadays, he flies two to three times a month, a routine he has been following for nearly three decades, per ABC News.
As of March 11, 2026, the King has completed his final flight on the Boeing 737. He is currently retraining for the Airbus A321neo so he can continue flying as KLM updates its fleet.
Some people, as some Instagram comments depict, also suspect that the very logo of KLM is dedicated to the king and the very word “Royal” in its name refers to the royal king. The logo features the letters “KLM” topped with a crown-shaped symbol that appears on the tails of all their planes. The idea has triggered people into cooking up bizarre theories, like what if the crown symbol in Dutch’s famous bakeries could also have something to do with the king. “See if the king is baking stroopwafels,” speculated @dustofficers.
One of the possible reasons why his moonlighting went unnoticed could be that he never used his name in the flight announcements, he shared with the BBC. @theaviationcircle notes that he often went by the moniker Meneer van Buren. Sometimes, he simply said, “I warmly welcome passengers on behalf of the captain and crew. Then I don’t have to give my name.” And the king playfully confessed, “Most people don’t listen anyway.”
Just like this, the secret remained a secret. People kept coming and going, unsuspecting of the monarch that was heading them to their destination. “Imagine your own king flying you around! This guy is awesome,” said @ineira.global.
For people, it’s curiosity and honor, but for the king himself, being a pilot is more than just a job or a duty. His appetite for flying enables him to abandon his everyday problems on the ground and retreat into the lightness of the clouds. “I find flying simply fantastic,” he told the BBC, adding that flying is something that helps him fully concentrate and relax. On the other side of the cockpit, it adds a touch of excitement for the passengers whose flight may become more special when they realize that the king is leading them. “Welcome on board; this is your pilot, err, your king, speaking!”
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