The Dutch government has paid €461,000 in land rights to place a security fence around the royal family’s Greek holiday home but the land itself is only worth €35,000, RTL news says.

King Willem-Alexander bought the complex in 2012 for €4.5m. According to confidential documents obtained by the broadcaster, a Greek lawyer then opened negotiations on behalf of justice minister Ivo Opstelten to use land owned by a neighbour to build the fence. Agreement was reached last year.

The deal, which will run for 30 years, covers two pieces of land, covering just under 1,500 square metres. The market value of the land is some €35,000, RTL says.

Bill

The state information service Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst would only say ‘this land is needed for security measures which the government is taking.’

Prime minister Mark Rutte said earlier this year that the state would pick up the bill for security at the villa complex but did not mention the cost, RTL points out.

In June, the Greek media was said to be full of stories about the building of a private harbour on the estate, outside the village of Kranidi on the Peloponnese. The harbour would give the family direct access to the sea.

The FD says there are claims that various laws have been broken to make it possible to build the harbour and to fence the estate off from the surrounding area.

The royal couple were forced to sell their first holiday home on a luxury complex in Mozambique following a wave of negative publicity about the project, including claims of corruption, environmental damage and a lack of benefits for the local population.