A former fireman who admitted stealing a tassle from the Golden Coach sixty years ago has received a letter from king Willem-Alexander accepting his apology.

Cor Priele from Sleeuwijk was a young fireman charged with guarding the coach used to take the monarch to parliament on budget day each September.

When his foot slipped and knocked off a tassle, Priele panicked. ‘I had damaged the Golden Coach,’ he says now. He slipped the tassle into his pocket and kept it a secret for nearly sixty years.

Two weeks ago, Priele confessed to local broadcaster Omroep Brabant that he had stolen the tassle and apologised.

He has now received a letter from the king’s household telling him the king accepts his apology but would like the tassle back, the broadcaster said.