A 44-year-old man from Zwolle was arrested by armed police two days before the investiture of king Willem-Alexander after making threats against the royal family.

News agency ANP reports the man made the threats in a text message to a third person, who alerted the police.

The man was released from custody on Monday and will be allowed to wait for his trial at home. No date has yet been set.

Republicans

Meanwhile, the Dutch republican society NRG has described the official explanation into the arrest of two of its supporters on Dam square prior to the investiture as ‘one-sided and incredible’.

In a briefing on the arrests on Tuesday, Amsterdam mayor Eberhard van der Laan says problems with the police communications network were partly to blame and that one of the arrestees looked like someone who had been banned from the area.

But the NRG says this is the first time problems with the police communications systems on April 30 have been mentioned. They also want to know why there were no names next to the 20 photographs of undesirables.

The pair were removed from the square shortly before the royal family appeared on the balcony of the palace, despite assurances that individual protests would be allowed.