The familiar sights of King’s Day include kids selling their outgrown toys and homemade, orange-topped cupcakes, bandstands blaring pop hits and Dutch favourites and throngs of people in an endless sea of orange.

And, for the past three years in Amsterdam, you may also have noticed some royal-themed posters of the king pleasuring his queen, because “a true king knows who comes first.”

“How cool is it to take a moment all about the king and hijack it and make it all about the queen?” says cartoonist Jessica Stahl, the brainchild behind the campaign. “With inequalities like the orgasm gap, our queens are getting royally screwed.”

What has evolved into online cartoons and eventually the street art Amsterdammers can see around town on buildings, poles and bar bathroom doors began as “diaries and doodles” some eight years ago, which is when Stahl (34) moved to Amsterdam from Maryland.

“I was heartbroken and living with 17 flat mates in this university housing situation, without a job,” recalls Stahl. “I was really embarrassed, so I started to draw the things that I felt shameful about and eventually, it became more and more about anything that’s taboo or anything that’s surrounded in shame. And a lot of that has to do with sexuality, relationships and communication.”

She’s since gone viral, with her life-size depictions of the Dutch Royal couple reaching over 2.4 million people online. Taking her art to the streets, says Stahl, was a way to reach out of the “sex positive feminist bubble” and have more of an impact on ordinary people.

“Everyone can relate to the king-queen dynamic, and it makes the guy look good,” says Stahl, who uses humour to make her forbidden topics approachable. “I think that’s super important to make change. You don’t want to bash people but to empower them. So, it empowers men, and it empowers women to spread the message. People engage with the art and have smart conversations. And I want to create a safe or shameless space to have those conversations.”

To that end, there are QR codes on all her art that lead people to information. “I not only want to create awareness,” she says, “but I want to add a bit of depth and education to drive the actual change. And men want to be kings, and they want to go home and prove it!”

Safe sex

While her first awareness campaign three years ago was all about queen pleasure, and last year’s campaign dealt with toys in the bedroom (“Three willies are better than one”), this year the sexual empowerment advocate turned her cartoon competence to the theme of safe sex.

Her latest drawings feature a king holding an orange-wrapped condom, with the words: “A true king always has a royal guard.” In true Stahl style, the king has an erection. “It was a way of getting over my own shame,” she says.

That message is more important than ever, says Stahl, as a recent study by Rutgers and SOA Aids found that condom use is on the decline among young people in the Netherlands, falling by about 15% for boys and 10% for girls over the past decade.

“Sex is still shrouded in shame,” she says. “This silence leads to a lack of open communication, which directly impacts safe sex practices.”

And according to just released figures from public health institute RIVM, cases of the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhoea are soaring, especially among young women and heterosexual men, with the number of diagnoses in women increasing a whopping 78% from 2022 to 2023 and 51% in heterosexual men during that same period. The fall in condom use, says the RIVM, is a contributing factor.

“True King of the Bedroom” campaign

On a recent Sunday afternoon, some 30 young, mostly females gather in the basement of a local Amsterdam club for sticker lessons 101. They’ll be divided into groups of Amsterdam neighbourhoods, where they’ll head out to start stickering Stahl’s cartoons and spread the word before Saturday’s King’s Day.

There are rules on where to stick: street signs, stop lights, portable toilets—yes. Private property and historical landmarks—a strict no.

“You can even stick them on people during King’s Day,” says Stahl. “It’s a good way to flirt. I’m single, I know!”

When she asks the audience if some of their sex partners have said no to safe sex, including using the “I’m the pull-out king” line, almost all hands go up.

“Oh, I’ve heard that one,” says 21-year-old student Nicole (not her real name). “Or the ‘it just doesn’t feel good with a condom’ excuse. But I agree with Jessica that safe sex shows respect for your partner. Although I don’t often use condoms. Sex really doesn’t feel as good for me with them.”

Others, though, have come to spread the safe sex message—and the cartoon-covered condoms (supplied by Royal Intimacy) Stahl is also distributing.

Thirty-six-year-old Kaveh lives in Rotterdam but comes from Iran. He’d seen Jessica’s posters before, and last year when the real king came to Rotterdam, he was hoping to give him one of Stahl’s works. He didn’t get close, but this equality advocate is back in Amsterdam this year to pick up more stickers and condoms to distribute.

“I’m happy the focus is on safe sex,” he says. “I just read this book called Ejaculate Responsibly, and it’s a new way of talking about abortion. We put all these decisions on women, but men also play an important role in unwanted abortions.”

Amir (24), also from Iran, will be spreading the word about female pleasure. “Your partner’s satisfaction should be important,” he says. “Why would you be in a relationship if you don’t care about your partner?”

Although Amir says it would be impossible to talk about such things publicly back home, there’s a new generation of “wise and open-minded people who are already talking about these things.”

“In other countries, I am absolutely sure this artwork would not fly,” says Stahl. “And even though it’s more progressive here for sure, I also feel like I’ve had more pushback on using contraception here. So, while things are more open to being discussed, according to a recent study, the orgasm gap is still very prevalent.”

Royal treatment

Although there’s been no word on the campaign from the real royals, who Stahl was careful not to duplicate too precisely in her satirical cartoons, she’d welcome it. “I use them to amplify an important message,” she says. “The royal family hasn’t gotten back to me, but that should be our goal. Plus, the King looks good!”

This King’s Day, she wants to show Amsterdam “what the royal treatment really looks like,” although she’s hoping her message one day extends beyond the city’s and country’s borders. For now, though, her message to revellers? “Learn how to be a true king of the bedroom!”