Discussion started

Re: yesterday's post, Recent case of lèse majesté in the Netherlands, Joris, on BRMB, comments:

In De Volkskrant today [link] Peter Rehwinkel (PvdA/Dutch Labour Member of the First Chamber of the States General and Mayor of Naarden) advocated reassessing the difference between lese-majesty and insulting other persons than the Queen. There should be no basic difference. Especially when it comes to the respective different penalties in the Penal Ciode.
I think he is right.
The Queen is just one of the many public figures who could face criticism, insults. The Queen should also given the possibility to sue persons, not just on behalf of her. Now it's done on behalf of her. Also private citizens other than the Queen should be given equal protection from insults.
On one of the newspapers' frontpages a cartoon was published last week of a bruised Queen given a black eye...

I remember that several foreign posters advocated too that lese-majesty is a thing which belongs to the past and is in fact not political correct in terms of equal treatment of persons.

Then the discussion could start: IS the Queen just a normal person? She is the only functionary in the Netherlands who gets her job because she is more or less born into it.