Former university president Becking stops as carnival prince in Den Bosch
After five years, Koen Becking has stepped down as prince Amadeiro XXVI of Oeteldonk, the name of the city of Den Bosch during carnival, with immediate effect. In 2020 Becking left as president of the Executive Board of Tilburg University, to become Rector of Nyenrode University. After one term he has resigned there also. Since October, Becking is chairman of VEMW, the Association for Energy, Environment and Water.
Koen Becking, or as his official title reads: ‘His Royal Highness Prince Amadeiro XXVI, Ricosto di Carnavallo, Knight of the ksaM, Lord and Master of Oeteldonk and the surrounding water-free marshes and sandy deserts, and so on, and so on, and so on’, is the shortest-serving Oeteldonk prince in modern times, according to Omroep Brabant. It is unusual to abdicate this position before the carnival, usually a prince says goodbye after a last party.
‘It is important to stop at the peak,’ Becking says in his farewell letter. ‘We look back on the years in which we were allowed to visit Oeteldonk with a heart full of precious and priceless memories. They were years full of joy, full of love, and full of honorable moments that We will cherish forever.”
A successor to Becking has already been chosen, but the identity of Amadeiro the XXVII is still a secret. That will likely be announced on Carnival Sunday, March 2, 2025, when the new prince arrives in Oeteldonk by train. In his letter, Becking does lift one small corner of the veil: ‘In the eyes of Our successor, Amadeiro XXVII, We see the same longing for Oeteldonk that once filled Our own hearts.’
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