Princess and the commoner

The quarrel erupted when Queen Beatrix's niece, Princess Margarita, accused the royal household of trying to undermine her husband Edwin because he is a commoner.

Matters came to a head this week when Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende was drawn into the embarrassingly public dispute.

He said he had been unpleasantly surprised by a television interview given by Princess Margarita, in which she alleged that a conversation with a government official about the row had been secretly taped.

ROYAL ROW Too crazy for words Jan-Peter Balkenende Dutch prime minister

"It really is too crazy for words," he said.

"I find this affair painful for the queen and her family, and I sincerely hope it will stop."

Mr Balkenende has in the past acknowledged that the Dutch secret service gained information about Princess Margarita's then husband-to-be.

But he said this was a routine practice carried out on any prospective royal spouse, and the government had been fully within its rights.

Legal writs

The princess has even raised the possibility of suing the House of Orange, as the royal family is known, because she alleges that it ran a smear campaign to thwart her husband's business ventures.

The state and the palace are said to be considering legal action themselves over the princess's allegations.