Amsterdam - Dutch crown prince Willem Alexander and his wife Maxima will sell their luxury villa in the impoverished southern African country of Mozambique once it is completed, the prince wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende Friday. The royal couple are among a small group of wealthy investors involved in developing an opulent estate that includes 220 villas and a five-star holiday resort on the Machangulo peninsula in southern Mozambique.
In his letter, the prince wrote that he and his wife had joined the project because the presence of the resort would benefit the local population and boost development in the area.
Ongoing negative publicity about their involvement in the resort, the prince wrote, could however jeopardize its possible positive impact on the area.
"There is a risk today that ongoing publicity about our participation in the project would push these positive developments to the background," the prince wrote.
"Every mishap will be put under a microscope, to the disadvantage of the project. Meanwhile, this debate takes time and energy which during a period of crisis should be spent on different matters."
The decision to sell the holiday villa follows months of severe criticism of the royal couple's involvement in the project from even the staunchest supporters of the Dutch monarchy.
Building a luxury villa in one of the world's poorest countries, which only last year saw more than 100,000 of its citizens displaced due to heavy flooding, would not befit a future head of state, critics argue.
