All of the royal family’s images are very prettily colored. Above, the green of the plants is almost neon, the plastic bottle caps in a laboratory pop. But this cheerful hypercolor is balanced by Máxima’s queenliness. Expressions of beauty for the Dutch royal family must be as pretty as they are old-fashioned, since they are living and breathing nostalgia — their relevance is inextricably linked to the past.

The Dutch royal family’s Instagram is somehow reassuring, or maybe pacifying — the king and queen appear like actors on a stage, so their countrymen can watch approvingly, with nationalistic pride.

But I think these pretty pictures are actually much more sinister than they appear. They make it easy to forget that, despite their 12 billion euro net worth, the Dutch royals contribute nothing in the form of taxes to help maintain the country they represent. Sure, their trade missions and the comfort their unchanging rule offers in this uncertain world serve some purpose, but in that case they are spectacularly overpaid cheerleaders.

Instagram, perhaps the ultimate tool of kings, where beautiful royal propaganda slips into the feed alongside pictures from everyone else, makes it easier than ever to question nothing.