The Dutch ‘father of the fatherland’ was murdered inside this lovely castle here in the center of Delft. His assassin almost managed to escape, but just before he slipped out one of the city gates, he was caught and, skinned alive, literally pulled apart by four horses on the town square.

He had managed to get close to the Dutch revolutionary, William of Orange, fighting the Spanish colonisers, by pretending to be an admirer and supporter. Instead, following William up one of the stairs of the castle, he pulled a gun and shot him multiple times, one of the bullets hitting the wall behind him.

The hole in the wall is still visible today, now covered with a glass panel, and a helpful explanation is available next to it, enriched with images, like a multi-panel comic strip, visualising the unfortunate series of events.

I grew up in Delft, and, as a kid I regularly visited the castle, now a museum, and, each time, would imagine the killer, Balthasar Gerards, coming up the stairs behind the unsuspecting WIlliam, and shooting him from behind.

Then, one time, looking at the comic strip on the wall, I realised the artist had made a mistake; following the illustrations, the bullet hole should have been on the opposite wall.

If I had been able to borrow from my vocabulary decades hence, surely I would have called that ‘fake news’.