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[font=verdana, arial]Posted by henri m. on BRMB:[/font]
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[font=verdana, arial]Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands[/font][font=verdana, arial]
[font=verdana, arial]From today's 'De Telegraaf':
WASSENAAR - Princess Catharina-Amalia will become 1 years old on Tuesday. The daughter of Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Máxima was born in the Bronovo-hospital in The Hague.
After her father she is the first in the line of succession, so it is almost for sure that she will be the next reigning Queen of the Netherlands.
Because of the death of her great-grandfather Prince Bernhard, there will be no flag-flying to honour the young Princess. The flags are still hanging half-mast for Prince Bernhard.
The very healthy looking almost-toddler could be seen on the steps of Soestdijk Palace, where she waved goodbye to her great-grandfather, seated on her father's arm. The father was whispering in the little Princess' ears and she made a succesful wave.
Despite the sad days for the House of Orange-Nassau, the first birthday of the little Hereditary Princess of Orange will not pass by totally unnoticed.
The Reverend C.A. ter Linden, emeritus minister of the Kloosterkerk in The Hague, who 'did' the marriage of the Prince of Orange and Princess Máxima, the funeral of Prince Claus as well the baptism of Princess Catharina-Amalia, has given a poem for the little Hereditary Princess of Orange, who will celebrate her first birthday coming december 7th.
On december 7th everybody can call the special Line of Poems (0909 4334248). The Reverend C.A. ter Linden can be heard, while reading the poem.
"It is such a wonderful poem. It is called 'Here I am'. A child wakes up in this world, looks around and watches itself, full of amazement about everything it sees and feels" so told the reverend minister friday.
"Princess Máxima did read this poem during the baptism service on Het Loo Palace, for Claus-Casimir, the little son of Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien. It is written by Johanna Klink, a preacher, who wrote a lot about how to engage children and their parents in Faith. The poem comes from her album 'The House of Light'. The reverend minister will also officiate in the funeral service for Prince Bernhard, Saturday in a week. Not for any moment he has thought to cancel this poem for Princess Catharina-Amalia. Both the reverend minister as the Line of Poems find this unnecessary: both things go together very well. The Prince of Orange and Princess Máxima do try, despite all the overhwelming interest in their daughter, to give her a youth as normal as possible. Especially the Prince is fearful that Princess Catharina-Amalia, if she is too often intrused and pursued by cameras and media, will develop an aversion against media and lock herself up, by way of speaking. That is no good development for her future role. The Prince finds that his daughter must be able to gain the normal experiences of life. Princess Máxima hopes that her daughter is granted the freedom to have a normal education and upbringing, to remain her own self and be able to learn many people in all calmness. [/font]
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