princess olga said:
This is off topic but Amalia's mischievous gene may well stem from her father! In their younger days, Alexander and his brothers were very mischievous. Wish I had a link to hilarious footage of a young Constantijn deliberately kicking a soccer ball into a small crowd of reporters, who had gathered at their vacation spot for a photo shoot! And a then princess Beatrix who couldn't help smiling as she reprimanded her youngest. All boys turned out fine, so Amalia will in all likelyhood too.
Marengo I do believe it, after all, Maxima does seem to have a gregarious attitude so that is a definite plus. The other thing I do applaud about her is her attempt to learn the Dutch language as quick as she could. Again if it hadn't been some of the things she (and Alexander) said in a few interviews that really made me roll my eyes from here to Tokio, I might have a different opinion. After all, I'm not a strict defender of the concept of monarchy per se, and yet I can't help but adore Beatrix, who in my view personifies the perfect monarch.
Well, I was in a bad mood when I posted what I posted yesterday, though I still agree with what i meant to say I could have put it in a more pleasant manner. I probably sensed the loss AFC Ajax would suffer that evening against FC Copenhagen which ruined my mood even further
Anyway, I remember film footage of Willem-Alexander shooting elastics at photographers during old-style Queensday and shouting at a photoshoot somewhere ´Nederlandse pers oprotten´ (dutch press, piss of).
Let´s hope that Catharina-Amalia won´t be to much of a tomboy then, though it would be funny to see her throwing her kitchenset to that horrible reporter Peter van der Vorst (the Queen can join in as far as I care).
For me Queen Beatrix is the perfect monarch indeed, but I have to say that especially earlier in her kingship for many she lacked the warm common touch which is so much appreciated in The Netherlands.
I know (or assume to know) that HM is a warm and caring person but somewhere during her kingship she lost that image for a large part. That had something to do with her style of reigning and with the character of the Dutch people in general who like their society as egalitarian as possible. Also the apparent breach that her style formed with that of Queen Juliana (who was adored by most) ´helped´ this image further, as did her (what I believe to be) shy character.
So she was professional, perfect etc, but many people did not get warm feelings when they thought of her. The court acknowledged the problem and around 2000 they opted for an approach to make her seem more as the person that she is. HM seems much more relaxed again and clearly adores her sons, grandchildren and daughters-in-law. Even the Margarita-thing did not harm her image in any way, quite the opposite.
I have to admit that untill a few years ago my opinion of the crownprince wasn´t very high. But even before his engagement he seemed to be more mature, more engaged and serious (his involvment in watermanagment for example). After his engagement and marriage IMO he seemed to have ´grown´ to, and I am sure he will make a good King for our country in due time, who will probably balance his mothers regal style with Juliana´s common touch. He seems to be able to connect with people very easily, which is a good thing as the Dutch don´t like distant royals.
Maxima is an immense asset to the dutch monarchy IMO. Personally I prefer a more serene type like Mathilde but after getting used to Maxima I appreciate her more and more. Before and during most of her engagement she was to me that blonde social-climbing party bimbo from Buenos Aires. But once I saw her ´on duty´ or in interviews I had to adjust my opinion of her drastically (something which I rarely do, especially about people).
She can connect with people in a way which I haven´t seen with any (dutch) royal before, a thing which is widely appreciated in the Netherlands. Apart from that she seems to have a sense of direction, a goal. She stands for what she believes in, like microcredits and the position of immigrant women in The Netherlands. Instead of just naming a few cliches on these subjects she appears to be very involved in interviews and knows a lot about the subjects. So in that way I think she is a good student of Beatrix who also thinks that the content should be more important then short-lived popularity.
Add to that the fondness that HM seems to have for her (which says a lot as I think the Queen is a wise woman), the way she and the crownprince seem to be raising their daughters etc. In overall I think she is a talented woman and the Prince of Orange could have done a lot worse. She and the Crownprince will not be able to immediately fill the gap that HM will leave after an eventual abdication (like it took some time for Beatrix to fill that one her mother left), but over time I think they will do a great job, with their OWN style.