More 'royalgate' allegations emerge
19 February 2003
AMSTERDAM — Queen Beatrix and Crown Prince Willem-Alexander argued for two months about his engagement to Argentinean banker Maxima Zorreguieta, according to a royal insider.
Princess Margarita claimed that her aunt, Queen Beatrix, told her that she thought Maxima — now the star member of the Dutch royal family — was not "strong enough" to marry Willem-Alexander.
In the second part of her interview published on Wednesday by magazine HP/De Tijd, Margarita claimed that the Queen had given serious consideration to naming her younger son Constantijn to be her successor. Constantijn is married to Laurentien Brinkhorst and her father is reportedly a close confidant of the queen.
Unlike the Windsors in Britain and the royals in Monaco, the Dutch monarchy is not used to scandals and allegations of infighting. But Margarita's allegations threaten to undermine that stable image.
She spoke to a HP/De Tijd reporter for some 60 hours and in the first part of the interview published last week she claimed that the Queen and other royals disproved of and tried to discredit her husband, Edwin de Roy van Zuydewijn.
She also alleged the royal family had bugged conversations between herself and her husband. She said her mother, (the Queen's sister) Princess, Irene and her father, Carlos Hugo de Bourbon, were part of the alleged conspiracy.
Princess Margarita said that while having an argument with her mother on one occasion, Princess Irene shouted: "Naturally you are being bugged, don't be so naïve".
Princess Margarita has also claimed that her husband's bank statements had been copied on order of the royal household.
NOS news reported that after the first portion of the interview was published, the government information service RVD let it be known that the royals "did not recognise the image portrayed in the articles". The AIVD secret service also denied that it had never investigated Margarita's husband.
The avowedly republican Socialist Party has taken full advantage of the situation by tabling parliamentary questions about the allegations. The party has asked Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende to explain what role his predecessor Wim Kok played in the scandal. Balkenende has to date declined to respond to the questions.
Article From: Expatica.com