Caribbean Visit of King Willem-Alexander, Queen Máxima & Pss of Orange, Feb/Mar 2023

[Duc_et_Pair]

Originally Posted by An Ard Ri

The Princess of Orange is quite young but compared to other European heirs has been rather sheltered and not had much public interaction other than Kings Day or the odd event here and there.

This Tour and in the Public eye could have overwhelmed the Princess.

She has taken more public baths than any of her counterparts. I disagree with your assessment that she is or was more "sheltered" than other European heirs of the same age:

Which other European heir has these annual mass events with public interaction (see this picture of King's Day in Maastricht).

Which other European heir of her age has this annual highly ceremonial event which attrachts tens of thousands of people (see this picture of Prinsjesdag 2022).

Which other European Heir of her age has an annual Banquet with her "colleagues" of the Concil of State (see this picture of last year's banquet).

[An Ard Ri]

I included King's Day in my post and really the Princess of Orange has only started to attend events in the last 12 months.
Its not a criticism of the Princess or the Dutch RF ,the Princess appears to be a lovely young lady.

[Opals]

After watching this tour I think it could be beneficial for Princess Amalia to spend additional time on the different islands when she isn't in school especially with the security concerns in the Netherlands. Maybe they could set up an internship or something and she could start attending the sorts events royals often do.

[maria-olivia]

Which other European Heir gave a party with 21 guests for her birthday in 2021 during COVID Lockdawn !

[Adda]

Máxima is a Queen Consort , not a Queen Regnant, the spotlight isn't supposed to be on her, whether W-A likes it that way, it's his business, but it shouldn't be that way. Amalia seems to have personality and hopefully will be able to blossom without being constantly overshadowed by her mother.

More serious engagements accompanied by her father (or grandmother) would be great.

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by Duc_et_Pair

She has taken more public baths than any of her counterparts. I disagree with your assessment that she is or was more "sheltered" than other European heirs of the same age:



Which other European heir has these annual mass events with public interaction (see this picture of King's Day in Maastricht).



Which other European heir of her age has this annual highly ceremonial event which attrachts tens of thousands of people (see this picture of Prinsjesdag 2022).



Which other European Heir of her age has an annual Banquet with her "colleagues" of the Concil of State (see this picture of last year's banquet).

I disagree with this. Leonor of Spain who is even younger than Amalia has had quite the public exposure. In addition she has been making speeches in multiple languages for a few years now.

[Marengo]

The minister, Alexandra van Huffelen stood out up to the point that the reporter of AD and of the blog modekoninginmaxima decided to make a special post about her outfits:

https://www.modekoninginmaxima.nl/di...arribean-tour/

[Somebody]

Next to this being her first longer royal tour, we shouldn't forget that for the last 5 months she has not been able to move around freely at all. So, while this trip would always be daunting, it must have been much more so given the pressures related to the security concerns she's been experiencing for months. To suddenly pretend that all is well and secure requires an enormous amount of mental gymnastics (while knowing that she will be back to the old regime when back home).

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by Marengo

The minister, Alexandra van Huffelen stood out up to the point that the reporter of AD and of the blog modekoninginmaxima decided to make a special post about her outfits:

https://www.modekoninginmaxima.nl/di...arribean-tour/

I like her style!!!

[Duc_et_Pair]

Originally Posted by Adda

Máxima is a Queen Consort , not a Queen Regnant, the spotlight isn't supposed to be on her, whether W-A likes it that way, it's his business, but it shouldn't be that way. Amalia seems to have personality and hopefully will be able to blossom without being constantly overshadowed by her mother.

More serious engagements accompanied by her father (or grandmother) would be great.

Tell it to the press not to take attention to Máxima, or Mathilde, or Catherine, or Mary, or Charlène: they might get all spotlight.....

In reality the King always came first, was the first to be greeted, was the one to whom all honours went. That the cameras are glued to Queen Máxima (who was just her normal self as we know for 23 years now) can not be blamed on her.

If she had dressed in dull grey nun clothes, she would have been criticized as well. And she actually is also often criticized for not appearing glamorous enough: with a horrible hairdo and wrinkled, ill-fitting clothes.

This was not "Amalia's Visit", this was the King's Visit to the Caribbean Netherlands and the reports in mainstream media were more balanced than the obsession with Máxima and Amalia on various social media forums.

[Somebody]

According to the royal house themselves the main purpose of this visit was Amalia's introduction to the Carribean part of the Kingdom, so, the media is following their lead if they focus on Amalia. Had it not been for Amalia they most likely would not have visited all islands in one trip.

[kathia_sophia]

Originally Posted by Duc_et_Pair

She has taken more public baths than any of her counterparts. I disagree with your assessment that she is or was more "sheltered" than other European heirs of the same age:

Which other European heir has these annual mass events with public interaction (see this picture of King's Day in Maastricht).

Which other European heir of her age has this annual highly ceremonial event which attrachts tens of thousands of people (see this picture of Prinsjesdag 2022).

Which other European Heir of her age has an annual Banquet with her "colleagues" of the Concil of State (see this picture of last year's banquet).

I think she meant individual events, as we've seen with Leonor and Elisabeth, who sometimes take official events by themselves. There is no doubt that Amalia has taken part in massive events that are overwhelming, but always with her parents. I hope that, after this tour, she will start to take some official events on her own, albeit slowly.


I think it will be beneficial for Amalia to be on her own, instead of being their parents' shadow. Of course, she needs to learn, and her parents are the greatest tutors (alongside her gandmother), and this tour was like a "rehearsal" for her future role...But, she will gain experience by doing events on her own, make mistakes and grow. With her parents by her side during all times won't be beneficial in the long term.

[Somebody]

Originally Posted by kathia_sophia

I think she meant individual events, as we've seen with Leonor and Elisabeth, who sometimes take official events by themselves. There is no doubt that Amalia has taken part in massive events that are overwhelming, but always with her parents. I hope that, after this tour, she will start to take some official events on her own, albeit slowly.

I think it will be beneficial for Amalia to be on her own, instead of being their parents' shadow. Of course, she needs to learn, and her parents are the greatest tutors (alongside her gandmother), and this tour was like a "rehearsal" for her future role...But, she will gain experience by doing events on her own, make mistakes and grow. With her parents by her side during all times won't be beneficial in the long term.

Each royal family does things differently. I personally don't think that underaged teenagers should be expected to do solo events (like they do in Spain and Morocco).

The Dutch Royal Family has a pretty straight-forward strategy: the focus is on personal development and education, once Amalia has completed her studies, she will fully dedicate herself to her royal role. Now she is eligible to ascend the throne (without the need for a regent), she has been introduced to the Council of State, made solo(!) visits to the various parts of the military, and, these last two weeks, made an introductory visit to the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. For the next few years, the focus will remain on her studies - unfortunately, the 'personal development-part' has taken a huge hit because she couldn't move to her student home in Amsterdam as was planned.

[Skippy]

Originally Posted by Somebody

Each royal family does things differently. I personally don't think that underaged teenagers should be expected to do solo events (like they do in Spain and Morocco).

The Dutch Royal Family has a pretty straight-forward strategy: the focus is on personal development and education, once Amalia has completed her studies, she will fully dedicate herself to her royal role. Now she is eligible to ascend the throne (without the need for a regent), she has been introduced to the Council of State, made solo(!) visits to the various parts of the military, and, these last two weeks, made an introductory visit to the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. For the next few years, the focus will remain on her studies - unfortunately, the 'personal development-part' has taken a huge hit because she couldn't move to her student home in Amsterdam as was planned.

The thing with things like that is that it's always announced quite some time after it has happened. We have never seen her live, solo, without a parent present.

In that respect I agree with Alisa, amongst her royal counterparts she seems most sheltered.
I sometimes suspect that Willem-Alexander wanted to give her the upbringing he hasn't had due to having a sick father.

[Duc_et_Pair]

How can she be labelled "sheltered" enrolling University as a "normal student" in her own capital and living in the very centre of Amsterdam, alongside one of the main canals?

Now she is extremely sheltered indeed because of direct threats to her life by a proven no-any-holds-barred ruthless criminal mob who was (is) responsible for dozens of liquidations and "disparitions" in the own mob and beyond (amongst them a police officer, a lawyer, a journalist, a crime fighter, a key witness, etc.).

[Lee-Z]

Originally Posted by Duc_et_Pair

...

This was not "Amalia's Visit", this was the King's Visit to the Caribbean Netherlands and the reports in mainstream media were more balanced than the obsession with Máxima and Amalia on various social media forums.

https://www.koninklijkhuis.nl/agenda...eel-koninkrijk

the website of the 'koninklijk huis' explicitly says
"Het bezoek staat in het teken van de kennismaking van de Prinses van Oranje met het Caribisch deel van het Koninkrijk"
(The visit is dedicated to the introduction of the Princess of Orange to the Caribbean part of the Kingdom)

So it's not surprise that forummembers and media treat it as such

[Lee-Z]

Originally Posted by Skippy

In that respect I agree with Alisa, amongst her royal counterparts she seems most sheltered.
I sometimes suspect that Willem-Alexander wanted to give her the upbringing he hasn't had due to having a sick father.

The last part i don't know, but i'm pretty sure the first part was a concious decision by the king and queen to let their daughters have a relatively private live until they become adults. The dutch media had to adhere to a mediacode not to film the royal family outside of royal duties, so the princesses have been able to grow up somewhat similar to other people their age.

i think Amalia will do fine as a monarch and as a princess before that, but i do like the approach other royal families have on involving their children in certain age-apprpriate events and let them get used to the attention in a gradual way.

[Somebody]

It seems W- A and Máxima mainly considered sports-related activites age appropriate while Marhilde prefers to take her children to classical concerts...

[Duc_et_Pair]

King Willem-Alexander was an unsure, sort of shy, young man at the same age as Amalia. And he was dragged into royal life due to his father's absence because of ilnesses.

Even Princess Beatrix is by nature a shy person. It seems she exactly adheres ceremonial and protocol because it creates something to hold on, to use as a harness to keep her composure. When things are without any blueprint, Princess Beatrix seems to feel "lost" as she then has to find her own role, without a direction, while all eyes are prying on her.

Máxima is completely different. She seems not to rely heavily on hofdames, chamberlains and other escorts to find her public role. Queen Beatrix was helped by Prince Claus. King Willem-Alexander almost is kept afloat by his spouse and that will not be different for Amalia. Her choice of partner will be key to her future public profile.

[Lee-Z]

Originally Posted by Somebody

It seems W- A and Máxima mainly considered sports-related activites age appropriate while Marhilde prefers to take her children to classical concerts...

Everyone has their preferences ofcourse which is fine

what i had in mind is, going with for example with the Duchess of Brabant, she attended with her parents the opening of the Technopolis youth interactive at Mechelen in 2007 (i meant the age-appropriate with a 'youth' event like this). She gave her first solo speech (i think) at the WWI commemoration in 2014

P.Estelle in Sweden is another imo of a young heir (of the heir) being involved in a playful way in events her mother undertakes.

but i know we're not encouraged to do comparisons between royals on TRF so i leave it at that