The Princess of Orange, Pss Alexia and Pss Ariane, News Part 2 (Feb 2019 -Dec 2021)

[Duc_et_Pair]

I doubt there is any Dutchie losing one minute of sleeping about all this. Just adolescents partying.

 

[crm2317]

Call me old fashioned but as the mother of 2 girls (2 year old and 4 month old) I would be unhappy with them posing in a photo like that at 16. I know I was certainly not dressing like that at that age!

On a side note, the young lady on the far left of the photo bears a striking resemblance to Leah Isadora Behn!

 

[Archduchess Zelia]

Reading the comments on here before I clicked the link, I expected a very different picture than what I ended up finding. I see absolutely nothing outrageous about that picture. That's a 16-year-old girl being a 16-year-old girl.

And I guarantee you, older generations of royals will have been in similar situations (partying and having fun with friends? Haven't we all?), only they have been afforded the privilege of not having lived through those situations in a time where everything you do is blasted onto social media.

 

[CrownPrincessJava]

Reading the comments on here before I clicked the link, I expected a very different picture than what I ended up finding. I see absolutely nothing outrageous about that picture. That's a 16-year-old girl being a 16-year-old girl.

And I guarantee you, older generations of royals will have been in similar situations (partying and having fun with friends? Haven't we all?), only they have been afforded the privilege of not having lived through those situations in a time where everything you do is blasted onto social media.

This. I saw nothing but a bunch of 16 year old girls partying. The only difference is that social media is now a thing. And as Muhler stated earlier, this looks like a themed party. I was expecting pearl-clutching photo!

Royals of bygone years have done the same thing too - and Princess Alexia will not the only one in her Royal age group that will have these photos "leaked"...

 

[Mbruno]

Say what you want, but, for Leonor's sake, I hope she stays away from that kind of "circle of friends". She has far more to lose than Alexia and Spain is a much more conservative country.

 

[Prinsara]

Actually I think the thing that concerns me most is how Alexia is smack in the center of the group (when it is fairly clearly not her room). I don't know if she's pulling princess status, she's just used to posing in photos and being the center of attention, or someone encouraged her to be in the middle, knowing who she is (and perhaps that someone is the leaker). But any of those possibilities don't make me feel optimistic. It's not what she's doing; it's that she's seemingly literally positioning herself for some trouble (or she literally doesn't know how to stand to the side). :/

 

[suztav]

I suspect that it was a theme-type of party and Alexia was “hamming it up” for the cameras knowing that the media would pounce on it. She’s one smart cookie.

 

[Prinsara]

But why is it smart? How does she benefit from it? She's at school in the Welsh countryside precisely so she doesn't get any attention.

 

[Sunnystar]

Oh, for goodness sakes... She's dressed no less scantily than she would be at the beach. There's an awful lot of speculation and hand-wringing going on in this thread that is unnecessary and, frankly, more inappropriate than what she's wearing.

 

[CrownPrincessJava]

Actually I think the thing that concerns me most is how Alexia is smack in the center of the group (when it is fairly clearly not her room). I don't know if she's pulling princess status, she's just used to posing in photos and being the center of attention, or someone encouraged her to be in the middle, knowing who she is (and perhaps that someone is the leaker). But any of those possibilities don't make me feel optimistic. It's not what she's doing; it's that she's seemingly literally positioning herself for some trouble (or she literally doesn't know how to stand to the side). :/

I think you're giving a bunch of 16 year olds far too much credit here

 

[HenRach Dominion]

I'm am so glad that I not the child of a public figure. I couldn't image living a life where I wasn't allow to explore who I was as a teenager, to make teenage mistakes or push the boundaries from child to adult and everything that entails, without people criticizing me for not being perfect, prim, and proper, stepping a toe out of line and embarrassing or bringing bad press to my parents, my family, my country, etc...
I hope the Princess of Orange-Nassau and the Princess of Asturias enjoy being teenagers, being on the cusp of adulthood, and all the trials, tribulations, triumphs, and treasures that come in between. People's opinions about it shouldn't be their problem.

 

[Mbruno]

I'm am so glad that I not the child of a public figure. I couldn't image living a life where I wasn't allow to explore who I was as a teenager, to make teenage mistakes or push the boundaries from child to adult and everything that entails, without people criticizing me for not being perfect, prim, and proper, stepping a toe out of line and embarrassing or bringing bad press to my parents, my family, my country, etc...
I hope the Princess of Orange-Nassau and the Princess of Asturias enjoy being teenagers, being on the cusp of adulthood, and all the trials, tribulations, triumphs, and treasures that come in between. People's opinions about it shouldn't be their problem.

Alexia is still second in line to the throne and, as her elder sister is still unmarried and childless, her position within the Royal Family is still quite relevant. I am pretty sure that many teenage royals have been to similar parties (or, actually, much worse than that) in the past (especially the boys, more so than the girls) , but Alexia's position requires a little more discretion in my opinion.

 

[Prinsara]

Alexia is still second in line to the throne and, as her elder sister is still unmarried and childless, her position within the Royal Family is still quite relevant. I am pretty sure that many young royals have been to similar parties (or, actually, much worse than that) in the past (especially the boys, more so than the girls) , but Alexia's position requires a little more discretion in my opinion.

Now I think you're giving 16 year olds too much credit.

Their ability to seek attention and cause trouble on social media? Should probably not be underestimated.

And Alexia being second in line for a throne also requires some humility. Which she hasn't especially displayed thus far. She's bright, probably nice, and undoubtedly an extremely normal 16 year old, but her camera-posing tendencies have been noted for years. Discretion is...about the opposite of what she's done so far.

I think the biggest judge of Alexia's discretion will be if we see anything else like this, and when. Next month, next year, never? All would be telling. (Or she will turn 18, and pictures like this will become normal.) But she's also clearly a kid who's got some growing up to do.

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

[...] and Spain is a much more conservative country.

I dare to contest that. Spain is an equally (or maybe even more) libertarian society as the Netherlands.

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

Now I think you're giving 16 year olds too much credit.

Their ability to seek attention and cause trouble on social media? Should probably not be underestimated.

And Alexia being second in line for a throne also requires some humility. Which she hasn't especially displayed thus far. She's bright, probably nice, and undoubtedly an extremely normal 16 year old, but her camera-posing tendencies have been noted for years. Discretion is...about the opposite of what she's done so far.

I think the biggest judge of Alexia's discretion will be if we see anything else like this, and when. Next month, next year, never? All would be telling. (Or she will turn 18, and pictures like this will become normal.) But she's also clearly a kid who's got some growing up to do.

It is a 16 years old girl and her parents absolutely wanted to have their girls on normal schools (a municipal school) rather than a private school in über-posh Wassenaar, exactly because they should grow up with "normal" children. Now that Alexia goes to Atlantic College, she has left the path of "normal children" but the essence remains that she should be "just Alexia" and not Her Royal Highness Alexia Juliana Marcela Laurentien, Princess of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau.

In the interview for his 50th birthday the King stated that he instructed the security officers not to act alike a "tell-all" to him. The interviewer replied: "But that means maybe the security officers and the princesses share secrets?" The King: "So be it, they need their space, without doubt they all will make teenage mistakes but will also learn from these".

 

[CrownPrincessJava]

It is a 16 years old girl and her parents absolutely wanted to have their girls on normal schools (a municipal school) rather than a private school in über-posh Wassenaar, exactly because they should grow up with "normal" children. Now that Alexia goes to Atlantic College, she has left the path of "normal children" but the essence remains that she should be "just Alexia" and not Her Royal Highness Alexia Juliana Marcela Laurentien, Princess of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau.

In the interview for his 50th birthday the King stated that he instructed the security officers not to act alike a "tell-all" to him. The interviewer replied: "But that means maybe the security officers and the princesses share secrets?" The King: "So be it, they need their space, without doubt they all will make teenage mistakes but will also learn from these".

I'm glad the King is like that. He understands that humans make mistakes and must learn from them. And his daughters are no different. It is best they make mistakes under the safety of being a teenager than an adult. Teenagers will be rebellious and think they are invincible. However, the more you restrict, the more creative they will be. Or worse - they will not tell you anything. My parents were incredibly strict when I was a teenager. Guess what? As an adult, I made epic mistakes which I wished I made as a teenager. I stopped telling them about my life, especially when I left home. I love my parents, but their strict nature really hurt our relationship. As a parent, I will not be the same because I want my children to feel they can do genuine mistakes and I will be there for them to help them.

Alexia is an incredibly confident young woman, and that is very refreshing and a fantastic personality trait. The next decade is where she will learn the craft on how to use her confidence, and she has a great network of people that will help along that journey. I only wished I had that at her age.

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FB-ELJyWUAI-KCN?format=jpg&name=large

Spain is asking: Where is Leonor???

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FB-ELJyWUAI-KCN?format=jpg&name=large

Spain is asking: Where is Leonor???

 

[Mbruno]

I dare to contest that. Spain is an equally (or maybe even more) libertarian society as the Netherlands.

But Felipe and Letizia seem to be much stricter with their girls than Willem-Alexander and Máxima. Different styles of parenting, I guess.


What I meant was also that the Spanish royal family is in a pretty fragile position right now because of Cristina's and JC's scandals, republicanism, Catalan and Basque separatism, etc etc. They certainly don't want an unruly teenager behaving badly overseas to make things worse. And the Spanish press is neither deferential nor forgiving. But that discussion should be moved perhaps to Leonor's forum.

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

Different press and consequences, different cultures. Leonor is heir to the throne and very likely has a minder with her at the college, who makes sure that she will not feature in crazy teenage photos. She will exactly know her do's and don'ts and doesn't strike me as the rebellious type.
It is bad enough for her that most likely insta or snapschat will remain closed for her, the risk of public discussion is too high. Alexia in many ways couldn't care less.

 

[winifred]

Totally innocuous photo but much nastier is the fact that presumably one of the people there - who will be her friends and colleagues for the next couple of years - sold/sent the photos to a newspaper.

Never knowing who you can trust must be the worst part for a public figure. I am sorry for her.

 

[Prinsara]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FB-ELJyWUAI-KCN?format=jpg&name=large

Spain is asking: Where is Leonor???

I could have done without seeing all the pictures, but that is pretty funny.

Okay, maybe we can hope Alexia does less of this or at least keeps it from the internet and poor pressured Leonor gets to do something a little wild once.

 

[fortimo]

If I remember good, her mother liked also such parties. I would like to know, what did she say now to Alexia...

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

From the media I understood it was Queer Focus Week at Atlantic College and this was a theme party in that framework. On the pictures also male classmates were seen dressed with female clothes.

 

[JR76]

From the media I understood it was Queer Focus Week at Atlantic College and this was a theme party in that framework. On the pictures also male classmates were seen dressed with female clothes.

Yes, that's what I also read yesterday. It was a week to put the focus on LGBTQIA+ issues and the pictures were taken in conjunction a Queer fashion show. According what I also read 30% of the students at the college identifies as LGBTQIA+ .

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

Yes, that's what I also read yesterday. It was a week to put the focus on LGBTQIA+ issues and the pictures were taken in conjunction a Queer fashion show. According what I also read 30% of the students at the college identifies as LGBTQIA+ .

Wow, one third! I feel a first princess-princess wedding coming!

 

[muriel]

Totally innocuous photo but much nastier is the fact that presumably one of the people there - who will be her friends and colleagues for the next couple of years - sold/sent the photos to a newspaper.

Never knowing who you can trust must be the worst part for a public figure. I am sorry for her.

I have to agree with you. It must be difficult growing up with the added concern of having to be careful of who can be trusted.

 

[Muhler]

Wow, one third! I feel a first princess-princess wedding coming!

I'll take all that with a grain of salt.
The cynic in me cannot help thinking that quite a few of those 30 % profess to some sexual subgroup because it's fashionable. The intention of course being to get attention.

Apart from that I think they thoroughly enjoyed the Queer-theme.
Dressing sexy, feeling sexy, acting sexy, getting attention and talking about sex. - Is there anything better for a mid-teen?

I could be wrong but on a girl's dorm in a boarding school for teens, I have a feeling they are not only talking about embroidery and Kirkegaard's thoughts and works, when school is over for the day...

So while it is a little unfortunate that these photos were published of Alexia, it is also reassuring that she seems to be a perfectly normal sixteen year old girl. As normal as she can be, given her position in life.

 

[JR76]

Identifying as LGBTQI+ is not only a matter of acknowledging that you're sexually and emotionally attracted to your own sex. It's also about gender identity, not wanting to conform to traditional gender stereotypes or even not identifying as any of the two traditional genders of Western civilisation at all. What some people call fashion is more a case of people daring to self-identify and live a life as something else than cis-gender heterosexuals.
Gallup statistics from USA (2020) show that 15,6% of GenZ identifies as LGBTQ while the numbers for Millienials are 9,1% and for GenX it's 3,8%. If the figure of 30% is correct (I have no other source than what the journalist Rick Evers told me) it's a great feather in the hat for the work of Atlantic College in a country where, according to Stonewall in 2016, two in five LGBT students (42%) have hidden their identity at university for fear of discrimination and, in education in general, nearly half (45%) of LGBT pupils (64% of trans pupils) are bullied for being LGBT in Britain's schools.

 

[Muhler]

Oh, yes. But these pupils we see from the theme-party are mid-teens.
Some are not even sexually active yet, let alone have clearly defined any sexual identification. Most will still be experimenting, exploring and figuring things out.

So, that's why I take the 30 % statement with a big pinch of salt.