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


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Prinsara said:
There are serious current issues happening in the islands just like in the rest of the country. They could have mixed in a few spots like any other royal visit, along with making the tour so pleasant and festive. But as has been said, it's their choice for the program, not the visitors. I'm not sure why this level of sarcasm and political bias is necessary (..)
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In that case I am sure that you are very pleased with the program that includes MANY serious issues that are being addressed during their visit.

It seems that some people have a very skewed view of this visit and blame the program when in fact their perception of what the program entails is not representative of what is included.

So let me help you out a bit with the programs of the visits to the first and last islands (especially Saba is really small and only has 1900 inhabitants) to get a better overview of what the trip is like:

Bonaire
- Official welcome at airport
- Official meeting with local government representatives
- Visit of slave huts
- Visit of Cultural Park Mangazina di Rei (showcasing the island's cultural-historic heritage): includes baking bread, a student orchestra and a historic exhibition
- Lunch discussing current issues, such as climate change, agricultural development and poverty alleviation
- Visit to Bay of Sorobon for a wind surf demonstration (something the island is known for, resulting in many talented athletes)
- Visit and conversation about nature conservation with rangers of National Parks Bonaire
- Visit 'Taste of Bonaire', a cultural festival showcasing local products, gastronomy and music

Saba
- Official welcome by government representative
- Explanation of Energy Supply system (the island works toward becoming energy neutral)
- Visit to the village of Zion's Hill for a demonstration of the local tradition 'Kantklossen'
- Walk through Windwardside, including activities focused on the elderly, artists and entrepreneurs
- Visit to the Harry L. Johnson Museum for an exhibition on life on Saba over the years
- Lunch with Saba authorities
- Visit to Expertise Education Center Saba, a center focused on supporting vulnerable students (this project won an 'Appeltje van Oranje' in 2021)
- Visit to the harbour, where they'll be informed about the plans for the future harbour
- Meeting with scientists about a project focused on the use of sea urchins to rehabilitate the coral reefs
- Visit to village The Bottom for a sports activity with children
 
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I think this long visit is great for the islands in terms of tourism. Netherlands is a founding member of the European Union and that could attract visitors from the EU looking for a nice Caribbean vacation spot within the Union.
 
What a delightful visit this is.

It's good to see all three of them together. You can tell how focused Amalia is in some of the photos. She is taking it all in, observing.
Apart from that it adds to the glamour and dynamics. And I think makes the whole thing a little more relaxed as well.
 
Why St. Eustatius is called Statia?
 
doro said:
Why St. Eustatius is called Statia?
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from wiki:
On the first maps that show the island it was called Estatia. Later it was renamed to Saint Anastatia, and in the Caribean itself the island is called Statia. In dutch it is called Sint Eustatius.

(Just like other countries and places have different names in different languages)
 
doro said:
Why St. Eustatius is called Statia?
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It once was Estatia but nowadays the name can best be seen as a little dimunitive from the mouthful Sint Eustatius: "I am from Statia".
 
How long are the King,Queen and Princess in the Caribbean for?
 
It will be years before the King and Queen make a visit again to the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom. There are six islands and each island 2 days or more, with some free days in between, that is already two weeks.
 
Its been a wonderful trip to follow over the past week and hopefully they all had an enjoyable time.
 
Duc_et_Pair said:
It will be years before the King and Queen make a visit again to the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom. There are six islands and each island 2 days or more, with some free days in between, that is already two weeks.
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Officially it was 2 days for each 'country' (the three larger islands) and 1 day for each special municipality (the three smaller islands).

In practice they arrived on Bonaire the day before, so had a welcome, a full day and one day off. On Aruba they had 2 full days and left the next morning with a goodbye ceremony to travel to Curacao by ship where they arrived that same day and were welcomed; followed by 2 full days and 2 days off. Next they had 2 full days on St Maarten and my guess is they are still staying there overnight but had a one day visit yesterday to St Eustatius and another one day visit to Saba today. I assume they will return to the Netherlands (European part) tomorrow.

Is this Amalia's first time holding a baby in public?
 
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She reveals that there will be a 'press moment' tonight, so I am sure Amalia will answer some questions about her first trip to this part of the kingdom.

Part of the purpose of royal visits is to highlight an issue: it's great to see that it is working that way today with the Saba visit. The NOS (national broadcaster) shared a segment about sea urchins and their role in rehabilitation of coral reefs - as a direct result of this visit.
 
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The Princess of Orange indeed also participated in the press moment. She revealed that her grandmother, Queen Beatrix, told her before the trip that she was 'a little bit jealous' that she could not go along. The princess added that her grandmother had a 'great heart' for the islands. On each of the islands people came to Amalia and asked her to send their regards to her grandmother.

The King said that as a father he was beaming with pride when he looks at his daughter during this visit.
 
Amalia is eloquent with words, but she needs to work on her body language, and before anyone starts throwing knives at me saying "She's 19!", I know, and she'll obviously learn. But 17 year-old Leonor, who -unlike Amalia- has been kept away from our view most of her life, has an impeccable body language. The Duchess of Brabant was also very refined at 18.

I wish for her to be able to resume her student life, she needs to relax a bit. This is just the beginning.
 
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I hope they don't wait years to return to the islands, or at least manage to have the other two princesses visit them once per year. They are not just part of Netherlands but in America, if they want them to stay unified the royals need to visit more often.

Re Leonor, 17 and Amalia, 19 and their body language I don't think age matters to compare them. Maybe personality and their parents. Their mothers are both Type A personality, intelligent career women that can talk to one person or a whole crowd with confidence. If Amalia was on her own during this trip, and not trailing behind mom and dad, she would have shined all on her own.
 
Adda said:
Amalia is eloquent with words, but she needs to work on her body language, and before anyone starts throwing knives at me saying "She's 19!", I know, and she'll obviously learn. But 17 year-old Leonor, who -unlike Amalia- has been kept away from our view most of her life, has an impeccable body language. The Duchess of Brabant was also very refined at 18.

I wish for her to be able to resume her student life, she needs to relax a bit. This is just the beginning.
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I agree that this is an area that Amalia might need to work on a bit more (although being body concious might be part of it), however, I don't recall this type of press conferences for either Leonor or Elisabeth (but might be mistaken), which is a different ball game than a well-rehearsed speech as we've seen Leonor take on most of the time (but from a rather young age).
 
Amalia was also asked about her security situation back home and told that it is really hard on her. She had been looking forward to doing 'normal student things' but unexpectedly she received the news and all of that had completely vanished from her life. So, her hope is that her life may return to normal.

Willem-Alexander explained that he had not been worried about security during the trip because he is not a professional in that area and those who are told them it was ok for them to be/walk where they did.
 
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If Amalia was on her own during this trip, and not trailing behind mom and dad, she would have shined all on her own.[/QUOTE]

A agree .
What will the Princess do back in her Country ?.
 
:previous:

She will continue her studies.

I am not quite sure if sending a 19 y/o girl on a 2-week trip with 70+ public events on her own is a very wise move. She now was able to observe her parents, get used to these kind of things while still at times blending in the background. At her age that may be a more comfortable position to be in. Being the focus point all the time and for two weeks on end may have been too much. It would be for most teenagers. And as said, Beatrix, Claus and WA did the very same thing in the 80-ties.
 
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I agree Marengo, I mentioned earlier that I found this tour too long for Amalia at this stage. It is also difficult trailing behind the parents, especially with a mother who absorbs all spotlight by nature. It has been proven perfect for WA over the years but I doubt it is good for Amalia. And this tour was a lot about fun, dancing, being flamboyant, so very Maxima.It often felt in the photos that Amalia was a 'third wheel' what should not be the case, focus should be on WA and his daughter. I remain convinced that a shorter, less flamboyant tour (beach, dancing, sunglasses) would have been a better start.
 
I don't see why the focus should be on the King and his daughter alone TBH. The Queen is the Queen. They are not in the middle of a divorce but seemingly happily married. Obviously she will attract attention. I don't see how she could not, even if she would dress like the secretary. If she would be behaving like a Roman statue and dress in black-and-white and grey most of the country would be wondering what is wrong and it would definately attract more attention.

Máxima is never going to be a wallflower. For better and for worse, she is who she is. This is part of it. It may be a *bit* much. Personally I find her outfits bordering the grotesque far too often. But in general people like her ánd this side of her. When the British RF is discussed in our press it is most often stressed how 'stiff' they are (not always fair TBH). It says something of the self-image of the country -> 'we' are not stiff but easygoing.... and that means that our RF should not be stiff either but approachable. Beatrix in her most Beatrixian years did not have the best of images for the very reason that people found her too distant, too stiff. Her more introvert nature was considered cold and aloof.

It is clear that Amalia was uncomfortable at times. Who wouldn't be in that situation. I would find this trip hell-ish, needing to dance in front of the public & cameras like an animal in a circus. Although Amalia may never be an extrovert, you can learn how to relax more in public. It will be expected of her. In the Netherlands even more so than elsewhere. Even though it is not natural at all for most people to feel relaxed while all the eyes are focussed on you. You only learn by practice, which means you will need to be put in exactly the kind of situations that you fear. And this way she could at least learn and practice a bit more in the background while her parents served as a lightning rod.

There were however moments where she was pushed forward. For example when visiting the birdge that was named for her in Willemstad, turtle project or during the press conference. But to push her forward too much would be cruel IMO. It wasn't just a speech of 15 minutes or a walkabout of half an hour. There were 70+ different events.

Although the tour was long, I don't see how it could have been done differently. You can't visit one island but not the other one. You can't rush it too much, people will feel that they do not warrant any time. As said, they are part of the kingdom and a visit was long overdue. The connections between the islands and the European part of the kingdom are strong.
 
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I felt at times the Princess of Orange looked like a fish out of water on this Tour and was perhaps not used to that level of duty and looked a little uncomfortable.
I felt sorry for her.
 
I loved seeing the photos and videos and thought Amalia did great for her 1st royal tour, despite looking uncomfortable. She is not an extrovert like her mother, but she doesn't need to copy Maxima, she just needs more experience.


And I do agree about her insecurity, which suprised me. I read a interview about her saying that she doesn't care about her look, but on this tour she looked so uncomfortable, body conscious. I felt sorry for her, because you can clearly see (in some pictures) her hiding behind her parents (mostly when she wore a dress or was windy). When she sat down, she always covered her stomach with a bag.


But, she is young and she will learn how to conquer these insecurities. Well, she must, because she will be in the spotlight until she dies.
 
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.
 
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