Crown Princess Amalia of the Netherlands
Royal embarks on its first official trip abroad
Crown Princess Amalia (left) is going to the Caribbean with her parents, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima.
© imago/Xinhua
Crown Princess Amalia is back in the public eye and is about to embark on her first official trip abroad to the Caribbean.
Several months after her unwanted withdrawal, the Dutch Crown Princess Amalia (19) soon dares to go public again. Accompanied by her parents, King Willem-Alexander (55) and Queen Máxima (51), the 19-year-old embarks on her first official trip abroad on Friday (January 27). The trio will visit the Caribbean for two weeks.
The itinerary leads from Bonaire, Aruba and Curaçao via Sint Maarten and Sint Eustasius to Saba. The trip aims to introduce Amalia to the Caribbean part of the Dutch Kingdom, as it on the Palace website called. The royal couple and their daughter have more than 60 appointments, including state receptions, visits to schools and hospitals and meetings with locals.
For the 19-year-old heir to the throne, her first state trip is certainly exciting for other reasons: Since autumn 2022, she has had to withdraw from the public for security reasons and has been under increased surveillance. In September, several Dutch media outlets reported that the Princess of Orange was under heightened security amid fears that criminal gangs might be targeting her for kidnapping or attacking her.
Difficult months lie behind Amalia
Just a few weeks earlier, she had started studying politics and economics at the University of Amsterdam and had moved into a rented apartment in the capital, which she shared with several other students. For fear of her safety, she had to move back to the royal palace Huis ten Bosch in The Hague a short time later.
“She can hardly leave the house”, quoted the Dutch news agency ANP Queen Máxima in mid-October while she was on a state visit to Sweden with her husband. “The consequences are very difficult for them,” Máxima continued. “There is no student life for them like others have.”