IT'S WORTH THE DETOUR
Enter the court of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands. This summer, for the fourth year only, the Batavian royal family opens the doors of its residence, the Noordeinde Palace, in the city center of the capital The Hague. Visits, which began on Saturday, are allowed for a few days and tickets are often snapped in a few days. If you miss the mark, you can fall back on the Royal Palace of Amsterdam, which is used only for major ceremonies but has the advantage of being open all year.
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From "Prince Pils" to King of the Netherlands
If you are lucky, you may be able to meet King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima Zorreguieta, an Argentine, in one of the two palaces. 52 years old, the Dutch monarch is a good living, very smiling but it has only a purely representative role. He served in the Royal Navy, notably as a pilot. We do not know if this is still the case today, but for more than 20 years, he was co-pilot of KLM airliners, once or twice a month on short flights, all quite normal with real passengers. Officially, he was not paid for this benefit.
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Willem-Alexander was born on April 27, 1967. A historic date in the Netherlands since when he was born, he was the first Crown Prince since 1851! Everyone says that the king was first a child and a very turbulent teenager. He had several nannies jerked and his student nights were, it seems, quite memorable. They have even earned him a rather nickname: the "Prince Pils", the name of the famous blonde beer, very popular in Eastern Europe. And yet, behind this reputation as a party animal, Willem-Alexander has a very advanced school curriculum.
A modern and simple royal couple
All of this is now a thing of the past. The turbulent teenager has adopted the stature of King of the Netherlands since 2013, following the abdication of his mother, Queen Beatrix. His own mother, Queen Juliana, had also abdicated, a tradition in Holland. Like his mother Beatrix, Willem-Alexander is very much loved by the Dutch. He is a fan of sports and especially football. He made the trip to Lyon, July 7, for the final of the World Cup lost by the Dutch against the Americans (0-2). He was not the only one: a vague oranje swept through France for the occasion, adorned with the color of the country, which is also the name of the royal family, the Orange-Nassau.
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In Lyon, Willem-Alexander was accompanied by his wife, Queen Máxima Zorreguieta, of Argentine origin. They met in 1999 at the Seville Fair. the prince fell in love with this beautiful Argentina. He had trouble accepting it because his father had been Minister of Agriculture under the military dictatorship of General Videla. In order not to annoy the Dutch, his father could not come to the wedding.
Willem-Alexander and Máxima Zorreguieta have three daughters, including 15-year-old Queen Catharina-Amalia. Like their father, they are raised in the most natural way possible, they go to school next to their home, with children their age. This is the mark of this monarchy very close to his subjects, very modern.
All summer, discover the crowned heads on Europe 1:
>> In Denmark , a very French royal family
>> In Bhutan , a young royal couple for an Instagram monarchy
>> In Thailand , a rigid monarchy but a king adept of escapades
>> In Japan , a new emperor facing ancestral traditions
>> Luxembourg , the last Grand Duchy still in place
>> In Jordan , a King Star Trek fan and an influential queen