Women in History: Queens and Princesses
28) From Buenos Aires to Amsterdam: The fairytale Queen Maxima
Queen Máxima of the Netherlands (born 17 May 1971) is the wife of King Willem-Alexander. On 30 April 2013, she became the first Dutch queen consort since 1890.
Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 17 May 1971. Queen Máxima is the daughter of Jorge Zorreguieta (born 1928), secretary of agriculture under President Jorge Rafael Videla during the National Reorganization Process dictatorship, and his second wife, María del Carmen Cerruti Carricart (born 1944). She has two brothers, a sister and three half-sisters by her father’s first wife, Marta López Gil.
Willem-Alexander and Maxima announced their engagement on 30 March 2001; Máxima addressed the nation in fluent Dutch during the live televised broadcast. Máxima was granted Dutch citizenship by Royal Decree on 17 May 2001 and now has dual citizenship: Argentine and Dutch. The engagement was formally approved by the States General later that year—a necessary step for Willem-Alexander to remain heir to the throne.
Máxima and Willem-Alexander were married on 2 February 2002 in a civil ceremony in the Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam, which was then followed by a religious ceremony at Amsterdam’s Nieuwe Kerk (“New Church”). She remained a Roman Catholic after her marriage. Máxima’s parents were not present at the wedding; her father was told he could not attend due to his role as a cabinet minister during the National Reorganization Process, and her mother chose not to attend without her husband.
The couple has three daughters:
- The Princess of Orange (Catharina-Amalia Beatrix Carmen Victoria), born 7 December 2003
- Princess Alexia Juliana Marcela Laurentien of the Netherlands, born 26 June 2005
- Princess Ariane Wilhelmina Máxima Inés of the Netherlands, born 10 April 2007
