Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange

Summary

Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange (Dutch pronunciation: [kɑtaːˈrinaː aːˈmaːliaː]) (Catharina-Amalia Beatrix Carmen Victoria; born 7 December 2003) is the heir apparent to the throne of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the constituent countries of Aruba, Curaçao, the Netherlands, and Sint Maarten.

Catharina-Amalia
Princess of Orange
Catharina-Amalia in 2023
Born (2003-12-07) 7 December 2003 (age 20)[1]
The Hague, Netherlands
Names
Catharina-Amalia Beatrix Carmen Victoria
HouseOrange-Nassau (official)
Amsberg (agnatic)
FatherWillem-Alexander of the Netherlands
MotherMáxima Zorreguieta

Catharina-Amalia is the eldest child of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima. She has two younger sisters, Princess Alexia and Princess Ariane. She became heir apparent when her father ascended the throne on 30 April 2013.[2]

Early life edit

Princess Catharina-Amalia Beatrix Carmen Victoria of the Netherlands was born at 17:01 CET on 7 December 2003 in the HMC Bronovo in The Hague,[1][3] the first child of the then Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange (now king) and Princess Máxima. Upon the public announcement of her birth, 101 salute shots were fired at four places in the Kingdom of the Netherlands: Den Helder and The Hague in the Netherlands, Willemstad in Curaçao, and Oranjestad in Aruba.[4]

On 12 June 2004, Catharina-Amalia was baptised by the Rev. Carel ter Linden in the Great Church in The Hague. Her godparents are her uncle Prince Constantijn, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, the (then) vice-president of the Council of State of the Netherlands Herman Tjeenk Willink, her mother's friend Samantha Deane, her uncle Martín Zorreguieta, and her father's friend Marc ter Haar.[5] Catharina-Amalia's maternal grandparents, Jorge Zorreguieta and María del Carmen Cerruti Carricart, were prohibited from attending her parents' wedding in 2002 due to Zorreguieta's involvement in the regime of General Jorge Rafael Videla, but were present at her baptism, which was a private rather than a state affair.[6]

Princess Catharina-Amalia has two younger sisters: Princess Alexia (born in 2005) and Princess Ariane (born in 2007). The family spent the princess' formative years at Villa Eikenhorst on the De Horsten estate in Wassenaar. In 2019 they moved to Huis ten Bosch Palace in The Hague.[7]

Her birthdays are traditionally celebrated with a concert at the Kloosterkerk in The Hague, which is attended by ambassadors and members of the royal household and the Council of State of the Netherlands.[8] Catharina-Amalia's paternal grandmother, Queen Beatrix, abdicated on 30 April 2013 and her father ascended the throne. Catharina-Amalia, as the new heir apparent, assumed the title of Princess of Orange,[9] becoming the first to do so in her own right.[10]

Education edit

In December 2007, Catharina-Amalia started attending Bloemcamp Primary School, a public primary school in Wassenaar.[11] After graduating from primary school, she attended the Christelijk Gymnasium Sorghvliet in The Hague, where her aunt Princess Laurentien attended.[12] She participated in the student council and attended both the Model United Nations of the International School of The Hague and The Hague International Model United Nations conferences.[2] She graduated in 2021 with distinction.[2] After completing her studies at Sorghvliet, Catharina-Amalia took a gap year, during which she interned at the Orange Fund and volunteered at other organisations.[13] In June 2021, she announced that she refused to accept her right to €1.6m a year in income for the time period, adding that it would make her "uncomfortable as long as I do not do anything for it in return".[14]

Since 5 September 2022 Catharina-Amalia is studying at the University of Amsterdam for a BSc degree in Politics, Psychology, Law and Economics (PPLE).[15] During her second month in university, she was moved back to the royal palace from her student housing in Amsterdam due to security risks.[16]

Catharina-Amalia speaks Dutch, English, and Spanish.[17] Additionally, she took classes in Mandarin Chinese.[18]

Public life edit

Catharina-Amalia with her sisters attended the annual Koningsdag.[2] On 19 June 2010, Catharina-Amalia served as a bridesmaid at the wedding of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and Daniel Westling.[19] On the occasion of her 18th birthday in 2021, a biography of Catharina-Amalia was published. Similar books were published on the 18th birthday of Princess Beatrix in 1956 and Prince Willem-Alexander in 1985. The book titled "Amalia" is written by Dutch entertainer Claudia de Breij.[20] On 8 December 2021, Catharina-Amalia assumed her seat in the Advisory Division of the Council of State when she reached the age of majority at 18 the day before.[21][22][23] On the same day, she gave her first public speech at the Council of State meeting in Kneuterdijk Palace.[24][25] An outdoor birthday party thrown by her family to mark the occasion was found to be in breach of regulations and restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, which made her father admit that "it was not right to organize this".[26][27]

On 17 June 2022, together with her parents, she was among the royal guests invited to the celebrations of the 18th birthday of Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway. This was Catharina-Amalia's first public engagement outside of The Netherlands and the first occasion to which she was allowed to wear a tiara.[28] On 20 September 2022, together with her parents, Catharina-Amalia attended Prinsjesdag, where the King addressed a joint session of the States General of the Netherlands to outline government policy for the upcoming parliamentary session.[29][30] In November 2022, Catharina-Amalia and her family visited an exhibition at Nieuwe Kerk dedicated to former Queen Juliana.[31] In December 2022, she visited the three branches of Dutch military: Air Force, Army and Navy.[32][33]

In January and February 2023, Catharina-Amalia went on a tour of the Dutch Caribbean with her parents. They visited Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba. It was her first official royal tour.[34] In April 2023, Catharina-Amalia and her sister Princess Ariane attended King's Day concert in Rotterdam.[35] On 5 May 2023, she accompanied her grandmother to a reception held at Buckingham Palace the evening before the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom.[36] In June 2023, she and her parents attended a state banquet honoring the wedding of Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan and Rajwa Al Saif.[37]

Catharina-Amalia has experienced repeated fat shaming by tabloids and on social media since she was young, most notably by the Portuguese celebrity magazine Caras labeling her as plus size. In response to the body shaming members of the public have expressed their support for the princess, calling the fat shaming against her unacceptable.[38][39][40]

Eponym edit

On her seventh birthday, a Douglas C-47 Skytrain once owned by her great-grandfather, Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld, was named after Catharina-Amalia by Peter Hartman. The princess herself was prevented from attending the naming ceremony owing to school obligations.[41] In November 2020, a new regiment of the Royal Netherlands Army, the Regiment Huzaren Prinses Catharina-Amalia, was named for Catharina-Amalia.[42]

Titles, styles, honours and arms edit

 
Catharina Amalia's Monogram

Titles edit

Catharina-Amalia has been Princess of the Netherlands and Princess of Orange-Nassau since birth. Until her father's accession, she was therefore styled "Her Royal Highness Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau".[43] On 30 April 2013, she additionally assumed the substantive title Princess of Orange. She has since been known as "Her Royal Highness the Princess of Orange, Princess of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau".[43]

Honours edit

Arms edit

Coat of arms of Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange
 
Notes
This coat of arms is used by the Princess of Orange and her sisters, Princess Alexia and Princess Ariane.[45]
Escutcheon
Quarterly: I and IV azure billety or, a lion with coronet also or armed and langued gules, holding in his dexter paw a sword argent hilted or, and in his sinister seven arrows argent pointed and bound together or, which is of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; II and III or, a horn azure opened and bound gules, which is of the first House of Orange; an inescutcheon or bearing a castle of three towers gules flanked on each side by a poplar tree au naturel, and a river azure flowing from the base, ondoyant to the gate of the castle, which is of the house of Zorreguieta in Argentina.
Banner
  As Princess, Catharina-Amalia uses a swallow-tailed flag, with the Royal standard colours and her paternal arms (the horn of Orange) in the upper hoist and her maternal arms (the tower of Zorreguieta) in the lower hoist. The arms of the Netherlands (which originates from Nassau) without the insignia of the Order of Willem within an orange circle.[46]
Symbolism
  The first and fourth quarters are the coat of arms of the Netherlands, based on the coat of arms of the House of Nassau.[45]
  The second and third quarters are the coat of arms of the Prince of Orange.[45]
  In the center is the coat of arms of the Zorreguieta family.[45]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Newly-born Princess Catharina-Amalia second in line for Dutch throne". goDutch.com. 23 December 2003. Archived from the original on 2 November 2007. Retrieved 5 June 2007.
  2. ^ a b c d "The Princess of Orange". Dutch Royal House. Archived from the original on 15 July 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  3. ^ "Dutch celebrate royal baby birth". BBC News. 8 December 2004. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  4. ^ "A new government and Dutch troops go to Iraq". historyinnl. 2003. Archived from the original on 4 December 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  5. ^ "Princess Catharina-Amalia". Het Koninklijk Huis. Archived from the original on 4 May 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  6. ^ "Joyful christening of Catharina-Amalia". Hello. 14 June 2004. Archived from the original on 16 February 2013.
  7. ^ "Huis ten Bosch Palace". Het Koninklijk Huis. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
  8. ^ "Princess Amalia celebrates sixth birthday". DutchNews.nl. 7 December 2009. Archived from the original on 22 February 2013. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  9. ^ "Dutch Queen Beatrix abdicates in favour of son". BBC News. 30 April 2013. Archived from the original on 19 March 2016. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  10. ^ Leake, Natasha (7 December 2022). "Everything you need to know about Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands as the future Dutch queen celebrates her 19th birthday". Tatler. Archived from the original on 26 August 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  11. ^ "Princess Amalia to attend state school". DutchNews.nl. 18 September 2007. Archived from the original on 15 July 2022. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  12. ^ "Prinses Amalia naar de middelbare school". NOS (in Dutch). 24 August 2015. Archived from the original on 15 July 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  13. ^ Koninklijk Huis (22 March 2022). "De Prinses van Oranje vandaag bij de pitchdag van sociale initiatieven voor het vijfde Groeiprogramma van het Oranje Fonds en vorige week met haar "collega's" in de tuin van het Oranje Fonds in Utrecht. ..." [The Princess of Orange today at the pitch day of social initiatives for the fifth Growth Program of the Orange Fund and last week with her "colleagues" in the garden of the Orange Fund in Utrecht. ...]. Instagram. Archived from the original on 20 April 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  14. ^ Henley, Jon (11 June 2021). "Princess Amalia, heir to Dutch throne, waives right to yearly income". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 15 July 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  15. ^ "In beeld: prinses Amalia begint aan haar studie (dus is er een fotomoment)". Nederlandse Omroep Stichting. Archived from the original on 26 August 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  16. ^ Lock, Samantha (14 October 2022). "Dutch crown princess moves out of student flat after security threats". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 August 2023. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  17. ^ "The children of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima". Holland.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
  18. ^ Fu, Jing (31 July 2016). "European royals turning their hand to Mandarin". China Daily. Archived from the original on 14 July 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  19. ^ Yorke, Yvonne (20 June 2010). "Princess Victoria's Wedding & The Triumph Of Style In Sweden (UPDATED PHOTOS, POLL)". Huffpost. Archived from the original on 26 August 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  20. ^ de Breij, Claudia (16 November 2021). Amalia (in Dutch) (Eerste druk ed.). Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Pluim. ISBN 978-94-93256-63-7. OCLC 1277345749.
  21. ^ "Princess Amalia delivers confident debut speech to Raad van State". DutchNews.nl. 8 December 2021. Archived from the original on 26 August 2023. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  22. ^ Ketelaar, Titia (8 December 2021). "Amalia citeert Beatrix in de Raad van State: 'Ik zal trachten een goede leerling te zijn'". NRC (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 8 December 2021. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  23. ^ Meijer, Remco (8 December 2021). "Bij de Raad van State noemt prinses Amalia haar vader voorzitter. 'Voor één keer'". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 26 August 2023. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  24. ^ "Prinses van Oranje wordt binnengeleid in Raad van State" [Princess of Orange is introduced to the Council of State]. Dutch Royal House (Press release). 8 November 2021. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  25. ^ "Toespraak van de Prinses van Oranje bij haar intrede in de Raad van State" [Speech by the Princess of Orange on her entry into the Council of State]. Dutch Royal House (Press release). 8 December 2021. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  26. ^ "Dutch royals sorry for Princess Amalia birthday party that broke Covid rules". Agence France-Presse. 15 December 2021. Retrieved 15 March 2024 – via The Guardian.
  27. ^ Cassidy, Amy; Guy, Jack (16 December 2021). "Dutch princess' 18th birthday party broke Covid-19 rules". CNN. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  28. ^ Hurtado, Alexandra (17 June 2022). "Dutch Princess makes her tiara debut wearing mom's wedding day tiara". Hola. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  29. ^ "Prinsjesdag: traditie en ceremonie". Government of the Netherlands (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  30. ^ "Dutch king greeted with boos, cheers as he opens parliament". Deutsche Welle. 20 September 2022. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  31. ^ "De Oranjes (inclusief Amalia) poseren bij de Juliana-tentoonstelling in de Nieuwe Kerk" [The Oranjes (including Amalia) pose at the Juliana exhibition in the Nieuwe Kerk]. Libelle. 4 November 2022. Archived from the original on 26 August 2023. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  32. ^ "Crown princess Amalia celebrates her 19th birthday". DutchNews.nl. 20 September 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  33. ^ Koninklijk Huis (2 December 2022). "Het afgelopen jaar heeft de Prinses van Oranje kennisgemaakt met drie onderdelen van de Nederlandse krijgsmacht, ter gelegenheid van haar achttiende verjaardag. ..." [In the past year, The Princess of Orange became acquainted with three parts of the Dutch armed forces on the occasion of her eighteenth birthday. ...]. Instagram. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 9 April 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  34. ^ "Future Dutch Queen to make first royal tour to the Caribbean". LOOP News Caribbean. 2 September 2022. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  35. ^ Bridger-Linning, Stephanie (20 April 2023). "Royal sisters' night out! Princess Catharina-Amalia and Princess Ariane of the Netherlands step out in Rotterdam". Tatler. Archived from the original on 26 August 2023. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  36. ^ "International royals and world leaders celebrate the Coronation of King Charles at a glittering Buckingham Palace reception". Tatler. 19 August 2023. Archived from the original on 19 August 2023. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  37. ^ "Queen Máxima Rewore a Blue Floral Gown to the Royal Wedding of Jordan's Crown Prince Hussein". Town & Country. 2 June 2023. Archived from the original on 19 August 2023. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  38. ^ "Portuguese magazine apologises for calling Princess Catharina-Amalia 'plus-size' on cover". The Independent. 29 July 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  39. ^ "Lisa: 'Ik was één van de mensen die zeiden dat Amalia te dik is'". RTL Nieuws (in Dutch). 29 April 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  40. ^ NWS, VRT (30 January 2023). "Kroonprinses Amalia slachtoffer van bodyshaming: "Negativiteit komt binnen, ook bij andere jongeren"". vrtnws.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  41. ^ "Princess Amalia turns seven". DutchNews.nl. 7 December 2010. Archived from the original on 26 August 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  42. ^ "Bulletin of Acts and Decrees, 435". Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (in Dutch). 12 November 2020. Archived from the original on 9 September 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  43. ^ a b "Titels leden Koninklijke Familie". Het Koninklijk Huis (in Dutch). 14 January 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  44. ^ a b "Prinses van Oranje 18 jaar: Onderscheidingsvlag, Ridder Grootkruis en Huisorde". Het Koninklijk Huis (in Dutch). 7 December 2021. Archived from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  45. ^ a b c d "Wapens van leden van het Koninklijk Huis". Het Koninklijk Huis (in Dutch). Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  46. ^ "Besluit van 24 november 2021, houdende vaststelling van een onderscheidingsvlag voor Hare Koninklijke Hoogheid Prinses Catharina-Amalia en haar zusters". 10 May 2022.

External links edit

Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange
Born: 7 December 2003
Lines of succession
First
Succession to the Dutch throne
1st in line
Succeeded by
Dutch royalty
Preceded by Princess of Orange
2013–present
Incumbent