Máxima, our Argentinian fairy-tale Princess!

In a few days, my country will have a King instead of a Queen. For 33 years we've had a Queen at the head of our nation. Her son will now take over and become the King.

Our Crown Prince Willem Alexander is a smart, charming and intelligent man who in my opinion will make a very good future king. He has had the time to become his own person, form his own opinions and really understand his future role. A husband and father, advocate for sports and the environment and a well-spoken and funny man; I believe Willem Alexander is a King of the current age and one who will put his own stamp on our country and on his new office. 

While I am certain that Willem Alexander will be an amazing new head of our country, there is the little girl in me that is much more impressed by our new Queen to be. It is Willem Alexander's wife Princess Máxima who has left no-one in doubt that she will be an amazing future Queen. She is intelligent and charming and has the makings, bearing and of course the smile of a real queen.  

Source: De Telegraaf

Like many Dutch people,  I quite like Máxima. She is Argentinian, has a real head for business and managed to capture the hearts of most of The Netherlands years ago. She is a confident and self-assured woman who fights for the rights of women, of immigrants to The Netherlands and has shown that, with effort and dedication, becoming truly integrated into Dutch society while remaining an individual is not hard at all.

The reason I like our future Queen's Argentinian roots especially is that her roots, added to the already mixed Dutch - German heritage of the royal family, give our royal family and our country an even more multicultural and international flavour than they've had up to now. Máxima's Argentinian roots also ensure that we will now have a Protestant King and a Catholic Queen, both of whom seem very proud of and happy with their respective religions. Both are Christians and were raised with the same norms and values. I think it is important that we value and praise those norms and values instead of focusing on small Christian-internal differences such as the differences between Catholicism and Protestantism.

The Netherlands is a country made up of locals and immigrants, old and new; those who can trace their family trees back hundreds of years, those who have only moved here recently and everyone in between. We are a country with old roots incorporating a lot of new blood into our ranks and I love how our royal family reflects society in that way. These days, being Dutch thankfully means more than being Caucasian, cheese-eating, Protestant-leaning, seafaring conquerors. I like that!

Unlike the politicians who change every few years, who argue and quibble amongst themselves - our royal family remains. They are a constant source of strength for our nation and an example that no matter how diverse our roots are or how many hardships we face - we will evolve, we will remain and we will always rise again stronger than we were before.