A birthday with a very institutional look and a State view. Princess Catalina Amalia de Orange turns 18 this Tuesday and with the majority of age she opens in her constitutional functions. As of Wednesday, the heir to the Dutch crown will occupy a non-voting seat on the Council of State. This is an independent advisory body to the Government and the highest administrative authority in the Netherlands to resolve disputes between citizens and the Administration. Her father, King William, who is the President of the Council —without decision-making power— will accompany her along with his wife, Queen Máxima, the young woman’s mother. The solemn day will serve for your daughter to pronounce her first official words in the new stage she faces. Although the princess has taken a sabbatical after high school, college awaits her, and she is not expected to carry out intense public work yet, but here the new route to the throne opens. In due course, she will be one of the five new European sovereigns, and those of her generation have also begun to make themselves known. They are Isabel from Belgium (20 years old), Ingrid Alexandra from Norway (17) and Leonor from Spain (16). The eldest of them all, Victoria from Sweden, is 44 years old and has been carrying out institutional work for a long time.

Queen Máxima also has a non-voting seat on the Council of State. The presence of the Crown in it does not imply that they can influence their decisions, but “attending the meetings allows them to know the operation of the state order.” “The issues addressed are a reflection of social processes and contribute to a greater understanding of them,” according to spokespersons for the agency. In a telephone conversation, Remco Meijer, specialist in the Royal House of the newspaper De Volkskrant, explains that “Amalia can learn a lot in these sessions.” “Since he wants to finish his studies, it will most likely take four or five years to attend regularly. But with the ceremony of this Wednesday, marked by the Constitution, it is established that there is an adult heir to the throne ”, he asserts.

The full name of the heir to the throne of the Netherlands is Catalina-Amalia Beatriz Carmen Victoria. He will reign with the name of Amalia. Those of her two grandmothers and that of the Swedish princess complete those chosen by her parents. He has an aptitude for singing and likes to ride horses. She plays hockey, a very popular sport in the Netherlands, whose women’s team has been eight times world champion and holds four Olympic gold medals. She is fluent in Dutch, Spanish and English, and when she was little, her parents used French with each other when they didn’t want her to know anything. “Not now, of course. All in Dutch, and very clear ”, he said. The family is fond of games and takes them seriously. “We are not competitive, we do not like to lose,” he acknowledged, in the few informal interviews that have been done on the occasion of King’s Day. It is April 27, his father’s birthday, and it is celebrated with parties and contests in the street.

Amalia de Orange is a good student, as are her sisters, the princesses Alexia and Ariane, and she has indicated that she would like to study “something economical”, to understand how money works. He is also interested in law and history, and would pursue a degree in his country and a master’s degree abroad. Although he claims to have “accepted” his fate, he is in no rush to reach the throne. In the official winter and summer posadas with his family he sometimes dons his mother’s clothes. She has recognized that she buys blouses or dresses thinking of her daughter, in case she wants to wear them later, something that usually happens. Amalia has good friends from high school and at parties she serves drinks and mixes without protocol. They are your private moments, out of the eye of the photographers.

Dutch television is dedicating two documentaries to him this week, featuring everything from psychologists to fashion designers. However, to get close to her compatriots in person, Amalia has followed a tradition inaugurated by her grandmother, the former Queen Beatrix: she has lent herself to a long conversation with a well-known writer. The young woman called the author and comedian Claudia de Breij to write her profile, which is titled Amalia. Published on November 16, more than 100,000 copies of a 112-page work have already been sold and now in its fourth edition. De Breij has made jokes about the royal family in his performances, and in 2018 he sang a rap and hip-hop version of the national anthem. It was his response to the request of the then leader of the Christian Democratic party that the schoolchildren sing it again in class.

His account of the meeting breaks some taboos thanks to the sincerity of the young woman, who revealed her visits to the psychologist when she needs it. Thus he gave equal importance to physical and mental health. Or that she has built an emotional wall so that the comments, often hurtful, made about her on social networks do not affect her. He also explained that he has waived the allowance of 300,000 euros per year that correspond to him from now on and until he finishes his education. The kings were considering that possibility and she made the decision to write a letter to the acting prime minister, the right-wing liberal, Mark Rutte. Amalia will use the remaining 1.3 million that correspond to her under the law only if she incurs great expenses in her preparation for the throne. It seemed to him that it was better that way “as long as I have little to offer in return,” he says. Remco Meijer attributes the good reception of the book to the curiosity aroused by Amalia, “recognizable since she was born, but in a way also a stranger, and who speaks here with her own voice”.

The royal houses of Belgium, Norway and Spain have designed their own path for their heiresses. The Belgian Isabel has already gone through a course in the Army and is now studying at the British University of Oxford. Ingrid of Norway will be the second sovereign of her country since the 15th century, when Queen Margaret reigned over Norway, Denmark and Sweden. Like Amalia, she is the goddaughter of Victoria of Sweden, and is finishing high school. The Princess of Asturias, Leonor de Borbón, is studying an international baccalaureate at the United World College of the Atlantic, in Wales. It premiered in an act at the Instituto Cervantes and later at the awards that bear his name, as well as the Princess of Girona awards.

Victoria of Sweden, married with two children, has been serving as heir for more years. Both she and Ingrid of Norway will access the throne after their countries sanctioned the birthright without distinction of sex. Amalia de Orange, on the other hand, will follow in the footsteps of a long line of Dutch queens: her grandmother Beatriz, the great-grandmother Juliana, and Guillermina, the great-great-grandmother. Emma, ​​Guillermina’s mother, was regent on the death of her husband.