“She’s not going there to celebrate summer carnival,” says Marcella, just before the start of this baptism of fire for Amalia. “She will really immerse herself in the culture of the islands there.”
Important, because they are part of the kingdom over which she will rule in the future, when she ascends the throne. “The islands are a place where the Oranges are really loved. Princess Beatrix, for example, is still called queen there.”
Slave huts
The Government Information Service writes about the trip, which lasts until February 9: “The islands have put together a program in which culture, nature, colonial past, defense efforts, sports and meetings with residents are central.”
Already tomorrow, Amalia visits a group of ‘slave huts’. These are tiny houses from the nineteenth century, about five feet high and without windows. Enslaved people who worked in salt production on Bonaire slept there. The houses symbolize the slavery past of the island.
Royal family expert Marcella says: “Earlier, during royal visits, attention has certainly also been paid to the slavery past. But now it has a different meaning.”
Good to have Amalia with us
This is because of the apologies for the slavery past that Rutte made on behalf of the government in December, the words that the king spoke about this in his Christmas speech and the research that the head of state is having carried out into the role of the House of Orange-Nassau in colonial history.
Marcella: “It is very good that attention is also paid to the slavery past during this trip. And it is even better that with Amalia the new generation is involved. It is a topic of today, but also of tomorrow.”
Last June, Amalia already went to Norway with her parents for the eighteenth birthday of the Norwegian princess Ingrid Alexandra. But a long, official trip with a jam-packed agenda full of work visits had never been done before. So until today.
“We are used to those full programs from her parents during such trips,” says Marcella. “But Amalia will come back tired. It’s all new to her. Gaining so many impressions and in the meantime also being in the spotlight for two weeks, that’s tough. There is always awareness: everything I do is recorded. King’s Day lasts two hours, this trip takes two weeks.”
perfectionist
And the images of that first official trip will in turn travel the world. “In addition to an introduction between Amalia and the islands, she will also present herself extensively as the Dutch heir to the throne through all images in the coming weeks.”
Marcella suspects that Amalia has therefore prepared more than thoroughly for the trip and for all agenda items. “She is a perfectionist. She doesn’t go there like a blank sheet. She already showed that during King’s Day in 2019 in Amersfoort. There was a knowledge quiz about the region and Amalia knew all the facts.”
There is a thick file for a royal trip like this, says the expert. It states exactly who the group will meet – including photos of those people – and what story will be told. “Before the Christmas holidays, Amalia had a test week. So I think she took that thick book with her to Argentina during the holidays, to study it in detail there.”
No wallflower
Laughing, Marcella adds: “Earlier this week, Amalia went shopping in Madrid with her mother. I think Máxima said: now it’s done with that file. It’s on sale, we’re going to Spain.”
Amalia – even though it is a completely new experience for her – will not just quietly watch and learn, Marcella expects: “On King’s Day you can already see that she is not a wallflower. She follows her own course, not only watches what mom and dad but will certainly ask questions myself.”
Loaded visit
“This visit seems very exciting for Amalia,” says reporter Royal House of RTL News Sander Paulus. “The Oranges find this part of the kingdom very important, they feel comfortable there. When Beatrix and Willem-Alexander visited the islands at a young age, there was always an enthusiastic crowd. They are loved there. Amalia will experience that.”
But current events also make the visit exciting in another way. “That’s in the parts of the program that deal with the colonial past,” explains Paulus. “The people on the islands still expect something from the king. That is different from a normal working visit, it is a bit more emotionally charged.”
In addition, Amalia is still under threat. There are no official announcements about this, but it is likely that the crown princess will be under heavy security during her visit. “That’s why it’s nice that it concerns Dutch territory,” says Paulus. “Because there are Dutch units, agreements can easily be made about its security.”
And especially during the program parts in which she already feels most at home. “She attends a football training with her father. She has been taken to sports competitions from an early age, even to the Olympic Games. That sports heart is certainly there. During such a sporty agenda item, she will probably take the lead a bit more. .”
Yelling and protests
Last September there was also a big scoop for Amalia; she was there for the first time on Prinsjesdag. Then there was a lot of cheering during the balcony scene and as the carriage went by. Demonstrators against government policy made themselves heard in several places that day.
In that respect, this trip will feel more like a warm bath for the crown princess, Marcella suspects. “I have been to the islands on previous visits by the royal family. You notice that the population feels somewhat abandoned by The Hague. There are also protests. But the people there are very fond of the Oranjes and vice versa . There is a lot of mutual respect and appreciation. I think it will be love at first sight between Amalia and the people there.”
Finally, Amalia doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel completely. Her father – when he was the same age as his daughter now – also went to the Caribbean islands with his parents. At the time, he called the introduction to the islands a ‘small part of a very long preparation’. “He liked that. And now he takes his daughter with him in the same way.”
On the dance floor?
A very young Willem-Alexander danced exuberantly on a festive occasion during that trip in 1987 – as can be seen in the RTL Boulevard item below this text. Will we also see Amalia on the dance floor with the people of Bonaire, Aruba or Curaçao? “We have seen her parents swinging there more often. If dad starts moving his hips, I don’t think she will stay behind.”
