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18-04-2024
MADRID/ AMSTERDAM: The heir to the Dutch throne, Princess Amalia, lived in Spain for at least a year because of severe threats made against her, Dutch media report.
The crown princess studied in Madrid because of the security situation and enjoyed greater freedom of movement there, according to sources quoted by public broadcaster NOS.
When the threats emerged in autumn 2022, Princess Amalia moved home from her student accommodation in Amsterdam.
She has now resumed her studies there.
The media has approached the Dutch government’s information service, which handles the Royal Household’s communications, but it rarely comments on such issues.
However, sources have also confirmed details of the princess’s stay in Spain to Dutch press agency ANP.
There was considerable coverage in the Netherlands of the start of Princess Amalia’s studies in Amsterdam and how she was moving into a shared student house.
In October 2022 it emerged that kidnap threats from the Netherlands’ organized crime world had prompted authorities to step up security measures around both the princess and Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
Queen Maxima said at the time that her daughter, then 18, was unable to enjoy the life that fellow students were leading. “She hasn’t left the house. That means she doesn’t live in Amsterdam.”
In February 2023 Princess Amalia joined her parents on a state visit to the Caribbean where she said she missed “the normal life of a student”. She told reporters in the Dutch island of Sint Maarten that she had gone into her student years thinking she would be doing everything her contemporaries were doing: “Sadly the reality was different.”
However, she may have already moved to Madrid by this time as she was spotted there first with Queen Maxima and then with a group of friends.
The princess, who is now 20, speaks fluent Spanish as her mother grew up in Argentina.
Amsterdam newspaper Het Parool said she had been back in the Dutch capital as early as February where she is studying Politics, Psychology, Law and Economics.
The revelations of her stay in Spain come on the eve of a state visit to the Netherlands by Spanish King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia. Princess Amalia is due to make her first appearance in a domestic royal visit.
Earlier, the King and Queen of the Netherlands have revealed their 18-year-old daughter can no longer move around freely outside due to the possibility of an attack or kidnapping.
Princess Amalia has moved out of her student accommodation in Amsterdam and has returned home to The Hague.
Her parents gave details in an unusually emotional encounter with the press, during a state visit to Sweden.
Queen Maxima’s eyes glistened as she described the “difficult consequences”.
“There is no student life for her like others have,” she added.
Princess Amalia and the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte are understood to have appeared in organized crime communications, which indicated they may become a target.
Last month, official photographs were released showing a smiling Princess Amalia on the first day of term. (Int’l News Desk)
