Dutch royals pose for traditional summer portrait

All parents of teenagers know that youngsers with busy social lives are hard to pin down, and it seems it’s no different for royalty. 

The King and Queen of the Netherlands today released their annual summer portraits a month earlier than usual, posing with their three daughters Catharina-Amalia, 18, Alexia, 16, and Ariane, 15.

Their photoshoot usually takes place in July befor the family departs for their summer holiday, but the palace said today that there’s been a change of plan. 

From now on, the photo sessions no longer exclusively take place just before the royal family goes on holiday, but at times when the whole family can be present. 

Queen Maxima looked typically vibrant fo the occasion in a leaf-patterned dres, with her middle daughter Alexia matching her mother in a floral green two piece. 

Future Queen Amalia, 18, opted for a black midi dress with a floral pattern, while her sister Ariane kept it simple in a white long-sleeved mini dress. 

Big changes are afoot in the family this coming Autumn with Princess Amalia set to go to unviersity.  

Earlier this month the Dutch heiress-to-the-throne announced she has enrolled for a degree at Amsterdam university – and will live with normal students in a houseshare. 

She will be studying for a £3,750 degree in Politics, Psychology, Law and Economics at University of Amsterdam from September. 

During her studies, the Princess will be living in a rented houseshare with her fellow students. 

A post on the royal court’s Instagram account stated that her time at university is considered ‘private.’ 

The statement from the court read: ‘The Princess of Orange will start in September with the bachelor’s degree in Politics, Psychology, Law and Economics (PPLE) at the University of Amsterdam.’

The announcement went on to reveal the Princess applied for the degree and went through the same testing and application process as any other student.  

It also revealed further details about the Princess’s living arrangements. 

‘She will live in Amsterdam in September. The Princess’s study time is considered private.’

The course Amalia enrolled for costs £3,762.73 per year for Dutch students and students from the European Union and of the European Economic Area. 

However, for students from outside these trade zones, the course could cost £11,325.85 per year. 

Amsterdam University is considered to be the 65th best in the world, according to Times Higher Education, and it has welcomed a host of illustrious alumni, including Amalia’s aunt, Princess Mabel of Orange-Nassau, 53. 

Amalia, who turned 18 in December, has been taking on more of a public profile in recent months following her coming of age.

In an interview she gave to mark her 18th birthday, the royal had already revealed she planned on joining university clubs and live in university accommodation with her fellow students rather than more princely dwellings. 

In an authorised biography released in November last year, the royal admitted she does not feel ready to be Queen yet. 

She said she would ask her Argentine-born mother, Queen Maxima, 50, to step in temporarily if her father, King Willem-Alexander, 54, were to die suddenly.

‘But I said to my father: you just keep on eating healthy and exercising a lot,’ the teenage princess added. 

The biography, simply titled ‘Amalia’, was written with the approval of the Royal Family to mark Amalia’s 18th birthday.

It offered a rare glimpse into the princess’s private life, which has been closely guarded by her parents since Willem-Alexander ascended the throne in 2013. 

For the past year, Amalia enjoyed a gap year after graduating from high school with merit in Spring 2021.

Very little detail was released about the Princess’s whereabouts, apart from the Palace explaining she was undertaking charity work and internships.

Biographer Claudia de Breij revealed Amalia had a part-time job at a beachside cafe, feels self-conscious when she is recognised by members of the public and would pursue a career as a singer or equestrian if she was not destined to be queen. 

Along with her sisters Princess Alexia, 16, and Princess Ariane, 14, Catharina-Amalia spent the early years of her life at Eikenhorst Villa in Wassenaar, an affluent suburb of The Hague. 

‘We do our best to be really with them – on holidays or weekends or even at breakfast in the mornings,’ Willem-Alexander once said in an interview.

The family enjoyed days out cycling and to the beach, and holidays to Maxima’s home country of Argentina.

However life changed in 2013 when Amalia’s grandmother Queen Beatrix abdicated and Willem-Alexander ascended the throne. The new king and queen moved their daughters into Huis ten Bosch, the royal palace in The Hague.

Nine-year-old Amalia became The Princess of Orange, the title given to the heir to the throne. 

Speaking ahead of his investiture, Willem-Alexander said: ‘Amalia’s title will be made formal when she’s 18 and she enters the State Council. Until then, we will protect her as much as possible.