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The eldest daughter of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands made headlines recently when she waived her right to her hefty $2 million (R30 million) allowance, saying she felt uncomfortable about taking the cash when she didn't do anything to earn it
Now heir apparent Princess Catharina-Amalia has revealed that, should her 54-year-old father die or step down unexpectedly from the throne, she’d like her mother, Queen Maxima (50), to assume the throne temporarily.
She is still committed to a life of service, though. "If I can prevent a bad situation through diplomacy, if I can make the world a little bit better, then I am happy. I am in the service of my country. I give my life to the Netherlands.”
“But I said to my father: you just keep on eating healthy and exercising a lot!”
So, what’s it like being a real-life princess?
Well, a new book, Amalia, has been published and gives readers insight into the teenager’s life, schooling, her occasional work at a beach café and her love for tiaras and never-before-seen photographs of her family.
Claudia de Breij, a popular Dutch author and singer, was commissioned by the royal family and Holland's government information service to give readers a deeper look at the life of the princess.
“In recent months I have been working, in the utmost secrecy and with great pleasure, on a book about HRH Princess Amalia,” the author shared on Instagram. “The princess has taken me to places that are important to her and we have had many conversations together - about everything that matters.”
The biography is being released to mark the Dutch royal’s 18th birthday – which was similarly done for the 18th birthday of her grandmother Princess Beatrix, in 1956 and her father in 1985.
“I love tiaras,” Princess Amalia says in the book. “Show me a tiara and I'll know where it came from. I can recognise all the tiaras of Europe. I used to put them on from my mother. Then there would be one on her make-up table and I would have it directly on my head.”
Amalia, who has younger sisters Princesses Ariane (14) and Alexia (16), turns 18 on 7 December.
“I was never the rebel, never made problems to make problems. I find arguing very annoying anyway. And in terms of my parents' upbringing, I just feel that they give me a purpose, to improve myself, and try to be a good person,” she shares in the book.
The Princess of Orange, who says she enjoys history, economics and law, is currently enjoying a gap year before she starts her undergrad degree at university. She wrapped up her schooling career in June this year, making her family proud by graduating cum laude from Christelijk Gymnasium Sorghvliet in The Hague.
Her upcoming birthday is a big one for the princess who will become a legal adult in her home country.
For the first time she will attend the extraordinary meeting of the Council of State, one of the independent legislative bodies of the Netherlands. This is done to make Amalia, the heir to the throne, comfortable with the country’s legislative system.
SOURCES: PEOPLE.COM; REUTERS.COM; NLTIMES.NL; DAILYMAIL.CO.UK; ROYALCENTRAL.CO.UK
