The Princess of Orange, News and Events Part 2 (Jan 2024 - present)

An Ard Ri said:

I'll take it all with a pinch of salt ,it was only a while back that Prince Christian was being linked with one of those Castro girls.

Click to expand...

In that case there was at least some reason for speculation as Chiara de Bourbon confirmed she and the prince had a friendship and the two were photographed socializing together. Is there evidence of a friendship or at least an acquaintanceship between the princess and Boris?

Tatiana Maria said:

In that case there was at least some reason for speculation as Chiara de Bourbon confirmed she and the prince had a friendship and the two were photographed socializing together. Is there evidence of a friendship or at least an acquaintanceship between the princess and Boris?

Click to expand...

They know each other and were photographed together at a wedding in Spain. King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima are friends of Princess Miriam.

I'm not sure I believe the rumors about Amalia and Boris. I saw an ig account (I don't remember which of the many that follow deposed royals) that quite recently posted a picture of Boris with a girl that was allegedly his girlfriend

Tatiana Maria said:

In that case there was at least some reason for speculation as Chiara de Bourbon confirmed she and the prince had a friendship and the two were photographed socializing together. Is there evidence of a friendship or at least an acquaintanceship between the princess and Boris?

Click to expand...

I don't believe that the two of them are dating, but they must know each other, as they were pictured together at the wedding of the Duchess of Medinaceli in October 2023 (the first rumours about a relationship started shortly after that):
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/04/09/79604683-12925531-image-a-1_1704362207434.jpg

The families know each other quite well. Pss Myriam supposedly was present at the Seville party where WA and Máxima met. After Prince Friso was in a coma the families became even closer. So Prince Boris would probably count as a 'family friend' though if it is anything more than that time will tell.

Is he the artist? From Amalia's self-descriptions that seems like something she would find appealing, too. Quite interesting to get this one confirmed or denied...

Watch me mix him up with his brother who does something else entirely.

An Ard Ri said:

I'll take it all with a pinch of salt ,it was only a while back that Prince Christian was being linked with one of those Castro girls.

Click to expand...

For a second, I thought it was Fidel Castro's granddaughters.

I think Chiara Bourbon-Two Sicilies, the younger of the Castro girls, would be a perfect match since they are already friends. And she is from an immensely rich family from her mother's side, her parents would probably give her a lifetime supply of brand-new tiaras before the wedding and a gown budget personal trust.

I'll put that wedding and Princess Amalia + Prince Boris in my 2025 Forum wish list for a double royale wedding in Northern Europe.

Prinsara said:

Is he the artist? From Amalia's self-descriptions that seems like something she would find appealing, too. Quite interesting to get this one confirmed or denied...

Watch me mix him up with his brother who does something else entirely.

Click to expand...

A Dutch blog about Amalia posted about him today. Apparently, he is finishing his Master in International Relations at the IE Business School, the same university where Amalia studied last year. They speculated if Amalia might attend his graduation if they are indeed together. He also has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fine Art Sculpture from the University of the Arts London and took courses in Marketing and International Relations at The London School of Economics and Political Science between his bachelor and master.

Grandma Beatrix would surely approve of this young man. Honestly, if they’re not dating, they should consider it because they seem like a great match. I don’t know them personally, but sometimes you just get a feeling that something might really work. That’s what I thought when I heard the rumor. Anyway, I wish them both the best!

There was a time when royals married fellow royals, and then another time when royals married commoners. Not only because of the era they lived in, but because of their close interactions. Back in the day, royals only met and hanged out with fellow royals. Then, because of the era and efforts to modernize the monarchy, royals began to hang out with common people. I believe the next generation of royals are starting to hang out with fellow royals. Times have changed again, and sometimes I feel that some of them only hangs out with the elite or fellow royals and alike. So there's a high possibility of a love match between them. It's not that unrealistic.

I noticed that the Dutch Royal House didn't post anything about Amalia's visit to the Olympics this week. Which is quite surprising because it was a successful visit and really good PR. Did they see it as a private visit, although Amalia talked with the media and many see it as her first solo event?

That is odd indeed. Maybe the webmaster is on vacation? It is August after all .

--
It seems Amalia was in good company at the Olympics at the horse jumping competition she was seen next to the Spanish Marta Ortega -heiress of Zara-Inditex founder Armancio Ortega, richest man of Spain.

Marengo said:

It seems Amalia was in good company at the Olympics at the horse jumping competition she was seen next to the Spanish Marta Ortega -heiress of Zara-Inditex founder Armancio Ortega, richest man of Spain.

Click to expand...

The Dutch rider won his medal on a horse owned by Marta Ortega. Since her divorce from a Spanish rider (who also competed in the Games) it is this Dutch rider and his father who ride and train her horses.

Bente Wepster (36) from Groningen has met Princess Amalia in Paris. According to RTV Noord, she has a connective tissue disorder which means she has to be in a wheelchair and is very sensitive for infections,. Last year she ended up on the ER several times. One thing that she misses is that it is difficult for her to plan fun outings. Stichting Ambulance Wens (Foundation Ambulance Wish) and two of their volunteers helped her with that.

Her wish was to go to the Olympics. She had been living in London in 2012 and found the atmosphere magical. She wanted to experience it once more. The charity surprised her and took her there. She was able to go to the TeamNL House, to a handball match, she went to the celebratory tribute of the golden medallists for baskerball and there was one final surpise: a meeting with the Princess of Orange.

Then Princess Amalia suddenly arrived', laughs Wepster. 'She was immediately crazy about my assistance dog Entli, who was lying on the stretcher with me. But it also resulted in a nice conversation, in which tears flowed. All the people around us were also in tears.'

Click to expand...

Amalia seems very good with people as well as animals. How lovely that she made time to meet this woman.

Amalia will become a member of the Amsterdam Student Corps (that had come under fire two years ago for among other things the way the men treated the women within the Corps as well as the abuse taking place during the introduction period). Two years ago she decided not to pursue this option because of it.

Over the last two years, the Corps has tried to change their culture and make improvements by creating a code of conduct, introducing confidential advisors and ensuring stricter supervision during the introduction period, so hopefully a true cultural change was indeed started. For now, it seems that these issues are no longer enough of a concern for Amalia to forgo membership completely. I assume this also means that the security situation has improved at least a bit as I cannot imagine her taking this step otherwise.

I suppose that was to be expected, the statement of 2 years ago clearly stated that 'for the time being' she would not join. Apparently will also take part in the 'ontgroening' -initiation rituals, in the past rather cruel and degrading and once in a while a student would die.

Let's hope that the code of conduct will have the desired effect. Though many codes of conduct for this and simular groups in other cities have been promissed and we still get these horror stories from time to time. As the members of these elite student -mostly spoiled rich kids- associations think they are above the law they only seem to enroll these codes with the greatest reluctance and only after threats of the university to withdraw funding.

Nontheless the ASC is very popular. They now even have a lottery system and have to refuse people. Apparently Amalia drew the short straw in such a lottery earlier on, but was able to join the getting-to-know period on a campside in Leusden this year, where the rules of the corps were explained.

According to 'Quote' the initiation period has mellowed somewhat due to the incidents and subsequent regulations. They now focus on 'playful jokes'. The magazine says that for Amalia it meant that she had to fly the Dutch flag each morning and sing the national anthem. Her security was present at the camp and they have also been spotted at the ASC club house in Amsterdam.


I doubt much can have changed in two years. Many of the same people will still be there and a culture can not be changed just like that. In 2021 the initiation period had to be abandoned due to 'abuse and humiliation'. And the 2022 scandal was about remarks by male members that were so violently sexist that I can not write them down here due to the rules of this forum. But if the princess wants to cohort with this bunch she is free to do so of course. This is her social circle after all and that of her family and it will provide some good networking opportunities with future decision makers of the country.

At least she isn't joining the one of Leiden, where esp. the law department has become a bulwark of the extreme right, unworthy successors of the great Prof. Clevinga and the many students of that university who joined the resistance in the war.

I don't understand why ANY young woman or man with a semblance of intelligence would want to join a Corps. I studied at the uni of Amsterdam, and not in a 1000 year would I have joined them.
The idea to voluntarily humiliate yourself in order "to belong" is incomprehensible to me. And that's not counting the obvious unhealthy atmosphere there.

Yours and mine are very middle class concerns SLV . I studied at the same university and for me it was the same: not in a thousand years would I have joined. To voluntarily humiliate yourself to some -IMO- sociopaths was not something I looked forward to either. If you want to join one of these student clubs there will be many alternatives available with less ghastly people.

To me it seemed that they wanted to break you down and build you up in their own image. I observed that some who joined completely changed within a couple of months, including a faux accent from ' 't Gooi.', different haircut and a new wardrobe of -in those days- Tommy Hilfiger. And little personality left apart from being generally obnoxious.

But I suppose the people who join will for the most part be familiar with this type of environment, from the (field) hockey clubs etc. And it is of course a great opportunity to build a network, which will last for life.

Anyway... the positive thing is that the situation is secure enough for the princess to finally have the normal student life which she was intended to have.

Question, are these Corps the equivalent of the USA male Fraternities and female Sororities?

IMO it is a bit of a missed opportunity: joining another student club (instead of the traditional choice) could have been a statement against bullying and misogynie.

Toledo said:

Question, are these Corps the equivalent of the USA male Fraternities and female Sororities?

Click to expand...

I assume there is some similarity between Greek Life and part of the student organisations in the Netherlands.

Each university city has only one Corps (the most elite of all student organisations) while there are many other student organisations of which some are very comparable to the Corps (especially the one that traditionally had a Roman-Catholic identity) and others that are very different in their approach. Moreover, they are not single-sex organisations. There are only a few student organisations in the Netherlands that still are; most are combined.

SLV said:

I don't understand why ANY young woman or man with a semblance of intelligence would want to join a Corps. I studied at the uni of Amsterdam, and not in a 1000 year would I have joined them.
The idea to voluntarily humiliate yourself in order "to belong" is incomprehensible to me. And that's not counting the obvious unhealthy atmosphere there.

Click to expand...

I doubt she’s truly interested in joining the student corps. It seems more like something her father and the Dutch circle around her encouraged. With her sisters possibly studying abroad, she might be the only link to the Dutch student corps, which could be another reason they pushed her to join. It’s probably just for a year, but I think Amalia should trust her intuition more often. It would probably serve her better in the long run than following the advice of her father and his circle.

In the book that was published in advance of her 18th birthday she described how she was looking forward to the full student experience. So, I don't think it is her family pushing her but Amalia truly wanting something of that experience she had been looking forward to for a long time (and I assume several of her friends/housemates have been members for 2 years by now). Given that she is already in her third year, it must be even weirder to be part of the initiation rites carried out by students that might be in their second year, so in terms of student life her junior but in membership her senior.

Edit: looked it up.

In Dutch:
En gaat ze haar studententijd dan, zoals de familietraditie betaamt, doorbrengen in Leiden? Lid worden van het corps, zich aansluiten bij Minerva?
Niet als gegeven, zegt Amalia stellig. Áls ze naar Leiden gaat, en áls ze bij Minerva gaat, dan is het 'omdat ik dat echt zelf wil en niet om de traditie'.
(...)
Ze will sowieso in Nederland haar bachelor doen, en wil dan ook bij eht corps, met een jaarclub, alles erop en eraan. (p. 80)

Translated to English:
And will she spend her student days in Leiden, as befits family tradition? Become a member of the corps, join Minerva?
Not a given, says Amalia firmly. If she goes to Leiden, and if she joins Minerva, it will be 'because I really want to and not because of tradition'.
(...)
She definitely wants to do her bachelor's degree in the Netherlands, and she also wants to join the corps, with a year club, everything that entails.

At that point her intention was to do her Master's abroad - but now she had to do part of her Bachelor abroad due to unforeseen circumstances, so it will be interesting to see what path she chooses after her Bachelor.

Earlier this month a group of 4 friends was stopped by Belgian police (and questioned for about an hour) as they took exactly the same route from Amsterdan to Antwerp as the princess (so clearly they were suspected of following her, so they must have been close to her (car)) and were tipped off by a Dutch agency. The friends claim not to have known that Amalia was taking the same route nor to have seen her and want apologies by the royal house. The RVD indicated that they understand their frustration and apologized for the inconvenience.

Arrestatieteam België rijdt dj klem om vermeende achtervolging prinses Amalia - Arrestatieteam België rijdt dj klem om vermeende achtervolging prinses Amalia