Princess Catharina-Amalia: Experts discuss 16th birthday

We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info

Princess Amalia turns 18 on December 7 – the day afterwards she will be able to take her seat. The Dutch royal court has also announced that the princess will make her first public speech next month.

This – as one of her very first public engagements – marks a transitionary period for the princess, who has so far kept a low profile.

Writing on Facebook, Historian Trond Norén Isaksen said: “Unlike other heirs of her generation, the Princess of Orange has so far kept a very low profile and carried out no public engagements except accompanying her parents on the national day.

“This will inevitably begin to change when she reaches her majority on 7 December.”

While the Princess doesn’t currently have any social media accounts, the day before her eighteenth birthday, a documentary about the young royal is being broadcast in the Netherlands.

The programme, ‘Princess Amalia: Teenager on the way to the throne’, boasts “candid conversations” and “unique insight” into the future Queen’s life.

According to Mr Isaksenn, her first attendance at the Council of State will take place in the ballroom of Kneuterdijk Palace in the Hague.

As well as a speech from the Princess, there will also be speeches by her father, King Willem-Alexander, the President of the Council of State, and Tho de Graaf, the Vice President.

Mr Isaksen explained: “The Council of State is a body which advises the Dutch cabinet and parliament on legislation and governance and is also the country’s highest administrative court.

However, while the royal family may take part in discussions, they are not able to vote.

Mr Isaksen said: “The King’s role as president of the council is, however, purely symbolic, and it is the Vice President who leads its day-to-day work and presides over its regular meetings.”

This latest announcement comes after the princess earlier this year announced that she would forfeit her yearly income of £1.4million.

The heir to the Dutch throne announced her decision in a handwritten letter to The Netherland’s Prime Minister, Mark Rutte.

DON’T MISS: 
Soldiers sent to Polish border to stop ‘mass breach’ of migrants [REPORT]
Indian food could be 50% more expensive as spices surge in value [INSIGHT]
More countries will ‘disappear from Commonwealth’ after Queen gone [REVEAL]

In the letter published by Dutch public broadcaster NOS, she wrote: “On December 7, 2021, I will be 18 and, according to the law, receive an allowance.

“I find that uncomfortable as long as I do not do anything for it in return, and while other students have a much tougher time of it, particularly in this period of coronavirus.”

The Princess intends to take a gap year and then begin her undergraduate studies.

She also said she intends to repay the £213,000 a year income she is entitled to as long as she is still a student, and would not claim £1.12 million in expenses “until I incur high costs in my role as Princess of Orange”.

According to NOS, the Princess is the first member of her family to turn down their tax-free salary and expenses allowance.

The seventeen-year-old recently completed her secondary school exams at Christelijk Gymnasium Sorghvliet – an achievement she celebrated by flying her backpack from the Royal House’s palace’s flagpole next to the Dutch flag.

The Dutch royals shared the celebration to their official Instagram page, in which the Princess can be seen raising the backpack up the flagpole.

Source: Read Full Article