When her mouth cap goes off, something of tension can be seen. Armed with her father, Crown Princess Amalia has just been ‘inducted’, as the official name is, into the Council of State. With small nods she greeted the members in the ballroom of Kneuterdijk Palace in The Hague.
It is her first official appearance as someone who, she hopes, will be queen “in the distant future”: “Always realizing that it could also be tomorrow.” Now that she has reached the age of majority since Tuesday, she will be able to exercise royal authority if her father dies or resigns.
According to Article 74 of the Constitution, this age of majority also means that she has a seat ‘by operation of law’ in the Council of State, the highest advisory body of the government. As all her predecessors had. She can participate in the meetings of the advisory department, where all legislative proposals and treaties are discussed and advice is provided to the government and parliament. In this way she can gain knowledge about constitutional law and legislation, which can be useful to her later when she is head of state. She just doesn’t have the right to vote.
King Willem-Alexander refers at the time he sat at the meetings as heir apparent. He calls it “a fascinating and multicolored school of learning.” Those Wednesday afternoons deepened his knowledge and broadened horizons. And the Council has “put him in touch with many wise and inspiring people. I still reap the benefits to this day.”
a good student
Amalia refers, in her very first official speech, to another pastor – her grandmother Beatrix. She quotes her 1956 speech: “For a very long time, members of the Council of State, I shall regard myself as your student. I will try – conscious of my responsibility – to be a good student.” Despite the tenseness, the words flow smoothly and convincingly from her mouth.
Also read:Discuss the future of the monarchy
Willem-Alexander, as King, is the chairman of the Council of State, a mainly ceremonial position. This afternoon he is also a clearly proud father – who, unlike his mother in 1985, at his first meeting, doesn’t suddenly call his child “you.” It does happen the other way around, although Amalia says with a smile that it is for once.
When she gives her speech, the king nods every now and then. Sometimes approving, sometimes encouraging. Just like Herman Tjeenk Willink, former Vice-President of the Council and also godfather of Amalia, who sits directly opposite the Crown Princess, on the other side of the enormous ballroom. Due to the corona measures, the hall is not filled with all seventy state councilors. Members of the advisory department, whose meetings Amalia will attend, and members of the Council of State and the Council of State for the Kingdom sit at the table and between each pillar. The other former vice-chairman, Piet Hein Donner, is also present.
counterbalance
The current Vice-President, Thom de Graaf, refers to yet another ancestor, William of Orange. Who in 1555 became a member of the then newly established advisory council. That is not the only role, says De Graaf. The Council of State is “also a board of counterbalance and contradiction, although we know that things can and must always be better.” It is the only subtle reference to the criticism of the Council of State’s role in the Allowance scandal, in which the Council’s administrative judges say they have been “too long, too strict”, with “monstrous consequences” for parents.
Also read:This profile about Amalia
Afterwards, Amalia will also hold a first press interview. She talks about “an extremely exciting day”, and the “new phase” that is now dawning and “looks slightly different from her peers”. And with self-mockery: “Of course we knew that for 18 years that that would be the case.” She is determined about what she does and does not want to say. What she is doing now during her gap year “I consider private, because it is about personal growth”.
Her dreams are “mainly studying, making many friends and then eventually participating in the meetings of the Council of State”. She hopes to become a good queen, refers to the servitude and devotion of both her father and grandmother. “That is also something I want to take with me in the future.” When the press interview comes to an end, and Amalia turns around, Queen Máxima says to her: “Very good.”
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