Queen Máxima mixed royal duties with motherhood during a university orientation reception in Delft earlier this week.
The Dutch queen was joined by the Minister of Education, Culture and Science for a session at Delft University of Technology to welcome new students and discuss ways that they can be involved on campus while also focusing on their mental health.
Queen Máxima attended the engagement in her role as honorary president of Mind US, a mental health organisation that aims to help young people with their mental health by providing support, resources, and promotion.
During their visit, Queen Máxima and Minister Dijkgraaf visited the activity market to talk with students about mental health practices and initiatives that have been set up to support them throughout their academic life. They were also joined by university staff—including a teacher, a student advisor, a student psychologist, and researchers—to discuss the role they play in promoting positive mental health in students.
Queen Máxima launched Mind US earlier this year and said at the time: “There are already many good initiatives to strengthen the mental resilience of young people. The purpose of MIND Us is not to reinvent the wheel. We want to discover what works, together with the young people themselves.”
Before departing, Queen Máxima was given a backpack filled with pamphlets and flyers on the importance of joining student societies as Princess Catharina-Amalia begins her own university studies next month.
Speaking to reporters after the queen’s visit, Rob Mudde, the Vice Rector at Delft University of Technology, said, “It is important that you do that as a student, become a member of an association. It is also a warning because social isolation is just around the corner. With anyone, so do it.”
The Royal House of the Netherlands announced earlier this year that Princess Amalia will study at the University of Amsterdam for an interdisciplinary degree in Politics, Psychology, Law and Economics. She will not, however, join the Amsterdam student society following the controversy surrounding sexist statements made by the society’s leadership.
