King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands celebrated their 21st wedding anniversary this week while on their Caribbean tour.
The King and Queen, as well as the Princess of Orange, are on a ten-day tour of the Dutch Caribbean. The royal trio are currently in Curaçao and have been meeting with locals. However, Willem-Alexander took a moment to celebrate his anniversary on Thursday.
One of their stops was at the Pontjesbridge, a bridge covered in locks left by lovers. Willem-Alexander and Máxima left a red lock with their initials engraved on it after looking through all of the locks left so far. While tradition usually sees the couple throw the key into the river, The King decided to take a different route. Instead of tossing the key into the water, Willem-Alexander swallowed the key.
While the King was quite happy with himself, Máxima was both shocked and amused by the gesture, wordlessly laughing.
This is a significant tour for the Dutch Royal Family. This is Princess Amalia’s first official tour, another step as she starts to build her future as the next Queen of the Netherlands. The 19-year-old has begun attending events with her parents, including Prinsjesdag, where the monarch delivers the speech from the throne.
The family began their tour in Bonaire, where they spent two days, before heading to Aruba next. While in Aruba, the Dutch royals were met with protests from Indigenous groups demanding reparations from slavery during the Dutch colonial period.
Princess Amalia has been taking an active role in this tour, meeting with locals and officials with her parents. On Friday, The Princess of Orange helped released a rehabilitated sea turtle back into the water at Cas Aboa beach after the family learned about protected marine areas, as well as sea turtle conservation work taking place.
The family continue on their tour for the next week.
