Queen Maxima expressed her regret at not being able to attend the funeral of Pope Francis as she joined her royal family instead for a national celebration.
The Queen of the Netherlands, who is from Argentina like Pope Francis, was taking part in events for King’s Day when she spoke of her sadness.
As she joined her husband, King Willem-Alexander, at the parties for his birthday, she spoke about why one from the Dutch royal family was attending the funeral in Rome. Queen Maxima was asked about whether she would like to be there and replied ”of course”.
However, she recalled conversations she had had with Pope Francis and said ‘‘community was so important to him so I think it is good to be here today, to celebrate important moments together, and to be together….in moments of sorrow.”
It echoed the words of her husband, King Willem-Alexander, who began the King’s Day celebrations by noting that ”community was so important to Pope Francis”.
He added ”for many Catholics and non-Catholics, he was a source of inspiration who knew….what life is all about…love, humanity..”
The Dutch Royal Family sent no representative to the funeral in Rome which was attended by world leaders. Instead. they spent the day in Doetinchem meeting locals, community groups, and business owners for a fun filled day in the sun.
King’s Day is a national holiday in the Netherlands and marks the birthday of the monarch. As Willem-Alexander was turning 58 on April 27, a Sunday, it had already been decided to hold the festivities on April 26 instead. When that clashed with the funeral of the Pope, the Dutch royals decided to postpone their celebrations by an hour so that they wouldn’t start while the funeral was still on.
However, the King of the Netherlands did attend a church service for King Francis held in Amsterdam several days before the funeral.
