Hello! Magazine UK – 12 August 2019

ascensiontothethrone,his

motherPrincessBeatrix,the

formerQueen,movedoutof

thepalacetoDrakensteyn

Castle,at whichpointextensive

renovations at the palace

began,costinganestimated

€63m(£56m).

ROYALSUBJECTS

Willemand Máximahave

madesuretoaddtheirown

personaltouches.

TheBlueRoomisoneof

themost lavish,filledwith

turquoiseandnavyfurnishings.

Thewallsarecoveredwith

an original artwork

by renownedDutchartist

duoMauriceScheltensand

LiesbethAbbenesdepicting

elementsinthefamily’slife,

includingthecapewornbythe

Kingat hiscoronation,a baby’s

cottorepresentthebirthsof

thecouple’sdaughters,andthe

chairsthatthePrincessesused

whentheywerelittle.

Themostintriguingspace

is theDNARoom,whichpays

homagetoQueenMáxima’s

interestingeneticresearch.

To decorate the walls,

British-Dutch artist Jacob

van derBeugelused60,000

tiles to create a work of

art representing Willem,

Máxima and Catharina-

Amalia’sDNAsequence.

Aswellasshowcasingher

beautifulhome,thesepictures

alsorevealArgentina-born

Máxima’scommitmenttoher

adoptedcountry:sheis wearing

a customised ring in the

coloursandpatternofthe

Dutchflag.

In 2017 KingWillemopened

upabouthisbelovedwife,

whomhemarriedin2002,ina

heartfeltinterview,saying:“We

arejustgettingstarted;we’ve

onlybeentogether 18 years.

Wecanbehappytogetherfora

longtime.

“Sheis a veryspecialwoman,

andI amveryfortunateto

havemether.”

REPORT:EMILYHORAN

H

The walls in the Blue Room are covered

with an original artwork depicting

elements in the family’s life

Withitspersonalisedwall

covering,theBlueRoomis

verymuchaboutthe

currentroyalfamilyrather

thanpastoccupants

QueenMáximais

seenwearinga

ringin thecolours

oftheDutchflag

PHOTOS: AVALON. BACKGRID. CORDON PRESS. CORNE BASTIAANSEN. ERWIN OLAF. WIREIMAGE

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