Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands celebrate 22nd wedding anniversary
Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander married in 2002
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Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands are celebrating their 22nd wedding anniversary today.
The royal couple married on this date in 2002 at a church in Amsterdam where Maxima wore a wedding dress designed by Valentino.
The King of The Netherlands is expected to celebrate the occasion with a grand gesture as he has done in past years.
Last year, the King fixed a red lock engraved with the couple’s initials to a bridge in the Caribbean island of Curacao and swallowed the key.
The King and Queen of The Netherlands with their three daughters, Amalia, Ariane and Alexia and their pet poodle
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In 2021, Willem-Alexander marked their 19th anniversary by recreating his proposal to his wife by getting down on one knee in front of a frozen pond at one of their palaces.
The Netherland royals have three daughters, Amalia, 20, Alexia, 18, and Ariane, 16.
They are also animal lovers; they have three black Labradors called Luna, Skipper and Nala and a miniature white poodle named Mambo.
The royal couple met in 1999 when Maxima, who was working in finance in New York, holidayed in Seville.
The Dutch couple met at a party during the Seville Spring Fair
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While she was there, she met Willem-Alexander at a party during the Seville Spring Fair, however, he did not tell her his real identity.
According to the Daily Mail, the King said about his bride-to-be: “I fell in love with this Maxima: spontaneous, interesting, nice.
“I hope she stays the same person as she is now.”
By 2000, Maxima had moved to Brussels and in 2001, Prince Willem-Alexander proposed as they ice-skated near the royal Huis ten Bosch Palace.
In 2001, Prince Willem-Alexander proposed as they ice-skated near the royal Huis ten Bosch Palace
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Latest Royal News:
Willem-Alexander and Maxima celebrated their 21st wedding anniversary by hanging a lock at the heart of love
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Other royals from across Europe were invited to the wedding including Prince Charles, Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria and Norway’s Prince Haakon.
For their honeymoon, the Dutch royals travelled to St Moritz and then spent time with Maxima’s family in Argentina before travelling to New Zealand.
Dutch historian, Han van Bree, commented on the popularity of the Dutch Queen stating: “She is exotic, she has passion and sparkle and flamboyance and she doesn’t try to be distant.
“We love her for that, people can feel the authenticity.”