THE INTERVIEW

Friday, January 18th, 2002

Walking in the park of Palace Huis ten Bosch in The Hague Willem-Alexander Prince of Orange, his fiancée Máxima Zorreguieta and their interviewers Maartje van Weegen and Paul Witteman stopped near the pond where the prince asked his girlfriend to marry him. Willem-Alexander said it was a beautiful day and that he thought it was about time that Máxima learned how to skate. They started at about 14:00h on Friday 19th January 2001 and it went pretty well - thanks to the fact that Máxima knew how to rollerblade - but after 2 1/2 hours Máxima was getting cold and was looking forward to a cup of hot chocolate inside the palace. Willem-Alexander lured her to the side of the pond and had to 'klún' (walk on the land with skates on) to get the roses and champagne he had hidden there and then asked Máxima to marry him. He said he had practised endless, but of course it always goes different. He asked her in English, so he could be sure she would understand him, telling "This will be the one and only time in my life I ever ask this" and Máxima said yes immediately. She told she wanted to shout it actually.

The interview continued at Drakensteyn Castle in Lage Vuursche, where Willem-Alexander's parents had lived from 1966 to 1981.

Willem-Alexander and Máxima met at the Feria in Sevilla, Spain, in the Spring of 1999. They were invited by common friends. Because she had travelled already a lot for her work and to her family, Máxima at first decided not to go, but changed her mind only two days before. 16 people from almost as many countries came together for a long weekend (three days). The hosts had asked Máxima to take photos and the first thing Willem-Alexander saw when he came in was a huge camera lens by which he became quite irritating and ran away from it. Máxima, who had been told before a prince was coming, but never had seen a photo of him, didn't know it was him and found he was reacting kind of strange. But during the weekend the two started talking and talking and liked each other.

Three weeks later, after endless phonecalls of 3-4 hours a day, Willem-Alexander came to New York for a wedding and had a date with Máxima. She had actually forgotten how he looked like and was very nervous when he came. She was absolutely not disappointed in him. Before the Summer Willem-Alexander visited her in New York several times, but most of the time Máxima came to The Netherlands. They didn't go outside a lot to keep their relationship secret. The relationship became known through a photo that was made from the yacht of Prince Bernhard in Italy in the Summer. Willem-Alexander told that not that long afterwards he paid a working visit to Arnhem that had something to do with inland navigation. "I have never known before there was so much press interest for inland navigation", he joked during the interview.

Máxima had told her parents that she had a Dutch boyfriend whose name was Alexander. First she said to them he was a lawyer, then she told them he was a consultant. Finally she phoned them when Willem-Alexander was in New York and told them: "He is a Dutch Prince, not the youngest son, but the eldest son of Queen Beatrix". They thought she had become crazy. "Are you crazy! You have your own life, you are independent. That is nothing for you." Two weeks later they came to New York to see if everything was allright with her. They saw how happy their daughter was and concluded that Willem-Alexander was a good man for her. They accepted it, but of course they had thought of something else for their daughter. Willem-Alexander said he hadn't kept it secret for his mother very long. About three weeks after the first meeting in New York, he actually was supposed to accompany his mother to a conference, but found Máxima was his first priority. He had to explain why he was not coming with her and just said: "Her name is Máxima, she is Argentinian, lives in New York and trust me. Don't ask further." And she didn't. She trusted him. He didn't tell his father and brother Johan Friso immediately. Prince Constantijn knew as he had met Máxima that first weekend in New York as he was invited to the same wedding as Willem-Alexander.

Máxima says she knew where The Netherlands were situated and knew a bit about the country, but actually only had been on Amsterdam Airport on her way to another European country. The first time she really was in The Netherlands it was a beautiful day, and later only saw something of the country during the weekends she spent there. The first she noted were the beautiful houses, people on bicycles and the canals. She had only seen them on photos. She thought it looked pleasant and calm. She first met Willem-Alexander's family in Italy in the Summer of 1999. She was quite nervous, but it was very relaxed and quiet. Queen Beatrix carefully asked her something about her background, education, work and plans for the future. Prince Claus started talking with her in Spanish and wanted to know a bit more about Argentina, her own experiences, literature and art. Willem-Alexander met Máxima's family for the first time in Argentina. Only Máxima's parents knew at that time who he was and they told nobody so they could learn to know him the way he was. Not even her brothers, sisters and other family knew who he was. Willem-Alexander was a bit nervous, but Máxima said she knew everything would be allright.

After the proposal Máxima knew her life would change drastically, every time a bit more. "You can't say beforehand what will happen to you exactly, but I had some idea. How you go through it later on, is a totally other experience." One thing was sure: she loved him and he loved her. It had never come up for discussion that the Parliament wouldn't give permission for the wedding, although the press has speculated about it. A few days before the proposal Queen Beatrix and Prime Minister Wim Kok knew Willem-Alexander was going to ask Máxima to marry him. "You can never be sure, because you never know what the Parliament will decide. But it wouldn't have been sure with any woman." "Asking someone to marry you, you do unconditional".

Máxima said that she was aware of publicity always. Already in New York outside her house or work a camera could be nearby. "For all it was difficult to protect the people around me. Myself I had accepted the consequences of my relationship with Alexander." Once someone broke in at the house of a friend to steal photos of Máxima, and that was very difficult. You can't stop untrue stories in magazines, but "it is important to have a private life, as you need that". There are no big secrets, but "a private life is very necessary to carry out public duties as a couple". They try to hide their private life as good as possible.

Máxima said it is nice that so many people liked it to see them during the tour along the 12 Dutch provinces. It was for all The Netherlands makes acquaintance with Máxima. The visits to the provinces were very nice and the people did their utmost best to show the best of their provinces and they got information about many interesting things. The visits really lived in The Netherlands and the welcome was very warm. It would have been very bad if she wouldn't have been accepted. The visits were just the beginning. Máxima said that she will deepen herself in The Netherlands more after the wedding, as you can't learn to know a country within 16 days. In the future Máxima hopes to earn her popularity not by only smiling and waving, but because of involvement with the country and supporting Willem-Alexander. The warmth of people made the visits easier, although she couldn't sleep in the nights before the first visits. Presentation has a lot to do with upbringing Máxima said. Her parents always said: "You are who you are, be human, be nice. People deserve that."

Máxima comes from a very close family. They phone every day and support each other a lot. Máxima said that her younger brother Juan and younger sister Inès were actually her little children, as they were much younger than her, and it is difficult to accept that they have become adults by now.

Máxima said she didn't want to be a typical banker. She actually wanted to do something with art, like opening her own gallery. Many of her friends in New York, including her sister Dolores, are artists and she wanted to help them selling their art and for all support young artists.

Máxima said she likes to listen to music - from classical to rock. She likes the tango a lot, but only started to appreciate it when she lived in New York. She always found the tango a bit oldfashioned and sad. In New York she started listening to the tango, which made her feel at home, and learned how to dance the tango although she is not very good in it. Since the films of a dancing Máxima on a party in Argentina she has grown up and has become older, but she stays a Latino and keeps on dancing. Willem-Alexander said he likes to dance also. Máxima tries to learn him the tango, but said laughing: "The hips are a bit stiff, but he can do it." Willem-Alexander said he hopes Máxima stays herself: spontaneous, interesting. It will not always be difficult, but stay yourself.

As a child Máxima didn't notice a lot of the Videla regime she said, although their was of course lots of violence, everybody was nervous, they had security and had to take another street each day. But children think more about playing and friends. But her mother was ill a few times because of the tension. Her parents always told their children that everything was allright to protect them. In 1983 all stories came to the outside. She met people who knew people who had disappeared, but in the beginning actually didn't believe the stories. When the stories became official she found it "awful, incredible, how could it happen?" She went to her father with her questions and asked him what exactly had happened. He told her he didn't know what had been going on, and she still believes him. He didn't have a reason to lie to her. There was always place to discuss the subject in the family. Máxima always rejected the Videla regime, something her family and friends knew. Willem-Alexander admitted he hardly knew something about Argentina in the beginning of the 1980s, and only learned something about the country from Argentinian fellow-students at school in Wales, but not much. He also rejects the Videla regime and knows how Máxima thinks about it as they have discussed it and Máxima told a lot of facts to him. He also spoke with her father and asked him why he joined the Videla-government. Jorge Zorreguieta told Willem-Alexander he knew of three cases in which the people returned, but didn't know anything of people who didn't return. Máxima said about the inquiry by Professor Baud about the Videla-regime and Jorge Zorreguieta that was issued in March 2001, is Baud's opinion and that there are people who think different. She and Willem-Alexander believe her father didn't know anything. They respect her father's decision not to attend the wedding. Despite other reports they didn't have to convince him to take that decision and didn't go to Argentina for that. Máxima informed him about the feelings in The Netherlands. Her father has made his decision all by himself and they respect it. He decided that if his presence would cast a shadow over the happiness and future of his daughter, he wouldn't come. "He put the importance of his children in front. He is worried more about his children than about himself."

They want to have their wedding day the way they like it to be as much as possible. They did a lot to put their own things in it. "The Nieuwe Kerk is no tv-studio and our wedding not a reality-soap", Willem-Alexander said. "That the people want to enjoy a part of it is all right, but it is our wedding." Máxima added that it is a very intimate moment that will be watched by many people. She thinks she'll only see Alexander. Sometimes she just says to Willem-Alexander that they'd better run away and marry in Las Vegas. The official guestslist was completed in consultation with Queen Beatrix and Prime Minister Wim Kok. The private guestlist was completed by the couple itself with some consultation. There will be many family members and friends. The service in church will be a reformed (protestant) one led by the Rev. Carel ter Linden. Máxima wanted something from her background at the wedding. Father Rafael Brown, the Zorreguieta family's priest, will do a few things at the wedding that can be done by any layman like a prayer, so it is not a catholic element. Máxima called him a wonderful and very inspiring man. Máxima said she doesn't know yet if she will become a protestant or stays a roman catholic. It is not a decision you take from one day to another. The reformed service was possible because she got dispensation from the catholic church. But as Willem-Alexander added that by chosing for a reformed service, also the problems after the oecomenical service of Prince Maurits and Princess Marilène in 1998 played a role in taking the decision.

Willem-Alexander and Máxima said that in their long phonecalls in the beginning of their relationship they discovered they were brought up with the same norms and values and Christian feelings, despite the difference in religion. The upbringing was very identical. A wedding is never guaranteed for 100%, but you hope it will work out. By having had the same strict but justified upbringing they hope the chance to succeed is higher. They hope to become happy.

Máxima said she didn't know where their honeymoon goes to. Willem-Alexander said he doesn't think there are rules that he has to attend the Olympic Winter Games because he is a IOC-member. He thinks he has a good reason to cancel his stay in Salt Lake City. After the honeymoon Máxima doesn't know yet what she will do. She first wants to deepen her knowledge about The Netherlands, to get used to her new life, to search how she can become valuable for herself and the country. In the first place she wants to support Willem-Alexander. Sharing a life together is new. Willem-Alexander said that public life is full of nice challenges and restrictions. You choose for it. It is a challenge, Máxima said, to have a private life and bring up children as normal as possible. Willem-Alexander protected and helped her and set an example how to do it with future children.