Just call me Amalia, Princess Amalia

9 December 2003

AMSTERDAM — The future queen of the Netherlands was named Princess Catharina-Amalia Beatrix Carmen Victoria at a special registration ceremony in The Hague on Tuesday. The beaming father, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, said his daughter would be known simply as Amalia.

Flanked by Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and the deputy chairman of the Council of State, Tjeenk Willink, who acted as his witnesses, Prince Willem-Alexander ended two days of fevered media speculation about the name the baby would be given.

Since Monday afternoon, the media was reporting that the child would most likely be called Catharina-Amelia. Sources close to the royal family were said to have confirmed the name.

The first clue came when it was discovered the sites www.catharina-amalia.nl/ and www.prinsescatharina-amalia.nl/ have been registered since 7 December under the name of the Stichting Sigillis Regiis Praesidio, a foundation which was set up to protect the royal family from commercial exploitation.

She was born to Argentine-born Princess Maxima at 5.01pm on Sunday 7 December.

Invited guests and the media gathered in the ornate city hall in The Hague at 10am on Tuesday to witness the usually-mundane task of entering a newborn’s name into the population register.

The city’s mayor Wim Deetman was on hand to give a 10-minute speech, in which he wished the new parents well and noted that Amalia’s birth would ensure the continuity of the monarchy in the Netherlands.

Amalia is now second-in-line to the throne, after her father who will ascend the throne when his mother, Queen Beatrix, steps down or passes away.

The registration ceremony was televised live and broadcast on Dutch radio.

Despite the formality of the occasion, there were also lighter moments. Mayor Deetman said that the nation was dying for confirmation of the baby’s name and Prince Willem-Alexander smiled as he revealed the worst-kept secret in the Netherlands.

He also interjected a short time later to clarify that the princess will be known by her roepnaam, common usage name, Amalia.

The registrar also displayed a flare for humour when he dutifully inspected the prince’s ID, as required by law. And he also presented Willem-Alexander with a book describing a baby’s “main activities”, eating, sleeping and crying. He said that the Princess and his wife might have need for it in the nights to come.

Subject: Dutch news + royal baby