{"id":2302953,"date":"2026-02-27T11:57:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T11:57:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2302953"},"modified":"2026-02-27T11:57:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T11:57:23","slug":"queen-maxima-opens-up-about-language-struggles-after-joining-royal-family-it-wasnt-easy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/queen-maxima-opens-up-about-language-struggles-after-joining-royal-family-it-wasnt-easy\/","title":{"rendered":"Queen M\u00e1xima opens up about language struggles after joining royal family: \u2018It wasn\u2019t easy\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Seville\u2019s famed Feria de Abril forever changed the destiny of the Dutch royal couple. In 1999, both attended the Spanish city\u2019s legendary festival, crossing paths in the private tent of the Real Club de Andaluc\u00eda, better known as AERO. There was no love at first sight, at least not for her, but a friendship slowly blossomed into romance.<\/p>\n

After early dates in New York, the couple became engaged on February 19, 2001, a day that forever changed the life of M\u00e1xima Zorreguieta, who transitioned from a successful finance executive to the official partner of a European crown prince.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 MARCEL ANTONISSE<\/span><\/div>
The royal couple became engaged on February 19, 2001, a day that forever changed the life of M\u00e1xima Zorreguieta, who transitioned from a successful finance executive to the official partner of a European crown prince. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

She left her career behind, moved to The Hague, and quickly became a highly visible member of the royal institution, winning public affection. But her beginnings were not easy, and she has now revealed the biggest obstacle she faced.<\/p>\n

Lieke Gaarlandt became one of the most important figures in M\u00e1xima\u2019s early days at court. As a woman with no royal blood marrying an heir to the throne, something unprecedented at the time, Gaarlandt, a lady-in-waiting to then-Queen Beatrix, took on the mission of helping shape her into a future princess.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"King\u00a9 ALEJANDRO PAGNI<\/span><\/div>
King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands has also acknowledged that over nearly three decades, there have been many happy moments, but also difficult ones they have faced together. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

For years, she introduced M\u00e1xima to Dutch culture, from local customs and landmarks to the protocols of royal life. Before settling into what would become her permanent home, M\u00e1xima studied the language in New York and at the CERAN Institute in Spa, Belgium.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She also relied on television programs and the word game Lingo to improve her fluency. Her then-fianc\u00e9 also helped by teaching her Dutch phonetics using the names of local streets.<\/p>\n

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\"Before\u00a9 Patrick van Katwijk<\/span><\/div>
Before settling into what would become her permanent home, M\u00e1xima studied the language in New York and at the CERAN Institute in Spa, Belgium. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

True to her natural warmth and humor, Queen M\u00e1xima recently recalled the challenges of learning Dutch during her early years in the Netherlands. She admitted that learning the language \u201cwasn\u2019t easy\u201d and shared a funny misunderstanding involving the word boterham, which means a slice of bread and is part of the traditional Dutch breakfast.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She made audiences laugh by explaining that \u201cin the end, it just turned out to be a slice of bread and had nothing to do with butter or ham.\u201d The story was also meant as a message of encouragement to members of the Takecarebnb Foundation, which provides temporary housing with Dutch host families for refugees awaiting residency permits.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"True\u00a9 P van Katwijk<\/span><\/div>
True to her natural warmth and humor, Queen M\u00e1xima recently recalled the challenges of learning Dutch during her early years in the Netherlands. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

As a personal detail, she continues to speak Spanish at home with her daughters. Those early struggles, which she now recalls with humor, are part of the beginning of a love story that has stood the test of time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On February 2, 2002, the couple celebrated a memorable royal wedding at the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam. More than two decades later, they remain convinced that teamwork is the key to their relationship.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe support each other. Sometimes we are very busy, but we try to keep communicating. We try to have fun together, even in our work. And in every moment we can share,\u201d the couple has said.<\/p>\n

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\"Queen\u00a9 REMKO DE WAAL<\/span><\/div>
Queen Maxima continues to speak Spanish at home with her daughters. Those early struggles, which she now recalls with humor, are part of the beginning of a love story that has stood the test of time. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Their greatest pride is the family they have built with Princess Amalia, Princess Alexia, and Princess Ariane, whom they describe as \u201ca huge source of joy and responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands has also acknowledged that over nearly three decades, there have been many happy moments, but also difficult ones they have faced together. \u201cOf course there have been low moments. The death of my father, my brother, my father-in-law, my sister-in-law\u2026 But then you remember the good moments to support each other. We simply have a great time together.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.hola.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seville\u2019s famed Feria de Abril forever changed the destiny of the Dutch royal couple. In 1999, both attended the Spanish city\u2019s legendary festival, crossing paths in the private tent of the Real Club de Andaluc\u00eda, better known as AERO. There was no love at first sight, at least not for her, but a friendship slowly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2302954,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[352914,27155],"class_list":["post-2302953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-royalty","tag-queen-maxima","tag-royals"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Queen-Maxima-opens-up-about-language-struggles-after-joining-royal.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2302953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2302953"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2302953\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2302955,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2302953\/revisions\/2302955"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2302954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2302953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2302953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2302953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}