Wedding of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, and Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti


The wedding of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange and Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti took place on 2 February 2002 at the Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam. Willem-Alexander and Máxima acceded to the Dutch throne on 30 April 2013 after the abdication of his mother, Queen Beatrix.

Engagement

, eldest son and heir of Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus, met Argentine-born Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti at the Seville Fair in April 1999. He did not introduce himself as a prince, and when she later found out, she thought he was joking. Two weeks later, they met again in New York, where Máxima was working as a banker for Kleinwort Benson. She did not meet his parents, Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus, for some time.
As speed skating is one of the most popular sports, and Willem-Alexader is a good speed skater, he proposed to Máxima on the ice on skates. A week earlier, Willem-Alexander already told his mother and Prime Minister Kok that he would propose to Máxima soon. He endlessly practices the question, he told in an interview later. With hidden champagne and red roses by the pond of Huis ten Bosch, he invited Máxima to go ice skating. While on the ice of the pond he proposed her in English, "to make sure she would understand it". Máxima was surprised but answered directly with "yes".
The intention was that the intended marriage remained a secret, so as not to get in the way of Willem-Alexander's brother Constantijn and Laurentien Brinkhorst, who would marry in May. Ultimately, it was too difficult to keep secret, so on 30 March 2001, Queen Beatrix announced her eldest son's engagement. On 21 May 2001, the bill seeking consent for the marriage was introduced in parliament. On 7 January 2002, the ondertrouw was published.
Zorreguieta became a naturalized Dutch citizen, though she did not convert from Roman Catholicism. It was announced any children born of the marriage would be titled Prince/Princess of the Netherlands and Prince/Princess of Orange-Nassau, with the style of Royal Highness.

Controversy

During the National Reorganization Process, Argentina's most recent dictatorship, Jorge Zorreguieta, Máxima's father, served as Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries. During this regime, an estimated 10,000–30,000 people were kidnapped and murdered during this and subsequent military regimes before democracy was restored to Argentina in 1983. Zorreguieta claimed he was unaware of the Dirty War while he was a cabinet minister.
At the request of the States General, Michiel Baud, a Dutch professor in Latin American studies, carried out an inquiry into the involvement of Zorreguieta in the Dirty War. Baud determined that Máxima's father had not been directly involved in any of the numerous atrocities that took place during that period. However, Baud also concluded that Zorreguieta was almost certainly aware of them; in Baud's view, it was highly unlikely that a cabinet minister would not have known about them.
Jorge Zorreguieta's presence at the wedding was debated for months. It was eventually concluded he would not attend. In solidarity, her mother chose not to attend.

Pre-wedding celebrations

On 31 January, Queen Beatrix's 64th birthday, there was a black-tie dinner and ball at the Royal Palace of Amsterdam for 500 guests to celebrate the impending wedding and The Queen's birthday.
The day before the wedding, there was a lunch and concert at the Royal Concertgebouw attended by 1,600 guests. That evening, the couple attend an event organized by the National Orange Committee and the municipality of Amsterdam in the Amsterdam ArenA. About 50,000 people from every Dutch municipality were invited.

Wedding

Civil ceremony

Per Dutch law, the couple were first required to be married in a civil ceremony. This was performed by Job Cohen, Major of Amsterdam, at the Beurs van Berlage prior to the religious ceremony. The civil ceremony was attended by friends and family of the couple, dignitaries and some 600 invited guests.
Witnesses for the Prince of Orange were his brother, Prince Constantijn, and friends Marc ter Haar and Frank Houben. Witnesses for Zorreguieta Cerruti were her new mother-in-law, Queen Beatrix, her aunt, Marcela Cerruti Carricart, and her brother, Martín Zorreguieta Cerruti.

Religious ceremony

The Dutch Reformed Church ceremony took place in the Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam. The Reverend Carel ter Linden, Minister Emeritus of the Kloosterkerk, The Hague, officiated.

Music

Music during the service was provided by Bernard Winsemius, organist, Miranda van Kralingen, soprano, the Nederlands Kamerkoor and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, conducted by Ed Spanjaard.
Prior to the service, pieces by Böhm, Bach and Scheidemann were played on the organ. The bride and groom entered the church together to Entrata Festiva, which was composed by Dutch composer Jurriaan Andriessen for the wedding of Prince Willem-Alexander's parents in 1966. Throughout the service, a number of Dutch hymns were sung. Kyrie from Mozart's Mass in C major, K. 337 "Solemnis" and Schubert's Ave Maria were also performed. The recessional was "Hallelujah" from Handel's Messiah.
In honour of the bride's parents, who were absent, Adiós Nonino, an Argentine tango by Astor Piazzolla was played.

Attendants

The bride was attended by four adult bridesmaids:
Two child bridesmaids:
Four pageboys:
The bride wore a gown of ivory mikado silk, with a cowl neckline, three-quarter sleeves and a five-metre-long train designed and created by Valentino. The skirt was inset with panels of embroidered lace at the sides, flaring slightly from a close-fitting empire-line bodice. Her veil, also a Valentino creation, was of silk tulle and hand-embroidered with a flower and tendril motifs. The court jeweller adapted the Dutch Pearl Button Tiara by exchanging the pearl buttons with five diamond stars which belonged to Queen Emma. The bride carried a cascading bouquet of white roses, gardenias, lilies of the valley and two kinds of foliage.
The Prince wore the full dress uniform of a Captain in the Royal Netherlands Navy. He wore the riband and star of a Knight Grand Gross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion, the star of a Knight of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau, the Officers' Cross and the Queen Beatrix Inauguration Medal, 1980.

Procession and reception

After the service, the bride and groom drove through the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal, Spui, Singel, Muntplein and the Rokin in the Golden Coach. The couple returned the Royal Palace and appeared on the balcony above Dam Square. They then proceeded to a luncheon reception.

Guests

Relatives of the groom

[House of Orange-Nassau]

Due to the controversy surrounding her father's alleged involvement in Argentina's Dirty War, the bride's father, Jorge Zorreguieta, was not invited. In solidarity with her husband, the bride's mother, María del Carmen Cerruti Carricart, chose not to attend.

Members of reigning royal houses

Dutch politians

Per a decree issued on 25 January 2002, upon the solemnization of marriage, Máxima became formally titled "Her Royal Highness Princess Máxima of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Mrs. van Amsberg." She did not, however, become Princess consort of Orange.
The newlyweds honeymooned in St. Moritz, after a brief layover in London to visit with the bride's parents. They then proceeded to Argentina and New Zealand.
The couple have three children, Catharina-Amalia, Alexia and Ariane.