Princess Catharina-Amalia has two younger sisters:
Princess Alexia (born in 2005) and
Princess Ariane (born in 2007). The family spent the princess' formative years at Villa Eikenhorst on the De Horsten estate in
Wassenaar. In 2019 they moved to
Huis ten Bosch Palace in The Hague.[7]
Her birthdays are traditionally celebrated with a concert at the
Kloosterkerk in The Hague, which is attended by ambassadors and members of the royal household and the
Council of State of the Netherlands.[8] Catharina-Amalia's paternal grandmother,
Queen Beatrix,
abdicated on 30April 2013 and her father ascended the throne. Catharina-Amalia, as the new heir apparent, assumed the title of
Princess of Orange,[9] becoming the first to do so in her own right.[10]
Education
In December 2007, Catharina-Amalia started attending Bloemcamp Primary School, a
public primary school in Wassenaar.[11] After graduating from primary school, she attended the
Christelijk Gymnasium Sorghvliet in The Hague, where her aunt
Princess Laurentien attended.[12] She participated in the student council and attended both the
Model United Nations of the
International School of The Hague and The Hague International Model United Nations conferences.[2] She graduated in 2021 with distinction.[2] After completing her studies at Sorghvliet, Catharina-Amalia took a gap year, during which she interned at the Orange Fund and volunteered at other organisations.[13] In June 2021, she announced that she refused to accept her right to €1.6m a year in income for the time period, adding that it would make her "uncomfortable as long as I do not do anything for it in return".[14]
Since 5 September 2022 Catharina-Amalia is studying at the
University of Amsterdam for a
BSc degree in
Politics, Psychology, Law and Economics (PPLE).[15] During her second month in university, she was moved back to the royal palace from her student housing in Amsterdam due to security risks.[16] In April 2024, King Willem-Alexander revealed that Catharina-Amalia lived in Madrid in 2023 under the protection of the Spanish monarch, while she continued her studies online.[17][18]
Catharina-Amalia with her sisters attended the annual
Koningsdag.[2] On 19 June 2010, Catharina-Amalia served as a bridesmaid at the
wedding of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and Daniel Westling.[21] On the occasion of her 18th birthday in 2021, a biography of Catharina-Amalia was published. Similar books were published on the 18th birthday of
Princess Beatrix in 1956 and Prince Willem-Alexander in 1985. The book titled "Amalia" is written by Dutch entertainer
Claudia de Breij.[22] On 8 December 2021, Catharina-Amalia assumed her seat in the Advisory Division of the
Council of State when she reached the
age of majority at 18 the day before.[23][24][25] On the same day, she gave her first public speech at the
Council of State meeting in
Kneuterdijk Palace.[26][27] An outdoor birthday party thrown by her family to mark the occasion was found to be in breach of regulations and restrictions imposed during the
COVID-19 pandemic, which made her father admit that "it was not right to organize this".[28][29]
On 17 June 2022, together with her parents, she was among the royal guests invited to the celebrations of the 18th birthday of
Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway. This was Catharina-Amalia's first public engagement outside of The Netherlands and the first occasion to which she was allowed to wear a
tiara.[30] On 20 September 2022, together with her parents, Catharina-Amalia attended
Prinsjesdag, where the King addressed a joint session of the
States General of the Netherlands to outline government policy for the upcoming parliamentary session.[31][32] In November 2022, Catharina-Amalia and her family visited an exhibition at
Nieuwe Kerk dedicated to former
Queen Juliana.[33] In December 2022, she visited the three branches of Dutch military: Air Force, Army and Navy.[34][35]
Catharina-Amalia has experienced repeated
fat shaming by tabloids and on social media since she was young, most notably by the Portuguese celebrity magazine Caras labeling her as plus size. In response to the body shaming, members of the public have expressed their support for the princess, calling the fat shaming against her unacceptable.[40][41][42]
Catharina-Amalia has been Princess of the Netherlands and Princess of Orange-Nassau since birth. Until her father's accession, she was therefore styled "Her Royal Highness Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau".[45] On 30 April 2013, she additionally assumed the
substantive titlePrincess of Orange. She has since been known as "Her Royal Highness Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, The Princess of Orange", although is styled "Her Royal Highness The Princess of Orange"[45]
Coat of arms of Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange
Notes
This
coat of arms is used by the Princess of Orange and her sisters, Princess Alexia and Princess Ariane.[48]
Escutcheon
Quarterly: I and IV azure billety or, a lion with coronet also or armed and langued gules, holding in his dexter paw a sword argent hilted or, and in his sinister seven arrows argent pointed and bound together or, which is of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; II and III or, a horn azure opened and bound gules, which is of the first House of Orange; an inescutcheon or bearing a castle of three towers gules flanked on each side by a poplar tree au naturel, and a river azure flowing from the base, ondoyant to the gate of the castle, which is of the house of Zorreguieta in Argentina.
Banner
As Princess, Catharina-Amalia uses a swallow-tailed flag, with the Royal standard colours and her paternal arms (the horn of Orange) in the upper hoist and her maternal arms (the tower of Zorreguieta) in the lower hoist. The arms of the Netherlands (which originates from Nassau) without the insignia of the
Order of Willem within an orange circle.[49]
^"Bulletin of Acts and Decrees, 435". Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (in Dutch). 12 November 2020.
Archived from the original on 9 September 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2021.