2-02-2002: Royal Wedding Willem-Alexander & Máxima
On 2 February 2002 a real royal wedding took place at the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. How did they meet each other? Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, eldest son and heir of Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus, met Argentine-born Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti at the Seville Fair in April 1999. 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. The proposal As speed skating is one of the most popular sports, Willem-Alexander 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. Keeping it secret? 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 200