Skip to main contentSkip to footer
Princess secretly lived in Spain for more than a year© Getty Images

A Princess secretly lived in Spain for more than a year: Report

Find out why...


APRIL 17, 2024 12:46 PM EDT

 Queen Maxima  and  King Willem-Alexander  of the Netherlands’ eldest daughter,  Princess Catharina-Amalia , lived in Spain for over a year to escape threats made against her, according to  De Telegraaf .

Sources told the outlet that the heir to the Dutch throne studied at the University of Amsterdam from Madrid and attended Spanish colleges during her time there.

Amalia began her studies at the University of Amsterdam back in 2022. Prior to her first day, the Dutch Royal House announced that the Princess would be living in the capital of the Netherlands with fellow students. The month after her first day of school at the university, it was reported that Amalia was living back at home due to threats.

Princess Catharina Amalia was seen arriving at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam ahead of her first state banquet on April 17© Getty Images
Princess Catharina Amalia was seen arriving at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam ahead of her first state banquet on April 17

In September of 2022, De Telegraaf   reported that security measures had been “stepped up considerably as an attempted kidnapping or an attack is taken into account.” Per the outlet, police were concerned about a threat towards Amalia and Prime Minister Mark Rutte from the Mocro mafia.

During her and her parents’ visit to the Caribbean last year, the Princess of Orange admitted that she missed the “normal life, life of a student” and confessed that she was “still having a really hard time,” but noted at the time, “I hope that changes soon.”

“I went into my student days with the idea that what does a student do, fill that in and that I would do that too,” Amalia said (translated to English via  NOS ). “And the reality was unfortunately anything but that.”

According to  De Telegraaf  , the “threat assessment around Amalia has not changed,” but the 20-year-old Princess is said to have recently moved back to Amsterdam. Queen Maxima’s firstborn was seen arriving at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam on April 17. She is set to join her mom, dad,  King Felipe  and  Queen Letizia  at her first-ever state banquet on Wednesday evening. Ahead of the Spanish royals’ state visit to the Netherlands, King Felipe, in “appreciation” of Amalia, granted the heir to the Dutch throne the Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic.