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King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands took a skate down memory lane this weekend. On Sunday, the Dutch Royal House shared a photo of the royal couple recreating the King’s proposal to Maxima. “’More than 20 years later, same place. Enjoy on the ice! ’ – WA,” the Valentine’s Day post was captioned.
Willem-Alexander, sporting ice skates, was pictured down on his knee holding Maxima’s hand on an ice pond at Huis ten Bosch Palace. “This is the single most cutest thing ever 🤧😍,” one social media user commented. Another added, “Ahhhh that is very romantic ❤️.”
The Dutch royals got engaged on January 19, 2001 and their engagement was announced on March 30, 2001. Later reflecting on his—real—proposal to Maxima, Willem-Alexander said (via NL Times), “It was a beautiful Friday afternoon and I thought, ‘Maxima will have to learn how to skate, because what is more Dutch than ice skating?’”
Maxima added, “I was expecting an offer of a cup of hot chocolate. Because I had heard that is just as much of a Dutch tradition as iceskating is.”
The King and Queen, who are now parents to daughters Princess Catharina-Amalia, Princess Alexia, and Princess Ariane, went on to tie the knot in Amsterdam on February 2, 2002.