Skip to main contentSkip to footer
See Queen Maxima pose for a photo with a hedgehog© Getty Images

See Queen Maxima pose for an adorable photo with a hedgehog

The royal mom of three released three hedgehogs at the palace


NOVEMBER 27, 2023 12:06 PM EST

Huis ten Bosch Palace has three new residents!  Queen Maxima  of the Netherlands has released three hedgehogs at the palace in The Hague. The Dutch Royal House shared a photo last week of the Queen holding one of them, while wearing gloves.

“Hedgehogs are having a harder time in the Netherlands. Due to hot summer months, the worms are deeper in the ground and there are fewer crawling insects. In recent years, more and more sick, weakened or injured hedgehogs are coming in to hedgehog shelters. The hedgehog’s habitat has also become smaller due to construction and increasing traffic,” the Dutch Royal House wrote alongside the photo (translated to English).

View post on Instagram
 

The palace continued, “Queen Máxima has adopted three hedgehogs and evicted them in the garden of Paleis Huis ten Bosch. The garden and the forest area offer enough food and space for the hedgehogs through the many diverse plants and shrubs.”

The Dutch King and Queen have lived at Huis ten Bosch Palace since early 2019© Patrick van Katwijk/WireImage
The Dutch King and Queen have lived at Huis ten Bosch Palace since early 2019

Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander, along with their three daughters, moved to Huis ten Bosch Palace in January of 2019. The royal couple’s youngest daughter  Princess Ariane left home back in August to continue her secondary education at UWC Adriatic in Italy. While the King and Queen’s firstborn, Princess Catharina-Amalia, left the nest last year to study at the University of Amsterdam, it was reported in October of 2022 that the future Queen had moved back home due to threats made against her.

Maxima’s middle child,   Princess Alexia  , is currently taking a gap year following her graduation from UWC Atlantic. During the family’s summer photocall, the Dutch Princess shared that she had “a lot of plans.” She said (via AD), “A bit of traveling, working and everything.”