The Tragic Life Of Princess Catharina-Amalia

This article contains references to murder and sexual violence.

Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange, is not your average young person. She lives in a gorgeous palace, goes on a yearly pilgrimage to the ritzy ski resort of Lech, and even has a penchant for tiaras. Whereas many other people her age are focused on earning a living and figuring out their futures, Catharina-Amalia is training to become the next queen of the Netherlands. As the eldest daughter of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima, Catharina-Amalia is the heir to the Dutch throne. And, although the Princess of Orange lives an extremely lavish life, her experience of royalty has not necessarily been a fairy tale.

Like many royal women before her, Catharina-Amalia has felt overwhelmed by her position. As European royal families have lost their former influence, the young royal's future has become increasingly unclear. What's more, the Netherlands is home to a strong anti-monarchist movement — one that has even put Catharina-Amalia's life at risk. Over the years, the princess and her family have been threatened, harassed, and even attacked. For Catharina-Amalia, this harrowing reality has made every day activities, like going to university or renting an apartment, into a veritable nightmare.

When Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange, was only 5 years-old, an attempt was made on her family's life. During a 2009 parade in Apeldoorn, a rogue driver blast down the street and through a motorcade. His final target was a bus — where the then-sovereign, Queen Beatrix, was waiting like a sitting duck. Ultimately, the driver in question did not manage to harm the queen. However, by speeding through a pedestrian-only area, he plowed over several members of the public. As reported by The Guardian, five parade-goers died in the attack, and an additional 12 were seriously injured. The attack left the Dutch royal family and its beloved fans feeling utterly rattled.

Although Catharina-Amalia was not present at this terrible event, she would have likely been deeply affected by it. Both of her parents were present at the scene, and her mother Queen Máxima was spotted cupping her mouth in her palm as the car barreled toward Beatrix's bus. What's more, Catharina-Amalia is said to have a close relationship with her grandmother, Beatrix. Learning that the queen had narrowly escaped death would have probably been a shocking and traumatic experience for the young princess.

Not all of Princess Catharina-Amalia's difficulties have been related to her position in the royal household. The heir to the Dutch throne has also faced many of the challenges that are common among other young people. In February 2016, the princess suffered a painful sports accident that resulted in a broken leg. Like many other children, Catharina-Amalia sported a cast as a result of her injury.

Unlike most other children, though, Catharina-Amalia hurt herself on the ski slopes of Austria — rather than the local park. As reported by the Straits Times that year, the incident catalyzed a rescue mission that seems almost worthy of a Hollywood movie. Per a palace statement released to the publication, "She was immediately taken to hospital by helicopter where a fracture was found in her right thigh ... She is being operated on."

Although Catharina-Amalia ostensibly did everything to heal her injuries, she found herself once again wearing a cast only months after the original accident. By July of that same year, the Dutch princess was photographed leaning on a pair of black crutches. Her father, King Willem-Alexander, told reporters not to worry too much about Catharina-Amalia, stating, "It's just a girl who has sprained her ankle" (via Hello!).

It's no secret that the tabloid press can be less-than-respectful when it comes to reporting on European royal families. Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange, has been aware of this reality, even from the time that she was a minor. When the princess was just 16 years old, the press started commenting on her body. The Spanish magazine, Caras, even went so far as to publish a cover story discussing her "plus-sized style." A subheading that was printed below the same cover story described Catharina-Amalia's body as a "real woman's figure," even though the princess was not legally yet a woman (via the Daily Mail).

This focus on a teenager's weight completely ignored her accomplishments and zeroed in on her body. The references to her "woman's figure" zoomed past her status as a minor and portrayed her as older and "more mature" than she was. This combination of factors catalyzed quite a bit of backlash on X, formerly known as Twitter, where Catharina-Amalia's fans defended her right to bodily privacy. Despite these efforts, however, Caras' editor, Hector Maugeri, refused to apologize for the cover story.

Although Catharina-Amalia did not respond to the Caras-related blow-back, it could not have been easy for her to see the press scrutinize her body. As she has grown older, this dynamic only seems to have gotten worse. In 2023, Catharina-Amalia was body-shamed on tour, with Express publishing a piece inquiring into her diet and shaming her even further.

Perhaps because of the cruelty of the press, Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange, does not seem particularly excited about one day wearing the crown. Speaking to her biographer, Claudia de Breij, for the book "Amalia" (via People), the princess confessed that she is not feeling ready to take on such a massive responsibility. She said that if her father, King Willem-Alexander, were to die unexpectedly, she would do everything in her power to postpone becoming queen. Catharina-Amalia even suggested that her mother, the Argentine-born Queen Máxima, might reign in her place.

Of course, it's hard to know what would happen if Willem-Alexander died before Catharina-Amalia was feeling ready to take the throne. Máxima is, after all, the queen consort and not part of the Dutch line of succession. Because of this, Catharina-Amalia has apparently encouraged her father to take care of himself and stay alive for as long as possible. "I said to my father, 'You just keep on eating healthy and exercising a lot,'" the princess admitted.

For his part, Willem-Alexander has encouraged his daughter to live her life as fully as possible before she one day becomes queen. Per a statement published in Hola!, Willem-Alexander tells Catharina-Amalia, "Know your own limits. Go everywhere. Make mistakes, as far as possible out of the eyes of the public."

Perhaps in the spirit of King Willem-Alexander's words, Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange, has tried to get a taste of normal life. She even joined the ranks of royals who have worked a normal job. As per the biography "Amalia" by biographer Claudia de Breij, Catharina-Amalia wanted to gain experience in the service industry. Determined to understand the world beyond palace walls, the princess secured a job at a waterfront café, where she learned how to mix a mean drink. Even though she was a royal, Catharina-Amalia found that her colleagues mostly accepted her. Some even affectionately started to call her the "cocktail queen" due to her strong mixology skills.

Despite all of these efforts to achieve normalcy, however, Catharina-Amalia was too famous to feel like just another staff member at work. Sometimes, customers would recognize her. Oftentimes, they would just stare. While the rest of Catharina-Amalia's colleagues could enjoy their privacy, the princess always stood out. This made her feel somewhat uncomfortable. As she told de Breij of being recognized on the street, "Everyone looks at you like you have a goldfish on your head." 

King Willem-Alexander may have wanted Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange, to enjoy the freedom of her youth, but that was not to be. The heir to the Dutch throne has faced a number of credible security threats since rising up the line of succession, with many of the threats being straight-up traumatic.

Such was the case in 2020 when a former Dutch soldier known as Wouter G. reached out to Catharina-Amalia on Instagram. In a number of graphic messages shared by Hola!, Wouter said that he would find the princess at King's Day, pose for a photo with her, and "squeeze your hand." From there, the ex-soldier said that he would rape Catharina-Amalia, kill her, and saw her body into pieces. He also threatened to murder one of the princess' friends, claiming that there would be no way for either girl to escape his violent plans.

Although Catharina-Amalia has not opened up about this incident publicly, one can imagine how terrified she must have felt upon opening these messages. She did, ultimately, report the threats to the appropriate authorities, and Wouter G. was imprisoned and forced to go to a psychiatric hospital.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

When it came time for Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange, to go off to university in the fall of 2022, she was excited. She enrolled in the Politics, Psychology, Law, and Economics program at the University of Amsterdam. She found a student apartment in the city center and hoped to be treated just like any other university freshman. "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," Catharina-Amalia would later tell the press (via Hola!).

What happened instead was nothing short of a nightmare. As reported by El País, Dutch police stumbled on Catharina-Amalia's name in a series of encrypted messages. It seemed that the princess had been identified by local gangs as a viable kidnapping target. Sadly, Catharina-Amalia was not alone. The then-Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, was also listed in the messages as a possible target — due to his habit of biking into the office every day.

As a result of these threats, Catharina-Amalia was immediately removed from her Amsterdam apartments and sequestered at the palace, where she would benefit from maximum security. As reported by Hola!, Queen Máxima told the Dutch press that the princess was crushed. "It has huge consequences for her life. Means she doesn't live in Amsterdam and also that she can't really go outside. Those consequences are very hard for her," she said.

In light of these gang-related kidnapping threats, Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange, lost almost all of her freedom. She was rarely allowed to leave the palace walls and was prohibited from going to the bakery or local parks. Student parties were absolutely out of the question.

For a bright-eyed university student, this situation likely felt terribly unfair. According to Hola!, Catharina-Amalia has not been afraid to open up about the challenges of her confinement, telling the Dutch media, "I'm also going to be very honest that I'm still having a really hard time, but I hope that changes soon." She also emphasized just how much she misses "normal life, [the] life of a student," telling the press that she can no longer stroll through the city center or pop into a shop.

Making matters even more challenging, it seems that Catharina-Amalia was completely caught off-guard by the security threats. In other words, she was not in the least bit psychologically prepared to change her lifestyle so completely and so suddenly. "I was very shocked myself," she admitted in the same statement, before reiterating, "I am still having a very hard time."

Eventually, Princess Catharina-Amalia faced so many security threats that she could no longer remain in the Netherlands, and with the help of her parents and her university, she arranged to continue her studies in Madrid, Spain. There, the princess could wander the streets in relative anonymity. As reported by Business Insider, Catharina-Amalia told the press, "Of course it was strange circumstances that made me go there. I'm still very grateful to everyone who made it possible for me to walk around there in freedom."

King Willem-Alexander echoed his daughter's sentiments, telling reporters, "Of course it's terrible when you see that your own daughter, who was so excited to spread her wings after Corona, wasn't able to spread those wings. Luckily it worked out in Madrid." 

As of the publication of this article, Catharina-Amalia has not been particularly vocal about what she did in Madrid. However, Tatler has questioned whether the princess was having a romance with Boris of Bulgaria. Although it's impossible to verify whether or not these rumors are true, one thing is clear: Catharina-Amalia enjoyed much more freedom in Spain than in her native country.

After spending a year in Spain, Catharina Amalia, Princess of Orange, was able to return home to the Netherlands. Just because she returned to her home country, though, does not mean that she was able to resume normal life. Shortly after moving back to the Netherlands, Catharina-Amalia found herself embroiled in an incredibly awkward situation.

The trouble started when Catharina-Amalia decided to drive from Amsterdam to Antwerp. As the princess' vehicle traveled from one city to the next, her security team noticed another car on the road making all the same navigation choices as the princess. A tip was called in, a SWAT team arrived on the scene, and guns were involved. The occupants of the other car were handcuffed and taken away for questioning.

In the end, the driver who was accused of "following" the princess was Dutch radio host and DJ, Serginio Piqué. Not only was he ostensibly innocent of stalking Catharina-Amalia, but he was also traumatized by the brutality of his arrest. Considering that the route between Amsterdam and Antwerp is a fairly common one, the royal family's decision to call in a SWAT team has been viewed as a massive overreaction. Apparently, Catharina-Amalia cannot even go on a road trip without creating a scandal.

Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange, has not always had it easy. As the heir to the throne, she carries a whole lot of responsibility, and her mental health has been known to suffer as a result. Opening up about this to Claudia de Breij for the biography "Amalia," the princess explained, "Sometimes it all gets too much for me — school, friends — and then I talk to someone." Catharina-Amalia went on to add, "If I need it, I'll make an appointment ... talking to a professional every now and then is quite normal."

The future queen shared her therapy journey to encourage others to normalize conversations around mental health. In her personal view, physical health gets way more attention than psychological health — and that's a problem. "Everyone talks about healthy food and sports. And that's also important. But mental health is equally important," she explained.