20 SEPTEMBER 2001
Greeting crowds with a warm smile, Maxima Zorreguieta, joined by her fiancé Crown Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, continued her “getting acquainted” tour of the twelve provinces of her adopted country. The visit to Gelderland, a Dutch region bordering Germany, is the third stop of a 16-city journey as the people of Holland get to know the future princess.

Maxima, who is a citizen of both her home country Argentina and the Netherlands, enthusiastically greeted her future subjects speaking excellent Dutch, and later donned a hard hat and neon safety vest as part of the visit. Crown Prince Willem-Alexander was at her side as she happily shook hands and accepted flowers from onlookers.
The elegant blonde economist, whose engagement to the prince was the subject of debate due to her father’s involvement in Argentina’s 1976-1983 dictatorship, has endeared herself to the public despite the well-publicised controversy.

The couple has already visited Brabant and Amsterdam - where she and the crown prince will marry next February - as part of their trip across the Netherlands. The tour is due to end October 25.