With the preparations for the wedding of HRH the Prince of Orange to Miss Máxima Zorreguieta already being made and with the ongoing traditional visits to the provinces of the Kingdom to present the future royal consort, a tradition also kept in 1966, it is, we think, the most appropriate timing to launch this new royal website about a grand, historic event. The hopes expressed by Pastor J.H. Sillevis Smit during the sermon did become a reality, what made this marriage even more historic. Now celebrating her 21st year as Queen of the Netherlands, Queen Beatrix enjoys a comfortable popularity amongst her subjects. However, opinion polls do tell that it is Prince Claus, the consort, the most popular member of the royal family, the real proof “that the nations can together build a lasting peace.”

Because it was an historic event, because it is appropriate to mark the wedding of Prince Willem-Alexander and Miss Zorreguieta with the launching of a special website, because a tribute to Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus is always well deserved, we took the commitment to build this site, after the successful launching of a similar site consecrated to the wedding of HRH the Crown Prince Harald of Norway and Miss Sonja Haraldsen, the present Norwegian sovereigns. It would not have been possible, however, to build this site without the most precious help of several friendly royal watchers.

We would like to give the most heartfelt thank to Jos Hooghuis for his priceless contribution to this site, in pictures and in information, and we would dare to say that, without him, it would hardly have been possible to make such website. We would also like to deeply thank Michelle Gonzalez and Tanguy Rivière, for their help in writing some of the pages of the site. We are also mostly grateful to Netty Leistra and Marianne Teerink, for the generous scanning of pictures of the wedding and the events held in connection with it. To all, once more, our most deep thanks.

September 2001, the Editors

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