The future queen of the Netherlands, Princess Catharina-Amalia, is just 17 years old, but she’s already making it clear she plans on being a different type of monarch than her predecessors, rejecting the offer of a $2 million annual allowance.
The eldest daughter of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima is set to turn 18 in December, at which point by law she will be given $1.9 million as a yearly allowance until she takes on her official royal duties as Queen. But in a handwritten letter sent to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Friday and published by NOS, Amalia expressed her discomfort with receiving all that money without giving back to her country, and while so many college students are in serious debt. She wrote, “On 7 December 2021 I will be 18 and, according to the law, receive an allowance. I find that uncomfortable as long as I do not do anything for it in return, and while other students have a much tougher time of it, particularly in this period of coronavirus.” The royal went on to explain that she plans to take a gap year before beginning college and will repay the almost $400,000 she was entitled to during her time as a student and would not claim $1.6 million in expenses “until I incur high costs in my role as Princess of Orange.”
Amalia recently completed her studies, passing her final exams at the Christelijk Gymnasium Sorghvliet in The Hague last week, and will graduate cum laude. The royal family’s Instagram account shared a video of the princess participating in the Dutch tradition of raising the country’s flag along with her backpack upon completing school. She wrote in the caption, “I just got a call with the news that I passed! I want to congratulate all other graduates and wish other students good luck with any re-sits in the second period.” On King’s Day in April, she also revealed that she plans to see the world before focusing on her continued education. “I still want to learn, but just not at school, although I have enjoyed it for the past fourteen years,” she told Netherland News Live. “I want to travel a little, discover the world, do things that I may not be able to do in twenty years’ time.”
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