Photo: Wikipedia
Queen of the Netherlands
Queen Máxima
Born 17 May 1971
She was a banker in New York when she met a man who called himself simply Alexander. He was the Crown Prince of the Netherlands. Today the Argentine economist is a queen, a mother of three and the UN's advocate for people's personal finances.
• Born in Buenos Aires
Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti was born on 17 May 1971 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her parents were Jorge Zorreguieta and María del Carmen Cerruti. She has two brothers, a sister and three half-sisters, and grew up in the Recoleta district in the heart of the capital.
She went to Northlands School, where lessons were taught in both Spanish and English, and finished there in 1988.
Máxima in 1994, the year before she graduated in economics. Photo: Wikipedia
• From Buenos Aires to Wall Street
In 1995 she graduated in economics from the Catholic University of Argentina. Already as a student she worked in finance, and on the side she taught English to children and adults and maths to pupils and students.
In 1996 she moved to New York, where she worked as a vice president at several major banks, first HSBC James Capel, then Dresdner Kleinwort Benson and finally Deutsche Bank. From 2000 she worked for Deutsche Bank in Brussels.
• "My name is Alexander"
In April 1999 Máxima was at the spring fair in Seville, Spain. There she met a Dutchman who introduced himself simply as Alexander. The couple have since said that she thought he was joking when he told her he was the Crown Prince of the Netherlands.
Two weeks later they met again in New York, where she lived and worked.
• A difficult debate
The relationship sparked debate in the Netherlands. Her father had been Argentina's agriculture minister from 1979 to 1981, while the country was ruled by a military dictatorship. Parliament asked professor Michiel Baud to look into the matter. He concluded that her father had not been directly involved in the abuses of that period, but that he almost certainly knew about them.
It was decided that her father would not attend the wedding, and her mother chose to stay at home with him.
• An engagement in Dutch
On 30 March 2001 Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus announced that their son was to marry. Máxima spoke to the nation on live television, in Dutch, a language she then only knew a little of.
The engagement photo from 30 March 2001. Photo: Wikipedia
On her 30th birthday, 17 May 2001, she became a Dutch citizen. In July that year parliament approved the marriage, which was needed for Willem-Alexander to keep his place in the line of succession.
• A wedding in Amsterdam
The couple married on 2 February 2002. First they were married by Amsterdam's mayor Job Cohen in the Beurs van Berlage, the city's old stock exchange. Afterwards the marriage was blessed in the Nieuwe Kerk in the city centre.
The wedding portrait was taken at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam on 2 February 2002. Photo: Wikipedia
• Three daughters
The couple first lived in The Hague and moved in 2003 to Wassenaar just outside the city. On 7 December 2003 their first daughter, Catharina-Amalia, was born. Today she is Princess of Orange and next in line to the throne. Alexia was born on 26 June 2005 and Ariane on 10 April 2007.
Since January 2019 the family has lived at Huis ten Bosch Palace in The Hague.
• Queen in 2013
On 30 April 2013 Queen Beatrix stepped down, and Willem-Alexander became the first king of the Netherlands since 1890. Máxima became queen the same day.
On the way into the Nieuwe Kerk on inauguration day, 30 April 2013. Photo: Wikipedia
The royal family waves to the crowd from the palace balcony in Amsterdam the same day. Photo: Wikipedia
• Banking know-how at the UN
Máxima has put her banking experience to use. From 2009 to 2024 she was the UN Secretary-General's advocate for giving more people around the world a bank account, loans, savings and insurance. When she started, less than half of the world's adults had access to such services. Fifteen years later the share was almost 80 percent.
With Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh at the UN in New York in September 2025. Photo: Wikipedia
In September 2024 she took on a new UN role. She now works to help people have safe and healthy personal finances, not just access to a bank. Since 2011 she has also been honorary patron of the G20 countries' cooperation in the same field.
With Argentine President Mauricio Macri and Juliana Awada in Davos in 2018. Photo: Wikipedia
• Close to people at home
In the Netherlands, too, much of her work is about money. She is honorary chair of Wijzer in geldzaken, which teaches children and young people to look after their money, and of Financieel Gezond Nederland, which helps people get out of debt. Since 2015 she has also chaired Méér Muziek in de Klas, which wants every primary school pupil to have music lessons.
Together with the King she is patron of the Oranje Fonds, which supports volunteer work. The fund was a gift from the people for the wedding in 2002. Every year she hands out the Appeltjes van Oranje, the awards for organisations that go the extra mile for others.
The Queen greets people on King's Day in Emmen in 2024. Photo: Wikipedia
Since 2004 she has had a seat on the Raad van State, a council that advises the government and parliament on new laws. She takes part in its meetings but does not vote. She speaks Spanish, English and Dutch, and gets by well in French.
• The people's favourite
Máxima is known for her broad smile and for taking her time with the people she meets. Many who have met her describe her as warm, spontaneous and easy to talk to.
The Dutch are very fond of their queen. In the large poll by broadcaster NOS ahead of King's Day in April 2026, she scored 7.5 out of 10, the highest in the royal family. That has been the case for many years.