Princess Amalia, the heir to the Dutch throne, is in love . About to turn 18 on December 7, the eldest daughter of Kings William and Maxima of Holland seems to be excited about a prince, according to a growing and widespread rumor that several European media have already echoed. The lucky one to occupy Amalia’s heart is nothing more and nothing less than Gabriel of Belgium, the second son of King Felipe and Matilde.
But what could be a romance even convenient for both monarchies is, in reality, a relationship prohibited by Belgian law,whose constitution dates back to 1831. Although it seems unthinkable in our times, the rule is still in force and has its origin in the Belgian Revolution of 1830 by which the country achieved its independence from the Netherlands. From then on, this prohibition was established so that the Belgian throne – in this case as queen consort – could never fall into the hands of a member of the Dutch royal family.
“The constitution of Belgium prohibits the Dutch in the royal family”
This law has been on the verge of being repealed on several occasions, in 1993, 2002 and 2003, although finally it was not achieved. So today, if Amalia and Gabriel were really in love and wanted to get married in the future, there would have to be a constitutional amendment in Belgium to change the norm.At least by the Dutch, surely there would be no problem. In fact, even the heiress can marry a woman if she wants and continue to hold the crown, as has recently been discussed in parliament.
The fact is that there are already several publications that have pointed out on different occasions that the heir to the throne of the Van Oranje has a boyfriend. The relationship, it seems, would have to be taken at a distance since at the moment Princess Amalia is enjoying a sabbatical year before starting her university studies, while Gabriel has just started his studies in Mathematics and Physics this year at the National Mathematics & Science College of Warwickshire (England).
The first medium to point to this romance was theArgentine website Mendoza Post, which has referred to Amalia’s ‘secret boyfriend’ , specifically referring to Prince Gabriel. A theory that the German magazine Gala has also talked about, which insists that the love between the two is a reality, although neither of them cited their sources.
The young people, yes, have in their favor the close friendship between the two families, who have known each other since they were children, the fact that they are only four months apart in age, as well as the fact that Gabriel has been educated as the brother of the heiress, so It would not be difficult for him to accept a secondary role in a hypothetical marriage with the future queen of the Dutch.
Of course, the royalty expert Wim Dehandschutter doubts the veracity of this courtship despite the rumor mill. Nor does he rule out that the institutional issue is as insurmountable as it seems. ” The law leaves a lot of room for interpretation. It literally says that the Oranges are excluded from any power in Belgium. From this I conclude that they are not allowed to rule. But it does not say explicitly that they cannot marry ,” he maintains.
