It had all the elements of a fairytale royal romance – but a dark shadow saw the bride’s parents banished from this lavishly beautiful Dutch wedding.
When Buenos Aires-born Maxima Zorreguieta Cerruti, 27, met Willem-Alexander, 32, at the Seville Fair in April 1999, she had no idea he was in fact the Prince of Orange, heir apparent to the Dutch throne. And, when he finally did reveal his royal identity, she thought he was kidding!
But the spark between the vivacious investment banker and the prince was very real. A year later, while ice skating on a frozen pond at the Huis ten Bosch Palace, the prince presented a surprised but delighted Maxima with a platinum engagement ring, symbolically set with a rare, oval-cut orange diamond.
When the handsome couple…