When beautiful Argentinian Máxima Zorreguieta met fun-loving Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander in 1999, love followed – but so too did the glare of the media spotlight.
Now showing in Australia on SBS, a new six-part series – Máxima – tells the story of real-life Dutch Queen Máxima’s journey from the Argentinian pampas to her engagement to now-King Willem-Alexander, showing plenty of challenges and bust-ups along the way.
Máxima is a strong and feisty independent modern working woman who loves her problematic family – how can that possibly fit with marrying into a European royal family?
The fairytale begins
She calls him Alex; he calls her Cookie. The Royal Palace sends along a fatherly figure to train her in etiquette such as ‘how to walk’ and never be seen in public drinking alcohol or smoking, right down to testing her on Dutch cultural references and recognising lines from movies. Can she learn to tell her Ferris Bueller from her Dirty Dancing?
We see the loved-up couple having fun in New York, where brilliant Máxima works as an economist. They are shown sneaking out of her apartment down the fire escape, hiding under baseball caps and dark wigs to eat popcorn in the cinema, and spending long days in her bed.
The focus is on the normality of their connection, amidst the constant security and lack of privacy.
“This is the first time I’ve kissed someone in front of their bodyguards,” a fictionalised Maxima points out on their first real dinner date in the series.
It all goes wrong
The 1999 romance plot is interspersed with flashbacks to Máxima’s childhood and adolescence – including early boyfriends – in Argentina, and her working life in New York.
And we see it all go quickly pear-shaped, as the intrusive press gets wind of Máxima’s family and the role of her father, Jorge Zorreguieta, in the Argentinian military regime.
Máxima is referred to as the “daughter of a war criminal” in relentless coverage.
Máxima’s father’s past did indeed cause huge controversy for the couple, and the royal family, at the time. Jorge Zorreguieta was not allowed to attend his daughter’s 2002 wedding. And the Dutch Parliament’s approval was needed for Willem-Alexander to stay in line to the Dutch throne if he insisted on marrying Máxima.
Searching for Máxima
The TV series was announced in February 2022, when Dutch platform Videoland acquired the rights to Marcia Luyten’s 2022 novel Máxima Zorreguieta: Motherland.
In December 2022 Argentine actress Delfina Chaves was cast to play the role of Máxima, opposite Dutch actor Martijn Lakemeier as a thoughtful young Willem-Alexander.
“Making a show about a real – and still very much living – person brings its own challenges and responsibilities,” producer Rachel van Bommel said at the time.
“It is a complex role: we were looking for someone who not only has the looks of Maxima but also knows how to accurately portray intelligence, bravado, and uncertainty … Maxima in real life is someone you keep looking at; as soon as she enters the room people look at her. In Delfina Chaves, I’m happy to say, we managed to find all of this.”
Has Queen Máxima watched Máxima?
In an interview with HELLO! magazine, the actors were asked if they’d had any feedback from Máxima and Willem-Alexander.
“No feedback whatsoever,” laughed Martijn.
“I understand that they don’t or wouldn’t watch it because it must be quite frustrating: a bunch of people making a series about your life that you’ve never talked to, even though we’ve done it with a lot of respect again, and close to reality as possible,” he said.
“It’s just a beautiful story of how two people fell in love and how they did everything to make sure that it would work out.”
Delfina also commented: “They were asked if they were going to watch the series and Máxima, in a very respectful way, said: ‘I know what my story is and how things went and I don’t need anybody to tell me.’ But, then she said something that I think is quite interesting – that she celebrates freedom of speech…”
The actress also points out that Máxima’s story “wasn’t just a fairytale. She had to sacrifice a lot and they had to overcome a lot of things.”
