Meeting Maxima

This is how you do it

Or if I wanted to be at a lecture by the queen? You might as well ask me if I want to shop unlimited at Net-A-Porter. Or spend this summer with my loved ones in the hills of Tuscany. Or eat brie de meaux forever (this is where you buy the tastiest brie de meaux) without gaining weight. Yes, in capital letters, the answer is.

Queen Máxima spoke at the Royal Tropical Institute about ways to encourage women to invest and enjoy business success. A change process on both sides. In many countries, women have a hard time getting a loan and land may not even be in a woman's name. On the other hand, women are often much more cautious than men, dare to invest less, which means they will reap business success less quickly and are taken less seriously by banks. On the other hand, women go bankrupt much less often. They are more serious and responsible with money.

Anyway. Then the queen suddenly walks twenty centimeters past you. With a Chanel bag. And what are you supposed to do?

I looked it up.

Stand up

As soon as the queen enters the room, you stand up. And if you were already standing, you turn towards her. In England, it was even the case that the queen should never see your back. So when you were done talking, you would back away towards the door. With collision and tripping hazards.

Stand up again

When she leaves the room, you stand up again. That didn't happen today, and I still feel a bit uncomfortable about it.

Be silent

You only say something when the queen addresses you and asks something. And then you call her ‘Your Majesty’. If you write her a letter, you say: Her Majesty the Queen.

No selfies

As attractive as it may be; just take a photo of her. From a distance. Provided it is a photographable occasion. Not if you were to just bump into her somewhere, of course.

Just don't do it

Also, don't shake hands unless she shakes your hand. Can you imagine how many hands she would have to shake? I suspect that's why she often carries a bouquet, to have a ‘wall’ between herself and the people.

A nice anecdote

In conclusion. I had a colleague who worked at Martinair Partyservice and catered at the best jobs. She had the perfect Martinair face. Attractive, refined but not too conspicuous. One evening she was tasked with being the one-on-one server for Queen Beatrix. That she had to call her majesty. And she had to refill with a special bottle of wine. I understand Beatrix immensely. She brought her own wine to parties and events. No one else needed to know about it. My colleague was ready with the bottle. The queen came to her and asked; “Is this THE wine?” My colleague forgot all about majesty and nodded enthusiastically. This was the wine. There was no doubt about it. She had of course also secretly tasted it.