New series shows how Máxima became a Dutch queen

A new television series exploring the life of Queen Máxima of the Netherlands is about to arrive on streaming platforms and in keeping with the Buenos Aires-born monarch’s roots, its star was also made in Argentina.

Delfina Chaves takes the lead in the biopic mini-series charting the life of the Argentine queen of Dutch King Willem-Alexander, entitled simply Máxima. Its makers will be hoping it can emulate the success of Netflix’s royal hit show The Crown, which covered the life of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II.

The first episode of the production, based on a book by Marcia Luyten, will be released this weekend in the Netherlands via the streaming platform Videoland, which co-produced it with Millstreet Films. In Argentina, streaming rights have been purchased by Max (formerly HBO Max), with a start date for the show set to be announced imminently.

The first season recounts in six episodes the story of Máxima Zorreguieta, born in 1971 in Buenos Aires, up to her engagement to the crown prince. A second season is already being recorded.

In the first six episodes Máxima was interpreted by the Argentine actress Chaves, with Willem-Alexander played by Martijn Lakemeier.
"In the first season we see how Máxima is transformed into a self-assured young woman who falls head over heels in love with a Dutch prince," said Peter van der Vorst, content director of RTL Nederland and owner of the platform Videoland.

"But the story continues. Máxima marries and becomes a mother and then queen. There are many events stored in our collective memory which we will be seeing again," he added.

In the second season – due in October – the monarch will discover that "conserving the love of the Dutch is not as easy as conquering it," indicated Rachel van Bommel of Millstreet Films in a press release. 

Máxima and Willem-Alexander got to know each other in 1999 and married three years later. The couple have three daughters.

The daughter of Jorge Zorreguieta, agriculture secretary between 1976 and 1981 in the de facto government of dictator General Jorge Rafael Videla’s, Máxima came to be appreciated in the Netherlands although her popularity is now said to be dipping.
The series has already been sold to several other countries, including Germany, Belgium and other Latin American countries.

– TIMES/AFP