Queen Máxima of the Netherlands

Queen Máxima of the Netherlands (born Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti; 17 May 1971) is the wife of King Willem-Alexander. On 30 April 2013, she became the first Dutch queen consort since 1890.

Early life and education

Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 17 May 1971. Queen Máxima is the daughter of Jorge Zorreguieta (born 1928), Secretary of Agriculture under President Jorge Rafael Videla during the National Reorganization Process dictatorship, and his second wife, María del Carmen Cerruti Carricart (born 1944). She has two brothers, a sister and three half-sisters by her father's first wife, Marta López Gil. She is named after her paternal great-grandmother Máxima Bonorino González (1874–1965). Her father was a member of the Zorreguieta family who had been landed gentry, professionals, regional politicians and statesmen for generations. Her maternal great-grandfather was also from the landed gentry; Domingo Carricart Etchart (1885-1953) was a landowner, politician, Director del Banco Provincial de Buenos Aires, first mayor of González Chaves, and the mayor of Tres Arroyos.