Queen of the Argentines: Máxima of Orange

According to her harshest critics, Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner [2] often acts as if she were royalty but, in about three months, her “subjects” will have their own legitimate queen, of a sort, to fawn over. At the end of April, Holland’s Queen Beatrix [3] will abdicate her throne, paving the way for her son Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange [4], to become king. As it happens, Willem-Alexander’s wife is Argentine-born Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti [5], who will simultaneously become Queen Máxima.

Máxima (second from left in the photograph above, which contains some other familiar figures), hails from Buenos Aires [6]. In the decade-plus since her marriage to Willem-Alexander, she has become a popular figure in The Netherlands, and is fluent in Dutch and English as well as her native Spanish. Also the mother of three young daughters, she has become a vocal advocate for immigrants’ rights in her adopted country.

Initially, Máxima was controversial because her father, Jorge Zorreguieta Stefanini [7], served as agriculture minister under Argentine military dictator Jorge Rafael Videla [8]; though Jorge Zorreguieta was apparently not involved in Videla’s Dirty War [9] atrocities, he was not permitted to attend the wedding. Máxima’s rather irregular acquisition of Dutch citizenship prior to the wedding also raised some eyebrows.

I have not met the queen-to-be, and never expect to do so, but I have dined at her brother’s place – in the lakeside resort of Villa La Angostura, Martín Zorreguieta’s Tinto Bistro [10] has acquired a certain fame, or notoriety, obviously not just for a fusion menu based on seasonal Patagonian ingredients. Martín Zorreguieta also operates the Delfina Restaurant [11], at the eastern approach to town, and the Cientochenta Club Gastronómico de Montaña [12] at the nearby Cerro Bayo [13] ski area.

Moon Chile - New Fourth Edition
Meanwhile, those of you planning a trip to the other side of the Andes should know that the new fourth edition of Moon Handbooks Chile [14] is due out next month. Until it’s out, though, you can content yourself with my recently published iPhone/iPad app Chile Travel Adventures [15], which makes an ideal complement to the print book. The app is also available in an Android version [16].