We introduce her to you.
There is only one of Princess Alexia, you would think. Yet the second daughter of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima is not the only European royal lady to bear this first name.
Royal namesakes
When the name of Princess Amalia’s sister was announced in 2005, it quickly became clear that the newborn Orange princess was named after her father, Willem-Alexander. But ‘our’ Alexia is not the only one who bears this special name. She has a royal namesake who preceded her by forty years: Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark.
Princess throughout Europe
This rinses Alexia of Greece and Denmark was born on July 10, 1965. She is the eldest child of the former King and Queen of Greece, Constantine and Anne-Marie. At a young age, Alexia had to leave her home country due to the unstable political situation. She subsequently lived in Rome, Copenhagen and London. When it became clear that the family would not return to their Greek palace, they built a new life in the United Kingdom. And without royal duties to fall back on, Princess Alexia had to put her own bread on the table. She started working as a teacher at a London primary school.
But a completely bourgeois life? Not that now. With royal family members all over Europe, Princess Alexia still has the occasional tiara moment, like above at the wedding of Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling.
Royal wedding
Princess Alexia married her Spanish sweetheart, the architect Carlos Morales Quintana, in 1999, whom she met at a sailing competition in Barcelona. Just before the royal wedding, the fiancées were involved in a sailing incident – Alexia and Carlos were the only two sailors involved who were injured. The name of the sailing ship? The ‘Alexia’…
Fortunately, this turned out not to be a bad omen for the royal couple. The two are still together in 2024 and live in a house designed by Carlos on Lanzarote.
Three A’s
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima not only looked to Princess Alexia herself for name inspiration, they also have something else in common with the Greek princess. Just like the Dutch royal couple, Princess Alexia of Greece has three ‘AAA’ daughters: Arietta (2002), Anna-Maria (2003) and Amelia (2007). She also has a son, named Carlos like his father.
A nice coincidence, but King Willem-Alexander has confirmed that his daughter is not named after Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark. Shortly after the birth of Alexia of Orange, the question arose why the new princess had the same name as Alexia Grinda, the illegitimate daughter of Prince Bernhard.
“She is named after me and I know many Alexias in this world after whom she is not named,” said (then Prince) Willem-Alexander. It had been Maxima’s idea. “She wanted to name our daughter after me.”
Source: Greek Royal Family, The Court Jeweler | Image: NL Image
