Who are Máxima’s brothers and (half) sisters?

We rarely see them, but they mean a lot to Máxima. Who are her brothers and half-sisters anyway?

Jorge Zorreguieta, Máxima’s father, was the son of Juan Antonio Zorreguieta Bonorino and his wife Cesina Stefanini Borella. Jorge married Marta López Gil in 1956. Together they had three daughters: Dolores, María and Angeles. Things weren’t going well with the marriage. However, divorces were not allowed in Argentina at the time, so the two were still legally married when he moved in with his new love. That was the 16 years younger María del Carmen Cerruti, the daughter Jorge Cerruti and Maria del Carmen Carricart. Jorge and Maria did get married in December 1970 in Paraguay. However, in Argentina he was still legally married to Marta. This marriage could only be dissolved in 1986, because a divorce law was introduced in Argentina.

With Maria, Jorge Zorreguieta had 4 children. All extramarital according to Argentinian law. Máxima is the eldest of the 4, followed by Martín, Juan and Inés.

Martin Zorreguieta

Martín Zorreguieta was born in 1972 as the second child of Jorge Zorreguieta and María del Carmen Cerruti. Máxima is very close with her brother, who is only 1.5 years younger. It turns out that Martín is one of Princess Amalia’s godparents. He was also a witness at the wedding of Willem-Alexander and Máxima.

Martín married Mariana Andrés. Mariana Andrés was still in the picture during the wedding of Willem-Alexander and Máxima. Shortly after the marriage of his older sister Máxima to Prince Willem-Alexander, Martín went to live in Villa La Angostura. Martín already knew the area quite well. Máxima’s parents had a house on Cerro Catedral, a mountain in the Andes overlooking the large Nahuel Hapi lake. Máxima’s family used to regularly spend time in the house on Cerro Catedral during holidays. Unfortunately, the house burned down completely in 1996 during a major fire.

Martín used to work in the financial sector and advertising, but since 2002 he has taken a different approach. Máxima’s brother, together with a business partner, has Tinto Bistró in Villa la Angostura, which is located on Lake Nahuel Huapi, at the foot of the Andes Mountains. At Tinto Bistró he met Elizabeth Lilian del Río, a landscape gardener. He divorced Mariana and still lives with Elizabeth. In 2014, they attended the wedding of his younger brother Juan.

Martín plays snow polo, and has participated in (at least) the sixth edition of the Snow Polo Cerro Bayo. This tournament will be kept informed. He became champion at this tournament.

The residents of Villa la Angostura like him and call him Zorro. He is active in various sports, such as snowboarding, snow polo and skiing. He also enjoys hiking and learned to fly fish from his father in Los Alerces National Park.

Máxima is not the only one in the family who loves music. Her youngest sister sang beautifully and her eldest brother Martín also likes to sing. For example, he participates in a band called Papas Bravas in Villa la Angostura.

Juan Zorreguieta

Juan Zorreguieta was born on October 4, 1982, the second son and third child of Jorge Zorreguieta and Maria del Carmen Zorreguieta in Buenos Aires. The Zorreguieta children grew up in a modest apartment on Uriburu Street, which is located in the Barrio Norte district of Buenos Aires. During the summer holidays, the family often went to Mar del Plata, an Argentine port city on the Atlantic Ocean. The family also did winter sports. They had their own chalet near Bariloche, on the Cerro Catedral mountain. Bariloche is a tourist place in Argentina. Does the name Bariloche sound vaguely familiar? The royal family was on holiday in Bariloche in December 2010, 2012 and 2014, among others. Like Villa la Angostura, this is located on Nahuel Huapi Lake.

Juan is godfather to Princess Alexia. The ties with Juan are good. For example, the royal family was present with Princess Beatrix at the wedding of Juan Zorreguieta to Andrea Wolf. They married on June 7, 2014 at the Servitenkirche in Vienna, Austria. Andrea is Austrian. Unfortunately, Royalty magazine later reported that Juan and Andrea have divorced.

To the surprise of many people, Juan Zorreguieta was present on the square at Noordeinde Palace on Prince’s Day 2018, together with his mother. In 2019, a photo of Juan who was on holiday in Greece with Willem-Alexander and Máxima appeared on social media.

During the state visit to Slovakia, Juan was present at the performance. Bratislava is an hour’s drive from Vienna.

In terms of work, Juan has gone in the same direction as his sister Máxima. He has worked in the financial services sector for many years. He carries out, among other things, financial forensic analyses, valuations, organizes private auctions for investment portfolios, gives presentations to clients and colleagues and acts as deputy director for investment structures. Juan works in an international and multicultural environment and has been working in Vienna and Buenos Aires since 2012. Before his current job, he worked as a research analyst for Sigma Advisors in Buenos Aires from 2007 – 2012.

Ines Zorreguieta

Máxima’s only full sister Inés was a bridesmaid at her wedding in 2002. Inés was 13 years younger than Máxima. That Máxima loved her sister is evident from the fact that Princess Ariane was named after her. Aunt Inés was also allowed to bring Princess Ariane to church at her baptism. Inés enjoyed playing her guitar and sang beautifully.

After high school, Inés studied at the University of Belgrano. She graduated with a whopping 9.5 for Psychology and Human Sciences. She wrote her script about gender differences and their relationship to suicide. She got a job in Panama at the UN regional office and had a relationship with an Argentinian boy. The relationship ended in 2012 and she decided to move back to Argentina.

Máxima’s youngest sister was a singer and guitarist. She participated in the Festival Nuevas Voces in 2014. Here she sang songs by Jimi Hendrix, The Doors and The Beatles. Unfortunately, she herself suffered from depression, which caused her to die at a young age. Máxima later said about this: “When she died, she was 33 years old… Then you are overwhelmed by a lot of feelings. Sadness, loss, powerlessness. That it had gotten to this point and you couldn’t help her. But we didn’t really know how… it was hard to talk about it. Her death stirred up a lot of feelings. And the question keeps coming up: could we have done more? I soon noticed that I was not alone. I heard from many people who had gone through the same thing with a family member or a friend. How can you really help someone with mental problems? Many people struggle with that. I then started looking into this further. And I have made many working visits to organizations that are working on this. MIND was a great support and partner. Thank you very much.”

María Zorreguieta López Gil

María Zorreguieta López Gil is Máxima’s eldest half-sister. She was born in 1956. María married Adrián Vilov (brother-in-law of Máxima), born in 1958. As the eldest sister, María is clearly a real family person. In September, she posted a photo of her sisters and her mother Marta López Gil on her public Instagram account, who were visiting with other family members. However, the three sisters were not visibly in the picture at Juan and Andrea’s wedding in 2014 (which of course does not mean that they were not there).

In the photo below you see Máxima’s three half-sisters and their husbands. From left to right María Zorreguieta with Adrián Vilov, Dolores Zorreguieta and Harmond Grad Lewis and right Ángeles Zorreguieta with Adrián Vojnov.

Ángeles Zorreguieta López Gil

Ángeles Zorreguieta López Gil was born in 1958. She married Fernando Galante, with whom she had two children: Sebastián Galante Zorreguieta and Facundo Galante Zorreguieta. Her second marriage is to Adrián Vojnov. Together they had another daughter: Ana Vojnov Zorreguieta (born 1996). Máxima therefore has three aunt sayers through her half-sister Ángeles. Handsome gentlemen and a handsome young lady, with brown hair and brown eyes, the cousins ​​of Amalia, Alexia and Ariane. Ana, Ángeles’ daughter, sings in a band. It is not surprising where Máxima’s love for music comes from. The Zorreguieta family is quite musical.

Ángeles is director of the Leloir Institute. She studied biology at the University of Buenos Aires and later obtained her PhD in chemistry from the Campomar Foundation. In addition to being director, she also works as a microbiologist and participates in the Board of Directors as vice president. The Leloir Institute is a scientific research center for a drug against cancer.

Last year, in April 2023, she received the ‘Flor de Mujer’ prize from the Rossi Foundation.

Dolores Zorreguieta López Gil

Dolores Zorreguieta López Gil was born in 1965 in Buenos Aires. Her parents separated when she was two years old, and Dolores grew up with her mother. As a 4-year-old girl she could already draw and paint well. She was 11 years old when the military dictatorship started and experienced it very consciously. When she was 17, a democracy came to Argentina.

Máxima’s youngest half-sister is an artist and has lived and worked in New York since 1992. She was selected in 1994 to be part of Artist in the Marketplace at The Bronx Museum, for which she received a grant. She also later received grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the New York State Council of the Arts. She has exhibited in the United States, Latin America and Europe. She also teaches art at public schools. Dolores married Harmond Grad Lewis.

In 2005, Dolores’ work was exhibited in the Netherlands, in the Cobra Museum in Amstelveen. Her artwork is bizarre. She also shows the influence of the Argentine dictatorship in this: torture and murders. Anyone who takes a look at her Instagram account will see the eccentric art she makes. In 1994 she created Wounds, which represents 80 lumps of flesh, which refer to the mass murders. Dolores continues to build on this work. Experiences with violence that takes place in New York also play a role here. Yet she is not a gloomy woman herself, but she is a very cheerful and humorous person.

Willem-Alexander and Máxima were with Dolores at the opening of the Love and Intimity exhibition at the Cobra Museum in Amstelveen in 2005. Dolores was also present at the baptism of Princess Alexia in the same period. According to the caption to the photo below, Dolores was staying at Willem-Alexander and Máxima’s home at the time, at Villa Eikenhorst in Wassenaar.

Are you thinking about suicide yourself? Do you need help? Or do you want to help a loved one? Then call the healthcare professionals of the suicide prevention line 113, completely anonymously and confidentially, or call 0800-0113 free of charge.

Sources: La Nacion, The Royal Forums, NOS, Trouw, etc