The weather conditions were excellent. The atmosphere was one of relaxation and fun. Or should one say, of ‘duty first’? The Dutch royal family on Monday took time out from their skiing holiday in the Austrian village of Lech to pose for pictures.
They did so with a smile and unusually much patience. “How many more pictures can I take of a little girl skiing?”, an Austrian photographer asked when Princess Amalia once again descended the Alpine mountain.
There was surprise at the royal’s wish to have a photo session only one day after the first anniversary of Prince Friso’s skiing accident. The Dutch queen’s second son was hit by an avalanche while skiing off piste with a local friend.
The friend was saved by his air bag (ABS), Friso is still in a coma one year later. In front of the cameras the Queen and her eldest son ‘King-in-waiting’ Willem-Alexander and his family acted as if nothing ever happened.
But someting tragic did happen as the comparison between 2011’s photos and this year’s clearly shows. Friso, Mabel and their children are missing. Two years ago they made their first and only appearance at the photo call. The queen, who posed separatedly with the soon to be royal couple, might have thought about it.
In 2011, at the same place in Oberlech, the queen stood surrounded by her eight grandchildren – also a first, at least in public. “Can that man perhaps move out of the way”, a photographer asked, pointing at … Friso, who was taking pictures of his own. “But that is Friso”, the queen retorted.
How does she manage was a frequently asked question on the sunny slopes. And why did they come back? Tradition may be one of the answers. The Dutch royals have been coming here since 1959. When the queen had to skip a year because of knee surgery she was asked if she remembered the last time she did not go to Lech. She didn’t.
Just as the British Queen returns to Sandringham and Balmoral year after year, and Queen Margrethe to Grasten, so does Queen Beatrix – and her parents, who started the tradition, before her – return to the posh but cosey Austrian resort. “We have grown old together”, Lech’s mayor Ludwig Muxel said in an interview. The village is fond of its royal guests and shields them from intrusion and treats them as one of their own.
How the queen manages only she knows. Princess Mabel and her children were also in Lech, but chose for obvious reasons not to take part in the photo call. Nor did the queen’s third son Prince Constantijn and his young family. Hence the ‘call of duty’ mentioned above.
It helped of course that young children were involved, who just enjoyed the chance to be in the sun and in the snow. They almost took up the photographers on their challenge to throw snow balls at them. But Willem-Alexander stopped them in their tracks. “That will hound you all of your life”, he said wisely, knowing from own experience that pictures of ‘attacking’ the media will return again and again.
“But they are asking for it”, his eldest daughter Princess Amalia protested in vain. Her father was not to be convinced and suggested they show off their skiing skills, to the enjoyment of the photographers and tv teams. It made for a fitting end of the photo call.
© RB Hans Jacobs
A short video of the photo call can be viewed on Royalblog YouTube
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