You want to see that!
Queen Máxima makes a parachute jump
The school that Queen Máxima visited today has been providing all parachute training within the armed forces since 2008. 800 to 1000 soldiers are trained every year. Our queen wanted to see that with her own eyes.
Visit to the school
The Queen’s visit started quietly. She was briefed on the school’s responsibilities. She spoke to military personnel about their training and to instructors about their work and missions.
Tour and demonstration
Máxima was given a tour of the training hall and was allowed to view the material. Then things got a bit more exciting: she received an instruction about free fall and the automatic opening and dropping loads on a parachute from a transport aircraft. This was followed by a demonstration of the parachute folding at the jump tower.
Exciting moment
Would she have had clammy hands by then? Something very exciting followed. The queen was going to make a tandem jump herself. Under supervision of course. And that on the day that Tim Hofman announces a BOOS episode about the bond between defense and the royal family.
tandem jump
In a tandem jump, the passenger is attached to a trained paratrooper to jump and land together. During missions, for example, doctors or interpreters who have no experience with parachuting are taken along.
Do you want to see
This time it was Queen Máxima’s turn. She was attached to an experienced paratrooper and together they made a tandem jump. How cool is that! It was especially King Willem-Alexander and princesses Amalia, Alexia and Ariane who thought it was exciting that Máxima was going to do this.
Response from Maxima
After Máxima had landed, she told bystanders: “They thought it was exciting that I did it. They said: ‘Are you sure, Mummy?’” She was quite nervous before her jump: “I really had to tell myself: you still have to breathe”, said the queen. “It was very exciting. And of course you get more nervous as the moment approaches.” Finally, she jumped “confidently.” She describes the jump itself mainly as ‘fast’.
Willem-Alexander and Máxima have a full agenda. How do they combine their busy lives with parenthood?
Source: Royal House.nl