There were many students today who attended college for the very first time in university or college, but one of them had dozens of cameras ready. For many journalists, Amalia’s first steps near university are an important media moment. But her fellow students don’t like it: “She should be able to study, right?”
Her lecture only starts at 5 pm, but at 3.30 pm the first cameras are already in front of the Roeterseiland campus of the University of Amsterdam. The question for many new students is who is waiting for, but it soon becomes clear: the crown princess will start her PPLE study today.
“This is really historical material”, says RTL Boulevard reporter and royalty expert Annemarie de Kunder: “We know the images of Beatrix that she walked there in Leiden, and also Willem-Alexander. This is something we will really see for years to come. ” It is the princess’s first public appearance in front of the camera all by herself.
After a long wait, the princess really comes around the corner in her white sneakers. She stands there for her photo opportunity at an appropriate distance. Many students don’t like it: “I would really hate it”, say two girls who have been watching the whole thing. One boy agrees: “I think she would have preferred that there was no one there and that she could walk around here as a normal student.”
Most journalists understand that feeling. “But”, says Shownieuws reporter Marius Looijmans, “I also think that we all want to see those first steps and say to her: go study and do your thing.”
Privacy
The intention is that the press will allow the crown princess to study in peace and privacy after this moment. “That is also my intention,” says De Kunder. “But suppose she falls very much in love with a boy, then we probably try to make some image of it.” The boy who has so much to do with her at first has to admit: “I hope I see her in this building one more time.”