A royal encounter – up close and personal with Crown Princess Maxima
May 22, 2012 64 Comments
That’s me with the big grin a step behind Crown Princess Maxima
Let me take a break from my Tuscany series of posts and tell you of my royal encounter yesterday with our lovely crown princess. I was lucky to get an invite from my alma mater, the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) to attend the inaugural lecture of Professor Stella Luz A. Quimbo from the University of the Philippines School of Economics following her appointment to the Prince Claus Chair in Development and Equity.
The Prince Claus Chair which is chaired by Princess Maxima was established by Utrecht University and the International Institute of Social Studies in early 2003 in honour of Prince Claus of the Netherlands (1926-2002) who has been deeply committed in promoting development and equity throughout the world.
This was actually my second time to attend this event and the second time to see the crown princess in person. It was just amazing to finally shake hands with her and introduced myself as being from the Philippines. Something to tell grandchildren in my old days that I had this real meeting with the princess (she’ll be queen by then) and finally documented with this one picture. 
These pictures were taken by Piet Gispen, the official ISS photographer and lifted from the ISS Flickr site.
Princess Maxima
Professor Stella Quimbo
Professor Quimbo with the Rector Magnificus of Erasmus University and Rector of ISS
Professor Quimbo with Princess Maxima, the rectors and the ISS faculty
Professor Quimbo with Princess Maxima, the Mayor of The Hague and the rectors
Princess Maxima in conversation with the ISS students
