Maxima of The Netherlands, the Queen of Fashion

Even before becoming a Queen Consort, Maxima is already known with her chic fashion sense and sophisticated choices of wardrobe. She always shows her versatility in fashion and colors and no matter where she is and what public engagement she graces, she manifests elegance and style.

The Queen of style

She is my top pick as the most fashionable and gorgeous wife of a European royal followed by Princess Stephanie of Luxembourg and Princess Mary of Denmark. And Letezia of Spain, wife of King Felipe VI and Queen Mathilde, wife of King Philip of Belgium rounded up my choices.

But perhaps, few have known that Maxima didn't come from the world of fashion when she met King Wilhelm-Alexander of The Netherlands in 1999 who was still a prince at that time. She was an investment banker at Deutsche bank in New York.

Born on March 23, 1971 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Maxima Zorroguieta perhaps never thought that one day she would meet a prince and become his princess and lived to become a Queen.

She is the daughter of a wealthy landed gentry in Argentina and has a degree in Economics from a Catholic University in Buenos Aires. And according to some accounts tracing the family roots of Maxima, her father, Jorge Zorreguieta, descended from a noble family in Basque.

But it was not all fairytale and happy story for this Argentinian Queen. When her relationship to Wilhelm became public in 1999, her suitability was put into question. By then, public opinion about commoners marrying future monarchs in Europe still unwelcoming.

It became more intense when the press discovered Maxima's father served as an agriculture minister during the turbulent period of Argentina where human injustices were reportedly committed.

An investigation on Jorge Zorreguieta's record was launched. It yielded a negative result and the marriage announcement was given a go signal in the parliament. However, Maxima's father paid a high price for a crime he didn't commit. It was privately advised he couldn't escort his daughter to the wedding to avoid attracting more unsettling news.

Maxima's parents didn't attend the wedding in Amsterdam and she was seen shedding tears during the ceremony. Years later, Maxima revealed how devastated she was to walk-down-the-aisle without a father on her side. But she did visit her parents in Argentina on private occasions several times accompanied by her husband.

As a wife of Wilhelm-Alexander, the Prince of Orange, Maxima however, was known as Princess Maxima of The Netherlands. She couldn't carry the title, Princess of Orange because it is reserved for the female heir-apparent of a Dutch monarch. The Netherlands already follows an absolute law of succession where the eldest child of a ruling monarch is the successor irrespective of gender.

In April 2013, Queen Beatrix abdicated and her eldest son succeeded her as Dutch monarch. It was the first time that the country has a King since William III in over a century. Maxima also became the first Queen consort of The Netherlands since Emma Waldeck-Pyrmont.