Princess Alexia der Netherlands talks about mental problems

A few years ago, Queen Máxima had made the Netherlands public that their daughters Amalia and Alexia used psychological help. Princess Alexia has now also opened openly about mental health.

In an interview with the Dutch magazine “Story”, she explained: “I know better than any other how strongly social media and the comparison with others can influence a person.”

The princess made it aware that mental problems for young people are an important topic: “I am very happy that psychological problems in young people worldwide no longer than ‘this is simply to be dismissed. But that they are taken seriously.”

Alexia is the second child of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima. She has been studying in London since last year. Her family and friends play a major role for the 20-year-old, as revealed in the interview. Above all, contact with her parents is tight: “I sometimes call them twice a day. Like most who have moved out of home, I think a little more often with my mother than with my father.”

The subject of mental health has always been concerned with the royal family. Queen Máxima’s younger sister suffered from severe depression and eating disorders. In 2018 she committed suicide at the age of 33. Máxima launched a foundation in 2022, which is particularly important for the mental health of young people between the ages of twelve and 27.

Alexias and a half years older sister Amalia spoke about her therapy experience years ago. As a child, her parents sent them to psychologists. She reported about bodyshaming and bullying. “I don’t think it’s a taboo,” said the heir to the throne. “Sometimes it all gets too much for me, school, friends, and then I’ll talk to someone.”