"His Majesty King Willem-Alexander will not participate in the working visit to California and Texas from 6 to 9 September 2022," the Dutch Royal Palace said in a statement. "This decision has been made on doctors' advice. The King is recovering from pneumonia, and air travel at this time could impede a full recovery. The King’s commitments in the Netherlands will not be affected by this decision and will go ahead as planned, albeit on a more limited scale.”
Queen Maxima went solo, arriving in San Francisco, California on September 6, Tuesday. She was accompanied by members of the Dutch government.
While in California, Queen Maxima met Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the United States' House of Congress. The Queen also posed for photographs at the Golden Gate Bridge, a popular tourist attraction along the San Francisco Bay.
Her visit covered California, Austin, and Houston in Texas. "The Netherlands is the largest EU trading partner for Texas. California and Texas are the first and ninth economies in the world respectively and therefore, interesting partners for further economic cooperation for The Netherlands", according to the Dutch Royal House.
Queen Máxima visited the Bay Area in San Francisco, and had a stop at the City Hall. During a discussion at Salesforce Tower, panelists highlighted the goals and challenges California and Holland share.
"So many of our conversations stem from our lack of housing," San Francisco Mayor London Breed said. "I know that the Netherlands faces these same challenges especially in its largest city, Amsterdam.
Queen Máxima also toured San Francisco's Castro neighborhood, visiting the LGBT Historical Society Museum. For Holland natives living in San Francisco, this was a rare up-close encounter with the queen.
The Queen's itinerary highlighted the “Kingdom’s excellent economic relations” with the two states of California and Texas. Queen Maxima visited Silicon Valley in California and had a meeting with Google's executives.
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Queen Maxima visited Google in Silicon Valley |
During a visit to Google, attention is paid to the company's climate goals, sustainable solutions, and innovations that contribute to combating climate change and Google's role in The Netherlands.
"We need high tech that helps to make our world safer, cleaner, and more enterprising and inclusive", according to the Dutch Royal House.
Queen Maxima also delivered a short speech at the "Holland in the Valley" gathering during her visit to Stanford University, which is located in the heart of Silicon Valley.
Her visit was the first official royal visit to San Francisco since 2005 when The Prince of Wales, now King Charles III, visited the city.
The final day of Queen Maxima's working visit was in Houston, Texas. She was received by Mayor Sylvester Turner, and participated in a discussion on solutions to protect the city from floods.
Houston was devastated by Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and caused a heavy damage on its infrastructure and means of living.
The Queen then went on a boat ride on Buffalo Bayou, talking about the measure Houston has taken to better protect the city from flooding. The boat ride ended at the Cistern, a former underground water reservoir in Buffalo Bayou Park.
She also visited the MD Anderson Cancer Center, where innovative treatments for cancer are explained. And visited the ward where children with cancers were treated.
On the final day of her working US visit, Queen Maxima joins in Houston for some conversations by the traveling CEO delegation. She also attended the signing of a statement of intent between Greater Houston Partnership and VNO-NCW.
On September 9, the Queen said, "We've come to the end of two fantastic days in Texas, following two fantastic days in California. Later, this evening I will be going back to The Netherlands, full of impressions and above all a great deal of appreciation and admiration for what you are accomplishing here".
The Queen's working visit concluded with a reception at the Museum of Fine Arts with American and Dutch companies in Texas, where Queen Maxima gave a speech.
Royal fashion icon
Queen Maxima is one of the most stylish royals in the world, and every public appearance and overseas tour, her outfits and looks often got the most coverage.
For her solo US Tour, she repeated some of her past wardrobe, and added some elements on the fitting for a new look.
She also donned hat fascinators but kept low on jewelry pieces. Haven't seen diamonds on the Queen's look during this visit, unlike in the Austrian state visit with King Willem-Alexander in May this year.
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