Editing Queen Máxima of the Netherlands (section)

==Relationship with Willem-Alexander==
[[File:Willem-alexander and maxima 2001.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|right|Máxima and Willem-Alexander, 2001]]
[[File:Huwelijksportret van de Prins van Oranje en Prinses Máxima.jpg|thumb|right|The royal wedding, February 2002]]
[[File:Willem-Alexander, Maxima and their daughters 2013.jpg|thumb|right|Willem-Alexander, Máxima and their daughters on the balcony of the [[Royal Palace of Amsterdam|Royal Palace]], after the abdication of Queen Beatrix in 2013]]
[[File:RoyalCoupleOnSaba2.jpg|thumb|right|Queen Máxima and King Willem-Alexander in [[Saba (island)|Saba]] in 2013]]
[[File:Reunión bilateral con S.M. la Reina Máxima de los Países Bajos. (21778694101).jpg|thumb|Máxima in 2015 with President [[Enrique Peña Nieto]] of Mexico]]

Máxima met Willem-Alexander in April 1999 in [[Seville]], Spain, during the [[Seville Fair|Seville Spring Fair]]. In an interview, they stated that he introduced himself only as "Alexander", so that she did not know he was a prince. She thought he was joking when he later told her that he was the [[Prince of Orange]] and heir apparent to the Dutch throne. 
According to the unauthorised biography "Máxima. La construcción de una reina", she was invited to Seville by a friend living in New York who openly said she would introduce her to two European princes.
They agreed to meet again two weeks later in New York, where Máxima was working for [[Dresdner Kleinwort Benson]]. Their relationship apparently began in New York.{{Citation needed|date=December 2021}}

The news of the couple's relationship and eventual marriage plans caused controversy in the Netherlands, due to the involvement of Máxima's father [[Jorge Zorreguieta]] as a cabinet minister during the [[National Reorganization Process]], the most recent Argentine dictatorship. Her father's 1979–1981 tenure as a minister took place during the later stages of the [[Dirty War]] (1974–1982), a period of repression that saw about 30,000 people killed or [[forced disappearance|disappeared]] during the seven-year military regime. At the request of the [[States General of the Netherlands|States General]], Michiel Baud, a Dutch professor in Latin American studies, carried out an inquiry into the involvement of Zorreguieta in the Dirty War. Zorreguieta claimed that, as a civilian, he was unaware of the Dirty War while he was a cabinet minister. Baud determined that Máxima's father had not been directly involved in any of the numerous atrocities that took place during that period. However, Baud also concluded that Zorreguieta was almost certainly aware of them; in Baud's view, it was highly unlikely that a cabinet minister would not have known about them.<ref>[http://www.noticias.nl/zr_baud_maart01.html Human rights: Zorreguieta vs.humanrights] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090119043936/http://www.noticias.nl/zr_baud_maart01.html |date=19 January 2009 }}, March 2001.</ref>  After becoming queen, Máxima's popularity increased. As of 2024, she is the most popular Dutch royal.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pascoe |first=Robin |date=2024-04-27 |title=Maxima remains the most popular royal, NOS survey shows |url=https://www.dutchnews.nl/2024/04/maxima-remains-the-most-popular-royal-nos-survey-shows/ |access-date=2024-12-14 |website=DutchNews.nl |language=en-GB}}</ref>

A television series ''Máxima Zorreguieta: Motherland'' began airing on Videoland in the Netherlands in 2024. The series is set to focus on her early life in Argentina and meeting King Willem-Alexander.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.royal-news.org/european-royals/drama-series-about-queen-maxima-set-to-air-in-april/ | title=Drama series about Queen Maxima set to air in April | date=20 December 2023 }}</ref>