Work and official duties since 2002

Orange Fund

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima are patrons of the Orange Fund, which was a gift from the Dutch people on the occasion of their wedding in 2002. The Fund, which works for social welfare and cohesion in the Netherlands, is driven largely by volunteers. By undertaking numerous working visits, and taking part in activities such as the volunteer initiative NLdoet, the couple are able to broaden and deepen their engagement with society and fulfil their role of unifying and encouraging the people. Each May, the Appeltjes van Oranje awards are presented to institutions that set an example in the field of welfare and cohesion. This task is usually performed by Queen Máxima or, once every five years, by King Willem-Alexander.

Council of State

Queen Máxima has been a member of the Council of State since 2004. The Council of State provides the government and Parliament with independent advice on legislation and governance and is also the country’s highest administrative court.

Prince Claus Chair

Queen Máxima is patron of the Prince Claus Chair, which was endowed to promote education and research relating to international development issues. From 2003 to 2014 Queen Máxima headed the Board of Trustees.

Money Wise Platform

Queen Máxima has been honorary chair of the Money Wise Platform since 2010. In this capacity, she focuses attention on the importance of financial education and managing money sensibly, especially where children and young people are concerned. The Queen acts as special advisor to the Platform and consults with interested parties on ways of increasing people’s financial awareness and resilience.

Netherlands Committee for Enterprise

Queen Máxima is a member of the Netherlands Committee for Enterprise, which was established by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy to encourage entrepreneurship in the Netherlands. The Committee also focuses on strengthening the growth potential of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It publishes an annual trend analysis entitled ‘State of the SMEs’. 

The Committee succeeded the Microfinance Council in 2011. Queen Máxima was a member of the Microfinance Council from 2007 to 2011.

Ambassadors for Music at School Platform

Since 10 June 2015 Queen Máxima has been the honorary chair of the Ambassadors for Music at School Platform. Over the next five years the platform will be working to achieve its goal of music lessons for all children in primary school. Music is about more than just having fun. Making music together teaches children to listen to each other and work together. Queen Máxima has for some years been committed to giving as many children as possible the opportunity to create music.

SchuldenlabNL

Since January 2022 Queen Máxima has been honorary chair of SchuldenlabNL, and has been involved in its activities since it was launched in 2018. SchuldenlabNL is a public-private partnership that seeks to make the Netherlands free of debt problems by identifying and preventing financial difficulties at an early stage. The organisation supports efforts to scale up successful methods of helping people with their debts. In the autumn of 2020 Queen Máxima received stakeholders at Noordeinde Palace to launch the pact ‘Towards a Netherlands Free of Debt Problems’.