The Dutch royals have hosted a state banquet for the Portuguese President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
The President was on a two-day state visit to the Netherlands. The two countries have had diplomatic ties since 1664 and even had a connection by marriage when William, the Prince of Orange’s daughter Emilia married Manuel of Portugal, a pretender to the Portuguese throne during the 1580 Portuguese succession crisis, in 1597.
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima made a state visit to Portugal in 2017.
During the state banquet, King Willem-Alexander joked about the President’s upcoming birth, saying he wouldn’t congratulate him yet as that would bring him bad luck. He added, “Mr. President, you are an avid reader; I heard whispers that you devour several books a week. So you must know the following lines in which Luís de Camões sings of the most universal of all human emotions: love. Love is a fire that burns unseen, a wound that aches yet isn’t felt. It must sound even more beautiful in Portuguese.”
He also spoke about Baruch Spinoza, a philosopher with Portuguese parents who lived in Amsterdam. He said, “A pioneer of freedom of thought and speech. A peaceful seeker of truth who was never satisfied with established ideas and easy answers. I sometimes think: we need a little more Spinoza in our time…”
The King and Queen were also joined by their eldest daughter, the Princess of Orange.
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