Caribbean Netherlands Fire Brigade division St. Eustatius BKCN fire trucks giving a water salute to the arriving royal family.
ST. EUSTATIUS--The Dutch royal family – King Willem-Alexander, Queen Máxima and Princess Catharina-Amalia – landed in St. Eustatius on Wednesday, February 8, for a one-day visit.
The visit introduced the princess to the Caribbean part of the Kingdom.
The Caribbean Netherlands Fire Brigade Division St. Eustatius BKCN fire truck gave a water salute to the WINAIR aircraft carrying the royal family, State Secretary of Kingdom Relations Alexandra van Huffelen and delegation after it touched down at F.D. Roosevelt airport.
The royal family received a loud and warm welcome from the large number of awaiting schoolchildren and onlookers waving their orange flags and dressed in colourful outfits to welcome the royal family to the island.
The royal family was greeted by Government Commissioner Alida Francis, Deputy Government Commissioner Claudia Toet, Island Commissioners Glenville Schmidt and Derrick Simmons. Young Zjailiënska Suares and Ricardo Anjulo Fortin presented the royal family and the State Secretary with flowers.
During their one-day visit, the historic part of the capital, Oranjestad, was the most poignant part of their visit.
With 19 forts and lots of well-preserved colonial buildings scattered around the island, Statia itself is an open-air museum. But in Oranjestad, it is the green-and-white gingerbread buildings made of cut stone and scalloped white wooden shingles that stimulate the imagination.
“All of them stand out because all of them together [are – Ed.] what make up Statia’s history. They are critical elements in the history of Statia, because without all of them you don’t have the history,” explained Misha Spanner of the St. Eustatius Historical Foundation.
Spanner, leading a guided tour of the so-called “historic core”, said many of the historic buildings date back to the 18th century, with some West Indian-style buildings that date back to the 1800s.
The royals visited the fully restored Fort Oranje, built by the Dutch in 1636. It is impressive old Dutch architecture with bright, colourful, local influences. During the visit they also walked a short part of the Old Slave Path, built by hand by enslaved Africans in 1636.
