The Dutch Royal Palace has issued another update on future Queen of the Netherlands Princess Catharina-Amalia, who was rushed to hospital after falling from a horse
A palace update has been issued on a future queen who was rushed to hospital following a fall from her horse. Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands, who is heir to the throne and is known as a keen equestrian, suffered the fall that saw her rushed to hospital with a broken upper arm earlier this week.
She had to undergo surgery to treat the break at a hospital in the city of Utrecht. The Dutch Royal Palace later confirmed that the surgery went well and that she had suffered a “fracture in her upper arm”. Her accident also means that a summer photo session that Amalia had been scheduled to attend today has now had to be postponed until later in the month.
Catharina-Amalia, 21, is the eldest child of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and both were informed of their daughter’s accident.
At an engagement yesterday, King Willem-Alexander spoke about his daughter, telling reporters: “I can say that I was very impressed by how brave she was with immense pain. And that she took it very calmly. We are very proud of her, how she got through the operation.”
Amalia has been heir to the throne in the Netherlands since 2013 when her father King Willem-Alexander became King. She has two younger sisters Princess Alexia and Princess Ariane.
In 2022, she was forced to move out of her university accommodation after fears she could have been kidnapped by organised gangs. She was placed under heightened security due to concern that she could be targeted by criminals.
However, she isn’t the only royal in the past year to have suffered injuries as a result of a horse. Last June, Princess Anne suffered a major concussion, thought to have been caused by a horse.
The King’s sister had set out alone and on foot to feed her chickens on her Gatcombe estate in Gloucestershire before becoming involved in an incident, where she is believed to have been struck from behind by a horse, that left her concussed and badly bruised.
The Princess was rushed to hospital by ambulance and was treated as an in-patient before being discharged several days later to convalesce at home. At the time Buckingham Palace said she had been admitted “as a precautionary measure for observation”, but the princess later revealed the true horror of the accident.
On her return to Southmead Hospital in Bristol where she was treated, Anne met paramedics and members of the critical care team who treated her at the scene, as well as those who cared for her in the ICU, which had not previously been known.
The Princess told hospital staff that it was “useful” to meet them as she was still unable to recall what happened. After touring the intensive care unit and chatting to several medics, including Morwenna Maddock, the ICU matron who oversaw her care, the Princess gave a short speech thanking them for their efforts.
“You’ve been filling in the blanks, which partly, from my perspective, is really useful to know how it happened, because I seriously don’t have any idea, and sadly, I don’t have huge memories of being in here either,” she said.
On Saturday, she is expected to be seen riding in public for the first time since her accident when she takes part in Trooping the Colour, with her tipped to take part in the procession on horseback.
