During her latest interview, Queen Máxima of the Netherlands made an unexpected family confession that managed to move half of Europe. The consort monarch had no problem speaking publicly about her sister's passing.
It was in 2022 when King Willem-Alexander's wife launched the MIND Us foundation. This initiative was born four years after her sister Inés took her own life.
With this NGO, Queen Máxima has not only tried to channel her pain to help young people with mental health issues. In addition, reflecting her personal commitment, she has focused part of her public work on raising awareness about the importance of emotional well-being.
This foundation aims to break the taboo that still surrounds mental health issues. It seeks for affected people to be able to express what they feel and, above all, to find the help they need.
Through it, Queen Máxima of the Netherlands wants to offer young people the necessary tools so they can develop resilience and not feel alone during their struggles.
A few days ago, the monarch gave an interview to Linda magazine. In it, in addition to talking about her institutional commitments, she shared her personal experience with loneliness. At that moment, she was more open than ever when revealing how she experienced her sister's death.
Queen Máxima moves with her harsh testimony about her sister's death
During her interview, Queen Máxima stated that it was her sister's death that pushed her to give a voice to those who suffer in silence and to fully commit to this cause:
"When my sister passed away, I decided to sincerely share that she took her own life after years of mental health issues. Sharing my personal story has moved me deeply. I've received thousands of letters, flowers, cards, everything."
In addition, Queen Máxima acknowledged that, over these years, many people have contacted her to share their own stories. "They wrote to me: 'My brother also committed suicide, but I never dared to say it at work,' things like that," the monarch explained.
At that moment, visibly moved, King Willem-Alexander's wife had no qualms about acknowledging that "the letters I received have supported me enormously."
"Because I knew I wasn't alone... I always say that we all have sad moments and it's legitimate to be sad. When you feel alone or depressed, sometimes you feel like you're the only one in the world, but that's not the case," she added.
Meanwhile, Queen Máxima also revealed how she sees loneliness at this time: "The first thing is to break the taboo." "It's okay if you sometimes feel alone, it's very normal. Taking care of others, listening without judging," she concluded.