I'm not a protocol fetishist. It's more important to me that people feel at ease when I'm with them.

Sometimes it just means flying from Bogota to New York via Amsterdam to have a day with your kids. When we spend time with them, I think we do our utmost best to be really with them - on vacations or during weekends or even at breakfast in the morning.

I want to be a traditional king first and foremost, building on the tradition of my predecessors standing for continuity and stability in this country, but also a 21st-century king who can unite, represent and encourage society.

Here in the Netherlands there are towns that take part in the throwing of toilet bowls for a laugh.

I can't understand it. I can't even understand the people who can understand it.

I realize that much will be asked of me, yet I am resolved to accept it as a great and splendid task.