Happy Birthday, Queen Maxima!

Queen Maxima of the Netherlands was born in 1971 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Jorge Zorreguieta and María del Carmen Cerruti Carricart. Her engagement to Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander was announced in 2001 and they were married on February 2, 2002. With the abdication of Queen Beatrix, her husband became the new King and she, the Queen Consort. A popular figure both in the Netherlands and abroad because of her fashion sense and for her causes, Maxima is particularly interested on the issue of integration of immigrants into Dutch culture. She is also one of the very few royals who openly supports gay rights. In fact, she was the first royal to attend an LGBT rights conference in 2008. As the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA), the Queen helps to raise awareness on the importance of inclusive financial systems in order to alleviate poverty, ensure food security and promote education.

Check out these ten lovely photos of Queen Maxima that would make you love her even more.

At the inauguration of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima at Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam.

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Queen Maxima at the welcome ceremony at Palace Noordeinde in The Hague.

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Queen Maxima arrives for a dinner for the Diplomatic Corps at the Royal Palace at the Dam Square in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, May 14, 2014. Maxima wore a dress by Benito Fernandez and the Mellorio Rubies

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Dutch Queen Maxima and Crown Princess Amalia during a photo session at their residence Villa Eikenhorst in Wassenaar, July 2013.

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Maxima and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark on a visit at the carbon-neutral Samsø island, a small speck of land just off Denmark's Jutland Peninsula today.