Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and his wife Maxima met up with their old friend Prince Moulay Rachid in Marrakech at the weekend.
The Dutch royals jetted into Morocco on Sunday afternoon for a visit marking 400 years of friendship between their two countries. While the crown prince's relations with Moulay Rachid don't go back quite so far, it would be fair to say they have been on amicable terms for quite a while too. In December last year they met up at the Nieuwe Kerk museum in Amsterdam for the opening of an exhibition of Moroccan treasures.
And King Mohammed's younger brother was also in attendance when Willem-Alexander and his Argentine bride walked down the aisle in 2002. The following year the Dutch heir and his North African friend, who is second-in-line to the Alaouite throne, flew out to Japan together to support the World Water forum.
Some time has passed since Moulay last played host to the Dutch prince, however. Indeed the European royal was still a bachelor when he landed in the capital Rabat to begin a three-day visit back in October 2000. On that occasion he also spent time with his brother, King Mohammed, though it was the younger sibling who came to welcome him at the airport.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
