Did it take you long to decide on your answer when you were invited on the boat trip?
‘In theory I have some doubts about the monarchy, but when you get an invitation like that you don’t need to think twice. I am really pleased that Master’s and PhD students are getting a look-in. Wageningen has a lot of PhD students working on groundbreaking research and I would like to inform Willem-Alexander and Máxima about it.’
Do you expect to get a real chance to talk to the royal couple, with hundreds of other guests on board?
‘If they try to talk to everyone, I will have less that half a minute. Queen Beatrix always chose in advance specific people she wanted to talk to, and often they were young scientists. My subject area is close to Willem-Alexander’s and Máxima’s interests so I am hoping to be able to talk to them for a bit longer than half a minute.’
Have you already studied the etiquette that goes with these sorts of encounters?
‘I got a letter from the province of Gelderland but there was nothing in it about etiquette. Maybe they will tell us more about that on the boat. To be on the safe side I am going to read up about it, because I don’t know how you are supposed to address a king and queen.’