With her husband King Willem-Alexander stuck at home with a chest infection, Queen Máxima has been busy meeting with politicians, business leaders and activists on a whirlwind working trip to the US states of California and Texas.

In San Francisco on the second day of her 6-9 September visit, the Queen met unexpectedly with Californian congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the US House of Representatives, at a restaurant near the iconic Golden Gate Bridge.

‘I commended the Netherlands’ bold leadership on climate, and I proudly accepted Her Majesty’s praise for our efforts – in California and across America – to build a sustainable future,’ the speaker posted on her Twitter account. ‘We also discussed both the opportunities and challenges that social media presents to our society and to our children. On these and other issues, we found common ground and shared values.’

Rights

Queen Máxima’s trip to San Francisco marked the city’s first official visit from a European royal in 17 years. She toured the city’s Castro District, highlighting the connection between the Netherlands and San Francisco on LGBTQ+ rights.

‘I’m here to not only learn about your history, but also to learn from each other,’ Queen Máxima said. ‘We have to make our world equal for everybody, so that everybody feels at home wherever they live.’

The Netherlands was the first country to legalise same-sex marriage in 2001.

Circular

The Netherlands and California have been working together for some years on climate change action, and this visit is intended to broaden cooperation on circular economy issues. Dutch and Californian officials have signed a pledge to create more electric vehicle charging infrastructure and to build a zero-waste circular economy.

In 2021, Dutch-US economic ties supported an estimated 955,000 American jobs, and an estimated 77,000 of them were based in California.

The Queen also paid a visit to Google’s headquarters and HackerOne, a Dutch tech firm headquartered in San Francisco. She is currently in Texas, where she will wrap up her visit on Friday.