Crown Princess Maxima spent her second officialy day in New York baptizing Holland’s newest tulip.
AP/Mary Altaffer
The tulip, which is of an orange color, was named the “Henry Hudson” after the explorer who discovered the river and bay that surrounds New York. His discovery led to the Dutch colonization of the area.
Maxima planted the tulip bulbs in a box in Battery Park, which was once the fort that surrounded New Amsterdam. She then poured water from a champagne glass after giving the flower its name.
The tulip will be officially and permanently listed in the International Register of Tulips of the Dutch Royal General Bulb Growers Association.
Also today, Maxima and her husband, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, gave a knighthood to a ship captain. The captain of the Halfmoon replica – the ship which Henry Hudson sailed in – William T. “Chip” Reynolds was honored with the medal of the Order of the Orange-Nassau at Manhattan’s Dutch Consulate. That makes Reynolds an honorary knight of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.
The knighthood is given to those who are not citizens of Holland.
