Future queen starts high school riding a Dutch granny's bike

Princess Amalia, the future queen of the Netherlands, started her first day of high school at the Christelijk Gymnasium Sorghvliet in The Hague on Monday. She left her home, Eikenhorst in Wassenaar, this morning on what the Dutch call an "omafiets" - literal translation "grandma bike", better known as a roadster. The Royal House released a video and photograph - both taken by King Willem Alexander - for the occasion. The Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst, the government information service, has asked the media to stay away from the school to give the princess some privacy. "It is in the interest of the Princess that she can go to school in peace." the Royal family's press office said in a statement. "Like her peers, the Princess has the right to an undisturbed use. Because Princess Catharina-Amalia's life will be largely devoted to public duties in future, it is important that her privacy be respected." According to NOS, Sorghvliet is an independent Protestant school with about 700 pupils. The princess' registration at the school was kept quiet until after the deadline, because she did not want other children to choose the school only because she will be a pupil there.