Queen Máxima works through her 48th birthday after Ethiopia visit

After a busy week that included a working trip to Africa, Queen Máxima celebrated her 48th birthday on Friday. She has been queen of the Netherlands for just over six years, after King Willem-Alexander’s mother Beatrix abdicated on April 30, 2013.

The King and Queen were scheduled to attend an event on Friday commemorating 100 years of equal voting rights in the Netherlands. All women in the country gained the right to cast a ballot in 1919, two years after men, according to the Dutch government information service.

Women were first able to exercise their right during the lower house election of 1921.

Before leaving Addis Ababa to fly home, Máxima said she had not yet planned anything for her birthday, according to RTL Nieuws. She was in Ethiopia to obtain a clearer picture of financial services access in the country. Some 65 percent of the adult population there, particularly women and rural residents, have no access to financing, the Dutch government said in a statement.

Máxima is the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development. She was in Ethiopia by invitation of the government there.