AMSTERDAM, 02/02/01 - Crown Prince Willem-Alexander took his girlfriend Maxima to the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam on Wednesday evening. His mother Queen Beatrix was holding a private celebration there for her 63rd birthday.

The public presence of Maxima at Prince Willem-Alexander's side came at a moment when MPs are becoming increasingly agitated about the part played by Maxima's father. At the Queen's sixtieth birthday celebration, the crown prince's girlfriend of the moment, Emily, was still only admitted to the festivities separately.

For leftwing Green (GroenLinks) parliamentary leader Paul Rosenmoller, the public appearance of Willem-Alexander and Maxima was the last straw. He fears that the Lower House will be faced with a fait accompli.

In a TV program, he said that Prime Minister Wim Kok should give the House his assurance that before an engagement is announced between the crown prince and Maxima, a debate will be held on the role of her father. Jorge Zorreguieta took part in the regime of the military junta in Argentina in the sixties and seventies.

Kok has consistently declared that he will not comment before there is talk about the couple's engagement. However, GroenLinks fears that notice of an engagement will only be given an hour or two before it is actually announced. "Before you know it, we will have the crown prince and Maxima posing for the cameras, accompanied by both sets of parents," Rosenmoller stated.