BUENOS AIRES, 09/03/01 - After his controversial remarks about a letter from former junta leader Videla that was printed in the Argentinean newspaper La Nacion, Prince Willem-Alexander himself took a prominent place in the paper's columns yesterday. Under the headline 'Dutch Prince defends his engagement', the newspaper gives a comprehensive report of the commotion in the Netherlands.

La Nacion claimed that the Dutch press was in a state of shock. "For the first time in the three centuries that the monarchy has existed in the Netherlands, a Crown Prince has broken his silence and addressed a personal issue in public," the article stated.

It is "even more surprising," the newspaper went on, that the Crown Prince referred Dutch journalists to a foreign publication. There is also attention for the "government reprimand" Prime Minister Wim Kok directed at the Prince. La Nacion speaks of a "controversy" that has the government, parliament and people of the Netherlands in its grip.