Dutch Heir Princess Catharina-Amalia No Longer Lives in Amsterdam Student Housing Due to Threats

Dutch heir Princess Catharina-Amalia faced security threats, forcing her to leave student housing and move back home.

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands spoke about their eldest daughter during a press conference on Thursday to wrap up their state visit to Sweden. Although Princess Amalia, 18, started school at the University of Amsterdam this fall, she is now living at the Huis ten Bosch palace and leaving only for classes.

"She is not out of the house," said Queen Maxima, 51, according to the Dutch outlet AD. "You may have heard of certain news items or something. It has huge consequences for her life. Means she doesn't live in Amsterdam and also that she can't really go outside. Those consequences are very difficult for her. No student life for her, like other students have. I'm very proud of her and how she keeps it all going."

Maxima also said, "It makes me a bit emotional. It's not nice to see your child live like that. She can go to university, but that's it."

King Willem-Alexander, 55, added that it's "really tough" for him as a father.

Queen Maxima also quipped, "Maybe she can get very good grades now."

The palace announced in the spring that Princess Catharina-Amalia plans to pursue a bachelor's degree in politics, psychology, law and economics.

The Dutch heir to the throne took a gap year after graduating from high school. In keeping with Dutch tradition, she raised the country's flag along with her backpack in a video shared to the family's social media accounts after passing her final exams at the Christelijk Gymnasium Sorghvliet in The Hague.

Ahead of her 18th birthday, the royal turned down a nearly $2 million annual allowance until she formally takes up royal duties.

"I find that uncomfortable as long as I do not do anything for it in return, and while other students have a much tougher time of it, particularly in this period of coronavirus," Princess Catharina-Amalia said in a handwritten letter to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

She said she would repay the nearly $400,000 she was entitled to during her time as a student and would not claim $1.6 million in expenses "until I incur high costs in my role as Princess of Orange."

Last year, Princess Amalia told biographer Claudia de Breij that she doesn't feel ready to be queen and would ask her mother Queen Maxima to step in should her father King Willem-Alexander unexpectedly die in the near future.

"I said to my father, 'You just keep on eating healthy and exercising a lot,' " the royal said.

In the book, Princess Amalia shared her love of tiaras — including a newly released photo of the young royal sporting Queen Emma's Ruby Parure Tiara in October 2012 (likely as her mother Queen Maxima was packing it for Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stephanie of Luxembourg's wedding).

"I love tiaras," Princess Amalia said in the biography, simply titled Amalia. "Show me a tiara, and I'll know where it came from. I can recognize all the tiaras of Europe. I used to put them on from my mother. Then there would be one on her make-up table, and I would have it directly on my head."

Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!

She had her first public tiara moment this past summer when she sported the Dutch Star Tiara for Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway's 18th birthday gala.