Spanish magazine faces criticism for Princess Catharina-Amalia's 'plus-size' reference

The picture is taken from the Dutch royal family's summer photocall at Huis ten Bosch earlier this month.

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands' daughter Princess Catharina-Amalia is on the cover of a Spanish gossip magazine. But, the magazine in its headline referred to the princess as a "plus-size" girl. It has drawn the ire of Argentine media.

The Spanish-language gossip magazine Caras is under fire for its July 22 cover featuring Princess Catharina-Amalia, 16, along with her mother Queen Maxima, Royal Central reports. The photograph in question is the one from the Dutch royal family's summer photocall at Huis ten Bosch earlier this month.

In addition to its headline about the teenager, it also includes a sub-header that reads: "The harassed heir to the throne of the Netherlands faces criticism with force and with the support of her parents. A princess who goes through puberty without taboos and defends her figure of 'real woman.'"

Not only Argentine newspapers, but social media users, have criticised the magazine cover. In an interview with La Nacion, Brenda Mato, a body positivity activist and model said that with the progress being made in accepting different body types in mainstream media, "...what is counterproductive is what happened with this cover because the headline refers to having your body looked at."

She added that the cover "continues to perpetuate that the important thing about a young woman is her appearance and her physique, which is not really what defines us. Her achievements, goals and what she does are never discussed. It is a stereotyped message. This has many negative connotations, especially adolescents who look at that cover, feel reflected and see that they refer to it in this way."

Florencia Freijo, a feminist and political scientist and writer, said to the abovementioned outlet: "They wanted to join the body positive movement and it went very wrong. It is tremendous that a massive cover says: 'Look, the daughter of royalty is allowed to be fat,' but the question is why the weight should be on a magazine cover, bearing in mind that she had other achievements."

Mato said" "It seems to me a very rude mistake to comment on the body of a teenager. Privacy goes beyond who it is, it has to do with the way in which the subject is treated."

However, Caras's editor, Héctor Maugeri, stood by the cover, saying that Catharina-Amalia is a representative for teenagers to show that they should not be ashamed if they are bullied for their weight. The Dutch royal family has not commented on the magazine cover.