Aboeprijadi Santoso, Amsterdam.

Of princes and dictators, they are often well connected by some interests, but seldom by marriage. Not surprisingly, perhaps, when a Dutch prince planned to marry the daughter of a former aide of a dictator, it raised a hot issue.

The problem is not the bride. Maxima Zorreguieta (30), the Argentinean young woman who will possibly become the next Dutch Queen, is described here as "immensely popular", outranking her would-be husband, the Crown Prince Willem-Alexander (34).

Yet the royal wedding on Feb 2 in Amsterdam was not without controversy. For Maxima's father, Jorge Horacio Zorreguieta, is a former Minister of Agriculture in Gen. Videla regime in the 1970s, one of the most brutal dictatorships in Latin America. Was Jorge aware of, or even involved in the tortures, killings and disappearance of thousands of his compatriots? If so, should he be presence at the royal wedding of his daughter?

According to the Dutch constitution, a royal marriage has to be agreed by the parliament, or else the prince or princess has to relinquish his or her royal claims. A tainted royal wedding would have spoiled the image, if not the legitimacy, of the royal house.

The Dutch government, who is politically responsible for the behavior of members of the Orange royal house, was well aware of the potential time bomb that Crown Prince's choice and Jorge Zorreguieta's past have created. But The Hague's long silence on the issue had made the public, including members of parliament, grew restive and blamed Prime Minister Wim Kok and the Orange house for the growing controversy.

Last March Kok finally revealed, he had asked a Latin America expert, professor Michiel Baud, to study Jorge Zorreguieta's alleged link to the heinous Videla's military junta. And the former Foreign Minister Max van der Stoel, who was secretly sent to personally meet with Jorge Zorreguieta, had successfully persuaded him not to attend the wedding for the sake of the future of his beloved daughter.

Kok's elegant solution was a big surprise and won great public approval. The parliament took a U-turn, quickly approving the marriage plan. And Kok is seen as having saved the monarchy.

Yet problem remains as Baud's conclusion -- "it's highly unlikely that Jorge Zorreguieta was not aware" of Videla's human rights abuses - seems to be doubted by the bride and groom. Compounding the issue, Maxima, a Catholic, will be accompanied by Father Rafael Braun, who turns out to be a great admirer of Gen. Videla.

Characteristically, Gen. Videla (1976-83) believed the opposition should be crushed to guarantee economic success. Two local journalists findings, published in "El Dictador" (The Dictator), have revealed how Videla's practices of torture, disappearance and child kidnaps were part of his attempts to safeguard political stability. Like Soeharto's army in East Timor, Videla's agents used to throw "subversive elements" from helicopter to the sea.

Maxima may be forgiven for believing his father's claim that he was not aware of such atrocities. Unlike her sister who condemned the Videla regime, she may be politically naïve, but could this former business representative woman in New York and Brussels really that naive? In any case, her charm, warmth and intelligence (she mastered Dutch in a few months) have stolen the heart of the people in the Netherlands. Her father's absence at her wedding is viewed as her great sacrifice; beside, with her Dutch-like blonde appearance, she is seen as "one of us".

But Willem-Alexander, being the heir of the Kingdom, seems surprisingly indifferent to the alleged role of his would-be father-in-law, and to Videla regime's human rights records. "It's just one interpretation," he played down Baud's government sanctioned report and its negative conclusion on Jorge Zorreguieta. "Alex understands me well," Jorge has reportedly said recently. Many worry, this may create future problems.

The Orange dynasty had been plagued with troubles. Queen Beatrice was targeted by protest demonstration in 1966 when she married an unknown German, now Prince Claus, then suspected of being an ex-member of Hitler Youth (Claus, who has been active to help poor countries, later turns out to be the most respected member of the royal house). In addition, there were Queen Juliana's Greet-'Rasputin'-Hoffman affair in 1953 and Prince Bernhard's Lockheed financial scandal in 1975. Ironically, each time, it was Wim Kok's social democratic party, the PvdA, initially the most anti-Orange party, that saved the dynasty.

Time has long gone since Dutch royal festivities provoked kingdom-wide protests. In 1915 Soewardi Soerjaningrat wrote a beautiful pamphlet, "Als ik eens een Nederlander was" (If I were a Dutchman), to protest against the additional tax the people of former Netherlands-India had to pay to finance Queen Wilhelmina's birthday festivity; the pamphlet made Soewardi, or Ki Hadjar Dewantara, famous and contributed to the awakening of Indonesian nationalism.

Today, opposition to the royal wedding is small, ranging from groups of pro-Republicans united in the so-called The White Square Committee, to a former diplomat who plans to bring Jorge Zorreguieta to the international court and supporters of Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, who lost their sons and daughters during Argentine's dirty war in the 1970s. They argue that the Dutch royal house has done little to promote human rights and democracy.

Senior journalist Willem Oltmans attacked the very institution of monarchy, arguing "it's totally pathological that we still have kings and queens (since) it's so out of line with new realities. If I were Willem-Alexander, I would say bye-bye and buy a ranch in Argentina and live a normal life. (And) this guy, the father of Maxima, is a fascist."

The Dutch politics basically tends to balance public morality and Real Politik. The strong desire to forcefully defend a correct position and to point out moral lessons accordingly, has led one prominent writer, Menno ter Braak, to dub his country a "domineesland" (Land of the Priests). His view is widely shared as he dramatically proved it by committing suicide to protest against Nazi invasion in 1940.

Yet the Dutch state, ever since its trading company, the VOC, expanded its control to the Indonesian archipelago in the 17th century, is known for what is called its "krudeniers politiek" i.e. policies that put primacy on getting material i.e. commercial gains.

As the Dutch-Argentina trade balance is not even involved, the Dutch pendulum could safely stay in the "domineesland" pattern, rather than swinging to the krudeniers -tradition or seeking a new discourse.

In other words, the state can now stress moral imperatives and allow nothing to spoil the illusion of goodness and worth of the royal house. To keep national symbols rein, Jorge Zorreguieta is being removed out of public sight - at least on the wedding day.

But what if Mr. Jorge, later, at other events, appear with the Dutch royal prince before the public? That, perhaps, would depend on whether the Dutch government would by then adopt the attitude of dominnee or that of the krudenier - it surely would not depend on the solidarity and human rights appeals of some 30 thousands mothers of Plaza de Mayo who lost theirs sons and daughters under the Videla regime.