Queen Máxima Meets Ashanti King and Ghana's President on UN Trip

Queen Máxima of the Netherlands spent three days in Ghana this week on a United Nations assignment about money. She is the queen consort, the title for a king's wife, and she is married to King Willem-Alexander.

Her trip ran from Tuesday through Thursday. She travels as the UN Secretary-General's Special Advocate for Financial Health. The secretary-general is the head of the United Nations, and financial health describes how well people can manage money, save, and recover from unexpected costs. She took on the role in 2024, after 15 years as the UN's Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development.

On Wednesday, she met Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II at Manhyia Palace in Kumasi, the king's seat of power in Ghana. Town & Country reports that he holds the traditional title Asantehene and is the 16th king of the Ashanti people, having taken the throne in 1999. His wife, Lady Julia Osei Tutu, attended the meeting. Paramount chiefs and queens of the Asante Kingdom, senior traditional leaders who rank below the king, were also present, according to the palace's own Facebook post.

On Thursday, she traveled to Accra, the capital. She met Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama and senior ministers at Jubilee House, the presidential office. The visit had been announced in late October, with a start date set for 3 November.

The trip put Ghana's traditional leaders and its national government in the same week of talks. For American readers, the closest comparison is a visit that moves between a state capital and the federal capital in one stop, with a chance to meet tribal leaders along the way. Ghana's traditional rulers hold no national political office, but they carry real influence in their communities.

The UN role gives her a reason to talk about everyday money, from bank accounts to small loans. Her work will continue after this visit ends.