Image copyright Nederlandse Omroep Stichting The younger sister of Queen Maxima of the Netherlands has died at her home in the Argentine capital, reports say.
Inés Zorreguieta was 33 and is reported by local media to have taken her own life.
She was the godmother to Queen Maxima’s youngest daughter, 11-year-old Princess Ariane.
Queen Maxima, a native Argentinian, married then Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander in 2002. They have three children.
Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant reported that Queen Maxima was shocked and devastated by the news of her sister’s death.
According to reports, Inés Zorreguieta worked for the civil service in Buenos Aires, and had been suffering from depression.
Inés and Maxima’s father, Jorge Zorreguieta, died last year.
He had served as agriculture minister during Argentina’s brutal military dictatorship – a link that caused some controversy in the Netherlands, and led to a debate in the Dutch parliament, before his daughter married the crown prince.