Dutch royals can marry a same-sex partner without giving up the throne, Prime Minister of the Netherlands says

• Dutch royals can marry a same-sex partner without forfeiting the throne, the Prime Minister said.
• Mark Rutte made a statement in response to hypothetical questions from parliament about old laws.

Dutch royals who want to marry a same-sex partner will no longer have to forfeit the throne, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, said on Tuesday.

Rutte was responding to hypothetical questions regarding King Willem-Alexander's current heir to the throne, 17-year-old Princess Amalia, The Guardian reports.

The publication added that little is known about her personal life, but a book about her titled "Amalia, Duty Calls" raised questions about what would happen if the heir chose a same-sex partner for marriage, with old laws stipulating that royals would have to give up the throne to do so.

The Guardian reports that Rutte addressed questions from his own party on the matter in parliament, writing in a letter: "The government believes that the heir can also marry a person of the same sex."

"Therefore the cabinet does not see that an heir to the throne or the king should abdicate if he or she would like to marry a partner of the same sex," he added.

The Netherlands was the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage on April 1, 2001, and since then the government website reports that over 15,000 gay couples have married. Unlike other marriages, royal weddings require the consent of the Dutch parliament, according to the official website of the Royal House of the Netherlands.

Speaking to Insider, a representative for the Royal House reaffirmed the Prime Minister's stance that "a successor to the throne should be able to marry someone of the same sex without having to abdicate the throne."

Reuters reports that Rutte said he remains uncertain about how gay marriage would affect the succession of a royal couple's children, and added that it doesn't make sense to try to decide that now.

"It's just very dependent on the facts and circumstances of the specific case, as you can see by looking back at how family law can change over time," he also wrote.

Amalia last made headlines in June when she broke a royal tradition. Insider's Samantha Grindell reported at the time that she waived her right to a €1.6 million, or around $1.9 million, annual allowance on the grounds that it would make her "uncomfortable."

Representatives for the Government of the Netherlands did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.