FILE - In this Oct. 11, 2016 file photo, the father of Netherlands' Queen Maxima, Jorge Zorreguieta, arrives to attend his daughter's speech at the Pontifical Catholic University in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Zorreguieta died at age 89 in Buenos Aires on Aug. 8, 2017, according to the Royal House of the Netherlands. (AP Photo/Agustin Marcarian, File)
August 08, 2017 - 6:58 PM
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - The Royal House of the Netherlands says the father of Holland's Argentina-born Queen Maxima has died in Buenos Aires at age 89.
An official statement said Jorge Horacio Zorreguieta had a form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and died Tuesday. It said the funeral will be restricted to close family friends, including Queen Maxima, King Willem-Alexander and their three daughters. No more details were given.
Zorreguieta stayed away from his daughter's 2002 wedding to the now king because of the Dutch government's concern over his participation in Argentina's 1976-83 military dictatorship. Known as a technocrat while heading the Agriculture Ministry, he was one of the longest-serving civilian Cabinet ministers during the regime.
He denied knowing anything about human rights abuses committed under the junta.
News from © The Associated Press, 2017