The younger sister of Queen Maxima of Holland wrote a thesis about suicide at university – eight years before her own suicide last night sent shockwaves around the world.
Ines Zorreguieta, 33, was found hanged at her apartment in Buenos Aires late on Wednesday night.
A spokesman for the Dutch government confirmed her death to Argentinian newspaper La Nation, adding that authorities ‘assume it was a case of suicide.’
Queen Maxima and her sister Inés are seen greeting each other in Buenos Aires in 2016
Queen Maxima of Holland’s sister Inés Zorreguieta (pictured in a red hat at Princess Ariane’s christening in 2007) was found dead in her Buenos Aires home on Wednesday night
Ms Zorreguieta is believed to have battled with depression and eating disorders in the past, and in 2012 spent time in a mental health clinic.
But today it emerged that the 33-year-old had conducted an in-depth study into suicide in 2010, while at university in Buenos Aires.
Entitled ‘Gender differences and their relation to suicide and related behaviors’, the paper for her psychology degree at the Belgrano University looked at what drives women to take the own lives.
The thesis also details the methods used by women intent on killing themselves, including which are quickest and have the best chance of success.
Ms Zorreguieta, who was godmother to Queen Maxima’s youngest daughter Princess Ariane, 11, worked for the government in Argentina as an official in the Ministry of Social Development.
Following the discovery of her body on Wednesday night, relatives living in Buenos Aires quickly arrived on the scene.
Local media reports that the ‘building is currently controlled by agents of City Police, who arrived as soon as they were told of the incident’.
Inés was also godmother to Queen Maxima’s 11-year-old daughter Princess Ariane. She is pictured on the day of Princess Ariane’s baptism in October 2007
Inés Zorreguieta, pictured with her late father Jorge Zorreguieta last year, worked for the government in Argentina
Queen Maxima and Inés are pictured as the Dutch royal made a trip to Argentina after their father was hospitalised last year
Queen Maxima (pictured in Amsterdam on Wednesday) has pulled out of all upcoming engagements
Argentina’s National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office revealed today that it was Maria del Carmen Curruti, the mother of Ms Zorreguieta and Queen Maxima, who discovered her daughters body after becoming concerned that she had been unable to contact her.
After not hearing from her daughter since the previous day, Ms Curriti along with one of Ms Zorregueta’s friend, used a spare key to enter the apartment on Rio de Janeiro street in the Caballito neighbourhood of the Argentinian capital.
They found Ms Zorreguieta’s body hanging by a belt ‘on the frame of her bedroom door’.
A spokesman said: ‘Around 9.50pm yesterday, the mother and a friend of Zorreguieta agreed to go to the woman’s apartment, since they had not been able to communicate with her during the previous day
‘They tried to enter Ines’ bedroom, but the friend found that the door wouldn’t open, so she pushed it with force and found her deceased friend behind, after which they called the emergency number 911.’
He added: ‘Ms Zorreguieta’s mother needed to be restrained by members of the psychological assistance team.’
According to a police source, ‘the first tests carried out by police forensic teams pointed to the same hypothesis’ as a Dutch government statement presuming she had committed suicide.
Police attending the scene on Monday at the apartment building in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Press gathered outside the building in the Almagro neighbourhood in Buenos Aires the morning after
Inés Zorreguieta was said to have suffered a series of mental health issues including depression
Queen Maxima is believed to be travelling to her homeland in the coming hours after cancelling all her upcoming engagements, including a tour of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia next week.
It has been less than a year since the death of Queen Maxima’s father, Jorge Zorreguieta, who died last year on 8 August at the age of 89 after suffering from non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said in a statement, ‘The sudden death of the sister of the Queen comes as a great shock. It is intensely sad and heartbreaking news, that is comprehend for those that are left behind.’
He wished the Queen and her family, ‘all the strength needed to carry this awful loss.’
Queen Maxima became the first Latin American-born queen-consort of Holland when King Willem-Alexander ascended to the throne after his mother’s abdication on April 30, 2013.
The pair met in Seville, Spain, in 1999, but she was unaware he was a prince since he introduced himself only as ‘Alexander.’
They announced their engagement two years later.
The news sparked controversy in Holland as her father’s tenure as a minister was during the early stages of the Dirty War in Argentina – a period of state terrorism that saw up to 30,000 people killed or go missing during a seven-year military regime.