Princess Margriet of the Netherlands

Princess Margriet Born (1943-01-19) 19 January 1943 The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (International Territory) Spouse Pieter van Vollenhoven (m. 1967) Issue Prince Maurits Prince Bernhard Prince Pieter-Christiaan Prince Floris Full name Margriet Francisca House Orange-Nassau (official) Lippe (agnatic) Father Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld Mother Juliana of the Netherlands Religion Protestant Church in the Netherlands

Dutch Royal Family HM The King * HM The Queen * HRH The Princess of Orange * HRH Princess Alexia * HRH Princess Ariane * HRH Princess Beatrix * HRH Princess Mabel Countess Luana Countess Zaria HRH Prince Constantijn * HRH Princess Laurentien * Countess Eloise Count Claus-Casimir Countess Leonore Extended royal family HRH Princess Irene HRH The Duke of Parma HRH The Duchess of Parma HRH The Countess of Colorno Tjalling Siebe ten Cate HRH The Count of Bardi HRH The Countess of Bardi HRH The Marchioness of Sala Albert Brenninkmeijer HRH Princess Margriet * Professor Pieter van Vollenhoven * HH Prince Maurits HH Princess Marilène HH Prince Bernhard HH Princess Annette HH Prince Pieter-Christiaan HH Princess Anita HH Prince Floris HH Princess Aimée HRH Princess Christina Bernardo Guillermo Eva Guillermo Nicolás Guillermo Juliana Guillermo * Member of the Dutch royal house

Princess Margriet Francisca of the Netherlands (born 19 January 1943) is the third daughter of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands. As an aunt of the reigning monarch, King Willem-Alexander, she is a member of the Dutch Royal House and currently eighth and last in the line of succession to the Dutch throne.

Princess Margriet has often represented the monarch at official or semi-official events. Some of these functions have taken her back to Canada, the country where she was born de facto, and to events organised by the Dutch merchant navy of which she is a patron.

Birth and Canada

The Princess was born in Ottawa Civic Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario, as the family had been living in Canada since June 1940 after the occupation of the Netherlands by Nazi Germany. The maternity ward of Ottawa Civic Hospital in which Princess Margriet was born was temporarily declared to be extraterritorial by the Canadian government. Making the maternity ward outside of the Canadian domain caused it to be unaffiliated with any jurisdiction and technically international territory. This was done to ensure that the newborn would derive her citizenship from her mother only, thus making her solely Dutch, which could be very important in the case that the child would have been a male, and as such, the heir of Princess Juliana.

It is a common misconception that the Canadian government declared the maternity ward to be Dutch territory. Since Dutch nationality law is based primarily on the principle of jus sanguinis it was not necessary to make the ward Dutch territory for the Princess to become a Dutch citizen. Since Canada followed the rule of jus soli, it was necessary for Canada to disclaim the territory temporarily so that the child, potential heir of the Dutch throne would not, by virtue of birth on Canadian soil, become a Canadian citizen.

Namesake and christening

She was named after the marguerite, the flower worn during the war as a symbol of the resistance to Nazi Germany. (See also the book When Canada Was Home, the Story of Dutch Princess Margriet, by Albert VanderMey, Vanderheide.)

Princess Margriet was christened at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Ottawa, on 29 June 1943. Her godparents included the President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Queen of the United Kingdom, the Crown Princess of Norway, Martine Roell (who was a lady-in-waiting to Princess Juliana in Canada) and The Dutch Merchant Fleet.

After the war

Margriet in 1964

It was not until August 1945, when the Netherlands had been liberated, that Princess Margriet first set foot on Dutch soil. Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard returned to Soestdijk Palace in Baarn, where the family had lived before the war.

It was while she was studying at Leiden University that Princess Margriet met her future husband, Pieter van Vollenhoven. Their engagement was announced on 10 March 1965, and they were married on 10 January 1967 in The Hague, in the St. James Church. It was decreed that any children from the marriage would be styled HH Prince/Princess of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven, titles that would not be held by their descendants.

The Princess and her husband took up residence in the right wing of Het Loo Palace in Apeldoorn. In 1975 the family moved to their present home, Het Loo, which they had built on the Palace grounds.

Children

Princess Margriet arrives in Ottawa to attend the Canadian Tulip Festival in May 2002.

Princess Margriet and Pieter van Vollenhoven have four sons and eleven grandchildren:

• Prince Maurits (born 17 April 1968) m. Marilène van den Broek (born 4 February 1970) on 29 May 1998. They have three children:
  • Anastasia (Anna) Margriet Joséphine van Lippe-Biesterfeld van Vollenhoven (born 15 April 2001)
  • Lucas Maurits Pieter Henri van Lippe-Biesterfeld van Vollenhoven (born 26 October 2002)
  • Felicia Juliana Benedicte Barbara van Lippe-Biesterfeld van Vollenhoven (born 31 May 2005)
• Prince Bernhard (born 25 December 1969) m. Annette Sekrève (born 18 April 1972) on 6 July 2000. They have three children:
  • Isabella Lily Juliana van Vollenhoven (born 14 May 2002)
  • Samuel Bernhard Louis van Vollenhoven (born 25 May 2004)
  • Benjamin Pieter Floris van Vollenhoven (born 12 March 2008)
• Prince Pieter-Christiaan (born 22 March 1972) m. Anita van Eijk (born 27 October 1969) on 25 August 2005. They have two children:
  • Emma Francisca Catharina van Vollenhoven (born 28 November 2006)
  • Pieter Anton Maurits Erik van Vollenhoven (born 19 November 2008)
• Prince Floris (born 10 April 1975) m. Aimée Söhngen (born 19 October 1977) on 20 October 2005. They have three children:
  • Magali Margriet Eleonoor van Vollenhoven (born 9 October 2007)
  • Eliane Sophia Carolina van Vollenhoven (born 5 July 2009)
  • Willem Jan Johannes Pieter Floris van Vollenhoven (born 1 July 2013)

Royal role and patronages

Princess Margriet is an active member of the Royal Family, representing the Monarch at a range of events.

She is particularly interested in health care and cultural causes. From 1987 to 2011 she was vice-president of the Netherlands Red Cross, who set up the Princess Margriet Fund in her honour. She is a member of the board of the International Federation of National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

From 1984 to 2007, Princess Margriet was President of the European Cultural Foundation, who set up the Princess Margriet Award for Cultural Diversity in acknowledgement of her work.

She is a member of the Honorary Board of the International Paralympic Committee.

Titles and styles

• 19 January 1943 – 10 January 1967: Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld
• 10 January 1967 – present: Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld, Mrs Van Vollenhoven

Honours

See also List of honours of the Dutch Royal Family by country

National honours

• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion
• Grand Cross of the Order of the House of Orange
• Royal Wedding Medal 1966 (10 March 1966)
• Queen Beatrix Investiture Medal (30 April 1980)
• Royal Wedding Medal 2002 (2 February 2002)
• King Willem-Alexander Investiture Medal (30 April 2013)

Foreign honours

Here are her honours (according to this site, mark °) :

• Belgium: Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown °
• Cameroon: Grand Cordon of Order of Merit °
• Chile: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit °
• Germany: Grand Cross First class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany °
• Finland: Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose of Finland °
• France: Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour °
• Italy: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic °
• Ivory Coast: Grand Cross of the National Order °
• Japan: Grand Cordon of the Order of the Precious Crown °
• Jordan: Grand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Renaissance
• Luxembourg: Grand Cross of the Order of Adolphe of Nassau °
• Luxembourg: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Oak Crown °
• Luxembourg: Commemorative Medal of the marriage of TRH Prince Henri and Princess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg °
• Norway: Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav °
• Mexico: Grand Cross of the Order of the Aztec Eagle °
• Portugal: Grand Cross of the Order of Christ °
• Romania: Grand Cross of the Order of 23 August °
• Senegal: Grand Cross of the National Order of the Lion °
• Spain : Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic °
• Suriname: Grand Cordon of the Honorary Order of the Yellow Star °
• Venezuela: Grand Cordon of the Order of the Liberator °
• Sweden: Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star °

Ancestry

See also: Dutch monarchs family tree

Ancestors of Princess Margriet of the Netherlands

16. Julius, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld               8. Ernest II, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld                       17. Countess Adelheid of Castell-Castell               4. Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld                             18. Count Leopold of Wartensleben               9. Countess Karoline of Wartensleben                       19. Mathilde Halbach               2. Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld                                   20. Adolf of Cramm               10. Baron Aschwin of Sierstorpff-Cramm                       21. Hedwig of Cramm               5. Armgard of Sierstorpff-Cramm                             22. Count Ernst of Sierstorpff-Driburg               11. Baroness Hedwig of Sierstorpff-Driburg                       23. Baroness Karoline von Vincke               1. Princess Margriet of the Netherlands                                         24. Paul Frederick, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin               12. Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin                       25. Princess Alexandrine of Prussia               6. Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin                             26. Prince Adolph of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt               13. Princess Marie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt                       27. Princess Mathilde of Schonburg-Waldenburg               3. Juliana of the Netherlands                                   28. William II of the Netherlands               14. William III of the Netherlands                       29. Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna of Russia               7. Wilhelmina of the Netherlands                             30. George Victor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont               15. Princess Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont                       31. Princess Helena of Nassau

External links

• Royal House of the Netherlands (Dutch)
• CBC Archives – A look at Princess Margriet's birth in Ottawa (from 1992).

Princess Margriet of the Netherlands House of Orange-Nassau Cadet branch of the House of Lippe Born: 19 January 1943
Lines of succession
Preceded by Countess Leonore of Orange Nassau	Line of succession to the Dutch throne 8th position	Last in line
	Line of succession to the British throne descended from Anne, daughter of George II	Succeeded by Lucas van Vollenhoven van Lippe-Biesterfeld