Princess Margriet of the Netherlands

Princess Margriet of the Netherlands (Margriet Francisca; born 19 January 1943) is the third daughter of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard. 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 throne.[1]

In this Dutch name, the birth surname is van Lippe-Biesterfeld and the marital name is van Vollenhoven.
Princess Margriet
Princess Margriet in 2005
Born (1943-01-19) 19 January 1943
Ottawa Civic Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1967)​
Issue
Names
Margriet Francisca van Oranje-Nassau, van Lippe-Biesterfeld
HouseOrange-Nassau
FatherPrince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld
MotherJuliana of the Netherlands
ReligionProtestant Church in the Netherlands
Dutch royal family

Princess Beatrix *
Extended family
Princess Irene

Princess Margriet *
Professor Pieter van Vollenhoven *

  • Mr Bernardo Guillermo
    Mrs Eva Guillermo
  • Mr Nicolás Guillermo
  • Miss Juliana Guillermo
* Member of the Dutch royal house

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

Margriet was born to Princess Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. Her mother was heir presumptive to Queen Wilhelmina. [2]

The Dutch royal family went into exile when the Netherlands was occupied by Nazi Germany in 1940, and went to live in Canada. Margriet was born in Ottawa Civic Hospital, Ottawa. The maternity ward of the hospital was temporarily declared to be extraterritorial by the Canadian government.[3][4] This ensured that the newborn would not be born in Canada, and not be a British subject under the rule of jus soli. Instead the child would only inherit Dutch citizenship from her mother under the principle of jus sanguinis, which is followed in Dutch nationality law. Thus the child would be eligible to succeed to the throne of the Netherlands. This would have applied if the child had been male, and therefore heir apparent to Juliana, or if her two older sisters died without eligible children.

It is a common misconception that the Canadian government declared the maternity ward to be Dutch territory. That was not necessary, as Canada follows jus soli, while the Netherlands follows jus sanguinis. It was sufficient for Canada to disclaim the territory temporarily.

Princess Margriet was named after the marguerite, the flower worn during the war as a symbol of the resistance to Nazi Germany. She was christened at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Ottawa, on 29 June 1943. Her godparents included US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Queen Mary (Queen dowager of the United Kingdom), Märtha, Crown Princess of Norway, and Martine Roell (lady-in-waiting to Princess Juliana in Canada).[5]

Princess Margriet has continued to visit Canada over the years in an official capacity, as recently as 2017 (Stratford, Ontario and Goderich, Ontario) and 2022 (Ottawa).

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.[6] It was decreed that any children from the marriage would be titled Prince/Princess of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven, with the style of Highness, titles that would not be held by their descendants. Together, they had four children: Princes Maurits (born 17 April 1968), Bernhard (born 25 December 1969), Pieter-Christiaan (born 22 March 1972), and Floris (born 10 April 1975).

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.

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

Princess Margriet is particularly interested in health care and cultural causes. From 1987 to 2011 she was vice-president of the Dutch 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.[7]

Titles and styles
See also: List of honours of the Dutch Royal Family by country

National honours
  • Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion
  • Royal Silver Wedding Medal of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard, 1962 (7 January 1962)
  • 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

Ancestry
See also: Dutch monarchs family tree

References
  1. Current line of succession Archived 25 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine – Official website of the Dutch Royal House
  2. Princess Margriet Archived 12 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine. koninklijkhuis.nl
  3. "Proclamation". Canada Gazette. Vol. 76, no. 232, Extra. 26 December 1942. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  4. Smith, Alison (23 January 1992). "1943: Netherlands' Princess Margriet born in Ottawa". CBC. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  5. The Gift of Tulips. canadascapital.gc.ca
  6. Orange Wedding 1967 (video). britishpathe.com
  7. "Honorary Board". IPC.
  8. Royal decree of 8 Januari 1937: Besluit betreffende den naam, te dragen door de kinderen van Hare Koninklijke Hoogheid Prinses JULIANA. angelfire.com
  9. State visit of Chile to Netherlands
  10. "ANP Historisch Archief Community - Amsterdam, 24 oktober 1972". www.anp-archief.nl. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  11. S.A.R. Margriet Francisca Principessa dei Paesi Bassi. Quirinale.it. 23 October 1973
  12. http://www.who2.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/rainiaalabdullah-16.jpg
  13. Getty Images, State visit of Luxembourg to Netherlands, 2006
  14. www.geheugenvannederland.nl
  15. Group Photo of the members of the Nepalese and Dutch Royal Family during the state visit
  16. http://c7.alamy.com/comp/GYXNMD/dutch-queen-beatrix-r-spanish-king-juan-carlos-and-his-wife-queen-GYXNMD.jpg
  17. Boletín Oficial del Estado
  18. William & Mary
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