Margriet of the Netherlands

Margriet Francisca, Princess of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau and Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld ( Ottawa , January 19 1943 ) is the third daughter of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld and the eighth in line to the throne. They will be officially addressed as Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet of the Netherlands, but it is simply called Princess Margriet in daily use.

Contents

 * 1 Youth and education
 * 2 Marriage and Family
 * 3 British citizenship
 * 4 Social role
 * 5 Foundation Royale
 * 6 Ancestors

Youth and education
Margriet was born in Ottawa in the Canadian Ontario, after the royal family in 1940 emigrated to Canada because of the German occupation. Rooms at the hospitalwhere she was born, had been declared temporarily extraterritorially. Legally, these rooms therefore non-Canadian territory and Margriet consequently automatically received the Dutch nationality from her mother without a Canadian citizen who applies born under the Canadian legislation in Canadian territory. She is the only member of the Dutch royal family which was born in North America. The flower which the princess was named, formed in World War II one of the symbols of the resistance against Nazi Germany.

Margriet was baptized on June 29, 1943 in St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, the oldest Protestant church in Canada, in the presence of Prime Minister Mackenzie King ,Lord Athlone , Governor General of Canada, Martine Roell, honor of Princess Juliana, Queen Mary , wife of King George V and the US President Franklin Roosevelt . [2]During her christening the Dutch merchant acted as one of the godparents. Albert John Andree Wiltens, lawyer in The Hague, was also godfather .

From 1945 until her death, Queen Juliana of the City of Ottawa each year sent tens of thousands of tulip bulbs as thanks. This royal gesture has become an internationally renowned tulip festival.

After the war, Margaret came with her ​​mother and sisters Beatrix and Irene went to the Netherlands and they are living in Soestdijk Palace . In 1947 there was her younger sister Christina was born. In 1948 the young family living in Soestdijk changed dramatically when Juliana took over the throne of Wilhelmina. In 1961, Princess Margriet for the first time at Budget Day with her sister Beatrix and Irene, since 1967 in the presence of her husband.

Marguerite is just like her sisters scout been. She was gnome named "Merry Gnome" and later Girl Scout .

Late forties visited the princess as elementary school for that time progressive Workshop Kindergemeenschap of Kees Boeke in Bilthoven. From the third grade, she went to New Baarnsche School . In 1961 she graduated Gymnasium -A to Baarnsch Lyceum . After high school Margriet followed a year-long courses French and (art) history at the University of Montpellier and then some preliminary legal lectures at theUniversity of Leiden .

Marriage and family
Princess Margriet and mr. Pieter van Vollenhoven (2011)

Margaret married on January 10, 1967 by Pieter van Vollenhoven, member of a prominent patrician family of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Marguerite was the first Orange who married a Dutch citizen. Their marriage had initially also much opposition. Thanks to Queen Juliana, however, could find passage marriage.

The couple have four children: The children were given the personal title of Prince of Orange-Nassau "with the title" Your Highness. " Margriet and her husband have together eleven grandchildren. Their grandchildren have not titled.
 * Maurits Hendrik Pieter Willem (17 April 1968)
 * Bernhard Lucas Emmanuel (25 December 1969)
 * Pieter-Christiaan Michiel (22 March 1972)
 * Floris Frederik Martijn (April 10, 1975)

British citizenship
Her lineage of Sophia, the Electress of Hanover, Margaret is also a British citizen based on The Act for the Naturalization of the Most Excellent Princess Sophia, electress and Duchess Dowager of Hanover, and the Issue of her body "of 1705. This law is no longer in force since 1948, but still applies to Margaret because she was born in 1943. She has never made use of its rights and has therefore not a British passport.

Social role
In 1980 Margriet sister Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. Beatrix gave during her inauguration speech in her capacity as head of state alongside her husband Prince Claus also will receive support from her sister Margaret and her brother Peter. Since that time, Princess Margriet 'reserve-queen' of the Netherlands. In this capacity, she held numerous representative tasks for the Royal Family. During official visits of foreign heads of state took Princess Margriet and her husband always share. In addition the princess from time to time an official visit to her native Canada. She regularly visits the Netherlands Antilles . She represented Netherlands on many occasions, such as the funerals of King Hassan II of Morocco and the British Princess Diana . Also on Budget Day Marguerite accompanied her elder sister, as well as Queen with her ​​family.After the inauguration of King Willem-Alexander are her work remained unchanged.

Health and culture are her areas of interest. Princess Margriet committed from an early age for the Red Cross . As a qualified nurse she sailed on the ship Henri Dunant hospital until her marriage. She later held managerial positions at the Dutch branch of the Red Cross and she was in the nineties, President of the International Red Cross and Crescent. For this work she spent many visits to troubled regions in the world, but also in our own country settings healthcare count on her interest. Furthermore, Margriet years president of the European Cultural Foundation, which wants to build bridges between different cultures.

Princess Margriet was often distinguished, sometimes for protocol reasons, sometimes because of her work for the Red Cross. Refer to the list of awards from Princess Margriet of the Netherlands .

Foundation Royale
According to Dutch newspaper Trouw on 13 April 2013, Princess Margriet and her husband in late 2006 established a financial structure in the form of a "foundation", called Foundation Royale. According to the newspaper, the aim is to minimize taxes and inheritance rights for their children and grandchildren. According to the Government Information Service is nothing wrong with such a structure.