Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien, News & Events Part 4 (January 2018 - )


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Somebody said:
An interview with prince Constantijn about diversity. He also shares some insights about his upbringing in a household with only boys... He had some things to learn from his wife about sharing your emotions.
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An interesting interview. I am not surprised that he acknowledges the importance of involving women, in light of how the Royal Family is ahead of other European royal families in allowing its women members careers which are comparable to the men. But it is unfortunate that he implies women who are old (which he interestingly defines as middle-aged) are not as worthy of recruitment as young women.
 
Tatiana Maria said:
An interesting interview. I am not surprised that he acknowledges the importance of involving women, in light of how the Royal Family is ahead of other European royal families in allowing its women members careers which are comparable to the men. But it is unfortunate that he implies women who are old (which he interestingly defines as middle-aged) are not as worthy of recruitment as young women.
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I didn't read it as such at all... He doesn't even mention 'middle-aged women'. He states

“The next step is then to consider the question: ‘How do I find more female employees?’ It also starts with the awareness that if you have a team with only middle-aged white men, there is a chance that women, especially young women, will not be attracted to your organization. That is because you tend to exude the message: We are all male, old, and white.
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He only highlights that younger women are even more at risk of being left out than women in general (as the younger they are the less likely they are interested to join such an organization). To me that doesn't imply at all that other women are less worthy of recruitment. It could be implied that they are slightly more likely to be interested in those organizations and therefore to be recruited - but not that some women are more important than other women in terms of recruitment.

N.B. Middle-aged seems to be the right term for the men he is talking about; they will most likely be between the ages of 40 and 60 (probably some going up to 65 or so). So, not sure how a focus on 'older women' (senior citizens that are retired or soon to retire) would be relevant in his argument about diverse recruitment (unless his point was about making sure that both young and old would be included but his focus was primarily on gender and secondary on ethnic background).
 
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Yesterday, January 25, Princess Laurentien participated in the recordings for the start of the campaign "Make your heart" by the foundation The Forgotten Child that fights against social isolation of children in the Netherlands:


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Princess Laurentien gave an interview to LINDA magazine :

"I am convinced that you can solve problems if people and organizations really work together, let go of egos and go for that common mission together", Princess Laurentien van Oranje tells LINDA.200. For years she has been committed to Dutch people who are struggling with poverty, debts and low literacy. In addition to her social commitment, she also talks about love, her family and her self-image. "I have never felt like the prettiest girl in class. Rather the opposite. As a result, I did my very best for a while to mask that insecurity, to the point of spasmodic.""

https://www.instagram.com/p/CLZX4Mmqt_a/

https://www.linda.nl/nieuws/bekend/prinses-laurentien-huwelijk-gezinleven-kinderen-constantijn/
 
Prince Constantijn held a speech during the Online Awards Show of the 2021 World Press Photo competition today, April 15:


** Pic ** Winner photo **
 
Prince Constantijn is actively inserting himself in a discussion on Twitter about a probably suspicious deal between a young upcoming politician (Sywert) and the Dutch government at the start of the pandemic. Sywert said to be able to get 40 million face masks in China while the government wasn't able to secure them at the start of the pandemic and needed them for the health care workers. Sywert stressed that he would do it for free/not earn any money. The government paid him 100 million Euros assuming that they were only paying the true costs but now it seems that the margin of profit was most likely about 15-20% (so 15-20 million euros). Interesting detail: non of the facemasks was ever used!

Prince Constantijn today stated that people should give Sywert the benefit of the doubt as he hasn't seen convincing evidence yet in the article that was published yesterday; he asked to reserve judgment until all evidence was available and criticized cancel culture. People are questioning his motives as according to some Constantijn himself was in touch with Sywert and 'friends' when all of this was discussed about a year ago.

Edit: in this tweet he confirms that he indeed support Sywert's efforts at that time as he sensed the need at the height of the initial wave when nobody was prepared and this team worked really hard to get things done.

While I don't think it was a wise move on the part of Constantijn to insert himself in this discussion (which he clearly did because he was personally involved in this effort that is now tainted (someone even suggested that HRH has been 'used' by an opportunist); I do like how he is engaging with people and showing some reflection.
 
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I would prefer it if the prince did not use his twitter account at all. And certainly not to start participating in a culture war. But well, here we are.

As for Sywert van Lienden: the CDA did not want him on the list of candidates -even though he tried to wiggle his way into it. If anything he is good in selling himself. His participation in chat shows is usually limited to him having read a wikipedia page on the subject. But that can be said about more talking heads of course. Only due to the emptiness of this genre of shows and due to the anti-intellectual climate of the country in general can he be considered an expert on anything.

The true story is of course not Sybert but the incompetence and corruption of the various government branches that are throwing enormous sums of money to dodgy business people while simultaniously ruining the lives of those who are less fortunate - as we have seen in the child benifits scandal.

Rather remarkable that the prince has decided to defend a poseur like this. Why does he not speak when other -far more deserving- people are attacked in the press?
 
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Marengo said:
I would prefer it if the prince did not use his twitter account at all. And certainly not to start participating in a culture war. But well, here we are.

As for Sywert van Lienden: the CDA did not want him on the list of candidates -even though he tried to wiggle his way into it. If anything he is good in selling himself. His participation in chat shows is usually limited to him having read a wikipedia page on the subject. But that can be said about more talking heads of course. Only due to the emptiness of this genre of shows and due to the anti-intellectual climate of the country in general can he be considered an expert on anything.

The true story is of course not Sybert but the incompetence and corruption of the various government branches that are throwing enormous sums of money to dodgy business people while simultaniously ruining the lives of those who are less fortunate - as we have seen in the child benifits scandal.

Rather remarkable that the prince has decided to defend a poseur like this. Why does he not speak when other -far more deserving- people are attacked in the press?
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One of those responding to his tweets asked exactly this question (he agreed it was an important question! - so it seems it made him reflect on why he addressed this and not other issues); and my take from his answer is his personal involvement at the time. He helped to connect Sywert to other partners in this deal and 'saw them working really hard 24/7'.

And yes, indeed, it is primarily the government who is to blame. It looks like they are very easy to deceive, just claim something (not for profit) and they believe you and give you lots of money out of desperation.
 
Marengo said:
Rather remarkable that the prince has decided to defend a poseur like this. Why does he not speak when other -far more deserving- people are attacked in the press?
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I also don't quite get why he felt he had to join this twitter conversation, but I don't really think that "defending" properly describes what he wrote. He is only asking not to judge to early. Like Somebody I am not sure if even that was a smart move, but one can't say that what he wrote is really controversial (at least IMHO). Surprisingly (at least for me) most of his comments are pretty unpretentious and reflective. It even seems like he ist genuinely interested in the discussion and input from the other users. I am quite fascinated by that and wonder what his motivation is (curiosity? ).
 
Short update on the issue above: it has become clear that Sywert and 2 partners, while pretending all was 'not for profit' made over 20 million (20% margin of profit as the total order was 100 million). Apparently, the prince and many others shared their contacts or spend many hours trying to help, while these three were keeping up the appearance that it was all done to help the health professionals out of their good hearts while at the same time creating various business structures to keep the money they made out of sight. In one of the prince's earlier replies he says that he most likely would not have helped out, had he known it wasn't not-for-profit; so, he must feel 'used' in a way - and now things have become clear probably also feeling bad about coming to his defense (although he tried to argue that he didn't; but he cannot ignore that he decided to contribute to this discussion while he normally doesn't, so it did touch a nerve).

Earlier this week someone asked: "So, Royal Highness, now the facts are clear (9 million euros [N.B. this is the amount for Sywert]) do you have some confidence again in the national press?"
To which his short response was: "Yes, certainly"

I also found this 'letter to prince Constantijn' that is rather critical and suggests (incorrectly if you ask me but by somewhat defending Sywert in the first place, he inserted himself in this discussion) that the prince has been helping Sywert coming up with strategies to make most money and dodge questions in the press. His uncle Pieter van Vollenhoven is presented as contrast stating: "Uncle Pieter will not help Sywert and his business partners" based on a tweet by PvV in which he stated: "I sincerely hope that we can tackle these kinds of profits at the expense of society, in addition to publishing about it. I'm not against profit, but I may old-fashioned in still like the words decency and integrity."

Edit: an earlier tweet by Pieter van Vollenhoven when the media had just found out that Sywert and partners had made a profit of at least 13 million; he referenced 'decency and integrity' and suggested that these allegiations would lead to a serious investigation. So, a rather different tone than Constantijn's who started talking about cancel culture.

N.B. While all of this is a rather big issue in the Dutch media, the prince's limited role is not.
 
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There were a few weeks between the comments of the prince and his uncle. And in those weeks a new skeleton fell out of Sywerts cubboard each day almost. But the Prince should never have reacted in the first place.

I have heard the issue discussed by the Volkskrant editorial board, who were thankfully laughing it of (the prince's comment).

Pieter van Vollenhoven's comment was greeted with approaval by many. But some were pointing out -on twitter- that he should have a word with his second son about integrity in business. Some others remembered that Princess Margriet and PvV had set up a construction to evade taxes.

I listened to last weeks podcast of the -traditionally left-wing newspaper- 'Volkskrant' and even they were rather mild about the Prince.
 
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Marengo said:
There were a few weeks between the comments of the prince and his uncle. And in those weeks a new skeleton fell out of Sywerts cubboard each day almost. But the Prince should never have reacted in the first place.

I have heard the issue discussed by the Volkskrant editorial board, who were thankfully laughing it of.

Pieter van Vollenhoven's comment was greeted with approaval by many were pointing out that he should have a word with his second son about integrity in business and some others remembered that Princess Margriet and PvV had set up a construction to evade taxes.

I listened to last weeks podcast of the -traditionally left-wing newspaper- 'Volkskrant' and even they were rather mild about the Prince.
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Uncle Pieter's first reaction to the news already mentioned the words 'decency and integrity' and asked for a thorough investigation; so his stance has been consistent (see my earlier edit in the previous post).

But yes, the news is so much bigger than the prince along many others having been used by three people who were pretending to be something completely different than they were. I am sure many of those are rather unhappy that they helped out after initially being in denial (as a way to convince themselves that they had contributed to something good; I am sure it must have hit hard once they realized they had been lied to).
 
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Prince Constantijn as Honorary Chairman of the Prince Claus Fund attended a reception at Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Prince Claus Fund:


** Pic 1 ** Pic 2 ** Pic 3 ** Pic 4 **
 
Princess Laurentien moderated a discussion between young people from three northern provinces and officials about the sustainable development agenda of the United Nations in Roden today, September 30:


** Pic 1 **Pic 2 ** Pic 3 ** Pic 4 ** Pic 5 ** Pic 6 **
 
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Prince Constantijn opened the network event Limburg Leads in Maastricht yesterday, October 21:


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Princess Laurentien gave a virtual speech during the opening day of the Data Week NL in Den Bosch today, October 25:


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Prince Constantijn with Eloise in the series online 'In conversation with?'

"Royally fooled by @constantine14 (see picture). Last night I was allowed to look back on the teaching days of Constantijn and his daughter Eloise van Oranje for my series 'in conversation with'. And how special that was!"

https://twitter.com/x/status/1453441204385980419
 
Yesterday, November 11, Princess Laurentien was one of the speakers at the Year Event 2021 of the ECP Platform for the information society:


** Pic 1 ** Pic 2 **
 
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