Princess Beatrix, Current Events Part 1 (May 2013 - April 2020)


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Princess Beatrix and the Prince of Wales attended the Airborne Landings and Commemoration in Ede today, September 21:

They must be close personal friends. I don't think I've ever seen pictures where Charles shows so much affection for anyone, even in his immediate family.
 
Looks like there's room on the base on that statue for another one or two maybe Beatrix herself will get the next one ?
 
Princess Beatrix unveiled the statue of Willem van Oranje in Dordrecht this afternoon, October 9:


** Pic ** anp gallery ** ppe gallery **


The Princess is no direct male agnatic descendant of Willem I but is nevertheless a descandant:

Willem I of Nassau, Prince of Orange
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Frederik Hendrik of Nassau, Prince of Orange
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Albertine Agnes Princess of Nassau-Dietz born Princess of Orange-Nassau
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Hendrik II Casimir of Nassau-Dietz, Fürst von Dietz
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Johan Willem Friso of Nassau-Dietz, Fürst von Dietz became Prince of Orange and Fürst von Nassau-Oranien
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Willem IV of Orange-Nassau, Prince of Orange, Fürst von Nassau-Oranien
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Willem V of Orange-Nassau, Prince of Orange, Fürst von Nassau-Oranien
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Willem I King of the Netherlands, Grand-Duke of Luxembourg, Prince of Orange-Nassau
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Willem II King of the Netherlands, Grand-Duke of Luxembourg, Prince of Orange-Nassau
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Willem III King of the Netherlands, Grand-Duke of Luxembourg, Prince of Orange-Nassau
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Wilhelmina Queen of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau
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Juliana Queen of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
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Beatrix Queen of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld
 
The Princess is no direct male agnatic descendant of Willem I but is nevertheless a descandant:
Exactly (it would be impossible for queen Beatrix to be a direct male agnatic descendant with both her mother and maternal grandmother being the reigning queens). Just this week I saw a short introduction to a video on the NOS (comparable to BBC) website with the teaser 'King Willem-Alexander doesn't descent from Willem van Oranje' (I assume he isn't a descendant of his mother, grandmother and great-grandmother either ;) ).
 
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This evening, October 31, Princess Beatrix attended the Romeo and Juliet ballet of the Dutch National Ballet in Amsterdam.

It was the Dutch ballerina Igone de Jongh's final performance:


** Pic 1 ** Pic 2 ** anp gallery **
 
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:previous:

It's been the annual theme day of the expert group of juvenile court judges in Den Haag. And this year it was dedicated to the celebration of 30 years of children's rights.

Here's a video of Beatrix's attendance:


** eol: Prinses Beatrix voor de kinderrechter **
 
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Here's video of Princess Beatrix's interview during her trip. She's speaking in Dutch, but if you turn on the closed captioning, then click Settings>Subtitles>Auto-Translate>English, you can get an automatic English translation. The translation isn't great, but it will give a sense of what she is saying.

 
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It seems that former lady-in-waiting Julie Jeekel-Thate & her husband Prof. Dr. Jeekel of the Erasmus MC were also seated near the Princess.
 
Yesterday the first of 4 episodes of the documentary De zware jas van Beatrix (The heavy coat of Beatrix) was aired.



Eye witnesses in this first episode (amongst others):

Werner Herbers (classmate at the Anthroposophic primary school)
HRH Princess Benedikte of Denmark
Miente Boellaard-Stheemann (Hofdame and former study-friend at Leyden University)
Avi Primor (former Ambassador of Israel to Germany and to the EU, friend of Prince Claus)
Bram Stemerdink (former State Secretary of Defence)

It started with Queen Juliana's wish to have her daughters on a school based on Anthroposophic principles. (Much to the chagrin of Prince Bernhard who thought the princesses needed a tüchtige upbringing). On an Anthroposophic school the cultivation of pupils' imagination and creativity is a central focus. Not so much a rigid education program with statistic scores.

Former classmate Werner Herbers told that the princesses were absolutely not treated any different than "normal" classmates. Queen Juliana was most interested in every aspect of school life. Prince Bernhard never showed up at school.

It is claimed Princess Beatrix' stubborn personality was first tested at this school. She was deeply unhappy at school and objected to her mother, Queen Juliana. Her former classmate Werner Herbers told that -decades later- (then) Queen Beatrix once sighed to him: "Tja, I felt need for more structure and discipline than this school could provide me".

The Princess used "Pappie" (Prince Bernhard, whom she adored to bits). Independent research (ordered by the parents) showed that the princesses had a lag in knowledge and facts indeed. Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard agreed with extra lessons. (First in a private class at Soestdijk Palace, later Prince Bernhard insisted it should be done under supervision of the Baarnsch Lyceum. A dependance in a villa was used to improve the education of the princesses).

In her youth years Princess Beatrix experienced Mrs Margaretha ("Greet") Hofmans, a so-called Faith Healer. In the beginning the relationship between the Princess and Mrs Hofmans was relatively harmonious. Mrs Hofmans had appreciation for the dedication Princess Beatrix showed for her youngest sister Marijke (Princess Christina), who was born with severe eye-sight problems.

Soon the relationship between Princess Beatrix and Mrs Hofmans became detoriated. The Princess sensed problems between her "Pappie" and her mother, with Mrs Hofmans as catalyst. As a 12-years old she wrote a letter to Mrs Hofmans to demand her not to interfere in family affairs. That letter is no more, but Mrs Hofmans reply (better: rebuke) still is there.

In a letter to "Trix" she wrote that this was precisely an expression of a demanding character, a most unfortunate feature for a young lady. From that moment it was war between Princess Beatrix and Mrs Hofmans (who thought the Princess willingly tried to frustrate her influence on the Queen). An excerpt of the letter of the Faith Healer to "Trix" (just a 12 years old girl!):


"[....]
Every person is entitled to an opinion about this. Judgment is at your own risk of conscience, and time will live up to this - or ashame it. I hereby return your letter, precisely to serve as evidence for your accusations: as a life lesson to release judgment - or condemnation, when one is able to do so.
[....]"

Then Princess Benedikte of Denmark came into the picture. When was the first time she met Princess Beatrix? She thought somewhere early in the 1950's at the summer residence of the Danish royal family. The Danish royal family was with three daughters, the Dutch royal family was with four daughters, so it was a special event with so many girls of the same generation.

Princess Beatrix went to Leyden University. Here came Miente Boellaard-Stheemann in the picture. Later a Hofdame, then a daughter of the President of the Amsterdam Court of Justice. Her mother was a Baroness. This to typecast the sort of friends of the Princess in the first half of the 1960's.

Pictures were shown of young ladies and gentlemen, in white tie, in long dresses, with jewels. The sort of friends Princess Beatrix was supposed to mingle with at Leyden University. The Princess became in love with the son of a notary but there was always a chaperon or chaperonne close, to avoid any possible undesirable situations. The documentary also showed the Princess, with glittering diamonds, waltzing with Nelson Rockefeller and later having private meetings with President John F. Kennedy.

Then Avi Primor (later Ambassador of Israel to Germany and to the EU), a very close friend of Claus von Amsberg came into the picture. He told that his dear friend Claus would be transferred by the German diplomatic service from his post in Africa to the Embassy in Israel. For the German diplomats the most challenging placement. Avi Primor helped his friend to find a nice house in Tel Aviv. Then he suddenly heard that Claus had fallen in love with a lady and that the house-hunting was no longer relevant. Avi did not understand: why not marry and bring your wife with you to Tel Aviv? He did not know that the love of Claus happened to be HRH Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands.

Then Princess Benedikte came in the picture again. She did remember the days in 1966 as "wonderful days" with grand parties. Indeed the documentary showed Princess Beatrix and Claus drop-dead happy amidst the fine-fleur of international society. For Princess Benedikte the wedding of Princess Beatrix and Prince Claus was extra special because exactly there, in Amsterdam, she met her future husband Richard Fürst zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (who was a friend of Prince Claus).

(In turn Princess Beatrix had met the German aristocrat Claus von Amsberg at the pre-wedding party of Tatiana Prinzessin zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (sister of Prince Richard) and Moritz Prinz von Hessen.)

Princess Benedikte thought the Royal Wedding in Amsterdam was fabulous. The interviewer asked if she had noticed nothing about riots outside (it was 1966, flower power etc. there were anti-establishment demonstrations). The Princess admitted they heard about the unrest in the city around the wedding. But she knew Princess Beatrix, she said: the more resistance, the more up her head and straight she goes, full of royal dignity and determination.

Then some parts of the young couple with three sons at Drakensteyn Castle. Princess Benedikte told how she was once guest at "a most romantic little palace" and told how Princess Beatrix simply loved that secluded place ("where she she still lives now").

Then the documentary continued with news from the US. Hearings in US Congress about Lockheed and Northrop using money to bribe high officials to sell their planes. The name of Prince Bernhard fell. A special commission investigated the case and had the ordeal that the Prince "gave the impression to be open for favours" which was a butter-soft formula.

Then Bram Stemerdink (then State Secretary of Defence) came in the picture. The Netherlands would purchase 213 Fighting Falcon F16 fighters from Lockheed, so he was closely involved with what was known as "The Lockheed Scandal". In the documentary Mr Stemerdink told that the Cabinet was of the opinion that the Prince should be prosecuted indeed. The report of the special commission came alike a system shock to Princess Beatrix. Her "Pappie" was so immensely high in her deep affection and esteem. Always and ever "Pappie" was in her nearbyhood. She simply could not believe that her father was open for this and (unintendedly) gambled with the monarchy, the kingship. Her future monarchy, her future kingship.

Queen Juliana made clear to the Cabinet she could not continue with a Prince-Consort who was unsder prosecution or would even be convicted. The Queen stated she would abdicate the kingship if it came that far. Then Princess Beatrix made clear she would not access the throne under such circumstances. (Hypothetically leaving the throne to 9 years old Prince Willem-Alexander).

This would mean a profound constitutional crisis. The Cabinet had no any appetite in fighting a constitutional crisis as it was essentially about a Prince-Consort being given too much freedom (and whom took even more freedom). In the end the Cabinet took the decision that Prince Bernhard would be dismissed from all his military and from most civil positions.

This showed that again, like her protest against the Anthroposophic school, her protest against Faith Healer Mrs Hofmans, her straightforwardness to marry the German former Wehrmacht military Claus von Amsberg and her protest against a possible prosecution of her father, the Princess knew how to resist, how to find the right buttons to press on and how to extend her influence.

After the Lockheed crisis Princess Beatrix and Prince Claus distanced themselves completely from Prince Bernhard. They knew the kingship was coming and the tarnished figure of Prince Bernhard was best kept aside. The relationship between the Princess and once deeply adored "Pappie" would never be the same again.

So far the first part.
 
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Sound's like a fascinating series , is there any way We in the UK could watch it ?
 
Thanks for the tip, I just watched it. Princess Benedikte was an utter delight, hanging over the chair after asking if she should sit more straight. She has some of the same facial expressions as her elder sister. The voice over commented (sighed?) that it was easier to get access to Amalienborg than to Huis ten Bosch. I assume he meant for this documentary. Mienthe Boellaard was interviewed by Jutta Chorus for her 2013 biography on Beatrix. I am glad they asked her for this documentary too.
 
Just watched it myself as well. As part of the documentary is in English (interview with princess Benedikte and with an Israeli diplomat/friend of prince Claus), it might be interesting for non-Dutch speakers as well.

To me the part about the importance of Claus' diplomatic career for his support to his wife's work stood out.
 
Thanks for the tip, I just watched it. Princess Benedikte was an utter delight, hanging over the chair after asking if she should sit more straight. She has some of the same facial expressions as her elder sister. The voice over commented (sighed?) that it was easier to get access to Amalienborg than to Huis ten Bosch. I assume he meant for this documentary. Mienthe Boellaard was interviewed by Jutta Chorus for her 2013 biography on Beatrix. I am glad they asked her for this documentary too.

I was surprised to see Maria Julie ("Mienthe") Boellaard-Stheemann, Hofdame Honoraire, in a little wooden house somewhere in a forest. I assume it is her weekend house.

I have read the biography Weest manlijk, zijt sterk (from Corinthians 16:13 Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, acquit yourselves like men, be strong.) That biography was about Mienthe's father-in-law Willem ("Pim") Boellaard, from a military dynasty and a major figure in Dutch resistance. (Mienthe had a difficult relationship with her father-in-law anyway).

In the book the monumental villa in De Bilt (Province of Utrecht) was centre-point of the Boellaard family life. His only child Willem (Mienthe's husband) inherited the monumental villa.
 
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I was surprised to see Maria Julie ("Mienthe") Boellaard-Stheemann, Hofdame Honoraire, in a little wooden house somewhere in a forest. I assume it is her weekend house.

I have read the biography Weest manlijk, zijt sterk (from Corinthians 16:13 Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, acquit yourselves like men, be strong.) That biography was about Mienthe's father-in-law Willem ("Pim") Boellaard, from a military dynasty and a major figure in Dutch resistance. (Mienthe had a difficult relationship with her father-in-law anyway).

In the book the monumental villa in De Bilt (Province of Utrecht) was centre-point of the Boellaard family life. His only child Willem (Mienthe's husband) inherited the monumental villa.

I believe that Mienthe Boellaard lived in Amsterdam Buitenverldert. She was the designated lady-in-waiting for events in and around Amsterdam. Her husband used to be CEO of Lucas Bols, before it was taken over by the Van Doorne family of DAF.
 
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I believe that Mienthe Boellaard lived in Amsterdam Buitenverldert. She was the designated lady-in-waiting for events in and around Amsterdam. Her husband used to be CEO of Lucas Bols, before it was taken over by the Van Doorne family of DAF.


Interesting that they preferred Amsterdam-Buitenveldert above a beautiful tatched roofed monumental villa in lush green surroundings. Maybe the Boellaard-Stheemann family associated the villa with the all omnipresent Pater Familias, with whom both son Willem and especially daughter-in-law Mienthe had a difficult relationship. I can imagine one does not want to live in a house with not so happy associations.

For Willem "Pim" Boellaard it was Prince Bernhard before and Prince Bernhard after. The book tells how the Prince's influence enabled him to help people imprisoned in the concentration camps of Natzweiler and Dachau. When the camps were liberated, to Boellaard's frustration the Dutch Government was useless when it came to the problem of logistics: how to get all those back to the fatherland? He bumped his head against concrete walls of bureaucracy. Via-via he came in contact with Prince Bernhard, and to his amazement "with a fingerclick" the Prince had a whole fleet of trucks and even trains arranged by the Allied Powers, to bring the people from Natzweiler and Dachau back.

In 1976 the loyalty of Willem "Pim" Boellaard was seriously hit by the Lockheed Scandal. Especially because the Prince assured him that it really was "pure nonsens". He also was critical about the "too activist" Princess Beatrix and Prince Claus.

Of course he was happy when his daughter-in-law Maria Julie "Mienthe" Boellaard-Stheemann became Hofdame of Queen Beatrix. It was another confirmation of the family's standing. But the distance of the Queen towards her "Pappie" was extended to her Hofdames. That his own daughter-in-law was less than impressed about his absolute hero Prince Bernhard was a factor in the difficult relationship. For an example: when Mr Boellaard told the Prince has called him for his birthday, or he enjoyed a sherry at Soestdijk Palace, or he was invited at the Crown Domain Het Loo for a weekend, Mienthe Boellaard barely could hide her disapproval, which caused heated situations at the dinner table in the villa, with his wife Anna-Louisa Baroness van Heeckeren and his son Willem trying to hush the tensions away.

Pim Boellaard thought people had no idea. There were prisoners starving. There were prisoners dying. They were in despair. There were prisoners in utterly vulnerable conditions, wandering in concentration camps. And their Government was too occupied to do anything. But the Prince did. He was the only one who came into action. He was the only one who kept interest in rehabilitation and reintegration of prisoners-of-war and of victims of the concentration camps.

Anyway, most interesting that inside one family, with father Boellaard in the Bernhard camp and daughter-in-law Boellaard in the Beatrix camp, the division inside the royal family was extended.
 
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