Birthday Celebrations of Queen Beatrix and Princess Margriet

[Her_Majesty]

Queen Beatrix and her sister Princess Margriet of the Netherlands are going to celebrate their birthdays together on February 1st.
Queen Beatrix will turn 70, Princess Margriet will turn 65.
They are going to celebrate their birthday at the Koninklijk Theater Carré (Royal Theater Carré) in Amsterdam.

[lucien]

Originally Posted by Her_Majesty

Queen Beatrix and her sister Princess Margriet of the Netherlands are going to celebrate their birthdays together on February 1st.
Queen Beatrix will turn 70, Princess Margriet will turn 65.
They are going to celebrate their birthday at the Koninklijk Theater Carré (Royal Theater Carré) in Amsterdam.

As I already posted at the Royal agenda and at HM current events earlyer this morning.

Looking forward to the occasion nonetheless.

[Hendrik-Jan77]

Will foreign royals be attending?
I do hope so!

[lucien]

HRH Princess Margriet and Prof.mr.Pieter van Vollenhoven and their family,Family and friends will attend a special performance by the Introdans ballet company offered to the Princess on occasion of her 65th birthday.HRH is Patron of the ballet company for many years,
and the combined celebration of HM 70th,and HRH 65th just wouldn't do for Introdans,so they organised something very special to honour
her on february 19th,Orpheus Theater,Apeldoorn.

Besides family and friends,the Princess has also invited representatives of the many organisations of which she is either Patron or otherwise involved,as well as many volunteers of,fe,The Red Cross and several organisations within Apeldoorn,the city of which Pieter and Margriet are honorary-citizens.A wonderfull gesture!

Het Koninklijk Huis

[Marengo]

On January 18th the NOS will show a television portrait of Princess Margriet on the occassion of her 65th birthday. The princess says she thought her years at Kees Boeke´s school: We didn´t learn anything, all very creative, no discipline. I was glad when I was allowed to leave that school. After lunch we had to lay down on blankets of horsehairs and listen to Bach, that was obligatory.

She also says that she has no problems standing in the Queens shadow, she never liked the limelight that much.

Picture

Courtesy to GDP/royalblog by H. Jacobs.

[Marengo]

The website of the royal house opened a special page on the 65th birthday of Princess Margriet, which can be found here. You can congratulate the Princess by sending a message on this page.

Some old and some new pictures here.

And the special broadcast of the NOS can be seen from tomorrow on Uitzendinggemist.nl

----

News programme NOVA had some former student of the school of Kees Boeke, they disagree with Princess Margriets vision of the school and they said they had a good time there.

[lucien]

Ofcourse they had a good time,lazying around,not having to do anything unless you feel like it,no discipline,just messing around,and they probably still do....

A very Happy one to HRH!

[Marengo]

As posted by Joris on the Benelux Royals MB:

Yesterday the NOS showed a wonderful portait and after the documentary on TV De Telegraaf publishes an interview with Princess Margriet (by Alex de Vries) today.

Looking back at her life as "reserve Queen":

"An enrichment of my life. Yes, for this I am truly grateful."
"My task next to my mother and later next to my sister offered me the chance to experience a wide range of events in the Netherlands and to come into contact with many aspects of society. The diversity of that work and also the fascinating and sometimes unexpected meetings I had I would never have wanted to miss. They broadened my perspective of the world."

About taking the responsibility of being the Nr. 2 after Princess Irene lost her membership of the Royal House by marrying Prince Carlos Hugo without parliamentary consent.

"My home [parents] taught me a great sense of responsibility. My sisters and I were brought up freely - we went to normal schools and could choose our own friends - but it was the Second World War that influenced our opbringing. Freedom in Europe had been fought for heavily and this means that one has certain responsibilities. Besides, my parents used to stress the binding factor of our family and by this our duty to serve society. You must also see this within the strong ideological group-thinking [verzuiling] of the time."

About her youth during which her parents also let her see national disasters like f.i. the great flooding of 1953:

"My parents let us experience a lot. Also when we had guests for dinner, we were present. This was inspiring and stimulating. Some conversations with foreign guests will always stick in my memory."
[The princes remembers] "Many visits. Also from well-known persons linked with the Second World War, such as Winston Churchill made a big impression on me. He was godfather of my youngest sister. Unfortunately I was much too young to be able to remember President Roosevelt. He was my godfather. I still have a photo of both of us; I as a baby in the playpen, he next to me."

About values:

"I strongly treasure honesty and trust. Respect for the other person. And to socialize with eachother in a civilized manner. When bringing up my own children I used the method of little red and green lights, just like in traffic. And that you should use your breaks in time."

About her "career":

How would your career have looked liked if you had stayed Nr. Three in line to the throne?

"In those days it was not usual to think in those terms [career]. For their daughters the main goal of parents was marriage, then they were taken care of ["onder de pannen"]. As a matter of course, study and a good personal development were important for young women but they were not used to make a career, something which is the case now. Nowadays women deliberately choose what they want to do with their study."

About breaking off her law study in Leyden:

"I would have preferred to study history, but law was preferred. Within the context of my position it was seen as a better basis. If I could choose now, it would be cultural anthropology. Although I don't have any speficic idea of what I would have done with that professionally."

About her training as a nurse:

"On second thought I noticed that during that training I couldn't really stand bloody and nasty situations."

Any regrets?

"With regard to past or future my mother used to say: There are no such things as The Good Old Days! And as a society I find we should cherish what we did achieve."

About being member of the Royal House. Any limitations?

"In our position one should always be aware of what you do or don't. Already before there was any yellow press, especially when I studied, it was sometimes really bothering. Later I saw it as something positive that I learned to deal with it at such an early stage. Shouldn't each person be responsible for his dos and don'ts? Our relationship with the media I see in this light. However, I just can not stand easily when facts are twisted. Of course, I sometimes ask myself what kind of image people have of me and how this image starts. But to that question one only gets an answer with great difficulty."

"On the other hand, you do [get an impression] when people talk about you behind your back when you are in a shop. Then sometimes you hear things about yourself which are interesting but also weird. Some people really think that as a princess you keep lying on the sofa and eat bonbons all day long."

About daughters-in-law being called "Princess".

"That one gets the name of the husband has become a custom in our society. That's a mere fact and has not been discussed. If it wouldn't have happened it would have been strange. My granddaughter Anna asked me the other day: "Why do people say Princess to you?" Then I really don't know what to say. "Because I am," I then answer. What else should I say?"

About being a grandmother:

"It's a new dimension, a great joy."
"After each birth of a grandchild there is the same amazement. You enjoy and observe. It has also something nostalgic. I now compare situations with when my children were small. Besides, those little arms around your neck and hugging [knuffelen]: wonderful. Also I go swimming with them and often go for a walk in nature, especially in the woods around Het Loo. And I read stories to them, I always enjoyed that."

About reaching the age of 65, the normal age of retirement:

"Not for me. I never had a job from nine to five. And these days the trend is: keep working! We adjust to time. The more you keep standing with your feet in society, the better it is for you: it keeps your mind active. I cannot sit still. This my sons are very well aware of. Then I get in their way. When you get older, your tempo gets slower, which sometimes bothers me, but one learns to cope with that. Everybody has his ailments."

About her hernia:

"It gets better. But some sports, such as horseriding, I can no longer do."

About the European Cultural Society:

[...]"Co-operation in Europe I always saw as the opposite of war, violence and non-freedom. Perhaps my being born in Canada has to do with it. I grew up in an era of postwar reconstruction and reconcialition. My youth has been imbued in this. The founders of this cultural foundation had a European community in mind, with Culture as binding factor. Building bridges to heal the raw wounds of war."

About cultural differences:

"When you don't study the cultural background of the person who asks for help well enough, it might happen that giving aid fails." [for instance by distribute food which the receiver isn't allowed to eat for religious reasons?] "Yes, something like that."

About the Red Cross values: humanity, impartiality, neutrality and volunteership.

[...] "Mahatma Ghandi said "The power of love and compassion is stronger than the power of arms." [...] "Impartial help to people in distress, to upkeep human dignity, that's our drive.""[...]

"Staffmembers of the Red Cross are being threatened more and more often, taken hostage or even murdered. That's an extremely worrying development. That's why we should go on spreading our message, especially among disorderly, armed groups, of which there are more and more: Don't do to an other person what you don't want to happen to yourself."

Who got the idea of celebrating your birthdays jointly?

"The older one got the idea. Actually it's remarkable that we never got that idea before. The performance will be focused on young people and young talent."

[Marengo]

Guestlist for tonight, at the theatre in Apeldoorn:

H.R.H. Princess Margriet of the Netherlands
Professor Mr. Pieter van Vollenhoven

Her Majesty The Queen

H.H. Prince Maurits van Oranje-Nassau, van Vollenhoven
H.H. Princess Marilène van Oranje-Nassau, van Vollenhoven
H.H. Prince Bernhard van Oranje-Nassau, van Vollenhoven
H.H. Princess Annette van Oranje-Nassau, van Vollenhoven
H.H. Prince Pieter-Christiaan van Oranje-Nassau, van Vollenhoven
H.H. Princess Anita van Oranje-Nassau, van Vollenhoven
H.H. Prince Floris van Oranje-Nassau, van Vollenhoven
H.H. Princess Aimée van Oranje-Nassau

H.R.H. Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands
H.R.H. Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands

H.R.H. Prince Friso van Oranje-Nassau
H.R.H. Princess Mabel van Oranje-Nassau

H.R.H. Prince Carlos de Bourbon de Parme

H.R.H. Princess Maria Carolina de Bourbon de Parme

Courtesy Joris on the Benelux Royals MB.

---

WA and Maxima are said to be in Argentina at the moment, so that explains their absense. A pity Princesses Irene and Christina weren´t able to attend, I suppose they are both abroad. Hopefully they will be there in February. I saw Prince Jaime on friday on the central station of Amsterdam (seriously, carrying a bag of Albert Heijn supermarkets), but aparently he couldn´t make it to Apeldoorn either.

[lucien]

Royalportraits

Courtesy Royalportraits.

[Marengo]

The birthday girl looks very good IMO, much younger than her actual age. A nice gesture by HM The Queen to come out of the bus while walking hand in hand with her sister and escorting Margriet and Pieter. A nice gesture of appreciation!

The guy of Blauw Bloed was getting on my nerves btw. Asking ´how did you congratulate your mother?´ to two princes. The princes both replied that they wished her a happy birthday, how else can you congratulate someone?

Princess Mabel looked rather nice tonight IMO.

---

Here a short article of Dutchnews.nl:

Princess Margriet glad not to be queen

Friday 18 January 2008
Princess Margriet, who celebrates here 65th birthday on Saturday, could not not think of anything worse than being queen like her sister Beatrix, she tells a tv documentary to be broadcast on Friday evening

Read the entire article here.

[Her_Majesty]

Picture Gallery by PPE
PPE Agency


2 new portraits of the Princess have been released:
Het Koninklijk Huis
Het Koninklijk Huis
It is always great to see Margriet and her warm smile!

[lucien]

Originally Posted by lucien

Orpheus theatre Apeldoorn last night:

PPE Agency

courtesy PPE/Nieboer.

Prinses Margriet viert 65e verjaardag met familie en vrienden

Courtesy Albert Nieboer.

Het Koninklijk Huis

Courtesy RVD.

[Jose]

Queen Beatrix 70 turns and his sister Margriet 65 turns!!! Wow celebrations!!! Royal Europe come at Queen Beatrixs 70th birthday??? Royal guest???

[Jose]

Wow wow beautiful royal family and his sister Margriets family!!! Young royal children celebrations his mother princess Margriets 65th birthday!!! Queen Beatrix is warm and near sister at Princess Margriet!

[Marengo]

Originally Posted by Jose

Queen Beatrix 70 turns and his sister Margriet 65 turns!!! Wow celebrations!!! Royal Europe come at Queen Beatrixs 70th birthday??? Royal guest???

The royal website says that they are offering the performance to family and friends. They don´t mention ´foreign guests´ or ´foreign royal guests´ as they would usually do. So my guess is that it is relatively low-key, as usual. I believe Princess Margriet said that it was the idea of Beatrix to celebrate the birthdays together, Margriet wondered why they ´hadn´t thought about that earlier.

[Princess Robijn]

The following members of the Royal family will be present at the joined birthdayparty of HM the Queen and HRH Princess Margriet, February 1, 2008:
> HM the Queen.
> TRH the Prince of Orange and Princess Máxima.
> TRH Prince Friso and Princess Mabel.
> TRH Prince Prins Constantijn and Princess Laurentien.
> HRH Princess Margriet and professor mr. Pieter van Vollenhoven.
> TH Prince Maurits and Princess Marilène.
> TH Prince Bernhard and Princess Annette.
> TH Prince Pieter Christiaan and Princess Anita.
> TH Prince Floris and Princess Aimée.
> HRH Princess Irene.
> HRH Prince Prins Carlos.
> HRH Prince Prins Jaime.
> HRH Princess Margarita.
> HRH Princess Carolina.
> HRH Princess Christina.

Het Koninklijk Huis

[Marengo]

As posted by Joris on the Benelux Royals MB:

More details in Dutch (and my summary in Englsh) plus royal guest list:

Koningin en Prinses Margriet vieren 1 februari 2008 samen verjaardag (2)

Hare Majesteit de Koningin en Hare Koninklijke Hoogheid Prinses Margriet der Nederlanden vieren vrijdag 1 februari hun respectievelijk 70ste en 65ste verjaardag met een feestelijke matinee voor duizend genodigden in Koninklijk Theater Carré te Amsterdam.

~ 1,000 guests!

In Carré treden 150 jonge musici en dansers op van negen conservatoria en andere podiumkunst opleidingen.

~ 150 young musicians and dancers from nine music and theatre academies

Op uitnodiging van de Koningin en Prinses presenteren de opleidingen een staalkaart van het jonge kunsttalent in Nederland.

~ typical examples of young Dutch artistic talent

In ruim een uur passeert een grote diversiteit aan podiumkunsten de revue. Daarbij zijn hoogtepunten uit dans, opera, orkest en kamermuziek, jazz en de elektronische kunsten, in grote en kleine bezettingen en in gewaagd ensemblewerk.

~ a variety of stage arts: highlights from dance, opera, orchestral music and chamber music, jazz and electronical art.

De muziekstukken worden afgewisseld met optredens van dansacademies.

~ between the music there are dance performances by dance students

De presentatie van de middagvoorstelling, die geregistreerd wordt door de NOS, is in handen van Ivo Niehe.

~Presented by Ivo Niehe.