Princess Maria-Carolina of Bourbon-Parma (1974- ) and Albert Brenninkmeijer


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Xavier is not the first grandson of Princess Irene. You forget Carlos Hugo Roderick Sybren Klynstra (soon 20 years old), born from the current Duke of Parma and Ms Brigitte Klynstra, stepdaughter of the Count van Rechteren-Limpurg.

In 1999 the Court of Justice established the fathership of Hugo but no Act of Surname was registered. Until three years after becoming adult, Hugo Klynstra has the possibility to register his natural father's surname and so become HRH Prince Carlos Hugo Roderick Sybren de Bourbon de Parme. For so far Hugo has not taken these steps. He still has the opportunity until 20 January 2018.

Picture of Brigitte and Hugo Klynstra (6 years ago).


Surely even if the boy was to choose his fathers surname he'd be neither a HRH or a prince? Or is there a situation like in Germany where the titles are part of the name?


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Surely even if the boy was to choose his fathers surname he'd be neither a HRH or a prince? Or is there a situation like in Germany where the titles are part of the name?


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He is the biological son of a titled father belonging to the Peerage of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Article 3 of the Nobility Act reads:
Nobility is also hereditary on children born outside marriage.

The Civic Code, Book 1, Chapter 1 (Personal and family law), Title 2 (The right on the name), Article 5, reads: Children whose paternity has been established by a Court of Justice but were not recognized by the father can request the King to have the paternal surname. They can only do that on the moment they reach the age of adulthood, 18 years, until the age of 21 years. When no request has been made in these three years, the law considers the existing surname unchangeable and permanent.

The combination of the two Acts means that Hugo Klynstra can request the King to have the paternal surname (De Bourbon de Parme) and at the same time, as this name is connected to a noble family, he will be incorporated in the Peerage of the Netherlands with his father's title and corresponding form of Address.

For so far Hugo, who is an adult and will be 19 in January, has not done such a request. He still has two years left to request the King.
 
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He is the biological son of a titled father belonging to the Peerage of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Article 3 of the Nobility Act reads:
Nobility is also hereditary on children born outside marriage.

The Civic Code, Book 1, Chapter 1 (Personal and family law), Title 2 (The right on the name), Article 5, reads: Children whose paternity has been established by a Court of Justice but were not recognized by the father can request the King to have the paternal surname. They can only do that on the moment they reach the age of adulthood, 18 years, until the age of 21 years. When no request has been made in these three years, the law considers the existing surname unchangeable and permanent.

The combination of the two Acts means that Hugo Klynstra can request the King to have the paternal surname (De Bourbon de Parme) and at the same time, as this name is connected to a noble family, he will be incorporated in the Peerage of the Netherlands with his father's title and corresponding form of Address.

For so far Hugo, who is an adult, has not done such a request.


Interesting - but he'd hold the Dutch title of the Bourbon-Parme family and not the traditional "European Royal" title of the House of Bourbon-Parme (if you understand what I mean)?
If he ever applied I'd love to see the face of old Sixte when he heard the news. He'd have a fit ;)


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Well, it was at the request of the four Princes de Bourbon de Parme to be incorporated in the Peerage of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, a legal entity, recognized and protected by law. Their titles, coat of arms, blason have now a legal recording.

Note that in the Kingdom of Spain the previous Duke of Parma was just "Don Carlos-Hugo de Borbón-Parma y Borbón-Busset", no Prince, no Duke, no Royal Highness. In Italy and in France the titles are only by social custom and not protected by law. Maybe for Prince Sixte-Henri his nephew Hugo is "just a bastard" but when he request a name change, he can show him his passport and official documents in which he is Zijne Koninklijke Hoogheid prins Carlos Hugo Roderick Sybren de Bourbon de Parme and show the formal coat-of-arms as assigned into the Grand Armorial of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which is more than what Sixte-Henri himself can show in his French passport...
 
Well, it was at the request of the four Princes de Bourbon de Parme to be incorporated in the Peerage of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, a legal entity, recognized and protected by law. Their titles, coat of arms, blason have now a legal recording.

Note that in the Kingdom of Spain the previous Duke of Parma was just "Don Carlos-Hugo de Borbón-Parma y Borbón-Busset", no Prince, no Duke, no Royal Highness. In Italy and in France the titles are only by social custom and not protected by law. Maybe for Prince Sixte-Henri his nephew Hugo is "just a bastard" but when he request a name change, he can show him his passport and official documents in which he is Zijne Koninklijke Hoogheid prins Carlos Hugo Roderick Sybren de Bourbon de Parme and show the formal coat-of-arms as assigned into the Grand Armorial of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which is more than what Sixte-Henri himself can show in his French passport...


When you say the Four princes of Bourbon-Parma would that be all the adult members of the family at the time of the request? I don't recall all the branches of the family without looking them up but I seem to remember that the other extant branch descended from René of BO and Margarete of Denmark is quite extensive.




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The four requestees were the children of the late Duke of Parma. They were incorporated into the Peerage of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1996, at that moment Prince Carlos (the current Duke), Princess Margarita, Prince Jaime and Princess María Carolina were all adults.

Nobles can belong to various Peerages. Take the family Van Hoensbroeck. In 1816, by Royal Decree, King Willem I of the Netherlands incorporated Clemens Reichsgraf von und zu Hoensbroech (1776-1844) into the Peerage of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Reason, the ancestral seat, Hoensbroech Castle, owned by the family, was (and still is) in the Dutch Province of Limbourg.

His descendants therefore still belong to the Netherlands Nobility. However: since the family no longer holds a primary residence in the Netherlands: they now reside at Haag Castle, Breill Castle and Haus Altenburg, all three just a stone throw from the Dutch-German border, ánd because they also belong to the Prussian nobility, they are enlisted in the German Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels instead of the Dutch Nederland's Adelsboek. Effectively they simply belong to two different Peerages indeed.
 
Congratulations to the family! Now they have one of each!
Xavier will probably be their second and last child, giving that his mom will turn 42 in April.
 
Via her husband the Princess is mega-wealthy, but typically for these "old money"-families you will never see them jetsetting on fancy locations or spending days the one red carpet-event after the other red carpet-event.
 
Apparently they are moving to HK because Albert Brenninkmeijer will lead the Chinese business activities of the company. So not for tax reasons ;). Though much of the Brenninkmeijers moved to Switzerland for that reason.

The Brenninkmeijer family has 1800 members, so few will have enough money to jetset.
 
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A quick calculation: 22.000.000.000,-- Euro shared by 1.800 persons is roughly 12 million Euro per individual family member. Not too pauvre. Not all family members seem involved in C&A or in the family's own bank Anthos. The 1.800 Brenninkmeijers are not equal to 1.800 shareholders, so to say. Some generations seem to have sold their share. To use the Orwellian saying: all Brenninkmeijers are equal, but some are more equal than others...
 
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Not poor indeed but not enough for a jetset lifestyle. Especially as most money will be tied up in stocks, properties etc. I suspect family members will get a monthly or annual sum, like normal stockholders of companies. But with or without 1800 members, they are wealthy indeed and it seems that Albert's branch belongs to the 'more equal' part of the family.

I believe only the female Brenninkmeijers are forced to sell their family share when they get married.
 
According to this article the gigantic wealth, 22 billion Euro, is owned by 68 stakeholders, all of them male Brenninkmeijers with a high function in the concern.

Interesting detail: at the age of 55 they are obliged to sell their stake to COFRA, the family holding in Switzerland. Meaning their stake goes to another male Brenninkmeijer.

Until recently only male Brenninkmeijers could become a stakeholder but in the meantime this was seen as "a waste of talent" and now one female Brenninkmeijer has made it to the top of the pyramid, to be one pf the 68 stakeholders.

C&A-patriarch spreekt over fout oorlogsverleden familieconcern | Economie | de Volkskrant
 
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:previous: Thank you Lee-Z!! My mistake too that did not mention or correct that!!!
 
:D

Thank god, the little boy is alive ;) And now a devoted christian, too :)

Are there any new pictures from the children?
 
Do we know what godpatents the child got? I didnt find the information in the article.
 
Based on Albert's LinkedIn-profile it looks like the family has been back in Europe since 2019. His current jobs show 'Amsterdam' as location, while his profile states 'United Kingdom', so I am not sure whether they live in the Netherlands or in the UK (in that case, most likely in London).

Edit: Carolina's states 'London, UK' as location, so it seems they indeed live in London.
 
Based on Albert's LinkedIn-profile it looks like the family has been back in Europe since 2019. His current jobs show 'Amsterdam' as location, while his profile states 'United Kingdom', so I am not sure whether they live in the Netherlands or in the UK (in that case, most likely in London).

Edit: Carolina's states 'London, UK' as location, so it seems they indeed live in London.

Interesting, thanks. Seeing as the couple has changed countries several times, I wonder where and in what language(s) their children will be educated in.
 
Interesting, thanks. Seeing as the couple has changed countries several times, I wonder where and in what language(s) their children will be educated in.

I am quite sure they are bilingual in Dutch and English. Wouldn't be surprised if they are also learning French (an important UN work language and the language spoken in for example Geneva where both seem to have lived) and Italian (this would be a nod to Carolina's background but not sure how important that is for her as her children aren't princes and princesses of Bourbon-Parma unlike some of their cousins.
 
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Interesting, thanks. Seeing as the couple has changed countries several times, I wonder where and in what language(s) their children will be educated in.

I noticed that on his LinkedIn-profile Albert states that he speaks 6 languages:
Languages
Dutch
Native or bilingual proficiency

English
Native or bilingual proficiency

French
Full professional proficiency

German
Full professional proficiency

Portuguese
Full professional proficiency

Spanish
Professional working proficiency

I was most surprised about Portuguese but it looks like he lived in Brazil for some time:

C&A
2003 - 2015 · 12 yrs
Switzerland, France, Brazil, Mexico
 
I am quite sure they are bilingual in Dutch and English. Wouldn't be surprised if they are also learning French (an important UN work language and the language spoken in for example Geneva where both seem to have lived) and Italian (this would be a nod to Carolina's background but not sure how important that is for her as her children aren't princes and princesses of Bourbon-Parma unlike some of their cousins.

No Italian it seems, as neither Albert nor Caroline speaks Italian... Because of her father Caroline considers Spanish one of her native tongues it seems (which makes sense).

See above for the 6 languages spoken by Albert; below you find the 5 spoken by Carolina (all 5 also covered by Albert):

Languages
Dutch
Native or bilingual proficiency

English
Full professional proficiency

French
Full professional proficiency

German
Professional working proficiency

Spanish
Native or bilingual proficiency

Her current job sounds like something that would make a meeting or collaboration between her and the Duchess of Cambridge meaningful:

Practitioner Fellow
University of Virginia Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy
Feb 2021 - Present · 1 yr 3 mos
Policy support to the Humanitarian Collaborative with a current focus on researching coordination of early childhood development in emergencies (ECDiE)
 
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