Happy 70th Birthday, Dear Pieter!

The extended Dutch Royal Family was out in force last night, to celebrate the upcoming 70th birthday of one of the family’s much beloved members, Professor Pieter van Vollenhoven. While the Professor’s birthday is not until tomorrow, due to Koninginnedag the celebrations for his milestone birthday were held two days early.

Utrecht’s Beatrix Theatre was the venue for the event; which saw 1200 guests join the Professor, his wife Princess Margriet, three of their four sons (Princes Maurits, Pieter-Christiaan and Floris) and their four daughters-in-law (Princesses Marilene, Annette, Anita and the heavily pregnant Aimée). Her Majesty Queen Beatrix also joined in the festivities to celebrate her brother-in-law’s birthday, and was accompanied by her three sons Princes Willem-Alexander, Constantijn and Friso, and their wives Máxima, Laurentien and Mabel. Foreign royal guests were Prince Laurent and Princess Claire of Belgium, who are great friends with the Professor.

A special performance was written especially for the occassion, and at various points of the evening all of Pieter’s present sons (second eldest Prince Bernhard was not in attendance, he had surgery last week) went on stage and told jokes about their father, and pledged to continue their father’s charity work in the future.

More information, and plenty of pictures, can be found here.

Filed under The Netherlands
Tagged Birthday, Concert, Prof. Pieter van Vollenhoven.