The High Council of Nobility

[Henri M.]

I stumbled over the 2006 Report of the High Council of Nobility which gave an interesting insight in the workings of this High College of State, which regulates the proper workings of the Nobility Act in the name of Her Majesty The Queen.

A summary of what happened in 2006:

In 24 cases the Council has given an official advice to the Crown:
- 5 advices on affairs of Nobility
- 1 advice on modification of a family name
- 8 advices on arms
- 2 advices on emblems
- 4 advices on flags
- 4 advices on Knightly Orders

23 new dossiers were started:
- 4 dossiers on general topics of Nobility
- 4 dossiers on affairs of Nobility
- 1 dossier on modification of a family name
- 5 dossiers on the granting or improvement of arms
- 3 dossiers on flags
- 2 dossiers on emblems and the awarding of decorations
- 1 dossier on the Knightly German Order
- 3 dossiers on the Order of Malta

6 old dossiers were concluded in 2006.

127 official Acts of Noble Births, Deaths and Marriages were entered in the Registry of the Netherlands Nobility. There were no retroactive enterings of complete (historical) family branches into the Registry.

1 request for incorporation in the Netherlands Nobility on ground of having Galician Nobility (at present a part of Poland / Ukraine) was dismissed on formal ground: according to the Nobility Act a foreigner needs to apply for Netherlands citizenship as well, together with his request for incorporation into the Netherlands Nobility. The requestee did not meet this requirement.

1 request was received by a British citizen, who still had to prove his nobility but claimed that his ancestry belonged to the Nobility of the Holy German Empire. He requested to be incorporated into the Netherlands Nobility, together with his family. Also this request was dismissed on formal grounds: by Royal Decree of December 16th 1815 is determined that there is no reciprocity between the Nobility of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. A request on ground of continental nobility would also have been dismissed because the Holy German Empire is constitutionally no longer existant (article 2 of the Nobility Act).

1 request was received by a Dutch citizen who wanted a former French title of Nobility, which was purchased in the United Kingdom, to be incorporated into the Netherlands Nobility. This request was dismissed because Nobility on base of a purchase has no any legal ground. The Council has explicitly advised against the use of this French title in society, because of possible confusion with other, legal, noble titles.

In a lawsuit about 27 members of a family which indigenously do not belong to the Netherlands Nobility, but of which another branch does belong to the Nobility indeed, the Rotterdam Court of Justice has given its judgement: the municipal registers are ordered to remove the noble predicates. To the Courts of Justice in Breda and 's-Hertogenbosch (Bois-le-Duc) 4 other similar cases have been referred.

On March 11th, on behalf of the Council, its member Jonkheer Van Nispen tot Pannerden did attend the annual Inter-Knightly Conference between the various Knightly Councils, the Netherlands Nobility Union, the Union of Young Nobles and the High Council of Nobility which was organized at Maurick Castle near Vught.

The Secretary of the High Council was summoned to appear in Court to be heared in a lawsuit, started by a nobleman against the Land Registry Office. The nobleman demanded that his titles should be registered in the Land Register. According to article 7 of the Nobility Act the mention of the complete noble titulature is obligatory for all official documents.

The Secretary of the High Council was summoned to appear for the Commission of Advice for the Civil State and the Nationality (Department of Justice). The Commission wanted advice about the mention of foreign noble titles in Netherlands municipal registry acts. In principle foreign noble titles have no legal ground in the Netherlands. To decide if a foreign noble title should be included in acts, the registrar should ascertain if the title is used in the foreign country, or is part of the registered name. In case of doubt, to all administrations the advice will be given to seek contact with the High Council of Nobility.

(to be continued, I'm reading the report furtherer).

 

[Henri M.]

Personal Standard and Arms Princess Máxima

Continue

The 2006 Report of the High Council of Nobility contains a lot of dry stuff.

Some highlights:

To the Official Flag Registry Book has been added a hand-drawed and coloured illustration on perchment of the personal standard of Her Royal Highness Princess Máxima of the Netherlands, according to the Royal Decree of January 22nd 2002, nr. 42. The design of this standard is already known since the description in the aforementioned Royal Decree, but was not yet officially added to the Official Flag Registry Book, which is in the building of the High Council of Nobility.

See the official illustration of the Personal Standard of Her Royal Highness Princess Máxima of the Netherlands

The characteristics of the standard are:

A flag of nassaublue, with an orange cross
This tells that the bearer is a member of the royal dynasty, by marriage.
(Those who are born into the royal dynasty have reversed colours: a flag of orange, with a nassaublue cross.)

The flag is cut in the corners
This tells that the standard is for a female person.
(Male persons have a square flag).

The Arms of the Kingdom is placed in the heart of the cross
This tells that the bearer is a Prince(ss) of the Netherlands.

The Horn of Orange (not in natural colours but in gold) is placed in quarter I
This refers to the arms of the principality of Orange which are in use by the royal family, since 1521.
That not the natural colours are used (the Horn is in gold only) tells that this symbol is used by virtue of marriage.

The Tower of Amsberg (not in natural colours but in gold) is placed in quarter IV
This refers to the arms of the noble family Von Amsberg which are used in the Arms of the sons of the late Prince Claus, since 1967.
That not the natural colours are used (the Tower is in gold only) tells that this symbol is used by virtue of marriage.

Earlier the High Council of Nobility already has added the official illustration of the Arms of Her Royal Highness Princess Máxima of the Netherlands to the Official Registry of Arms, here is the official illustration.

The Arms are covered with a royal crown
This tells that the bearer is a member of the royal family

The Arms are oval-shaped
This tells that the arms belong to a female person.

The Arms of the Kingdom in quarters I and III
This tells that the bearer is a Prince(ss) of the Netherlands.

The Horn of Orange in quarters II and IV
This refers to the arms of the principality of Orange which are in use by the royal family, since 1521.

The Arms of the Zorreguieta family in the heartshield
This refers to the bearer's descendance from the Zorreguieta family

 

[Marengo]

Thanks for the information henri. I was wondering, do you know who is paying for this institution?

Did the counsil also give advice conserning the coat-of-arms of oter royals? I am still wondering what Mabels one look like, or the one of Laurentien. Do the triple-A princesses have the same coat-of-arm as their mother btw?

 

[Empress]

I wonder if Mabel received a coat of arms? Or is she just using the ones of her husband. This is fantastic informatin Henri! Thank you so much.

Have we seen/ does there exist, arms and standards for the little princesses as yet? I would imagine that at least Amalia has one, although she might be too young?

 

[juliana]

The Arms of the Zorreguieta family in the heartshield
This refers to the bearer's descendance from the Zorreguieta family

Do the Zorreguietas have their own arms- that is unusual, unless they were given them as the Danes have done for John Donaldson?

 

[Henri M.]

Do the Zorreguietas have their own arms- that is unusual, unless they were given them as the Danes have done for John Donaldson?

However the descendance can be traced back to 1560, Don José Antonio de Sorreguieta Oyarzábal, Gamboa y Sagastume (born 1777) is seen as the 'founder' of the Argentinean Zorreguieta's. He was a native of the village of Tolosa, that was established in the Virreinato del Río de la Plata toward end of the 18th century.

In 1790 Don José Antonio settled in the city of La Salta in where he figured as a "próspero comerciante" (rich merchant). He changed his long Spanish name into 'Zorreguieta' and he contracted a marriage with Doña Micaela Antonia Maurin Baamonde, with whom he left a noticeable and prolific descent. The Arms of the present Argentinean Zorreguieta family is based on the arms of their direct ancestors, the Sorreguieta Oyarzábal family.

The Netherlands High Council of Nobility was helped by its Spanish equivalent, the Real Cuerpo Colegiado de Hijosdalgo de la Nobleza de Madrid and by Argentinean genealogical and heraldical institutes and finally they found the Sorreguieta Oyarzábal arms described as 'A fortified castle with three towers, in red, flanked at both sides by a black wolve, stretching in front of a green cypres'.

 

[Henri M.]

Arms of the Princesses vs Arms of their mother

Did the counsil also give advice conserning the coat-of-arms of oter royals? I am still wondering what Mabels one look like, or the one of Laurentien. Do the triple-A princesses have the same coat-of-arm as their mother btw?

The three princesses have exact the same Coat of Arms as their mother, with one notable difference:

Princess Máxima's arms is oval shaped, which is customary for titled ladies.

The arms of the three Princesses are not oval shaped, which is a breach with tradition, but this has to do with de-genderisation of the titles of successors to the kingship. Since the gender is of no importance anymore, no longer differences are made between male and female successors. Both now have a male-shaped type of arms. (And at her birth Amalia received a 'male' salute of 101 gunshots instead of the traditional 51 gunshots for female royal infants).

 

[Henri M.]

Thanks for the information henri. I was wondering, do you know who is paying for this institution?

The taxpayer pays for it, since it is established by the Act of December 24th 1814 as an institution which regulates all affairs of nobility and the arms, flags and emblems for all public bodies, administrations and the armed forces.

The High Council of Nobility is one of the 6 'High Colleges of State' which have a constitutionally independent position. The budgets of these High Colleges are determined in the State Budget (Chapter 1, The House of Her Majesty The Queen and the High Colleges of State).

The 6 High Colleges of State are:

- The States-General (established 1464)
- The Council of State (established 1531)
- The Auditory Chamber (established 1447)
- The National Ombudsman (established 1982)
- The Chancellery of the Netherlands Orders (established 1815)
- The High Council of Nobility (established 1814)