Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien, News & Events 1 (Jan 2003 - March 2006)

[maxima88]

from picturepresseurope

[maxima88]

some more from picturepresseurope

[Marengo]

The meeting was organised in Royal Theatre Carre, between the decor of the musical 'Cabaret'. Laurentien opened her speech with the remark that sshe wanted to thank the organisation for this opportunity as it was her first speech in a nightclub

[purple_platinum]

The princess looks great... i think she outshine Maxima, who's also out & about, today.

[crisiñaki]

It's just me or Laurentien got plastic surgery?
Merely asking, no flames please

[purple_platinum]

from ANP without watermark

[purple_platinum]

a big picture from koninklijkhuis.nl



and the speech in english by the princess :

Opening speech by Princess Laurentien , 22 February 2006
at the AIESEC International Presidents’ meeting 2006

Ladies and gentlemen,

‘Driven by diversity’.

Living, achieving and working with diversity are some of the key themes of this gathering and they in fact go back to the very beginnings of your organization 58 years ago. Plus ça change, plus ça reste le même!.. as the expression goes. Judging by the list of participants, you embody diversity and after this conference you’ll hopefully have an even better indication if you managed to live, achieve and work together effectively or not. That said, I will challenge you later on whether or not you are as diverse a group as you think you are.

To make diversity work, to allow it to question preconceived notions and to foster creativity and learning requires a genuine interest and understanding of the ‘other’; of what is different. We should celebrate diversity, but do so as part of a two-way process.

I am delighted to be here today to talk to you about an important issue that even in a diverse gathering like yours - of differing cultures, backgrounds, gender and strengths – may not be self evident for you.

I’ll have to disappoint you, if you expected this opening speech to cover the many aspects of the complex theme of diversity. What I want to do – as specifically asked by the organizers of this year’s President’s meeting - is to cover what I believe is one of the most important preconditions for any steady, sound and healthy society: literacy. In the context of diversity, I would like you to try and understand and indeed feel what it means to be illiterate for the individual and for society as a whole. Why we should all care about literacy. Why we cannot take it for granted anywhere in the world - north, south, east, west.

To give you a bit of context: this handicap is faced by an estimated 900 million people worldwide. That’s one out of every five adults who cannot, at least not sufficiently, read or write… A staggering and yes, a worrisome number. In this country alone, there are 1.5 million adults – about 10 percent - who cannot read and write sufficiently to function fully independently in society. You may be even more surprised to hear that the vast majority of them were born and bred in the Netherlands – although that said, it is an unacceptable situation regardless of who is affected by it. Other developed countries face a similar and in some cases even worse situations; in developing nations, percentages are often even higher. We often believe it to be a problem of past generations and the elderly, but it is not. Far from it. The situation among the children is no better, which arguably has an even worse impact for the future of our societies.

I don’t want to burden you at such a festive global gathering with the statistics and the underlying problems and possible solutions. I would however like to go through four fundamental values that are closely intertwined with literacy – intertwined with a society where everyone is able to use language as a key to happiness, to work, to information and to our fellow man. In many ways, they are also closely connected to diversity. Perhaps most of all, I hope that these values find a resonance with you – all talented individuals eager and no doubt able to play leadership roles in tomorrow’s societies. These values are: self-esteem, well-being, competence and democracy.

First, self-esteem. Not being able to read and write undermines self-esteem; and lack of self-esteem is a barrier to quality of life, self-fulfillment and in fact progress for the individual and society.

Most of us here today are fortunate enough to have been given a first chance in life – with education playing a central role. Now imagine that you are a woman or a man of let’s say 50 years old. You did go to school, but had problems keeping up with your peers. When you got married, you knew you had trouble reading and writing, but managed to hide it, even from your spouse. You had to limit your job search to jobs where reading and writing skills weren’t needed. You then had children. When they were young, you read books to them by making up the story to match the drawings. This all worked fine until the children got older and told you that you are not actually reading the story in the book... In the meantime, your company merged, your job description changed and now does include reading and writing… an unsustainable situation! Imagine how you’d feel. What it would do to your self-esteem…

This is not a fabricated story – the essence of the story is the reality for so many adults – and if we’re not careful for a growing number of young people who are not able to write sufficiently to function fully independently in society. Young people who are not stupid at all… but young people who are not getting, or taking, that first chance.

On the up-side, education helps contribute to a feeling of self-respect and confidence. So many people have told me about how the light went on at the end of the tunnel, once they had learnt how to read and write. About how they felt free, facing a new world with self-confidence. We need to break the vicious circle for those needing education most but not seeking it because they lack the self-confidence to do so. Education boosts self-esteem. And everyone deserves access to education.

[purple_platinum]

2nd part of the speech

A second important value is well-being. Well-being relates to the quality of life experienced by people. It typically depends on a range of factors such as basic health, the quality of relationships, intellectual fulfillment and emotional satisfaction.

If you really want to understand the issue of illiteracy, listen to the impressive life stories of people who are or have been illiterate, to whatever degree. They talk about their intense feelings of shame, about feeling socially isolated and about the excuses and lies they came up with to hide their handicap. Imagine the stress this brings about….

They may also tell you about the long, difficult road towards admitting to their problem, about taking the step to go back to school to learn reading and writing, and their amazing perseverance. Knowing how to read and write is intricately linked with communication – and thus with a sense of well-being and being able to fully develop oneself, to maintain relations with your surroundings and to gain additional skills.

Thirdly, competence. In the debate about the knowledge-based economy – here in Europe I’m sure you’ve all heard about the Lisbon objectives - we tend to focus on topics such as university education, innovation, technology and research. But in our understandable drive towards growth and progress, we often forget that the knowledge-based economy also includes those who lack the necessary reading and writing skills. Their situation is aggravated by the fact that our society now requires additional skills to function effectively, think about e-skills for example. As society leaps ahead, there is a distinct danger that those who lack the basic skills are being left behind, with serious implications for the individuals themselves and for our social cohesion and economic development.

The knowledge-based economy that Europe intends to become will be built on shaky foundations if only the upper echelons of society are able to participate. Equally, businesses should invest in all employees, not only for altruistic motives, but out of enlightened self-interest.

The last component is democracy. Democracy describes a philosophy that insists on the right and the capacity of a people, acting either directly or through representatives, to express their opinions and to control their institutions. It places a high value on the quality and equality of individuals.
Being able to read, write and compute are building blocks to enable you to absorb, grasp and actively use information independently. It enables you to know the law, to understand your rights and obligations as citizens. In knowledge and information-driven societies such as the ones we live in, literacy is a precondition for truly participating in democracy and making full use of its benefits. We should not, and unfortunately cannot, take democracy for granted. Equally, we cannot take literacy for granted. Literacy is a basic human right.

To conclude. Living in diversity also means accepting and dealing with people who are at risk of being marginalised due to a lack of skills. However diverse you are in this audience today, you do share a high level of education, which allows you to communicate in a more or less common language which reaches out across borders, cultures, genders and social class. These shared educational levels enable you to live diversity in its entire beauty. And yet this common language simplifies how you live diversity. It is a privileged situation to be in – I’m sure you all know this.

[Marengo]

Originally Posted by crisiñaki

It's just me or Laurentien got plastic surgery?
Merely asking, no flames please

I don't think so, she is pregnant, which might explain her extra glow & charm :)

[Gaia]

Originally Posted by mirrjam

as a person..
Her outfit was nice.
I even like Mabel more then Laurentien, and I think I am the only one...

I like them both too. I even like the bow addiction

[fanletizia]

Modeshow Ronald Kolk 2006, Prinses Laurentien en Vanessa Loudon

from brunopress

[fanletizia]

More from brunopress

[Marengo]

Oh dear, get her out of there before she buys anythin! This guy was responsible for her clowneske appearance at the weddin of Prince Pieter-Christiaan!
Jonkvrouwe Vanessa Margaretha Herma Loudon was always rumoured to be a candidate for the PoO btw, but she married entrepreneur Janus Smalbraak instead and has 4 children now: Elisabeth, Adriaan, Zarina (!) and Georgina. She is a goddaughter of HM The Queen and the daughter of Jonkheer Ronald Loudon (former ambassador to Cairo, Rome etc) and Baroness Catharina Bentinck van Schoonheten.
Maxima and Willem-Alexander first appeared in public (a very selective public though) during the wedding party of Vanessa and Janus in 1999, when the press still thought her name was Maxima Herzog.

[Maxie]

Originally Posted by Marengo

Oh dear, get her out of there before she buys anythin! This guy was responsible for her clowneske appearance at the weddin of Prince Pieter-Christiaan!

Yes, drag the woman out of there! That Kolk person also was responsible for the hideous dress she wore during Prinsjesdag last year! And please tell me that she's not wearing pants of which the right half is red and the left half is white!!! *Sigh*

[Marengo]

Originally Posted by Maxie

Yes, drag the woman out of there! That Kolk person also was responsible for the hideous dress she wore during Prinsjesdag last year! And please tell me that she's not wearing pants of which the right half is red and the left half is white!!! *Sigh*

I am afraid I have to disappoiunt you. In my last post I almost anted to say that the colour suited Laurentien and that she looked ok (compared to usually), untill I saw those trousers, those don't deserve any compliment what so ever.

[Maxie]

Originally Posted by Marengo

I am afraid I have to disappoiunt you. In my last post I almost anted to say that the colour suited Laurentien and that she looked ok (compared to usually), untill I saw those trousers, those don't deserve any compliment what so ever.

I'm glad we agree on that one! :) Laurentien usually looks great in red (think of the famous dress in Denmark) but those trousers spoilt it for me this time. :(

[seto]

I don't think its the pants that are tones I think the blouse is longer on one side.:)

[Maxie]

Originally Posted by seto

I don't think its the pants that are tones I think the blouse is longer on one side.:)

Yeah, you're right! Now I can see it. But oh well, it's pretty hideous too, having a piece of fabric hanging down like that...

[California Girl]

Oh Laurentien what are you thinking? You're so attractive, but you're looking like a clown here.

[Alexandria]

We've reached 11 pages, so it's time to close this thread.

You can find the new thread here.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread! :)