Prince Jaime de Bourbon de Parme sees his new job as Dutch ambassador to the Holy See as a major challenge. ”I am an entrepreneur within the government. I see lots of possibilities”, Jaime said in an interview with Dutch public television Tuesday evening.
The Prince was appointed to the prestigeous post earlier this year and expects to hand his credentials to Pope Francis in October. He described his position at the Vatican as “one of the most interesting places in the world." The Vatican State may be small, but it has 1,2 billion ‘followers’ the Prince said.
Prince Jaime, who served the last few years as a special envoy for natural resources, called himself a career diplomat. He has already been with the State Department (Ministery of Foreign Affairs) for 13 years. He applied for a position “because I want to make a difference in the world."
In the interview he also talked about his two grandfathers, Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma and Prince Bernhard. He praised Prince Xavier's commitment to conflict prevention, as seen in the First World War when he tried to open negotiations between Austria-Hungary (where his sister Zita was married to Emperor Karl) and the Allies. In World War II, Xavier ended up in Nazi concentration camp Dachau. “He kept the faith, the nazi’s couldn’t take from him.”
Prince Bernhard was a "man figure" as Jaime described him. “Very authentic”, but unlike Jaime someone who did not shy away from conflict. ,”He was committed to the preservation of nature. I think it's great that he has co-founder of the World Wildlife Fund”, Prince Jaime said.
© Royalblog; Screenshot
Comments