News Summary R O Y A L B L O G. N L

Princess Carolina is living in Hong Kong

Princess Carolina of Bourbon-Parma, the youngest daughter of Princess Irene of the Netherlands, has moved with her husband Albert Brenninkmeijer to Hong Kong. A spokesperson for the royal family Bourbon-Parma confirmed the move Tuesday.

Mr. Albert Brenninkmeijer, scion of the famous C & A Brenninkmeijer family, was until this spring head of the Swiss branch of C & A and is now directing C & A's business in Hong Kong and further afield, in China.

Princess Carolina worked until recentlyas the  Swiss "representative for partnerships" of UNRWA, the UN organization dedicated to the support and development of the Palestinian refugees. The couple have two children. © RB

 

Fashion delights princely couple Jaime & Viktória

Prince Jaime of Bourbon-Parma and his wife Princess Viktória had front row seats Saturday at the fashion show of Dutch designer Andy Van den Krommenacker in the sumptuous garden of the Netherlands' ambassador's residence in Rome. The show was part of Rome's fashion week 'AltaModa' and brought Van den Krommenacker, who is popular with members of the Dutch Royal Family, after many years back to the Italian capital. 

Van den Krommenacker's recent Autumn-collection was inspired by work of Hieronymus Bosch and his masterpiece "Garden of Delights". "Tonight the embassy garden has become a Garden of Delights", Dutch ambassador to Italy, Joep Wijnands said. He pointed at the special bond between Van den Krommenacker and Rome, where the fashion designer in 2007 won the prestigious' Look of the Year Award for Best Foreign Contribution.

Prince Jaime of Bourbon-Parma is Dutch ambassador to the Holy See, as his posting to the Vatican is called in diplomatic terms. He and his wife Viktória have been living in Rome since October 2014. The couple has two children.

© RB Hans Jacobs

Princess Carolina shows off her baby son Xavier

Princess Carolina of Bourbon-Parma and her husband Albert Brenninkmeijer posed for the first official pictures after the birth on 16 December of their son Xavier Albert Alphons. In their home in Switzerland they were the very image of a happy young family, and their almost two year old daughter Alaïa-Maria joining in all the fun.

Princess Carolina is the youngest daughter of the late Prince Carlos Hugo of Bourbon Parma and Princess Irene of the Netherlands, sister to former Queen Beatrix. © RB; Photo by © Ruth Hofmann

Tribute to Grand Duke Jean - with Queen Sofia, Belgian royal couple, Princess Beatrix

'Happy birthday to you ' rang out in a full house at the Philharmonie in Luxembourg Saturday evening, as the royal family, government, honoured guests and the Luxembourg population fêted Grand Duke Jean, who turned 95 earlier in the week, with a musical tribute and special party.

King Philip and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians, Queen Sofia of Spain an her sister Princess Irene, King Constantine and Queen Anne-Marie of the Hellenes, former queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, former Crown Prince Hassan of Jordan and Princess Sarvath were among the many royal guests at this festive evening.

Grand Duke Jean, who ruled from 1964 tot 2000, and who was succeeded by his son Grand Duke Henri, had five children with his wife Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte (+2005). They in turn had quite a few children - Henri in turn also had five, and now has grandchildren too - so it made for an enormous family reunion as everyone gathered at the Grand Ducal Palace ahead of the concert. Two buses were needed to transport Jean's grandchildren and their partners to the Philharmonie.

Remarkbale absentees were Jean's brother- and sister-in law, King Albert II and Queen Paola of Belgium, who did attend the concert five years ago when Jean turned 90.

© RB Hans Jacobs; Photos by © MPE Patrick van Katwijk

Powerful message of Princesses Mabel & Viktória

"At age 15, we wantd to learn and grow! Not to be child brides - Princess Mabel and Princess Viktória campaigned to end Child Marriage with a clear message when they both attended an expert meeting at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague, Wednesday.

The meeting was organised by Save the Children, of which Princess Viktória de Bourbon de Parme is patron. Princess Viktória is the wife of Prince Jaime, younger brother of the present Duke of Parma, and himself Dutch ambassador in the Vatican. Jaime and Viktória have one daughter, Princess Zita, named after the last Empress of Austria, who was a sister to Jaime's grandfather Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma.

Princess Mabel is founder of Girls Not Brides, an umbrella organisation for over 500 ngo's and other organisations in 71 countries across the world who strive for girls rights and an end to child marriage. Every year around 14 million girls are married under the age of 18, and of this number 1 in 7 will marry before their 15th birthday and in extreme cases even before the age of 10. Hence the powerful message: what was your goal at age 15? 'Not to be a child bride'.

© RB Hans Jacobs; Photos by © Monarchy Press Europe, Patrick van Katwijk

Grand Duchess Charlotte fondly remembered

 

Grand Duke Jean, 94, made a rare public appearance Tuesday to mark the 70th anniversary of the return from exile of his mother Grand Duchess Charlotte on 14 April 1945. He was joined by his son Grand Duke Henri and daughter in law Grand Duchess Maria Teresa. In their name flowers were placed at the foot of a monument to the 'fearless Duchess', as Charlotte was known during the war years.

Charlotte and her family had fled for the occupying German troops on May 10, 1940. She spent the years in exile exhorting her country men to resist the nazi regime, expressing her strong belief that the Allied cause would win in the end. She travelled widely in Canada and the US, and sent her children to school in Montréal, Québec.

Her husband Prince Félix of Bourbon-Parma, brother of Empress Zita of Austria, and son Prince Jean (to become Grand Duke Jean when he succeeded her in 1964) took part in the first liberation of Luxembourg in September 1944. The Germans however turned around and re-occupied large chunks of the Grand Duchy again that winter, only to be kicked out again in February 1945. That openened the way for the Grand Duchess to return to her home as well.

© Royalblog, Hans Jacobs, with Marius Cirtiu

Princess Viktória helps Save the Children

Princess Viktória de Bourbon de Parme has become patron of the Dutch branch of Save the Children. In that capacity she follows in the footsteps of former queen Juliana, who was patron from 1980 till her death in 2004. Queen Juliana was the grandmother of Princess Viktória's husband, Prince Jaime - youngest son of Princess Irene of the Netherlands and the late Duke of Parma, Prince Carlos Hugo.

Princess Viktória lives in Rome, where Prince Jaime is Dutch ambassador to the Holy See - the Vatican. The couple who married in October 2013 has one daughter, Princess Zita, named after Jaime's great aunt the former Empress Zita of Austria.

The princess helped Little Red Riding hood and a class of school children Monday collecting coins from a wishing well at the Dutch amusement and fairy tale park De Efteling. The well was inaugurated by Princess Juliana in 1985, and has amassed some 180,000 euro for the children's right organisation Save the Children.  

 

 © RB Marius Cirtiu

Brief video impression of royal visit of Bourbon Parma family to Piacenza and Parma

Prince Carlos, Duke of Parma, and his family - siblings, aunt Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon Parma, and in laws, paid their annual visit to the ancient duchies of Parma and Piacenza at the end of September. Carlos' wife Princess Annemarie stayed home, with their youngest daughter Princess Cecilia who had taken ill. Here a brief video impression of the royal visit.

 

© Royalblog, Marius Cirtiu

Prince Jaime 'wants to make a difference'

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

Touching Dutch royal tribute to Carlos Hugo

They came to pay their respects to "one of their own". It was both touching and moving, and certainly unique. The Dutch royal family gathered at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague to honour the life of Prince Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma, who died earlier last week of cancer, aged 80.

On Friday the Dutch government plane, specially commissioned by Queen Beatrix, carried his remains from Barcelona to The Netherlands, home of his four children, his grandchild and his former wife, Princess Irene. ,,Because I love Irene, I love Holland", the carlist claimant to the throne of Spain once said, many years ago at the time of his tumultuous engagement to Irene.

* The coffin, with the Bourbon standard, the red carlist headwear and the Order of the Gulden Fleece, and the wreath sent by 'Los Reyes', the King and Queen of Spain.

Holland never loved him back: not understanding his carlist heritage, not accepting Irene's conversion to the catholic faith, not seeing the future he had mapped out for Spain. When another branch of the Bourbon family (re)gained the throne of Spain, the dreams of Carlos Hugo and Irene shattered and they separated. Carlos Hugo went off the radar in Holland.

* Four royal sisters - Beatrix, Irene, Margriet and (unseen) Christina, with Pieter van Vollenhoven in the garden of Noordeinde Palace.

But the Dutch royal family did never break off contact. On the contrary. Carlos Hugo was almost always present at all major family occasions, apparently loved and appreciated by his former family in law. He sat in the royal box in 2008 for the royal variety show celebrating the birthdays of Queen Beatrix (70) and Princess Margriet (65). He was there for Pieter van Vollenhoven's 70th birthday, one year later.

And only in June he saw his eldest son and successor as Duke of Parma, marry in a civil ceremony - the church ceremony was scheduled for August 28, now the day of Carlos Hugo's funeral in Parma.  

* Princesses Margarita, with husband Tjalling, and Carolina lead the royal mourners, with Queen Beatrix and Princess Irene immediately following.

In a small but beautiful building - Fagel's Cupola - in the gardens of Noordeinde Palace, the Dutch royals - all four royal sisters, including Carlos Hugo's former wife Irene, and almost all of their children and their partners - held a private family ceremony after the remains of the Prince had arrived in The Hague. They were joined by Princess Marie Therèse of Bourbon Parma, sister of the late Prince.

The remains will be taken to Piacenza in Italy on Monday, where the Duke will lay in state till Wednesday, when the body will be moved to Parma. © RB/GPD; Pictures: © ANP Pool, Robin Utrecht