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
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