House Orange-Nassau Name Prince of | Father Pieter van Vollenhoven | |
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Born 25 December 1969 (age 54)
Nijmegen, Netherlands ( 1969-12-25 ) Issue Isabella van Vollenhoven
Samuel van Vollenhoven
Benjamin van Vollenhoven Mother Princess Margriet of the Netherlands Spouse Princess Annette of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven-Sekreve (m. 2000) Siblings Prince Maurits of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven Children Samuel Bernhard Louis van Vollenhoven Parents Pieter van Vollenhoven, Princess Margriet of the Netherlands Grandparents Prince Pieter-Christiaan of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven Similar People Princess Annette of Orange‑N, Pieter van Vollenhoven, Prince Pieter‑Christiaan of Orange, Prince Maurits of Orange‑N, Princess Margriet of the Nethe | ||
Prince Bernhard Lucas Emmanuel of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven (born Nijmegen, 25 December 1969) is the second son of Princess Margriet of the Netherlands and Pieter van Vollenhoven. His godparents are Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, Baron J. van Boetzelaer, Baroness C. Evelein, J. Fleischman, and The Royal Air Force. At the time of the investiture of his cousin Willem-Alexander as King he was a member of the Royal House, and eleventh in the line of succession to the throne. With the investiture of King Willem-Alexander, however, he is no longer a member of the Dutch Royal House, and is no longer in the line of succession to the Dutch throne.
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Life and education
Prince Bernhard's family lived in Apeldoorn throughout his childhood, moving to Het Loo House in 1975. He received both his primary and secondary education in Apeldoorn.
Prince Bernhard has three brothers: Prince Maurits, Prince Pieter-Christiaan, and Prince Floris.
He studied economics in 1988 at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Subsequently, in 1989 he went to the Groningen University in the Netherlands where he studied marketing and market research. In 1995 he received the degree of doctorandus (Master of science) at this university.
Although he is a member of the extended royal family, he rarely takes part in official duties. Prince Bernard is a self-employed entrepreneur.
Marriage and family
While studying in Groningen, Prince Bernhard met Annette Sekreve, (born 18 April 1972). The couple announced their engagement on 11 March 2000. They married in July 2000. The civil ceremony was performed on 6 July 2000 by the Mayor of Utrecht, Ms A. H. Brouwer-Korf, in the Spiegelzaal of the Paushuize, Utrecht. The marriage was blessed two days later, on 8 July 2000, by Dr. Anne van der Meiden in the Cathedral of Saint Martin, Utrecht.
Prince Bernhard and Princess Annette have three children.
Prince Bernhard and his family live in Amsterdam.
Upon the announcement of the planned abdication of Queen Beatrix, which took place on 30 April 2013, it was also restated that after the abdication, the children of Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet of the Netherlands and Professor Pieter van Vollenhoven would no longer be eligible for the throne. They would also cease to be members of the Royal House.
Illness
At the end of August 2013, it was made public that Bernhard was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma by doctors in Amsterdam.
He also suffers from Crohn's disease.