A dejá vu! The problems raised in the Dutch press and political class in the past months, objecting to a marriage between HRH Prince Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands, Prince of Orange and Miss Máxima Zorreguieta, remind those of 1965, objecting to the marriage between HRH Princess Beatrix and Mr. Claus von Amsberg. Then and now, the problem is recurrent: the choice of consort of the future sovereign of The Netherlands.

In the 1960’s, the fresh memories of the World War II made that the Germans and especially those who had been part of the Adolf Hitler’s armed forces were regarded with much hate and extreme dislike, all over Europe and the World. This was specifically the case of Mr. Claus von Amsberg, with whom the heiress presumptive to the Dutch throne, Princess Beatrix, had fallen in love. The Princess was the eldest daughter of HM Queen Juliana and HRH Prince Bernhard of The Netherlands, who had ascended to the Dutch throne in 1948, just after the abdication of HM Queen Wilhelmina, who then became Princess Wilhelmina. Queen Juliana, then herself heiress presumptive, had married, in 1937, Prince Bernhard von Lippe-Biesterfeld in a ceremony in The Hague and the couple had four daughters, Princesses Beatrix, Irene, Margriet and Christina.

The destiny made that only Princess Margriet’s wedding, in 1967, happened without problems: Princess Irene was the first to marry and did it without the consent of her mother and the Dutch Parliament, in Rome, having converted to Roman Catholic Church and without the presence of any of the members of her family. All because she decided to marry Prince Charles-Hughes of Bourbon-Parma, the Carlist claimant of the Spanish throne, whilst Queen Juliana considered (like almost all the European Royal Houses) the Count of Barcelona and the Prince of the Asturias as the rightful pretenders. Princess Christina later married a Cuban, and her marriage, although authorised by Queen Juliana, was always regarded as a coup of luck from the Princess’ husband. Both princesses later divorced.

When Princess Beatrix informed her mother of her decision to marry Mr. Claus von Amsberg, a German nobleman who had been part of Hitler’s forces (although only while doing his military service and not having ever been in actual combat), she was presented with the Queen’s objection. The Netherlands was one of many countries that suffered dramatically with World War II, the Royal Family had been forced to flee the country and the Queen knew the Germans were still and would be hated for many years. Princess Beatrix was, however, determined that she would marry the man she loved and with her persistence (and the help of her father, Prince Bernhard) she convinced her mother and the country that she would marry Mr. Claus von Amsberg.

The ceremonies in the gloomy Amsterdam were all but peaceful. Many Dutch citizens protested in the streets the days before the wedding and on the wedding day itself. Despite a genetic depression some years after, the life of Princess Beatrix and Prince Claus in Drakensteyn Castle (1966-1981) was apparently very happy and Claus became the most popular member of the Royal Family! It all seemed to fit his words, hours only after his wedding: “I do well know that our union does not have everyone’s sympathy and I understand the objections made. May I ask that all give us the possibility of building a new future together.”

Their eldest son, HRH the Prince of Orange, has taken a similar step on deciding to marry Miss Máxima Zorreguieta, daughter of the former minister of Agriculture of Videla’s regime in Argentina, a regime accused of many manslaughters. The wedding will take place in Amsterdam, on the second day of the second month of the second year of the new millennium, the 2nd February 2002. Instead of the calmer Hague – where in May of 2001 took place the wedding of Queen Beatrix’s and Prince Claus’ youngest son, HRH Prince Constantjn, with the daughter of a Dutch minister, Miss Laurentien Brinkhorst, now Princess of Orange-Nassau – Prince Willem-Alexander and Miss Zorreguieta chose the city of Amsterdam and concretely the Old Stock Exchange and the Nieuwe Kerk, all near the Palace of the Dam, for the celebration of their wedding.

It is as a celebration of this grand state wedding that we decided to design this site, remembering that day in March of 1966 in which a radiant Princess, the heiress presumptive to the Dutch throne, married the German nobleman, Claus von Amsberg. A magnificent week of celebrations, to remember…

September 2001, the Editors

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