Christina of Orange-Nassau

Christina von Oranien-Nassau and Jorge Guillermo (1975)

Princess Maria Christina of the Netherlands (born February 18, 1947 in the Palais Soestdijk ; † August 16, 2019 in the Paleis Noordeinde ), Princess of Oranien-Nassau, Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld, was the youngest of the four daughters of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and hers Husband Bernhard zur Lippe-Biesterfeld .

Life

One of her godparents was Winston Churchill . Her mother had rubella during her pregnancy , which resulted in the princess being born almost blind. Over time, however, she was able to improve her eyesight with special glasses to such an extent that she could attend school and lead a relatively normal life. Regardless of this disability, she was considered an intelligent and happy child with a special talent for music. She also learned foreign languages ​​quickly and was already noticed as a little girl during a state visit by French President René Coty for the fact that she was able to speak to him fluently in French.

From 1963 on, Princess Marijke mainly used her middle name Christina. She used her talent for music and moved to Canada at the age of 21 to study classical music in Montreal . After a few years, she took a job at a Montessori school in New York City . There, where she led a simple life under the name Christina of Orange, she met the Cuban exile from Havana , Jorge Guillermo , a teacher at the Addie May Collins Shelter in Harlem .

In order to avoid a possible scandal in the Netherlands due to his Catholic church affiliation, Princess Christina, at the time the ninth in the Dutch line of succession , renounced her and her children's rights to the throne before converting to Catholicism and on Valentine's Day in 1975 officially announced their engagement.

The couple married on June 28, 1975 in the Utrecht Cathedral in the Netherlands and were cheered by thousands of Dutch people afterwards. After getting married, the couple decided to live in New York, but later moved to Christina's home, where they built a house in Wassenaar near The Hague . The marriage had three children: Bernardo, Nicolás and Juliana Guillermo.

In 1996, Princess Christina divorced and again moved to the United States with her children . After her mother's death, she lived partly in London and partly in Monte Argentario in Italy .

As a musician, she recorded several CDs and gave her name to the Dutch young music competition “Princess Christina Competition”. She sang at her mother and father's funeral ceremonies and took part in a memorial concert for Queen Juliana organized by the Concerte in Monte Argentario ( CIMA Festival ).

Christina's older sister Irene also lost her membership of the royal family and was excluded from the line of succession because she entered into her marriage without the consent of the Dutch parliament and converted to Catholicism. Of her sisters, apart from the former Queen Beatrix, only Margriet officially belongs to the Dutch royal family.

Christina was diagnosed with bone cancer in the fall of 2017, from which she died in August 2019 at the age of 72.

progeny

1. Bernardo Federico Tomás Guillermo, (born June 17, 1977) has been married to Eva Prinz-Valdes since 2009. They have two children together:
   1. Isabel Christina (born April 13, 2009)
   2. Julián Jorge (born September 21, 2011)
2. Nicolás Daniel Mauricio Guillermo, (born July 6, 1979)
3. Juliana Edenia Antonia Guillermo, (born October 8, 1981)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Prinses Christina Concours. Retrieved August 16, 2019 (Dutch). 
2. ^ CIMA - Concerti in Monte Argentario. Archived from the original on August 1, 2013 ; accessed on August 16, 2019 (English, Italian). 
3. ^ Brittani Barger: Princess Christina, the aunt of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, has bone cancer. In: royalcentral.co.uk. June 21, 2018, accessed on August 16, 2019 .