Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands (née Petra Laurentien Brinkhorst; born 25 May 1966) is the wife of Prince Constantijn and sister-in-law of

King Willem-Alexander Willem-Alexander (; Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand; born ) is King of the Netherlands, having acceded to the throne following his mother's abdication in 2013. Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht as the oldest child of Princess Beatr ...

and

Queen Máxima Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mothe ...

Early life

Petra Laurentien Brinkhorst was born in Leiden, Netherlands on 25 May 1966, the daughter of the former Dutch minister of Economic Affairs,

Laurens Jan Brinkhorst Laurens Jan Brinkhorst (born 18 March 1937) is a retired Dutch politician and diplomat of the Democrats 66 (D66) party and jurist. Early life and education Laurens-Jan Brinkhorst was born in the city of Zwolle. His parents were Marius Jacobus ...

and Jantien Brinkhorst-Heringa. She has one brother. She is known by her middle name, Laurentien, a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsGroningen. Her family then moved to

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

, where she completed her primary education. She attended her secondary education in The Hague, of which four years at the

Christelijk Gymnasium Sorghvliet Christelijk Gymnasium Sorghvliet, commonly known simply as Sorghvliet, is an independent Protestant gymnasium in The Hague. Sorghvliet is consistently ranked among the top 10 schools in the Netherlands by the influential magazine Elsevier. Sorghv ...

and one year at the Eerste Vrijzinnige Christelijk Lyceum, and later in Kita, Tokyo at the Lycée Français International de Tokyo, where she obtained her Baccalauréat diploma in 1984. Her father was working in Japan at the time, being the Ambassador of the European Union to Japan between 1982 and 1987. Princess Laurentien studied history at the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; nl, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, abbreviated as RUG) is a public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. Founded in 1614, the university is th ...

, where she completed her

Propaedeutics Propaedeutics or propedeutics (from Ancient Greek , ''propaídeusis'' 'preparatory education') is a historical term for an introductory course into an art or science. The etymology of propedeutics comprises the Latin prefix ''pro'', meaning earlier ...

in 1986. She then studied at

Queen Mary College, University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and previously Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public university, public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University of ...

where she received a BA degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

in 1989, and subsequently at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

where she obtained an MJ degree in 1991.

Interests and activities

In 2009, she was designated UNESCO Special Envoy on "Literacy for Development" in recognition of her "outstanding commitment to the promotion of education and her profound dedication to the Organization's ideals and objectives". In 2010 she was co-recipient of the Major Bosshardt Prize for her work in combating illiteracy. She is also the current president of

wildlife conservation Wildlife conservation refers to the practice of protecting wild species and their habitats in order to maintain healthy wildlife species or populations and to restore, protect or enhance natural ecosystems. Major threats to wildlife include habita ...

NGO

Fauna and Flora International Fauna & Flora International (FFI) is an international conservation charity and non-governmental organization dedicated to protecting the planet's threatened wildlife and habitats. Founded in 1903, it is the world's oldest international conserv ...

Marriage and children

The engagement of Prince Constantijn and Laurentien Brinkhorst was announced on 16 December 2000. The civil marriage was conducted by

Wim Deetman Willem Joost "Wim" Deetman (born 3 April 1945) is a retired Dutch politician and teacher who served as Minister of Education and Sciences from 1982 to 1989, Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1989 to 1996 and Mayor of The Hague from ...

, the mayor of

the Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

, in the Oude Raadzaal, Javastraat,

, on 17 May 2001. The church wedding took place two days later on 19 May in the Grote of St Jacobskerk, with Reverend Carel ter Linden officiating. Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien have three children: Eloise (born 2002), Claus-Casimir (born 2004), and Leonore (born 2006). In 2015, Prince Constantijn, Princess Laurentien, and their children moved from

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Titles, styles, and honours

Royal Monogram of Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands

Royal Standard of Laurentien of Orange-Nassau

Titles and styles

Laurentien's full title and style is: ''Her Royal Highness'' Princess Petra Laurentien of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Mrs. van Amsberg. Laurentien was not legally created a princess, but custom allows a wife to use her husband's titles. All children of the marriage hold the titles Count or Countess of Orange-Nassau and ''

Jonkheer (female equivalent: ; french: Écuyer; en, Squire) is an honorific in the Low Countries denoting the lowest rank within the nobility. In the Netherlands, this in general concerns a prefix used by the untitled nobility. In Belgium, this is the ...

'' or ''Jonkvrouw van Amsberg''. By Royal Decree of 15 January 2003, nr. 36, Princess Laurentien was granted her own personal standard.

Honours

National honours

* : **

Grand Cross of the Order of the House of Orange **

Recipient of the Royal Wedding Medal 2002 (2 February 2002) **

King Willem-Alexander Investiture Medal 2013

Recipient of the King Willem-Alexander Investiture Medal (30 April 2013)

Foreign honours

* : Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown (28 November 2016) * : Grand Cordon of the

Supreme Order of the Renaissance The Supreme Order of the Renaissance (, "Medal of the Nahda") is the second knighthood order of the Kingdom of Jordan. History The order was instituted in 1917 by Emir Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca. According to correspondence between the ...

(30 October 2006)

References

External links

The Dutch Royal House , Princess LaurentienUNESCO on Literacy (official website)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laurentien Of The Netherlands 1966 births Living people House of Orange-Nassau Princesses by marriage Princesses of Orange-Nassau People from Leiden Alumni of Queen Mary University of London Grand Crosses of the Order of the House of Orange Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Amsberg UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism alumni