Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands (born Petra Laurentien Brinkhorst, 25 May 1966) is married to Prince Constantijn and is the sister-in-law of

King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands Willem-Alexander (; Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand; born 27 April 1967) is King of the Netherlands since 30 April 2013. Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht during the reign of his maternal grandmother, Queen Juliana, as the eldest ch ...

Early life

Petra Laurentien Brinkhorst was born in

Leiden, Netherlands Leiden ( ; ; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 127,046 (31 January 2023), but the city forms one densely connecte ...

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 Netherlands, 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 ...

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

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of her parents' given names. Princess Laurentien started primary school in

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

. Her family then moved to

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, where she completed her primary education. She attended her secondary education in The Hague, of which four years at the Christelijk Gymnasium Sorghvliet and one year at the Eerste Vrijzinnige Christelijk Lyceum, and later in

Kita, Tokyo is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in the Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. The English translation of its Japanese self-designation is City of Kita. The ward was founded on March 15, 1947. As of May 1, 2015, the ward has an estimated po ...

at the

Lycée Français International de Tokyo The Lycée Français International de Tokyo (LFI Tokyo, ''Tōkyō Kokusai Furansu Gakuen'') is a French international school in Tokyo with over 1550 students representing more than 65 nationalities. The school consists of a kindergarten, an elemen ...

, where she obtained her

Baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

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; , abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen, Netherlands. Founded in 1614, 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 word ''propedeutics'' comes from the Greek prefix '' pro'' 'earlier, rudiment ...

in 1986. She then studied at

Queen Mary College, University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly 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 ...

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 (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

in 1989, and subsequently at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

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 is an international nature conservation charity and non-governmental organization based in the United Kingdom. Founded as the Society for the Preservation of the Wild Fauna of the Empire, the society created some of the first ga ...

. In 2024, she announced she had resigned from her position as chairwoman of the Equally Worthy Recovery Foundation following controversies involving its costs and Laurentien's allegedly aggressive behavior toward civil servants.

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 ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, in the Oude Raadzaal, Javastraat,

, on 17 May 2001. The church wedding took place two days later on 19 May in the Grote or 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, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, where they lived, to

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: ; in the masculine only; ''jonkvrouw'' is used in the feminine, even in French; ) is an honorific in the Low Countries denoting the lowest rank within the nobility. In the Netherlands, this in general concerns a prefix used ...

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

Honours

National honours

* : **

NLD Order of the House of Orange - Grand Cross BAR

Dame Grand Cross of the

Order of the House of Orange The Order of the House of Orange (Dutch: ''Huisorde van Oranje''), sometimes referred to as the House Order of Orange, is a dynastic order of the House of Orange-Nassau, the royal family of the Netherlands similar to the Royal Victorian Order in ...

(17 May 2001) **

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

King Willem-Alexander Investiture Medal 2013 - ribbon

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

Foreign honours

* : Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown (28 November 2016) * : Grand Officer of the Order of the Legion of Honour (11 April 2023) * : Dame Grand Cordon of the

Supreme Order of the Renaissance The Supreme Order of the Renaissance (,) is the second-most senior order of merit in the Kingdom of Jordan. History The order was instituted in 1917 by Emir Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca. According to correspondence between the British For ...

(30 October 2006)PPE
Laurentien
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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) UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism alumni