Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands

Prince Constantijn
Prince Constantijn in 2015
Born	(1969-10-11) 11 October 1969 University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands
Spouse	Petra Laurentien Brinkhorst (m. 2001)
Issue	Countess Eloise Count Claus-Casimir Countess Leonore
Full name Constantijn Christof Frederik Aschwin
House	Orange-Nassau (official) Amsberg (agnatic)
Father	Claus von Amsberg
Mother	Beatrix of the Netherlands
Religion	Protestant Church in the Netherlands

Dutch royal family
HM The King * HM The Queen * HRH The Princess of Orange * HRH Princess Alexia * HRH Princess Ariane * HRH Princess Beatrix * HRH Princess Mabel Countess Luana Countess Zaria HRH Prince Constantijn * HRH Princess Laurentien * Countess Eloise Count Claus-Casimir Countess Leonore
Extended royal family HRH Princess Irene HRH The Duke of Parma HRH The Duchess of Parma HRH The Countess of Colorno Mr Tjalling ten Cate HRH The Count of Bardi HRH The Countess of Bardi HRH The Marchioness of Sala Mr Albert Brenninkmeijer HRH Princess Margriet * Professor Pieter van Vollenhoven * HH Prince Maurits HH Princess Marilène HH Prince Bernhard HH Princess Annette HH Prince Pieter-Christiaan HH Princess Anita HH Prince Floris HH Princess Aimée HRH Princess Christina Mr Bernardo Guillermo Mrs Eva Guillermo Mr Nicolás Guillermo Miss Juliana Guillermo
* Member of the Dutch royal house

Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands (Constantijn Christof Frederik Aschwin; born 11 October 1969) is the third and youngest son of the former Dutch queen, Beatrix, and her husband, Claus von Amsberg, and is the younger brother of the reigning Dutch king, Willem-Alexander. He is a member of the Dutch Royal House of Orange-Nassau and currently fourth in the line of succession to the Dutch throne.^[1]

Life and career

Prince Constantijn was born on 11 October 1969 at Utrecht University Hospital (now the University Medical Center Utrecht) in Utrecht, following the births of his brothers, Willem-Alexander (born in 1967), and Johan Friso (1968–2013). He goes by the nickname Tijn. His godparents are former King Constantine II of Greece, Prince Aschwin of Lippe-Biesterfeld, Axel Freiherr von dem Bussche-Streithorst, Max Kohnstamm, and Corinne de Beaufort-Sickinghe.

Prince Constantijn studied law at Leiden University, becoming a lawyer, and then worked at the Brussels department of the (Dutch) European Union commissioner of foreign relations, Van den Broek. Later, he was hired by the EU and continued to work there in various capacities until the end of 1999. In December 2000, he was awarded a Master of Business Administration at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France. He then spent a summer working for the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank group in Washington, DC. He worked until late 2002 for strategic consultants Booz Allen Hamilton in London. Since 2003, he works for the RAND Corporation Europe in Brussels. Furthermore, he has a part-time position at the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague.

Prince Constantijn rarely attends public events in his capacity as a member of the Dutch Royal House. Prince Constantijn is a keen sportsman and enjoys football, tennis, golf and skiing. His other hobbies include drawing, cooking and reading.

Marriage and family

The engagement of Prince Constantijn and Petra Laurentien Brinkhorst was announced on 16 December 2000. The civil marriage was conducted by the mayor of The Hague, Wim Deetman, in the Oude Raadzaal, Javastraat, The Hague, on 17 May 2001. The church wedding took place two days later on 19 May in the Grote of St Jacobskerk, with the Reverend Carel ter Linden officiating.

Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien have three children: Eloise (b. 2002), Claus-Casimir (b. 2004), and Leonore (b. 2006). The family then moved from Brussels to The Hague.

Upon the abdication of Queen Beatrix on 30 April 2013, the children of Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien ceased to be members of the Royal House, although they continue to be members of the royal family and remain in the line of succession.^[2]

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Constantijn's monogram

Arms

Coat of arms of Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands

Notes Prince Constantijn bore the same coat of arms as his brothers; Prince Willem-Alexander and Prince Friso.[7] Escutcheon Quarterly: I and IV azure billety or, a lion with coronet also or armed and langued gules, holding in his dexter paw a sword argent hilted or, and in his sinister seven arrows argent pointed and bound together or, which is of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; II and III or, a horn azure opened and bound gules, which is of the First House of Orange; on an inescutcheon vert, a castle proper, on a mount of the last (arms of the House of Amsberg, i.e. that of his late father, Prince Claus).[7] Banner Prince Constantijn uses a square, with the Royal standard colours and his maternal arms (the horn of Orange) in the 2nd and 3rd quarters and two white towers in the 1st and 4th quarters. The crowned arms of the Netherlands is in the middle.

Ancestry

See also

• Dutch Royal Family

References

External links

• Official page created by the Dutch Royal House (English version)