Royal Profile: Princess Laurentien of The Netherlands

Petra Laurentien Brinkhorst (aka Princess Laurentien) was born in Leiden on 25 May 1966 to Laurens Jan Brinkhorst and Jantien Brinkhorst-Heringa {Source}.

She attended school in The Netherlands, and in Japan{Source}. She received her Baccalauréat from Lycée français in Japan{Source}. She studied history at Groningen University{Source}, earning a foundations degree in 1986{Source}. She then attended Queen Mary College, London University, where she studied political science in 1989{Source}. In 1991, she earned a Master of Journalism from the University of California at Berkeley{Source}

She married Prince Constantijn on 17 May 2001 {Source}. Together, they have three children{Source}:
  • Countess Eloise of Oranje-Nassau, Jonkvrouwe van Amsberg (2002)
  • Count Claus-Casimir of Oranje-Nassau, Jonkheer van Amsberg (2003)
  • Countess Leonore of Oranje-Nassau, Jonkvrouwe van Amsberg (2006)

The family lives in Brussels{Source}.

In addition to her royal duties, she works as a freelance communications consultant {Source}. Since 2008, she has worked for the European Climate Foundation {Source}. In 2009, she set up the Missing Chapter Foundation{Source}.


One of the Princess's major causes involved the environment and environmential issues{Source}. She is actively involved with the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature), especially with their "Rewildingn Europe" inititiave{Source}.On 1 November 2012, she was appointed President of Fauna & Flora International (FFI){Source}{Source} A second major cause for the princess is promoting literacy{Source}. She is chair of the Stichting Lezen & Zchrijven {Source}. On 24 March 2009, Princess Laurentien was designated UNESCO Special Envoy on Literacy for Development {Source}. Since 1 February 2011 the Princess has been Chair of the European Commission's High Level Group on Literacy {Source}.
Honorary posts

As a member of the Royal House, Princess Laurentien holds a number of honorary posts{Source}:

  • Patron of the Dutch Listening and Braille Library (NLBB)
  • Patron of the Dutch language society Genootschap Onze Taal
  • Honorary Chair of the Association of Public Libraries
  • President of Fauna & Flora International (FFI)
  • President of the European Cultural Foundation

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Royal Profile: Princess Beatrix of The Netherlands

Royal Profile: Prince Constantin d'Orléans

Royal Profile: Royal Twins