Dutch Royal House

In the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Monarchy is a constitutional office and is controlled by the constitution of the Netherlands. A distinction is made between members of the royal family and members of the Royal House. The royal family is the Orange-Nassau family, however not every member is a member of the Royal House. By Act of Parliament, the members of the Royal House are^[1]:

• the monarch (King or Queen);
• the former monarch (on abdication);
• the members of the royal family in the line of succession to the Dutch Throne
• the spouses of the above

Current members of the Royal House

• HM the Queen (Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands)
  • HRH The Prince of Orange (Willem-Alexander), first son and oldest child of the Queen and the late HRH Prince Claus of the Netherlands
  • HRH Princess Máxima of the Netherlands, wife of the Prince of Orange
    • HRH Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands, daughter of the Prince of Orange and Princess Máxima
    • HRH Princess Alexia of the Netherlands, daughter of the Prince of Orange and Princess Máxima
    • HRH Princess Ariane of the Netherlands, daughter of the Prince of Orange and Princess Máxima
  • HRH Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands, third son and youngest child of the Queen and Prince Claus
  • HRH Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands, wife of Prince Constantijn
    • Countess Eloise of Orange-Nassau, daughter of Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien
    • Count Claus-Casimir of Orange-Nassau, son of Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien
    • Countess Leonore of Orange-Nassau, daughter of Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien
• HRH Princess Margriet of the Netherlands, sister of the Queen
• Pieter van Vollenhoven, husband of Princess Margriet
  • HH Prince Maurits of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven, son of Princess Margriet and Pieter van Vollenhoven
  • HH Princess Marilène of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven-van den Broek, wife of Prince Maurits
  • HH Prince Bernhard of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven, son of Princess Margriet and Pieter van Vollenhoven
  • HH Princess Annette of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven-Sekrève, wife of Prince Bernhard

Notes

• Members of the Royal House lose their right to succeed if they marry without parliament’s approval. This applied in 2004, for instance, when Prince Friso married Princess Mabel without Parliament’s official permission. It also applied to the marriages of Queen Beatrix's sisters, Princess Christina in 1975 and Princess Irene in 1964.

• Prince Pieter-Christiaan, son of Princess Margriet, lost his place as a member of the Royal House upon his marriage to Anita van Eijk in August 2005.

• Prince Floris, youngest son of Princess Margriet, lost his place as a member of the Royal House upon his marriage to Aimee Soehngen in October 2005.

• Princess Máxima, the wife of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange does not hold the title of Princess of Orange as that title is restricted to just the eldest child of the Dutch monarch, regardless of gender.

• When The Prince of Orange assumes the throne, his aunt, Princess Margriet will remain in the line of succession (and therefore the Royal House), but her two elder sons, Maurits and Bernhard, will be removed from both.

References

1. ^ "The Official Website of the Dutch Royal House in English". http://www.koninklijkhuis.nl/english/. Retrieved 26 April 2011.