Princess Christina of the Netherlands

Princess Christina Princess Christina of the Netherlands Spouse Jorge Pérez y Guillermo (m. 1975; div. 1996) Issue Bernardo Guillermor />Nicolás Guillermo Juliana Guillermo Full name Maria Christina Father Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld Mother Queen Juliana of the Netherlands Born 18 February 1947 (1947-02-18) (age 64) Soestdijk Palace

Dutch Royal Family HM The Queen * HRH The Prince of Orange * HRH Princess Máxima * HRH The Hereditary Princess of Orange * HRH Princess Alexia * HRH Princess Ariane * HRH Prince Friso 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 Tjalling ten Cate HRH the Count of Bardi HRH the Marchioness of Sala 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 Bernardo Guillermo Eva Prinz-Valdes Nicolás Guillermo Juliana Guillermo * Member of the Dutch Royal House v · d · e

Princess Maria Christina of the Netherlands (born 18 February 1947),^[1] Princess of Orange-Nassau, Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld, is the youngest of four daughters born to Queen regnant Juliana of the Netherlands and her Prince consort Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld.

Birth

She was born Maria Christina (Marijke) at Soestdijk Palace, The Netherlands. Among her godparents was Winston Churchill. Her mother had contracted German measles during her pregnancy and as a result, the Princess was born nearly blind. Over time, advances in medicine allowed for treatments that, with the aid of special glasses, brought about an improvement in her vision so that she could attend school and live a relatively normal life. Despite this initial handicap, she was a brilliant and happy child, with a considerable talent for music. She also had a capacity for languages and as a young girl delighted the visiting President of the French Republic René Coty, by conversing fluently with him in the French language.

Princess Christina of the Netherlands could claim British nationality because of her descent from Sophia, Electress of Hanover. Her British nationality is based on 'The Act for the Naturalization of the Most Excellent Princess Sophia, Electress and Duchess Dowager of Hanover, and the Issue of her Body' from 1705. This Act was repealed in 1948 and is no longer in force, but that was after her birth.

Princess Christina of the Netherlands is a direct descendant of Sophia, Electress of Hanover via her grandson King George II of Great Britain's daughter Anne, Princess of Orange, Fürstin of Nassau née Princess of Great Britain and Ireland, Princess of Hanover, Duchess of Braunschweig and Lüneburg, The Princess Royal (1709–1759).

Marriage

In 1963, Princess Marijke changed to using her second name, Christina. Pursuing her gift for music, at age 21 she moved to Canada to study classical music in Montreal. After a few years, she accepted a teaching position at a Montessori school in New York City. There, living an ordinary life under the name Christina van Oranje, the Dutch Princess met and fell in love with a Havana-born Cuban exile named Jorge Pérez y Guillermo, himself a teacher for the Addie May Collins Shelter of Harlem and a former hotelier. Mr. Guillermo was born in Havana on 1 August 1946. He is the son of Federico Gilberto Pérez Castillo and wife Edenia Mercedes Guillermo y Marrero, who died in Florida in 2002.

Although societal attitudes were changing, because Mr. Guillermo was a Roman Catholic, it was still possible that any marriage could cause another public scandal in the Netherlands such as the one that occurred in 1964 when her sister, Princess Irene married the Catholic Carlos Hugo of Bourbon, Duke of Parma. Accordingly, Princess Christina, at that time ninth in line for the Dutch throne, renounced her and her children's rights to the throne before converting to Catholicism and officially announcing her engagement on St. Valentine's Day, 1975.

Married on 28 June 1975, in the Cathedral of Saint Martin, Utrecht, in The Netherlands, the newlyweds rode through the streets of the city to the cheers of thousands of Dutch citizens. Following their marriage, she and her husband chose to live in New York but later moved to her native land where they built a home on an estate in Wassenaar, near The Hague.

Their children:

• Bernardo Federico Tomás Guillermo, (b. Utrecht, 17 June 1977), Married civilly in March 2009 in NYC to Eva Prinz-Valdez, an editor at a prominent publisher. Has a daughter Isabel Christina b. 13 April 2009. Married religiously in September 2009 in New York City.
• Nicolás Daniel Mauricio Guillermo, (b. Utrecht, 6 July 1979)
• Juliana Edenia Antonia Guillermo, (b. Utrecht, 8 October 1981)

Divorced in 1996, Princess Christina returned with her children to live in the United States. After her mother's death she has lived partly in London, partly in Monte Argentario, Italy.

She recorded several CDs and has a Music Foundation in the Netherlands. She sang at her father's funeral and participated in a tribute concert that the CIMA Festival did in Italy for Queen Juliana, under the direction of Jorge Chaminé.

Styles of Princess Christina of the Netherlands
Reference style	Her Royal Highness
Spoken style	Your Royal Highness
Alternative style	Ma'am

Ancestry

See also: Dutch monarchs family tree

References

1. ^ Hunter, Brian (1992-06-01). The Statesman's Year-Book 1992-93. Macmillan. p. 992. ISBN 9780333558362. http://books.google.com/books?id=fESiambTUyoC. Retrieved 16 June 2011. 

External links

• Royal House of the Netherlands

Persondata
Name	Netherlands, Princess Christina Of The
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	18 February 1947
Place of birth	Soestdijk Palace
Date of death
Place of death