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 Beatrix is a Latin feminine given name, most likely derived from ''Viatrix'', a feminine form of the Late Latin name ''Viator'' which meant "voyager, traveller" and later influenced in spelling by association with the Latin word ''beatus'' or "bles ...

, and her husband,

Claus von Amsberg Prince Claus of the Netherlands, Jonkheer van Amsberg (born Klaus-Georg Wilhelm Otto Friedrich Gerd von Amsberg; 6 September 1926 – 6 October 2002) was Prince consort of the Netherlands from 30 April 1980 until his death in 2002 as the husband ...

, and is the younger brother of the reigning Dutch king,

Willem-Alexander Willem-Alexander (; Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand; born ) is King of the Netherlands, having acceded to the throne following his mother's abdication in 2013. Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht as the oldest child of Princess Beat ...

. He is a member of the

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. Membership According t ...

and currently fourth in the

line of succession to the Dutch throne Since 1983, the crown of the Netherlands passes according to absolute primogeniture. From 1814 until 1887, a monarch could only be succeeded by their closest female relative if there were no eligible male relatives. Male-preference cognatic pri ...

Life and career

Prince Constantijn was born on 11 October 1969 at Utrecht University Hospital (now the

University Medical Center Utrecht The University Medical Center Utrecht (UMCU; Dutch: ''Universitair Medisch Centrum Utrecht'') is the main hospital of the city of Utrecht, Netherlands. It is affiliated with the Utrecht University. Since the foundation of the university in 1636 an ...

) in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

, following the births of his brothers,

(born in 1967), and Johan Friso (1968–2013). He goes by the nickname ''Tijn''. His godparents are former King

Constantine II of Greece Constantine II ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Βʹ, ''Konstantínos II''; 2 June 1940) reigned as the last King of Greece, from 6 March 1964 until the abolition of the Greek monarchy on 1 June 1973. Constantine is the only son of King Paul a ...

Prince Aschwin of Lippe-Biesterfeld Prince Aschwin of Lippe-Biesterfeld (13 June 1914 – 14 May 1988) was an expert in Chinese painting and Indian sculpture and curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. He was the younger brother of Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfe ...

Axel Freiherr von dem Bussche-Streithorst Axel Ernst-August Clamor Franz Albrecht Erich Leo Freiherr von dem Bussche-Streithorst (; 24 April 1919 – 26 January 1993) was a German officer during World War II and was a member of the German Resistance. He planned to assassinate Adolf Hit ...

Max Kohnstamm Max Kohnstamm (22 May 1914 – 20 October 2010) was a Dutch historian and diplomat. Early life Max Kohnstamm was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands, the son of Philip Kohnstamm, a physicist, philosopher and pedagogue of Jewish-German origin. His f ...

, and Corinne de Beaufort-Sickinghe. Prince Constantijn studied law at Leiden University, becoming a lawyer, and then worked at the

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

department of the (Dutch)

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

commissioner of foreign relations,

Hans van den Broek Henri "Hans" van den Broek (; born 11 December 1936) is a retired Netherlands, Dutch politician and diplomat of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) and later the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist who served as List of Euro ...

. 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 A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accoun ...

INSEAD INSEAD, a contraction of "Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires" () is a non-profit business school that maintains campuses in Europe (Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, UAE), and North America (San ...

in Fontainebleau, France. He then spent a summer working for the International Finance Corporation of the

World Bank group The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Gr ...

in Washington, DC. He worked until late 2002 for strategic consultants

Booz Allen Hamilton Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation (informally Booz Allen) is the parent of Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., an American management and information technology consulting firm, headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in Greater Washington, D.C., with 8 ...

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 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( nl, link=no, Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken; BZ) is the Netherlands' ministry responsible for foreign relations, foreign policy, international development, international trade, diaspora and matters dealing wi ...

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

. 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 Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, tennis, golf and

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

. His other hobbies include drawing, cooking and

reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

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

, Wim Deetman, in the Oude Raadzaal, Javastraat,

, 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

. Upon the

abdication Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. Abdications have played various roles in the succession procedures of monarchies. While some cultures have viewed abdication as an extreme abandonment of duty, in other societ ...

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.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Royal Monogram of Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands

Titles and styles

Constantijn's full title and style is: '' His Royal Highness'' Prince Constantijn Christof Frederik Aschwin of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, Prince of Orange-Nassau, Jonkheer van

Amsberg Amsberg (german: von Amsberg, nl, van Amsberg) is the name of a German nobility, German noble family from Mecklenburg. A great-grandson of a blacksmith, parish pastor August Amsberg (1747–1820) started calling himself "von Amsberg" in 1795 an ...

Honours and awards

National honours

* : Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of the Netherlands Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands ( nl, De Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw, french: L'Ordre du Lion Néerlandais) is a Dutch order of chivalry founded by King William I of the Netherlands on ...

* : Knight of the

Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau The Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau (french: Ordre du Lion d'Or de la Maison de Nassau, nl, Huisorde van de Gouden Leeuw van Nassau) is a chivalric order shared by the two branches of the House of Nassau (the Ottonian and Walramian ...

(by birth) * : Queen Beatrix Investiture Medal (30 April 1980) * : Royal Wedding Medal 2002 (2 February 2002) * : King Willem-Alexander Investiture Medal (30 April 2013)

Foreign honours

* : Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown (20 June 2006) * : Grand Cordon of the

Supreme Order of the Renaissance The Supreme Order of the Renaissance (, "Medal of the Nahda") is the second knighthood order of the Kingdom of Jordan. History The order was instituted in 1917 by Emir Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca. According to correspondence between the ...

(30 October 2006)PPE Agency
Group photo
/ref> * / : Knight of the

(by birth)

Arms

Ancestry

References

External links

Official page created by the Dutch Royal House
(English version) {{DEFAULTSORT:Constantijn Of The Netherlands, Prince 1969 births Living people House of Orange-Nassau INSEAD alumni Dutch people of German descent Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Princes of Orange-Nassau Amsberg Jonkheers of Amsberg Sons of monarchs