Princess Annette of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven-Sekrève (''legal name:'' Annette van Vollenhoven-Sekrève; born 18 April 1972) is the wife of

Prince Bernhard of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven Bernhard Lucas Emmanuel, Prince of Orange-Nassau, van VollenhovenPrince Be ...

, the second son of

Princess Margriet of the Netherlands Princess Margriet Francisca of the Netherlands (born 19 January 1943) is the third daughter of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard. As an aunt of the reigning monarch, King Willem-Alexander, she is a member of the Dutch Royal House and currently ...

and

Pieter van Vollenhoven Pieter van Vollenhoven Jr. (born April 30, 1939) is the husband of Princess Margriet of the Netherlands and a member, by marriage, of the Dutch Royal House. Early life and career Van Vollenhoven was born in Schiedam, he is the second son of Pi ...

. Annette Sekrève was born in

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 ...

, the daughter of Ulrich Sekrève and his wife Jolanda de Haan (the De Haan belong to the Dutch patriciate). She obtained her vwo diploma in 1991 and studied from 1991 till 1996 at

Groningen University The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; nl, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, abbreviated as RUG) is a public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. Founded in 1614, the university is the ...

where she obtained an MSc degree in psychology. It was at university that she met her future husband, Prince Bernhard. The couple announced their engagement on 11 March 2000. They married in July 2000. The

civil ceremony A civil, or registrar, ceremony is a non-religious legal marriage ceremony performed by a government official or functionary. In the United Kingdom, this person is typically called a registrar. In the United States, civil ceremonies may be performed ...

was performed on 6 July 2000 by the Mayor of Utrecht, Ms A. H. Brouwer-Korf, in the Spiegelzaal van het Paushuize, Utrecht. The marriage was blessed two days later, on 8 July 2000, by Dr. Anne van der Meiden in the

Cathedral of Saint Martin, Utrecht St. Martin's Cathedral, Utrecht, or Dom Church ( nl, Domkerk), is a Gothic church dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, which was the cathedral of the Diocese of Utrecht during the Middle Ages. It is the country's only pre-Reformation cathedral, ...

. Annette then acquired the courtesy title ''Her Highness, Princess of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven'' due to her status as the wife of a Prince of Orange-Nassau. Since 2002, Princess Annette has worked as a counsellor at the AGO foundation in Amsterdam. Princess Annette and Prince Bernhard have three children: * ''Isabella'' Lily Juliana van Vollenhoven, born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, on 14 May 2002 * ''Samuel'' Bernhard Louis van Vollenhoven, born in

, on 25 May 2004 * ''Benjamin'' Pieter Floris van Vollenhoven, born in

, on 12 March 2008 The family resides in Amsterdam and lead low-profile lives, with attendance only at major royal family events including King's Day.

External links

Dutch Royal House webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Annette Of Orange-Nassau, Van Vollenhoven, Princess 1972 births Living people House of Orange-Nassau Princesses of Orange-Nassau Protestant Church Christians from the Netherlands Vollenhoven-Sekreve, Annette University of Groningen alumni