Bernhard Lucas Emmanuel, Prince of Orange-Nassau, van VollenhovenPrince Bernhard
Royal House of the Netherlands. Retrieved 26 August 2021. (born 25 December 1969) is a Dutch entrepreneur and a member of the

Dutch royal family The monarchy of the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy. As such, the role and position of the monarch are governed by the Constitution of the Netherlands. Consequently, a large portion of it is devoted to the monarch. Roughly a third of ...

. He is 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 curren ...

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 ...

. Before the succession of his cousin

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 Bea ...

as King, he was 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 eleventh 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 ...

. With Willem-Alexander's succession however, he is no longer a member of the Dutch Royal House, and is no longer in line to direct succession to the Dutch throne, but still retains his membership of the Dutch Royal Family

Early life and education

Prince Bernhard was born on 25 December 1969 in

Nijmegen Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...

in the Netherlands. He is the second son of

Princess Margriet 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

.Princess Margriet
Royal House of the Netherlands. Retrieved 26 August 2021. He has three brothers: Princes Maurits, Pieter-Christiaan, and Floris. His family lived in

Apeldoorn Apeldoorn (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a municipality and city in the province of Gelderland in the centre of the Netherlands. It is located about 60 km east of Utrecht, 60 km west of Enschede, 25 km north of Arnhem and 35 km south of Zwolle. Th ...

throughout his childhood, moving to Het Loo House in 1975. He received both his primary and secondary education in Apeldoorn. He studied economics in 1988 at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private research university in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll in 1789 as Georgetown College, the university has grown to comprise eleven undergraduate and graduate ...

in Washington, D.C. Subsequently, in 1989 he went to the

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 ...

in the Netherlands where he studied marketing and market research. In 1995 he received the degree of

doctorandus Doctorandus (drs., ; ) is a Dutch academic title according to the pre- Bachelor– Master system. The female form is doctoranda (dra., though this abbreviation is no longer used). The title is acquired by passing the ''doctoraalexamen'', the exam ...

(equivalent to

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...

) at this university.

Business

Prince Bernhard is a self-employed entrepreneur.

Ritzen Koeriers

In 1991, he founded the company Ritzen Koeriers with three fellow students.GAK: fraude door firma Bernhard jr.
(in Dutch), ''

NRC Handelsblad ''NRC'', previously called ''NRC Handelsblad'' (), is a daily morning newspaper published in the Netherlands by NRC Media. It is generally accepted as a newspaper of record in the Netherlands. History ''NRC Handelsblad'' was first published on 1 ...

'', 14 July 1999. Retrieved 26 August 2021. It was a courier business that used students to deliver packages by public transportation using the free public transportation card for students that education minister Jo Ritzen had introduced earlier that year. In 1999, the company was suspected of fraud, because they were not paying payroll taxes over lease cars provided to some employees. In 2000, the company settled with the

Public Prosecution Service A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the Civil law (legal system), civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the ...

for 12,000 euros. In 2002, the name Ritzen Koeriers was changed into Logistieke Meesters, at which time Prince Bernhard was no longer involved in the business.

Chapman Andretti Partners

In 2015, he founded the company Chapman Andretti Partners with Menno de Jong,Prins Bernhard jr koopt racecircuit Zandvoort
(in Dutch), '' NOS.nl'', 12 February 2016. Retrieved 26 August 2021. named after

Colin Chapman Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman (19 May 1928 – 16 December 1982) was an English design engineer, inventor, and builder in the automotive industry, and founder of Lotus Cars. In 1952 he founded the sports car company Lotus Cars. Chapman ...

and

Mario Andretti Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an Italian-born American former racing driver. One of the most successful drivers in the history of motorsports, Andretti is one of only two drivers to have won races in Formula One, IndyCar, t ...

who are not personally related to the business. In 2016, the company bought the

Circuit Zandvoort Circuit Zandvoort (), known for sponsorship reasons as CM.com Circuit Zandvoort, and previously known as Circuit Park Zandvoort until 2017, is a motorsport race track located in the dunes north of Zandvoort, the Netherlands, near the North Sea ...

Zandvoort Zandvoort () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is one of the major beach resorts of the Netherlands; it has a long sandy beach. It is bordered by coastal dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland National Park and the Amsterdam ...

. Circuit Zandvoort was scheduled to host the

Dutch Grand Prix The Dutch Grand Prix ( nl, Grote Prijs van Nederland) is a Formula One motor racing event held at Circuit Zandvoort, North Holland, the Netherlands, from 1950 to 1985 and from 2021 onwards. It was a part of the World Championship from 1952, a ...

in 2020, but it was postponed to 2021 due to COVID-19. Several environmental groups litigated against the racing event to be held in the natural dunes, but were not able to stop it. In 2021, the company was criticized for having asked musicians including the band Chef'Special to perform at the Grand Prix without direct financial compensation.

Marriage and family

While studying in Groningen, Prince Bernhard met Annette Sekrève, (born 18 April 1972). The couple announced their engagement on 11 March 2000. They married in July 2000. The civil ceremony was performed on 6 July 2000 by the

Mayor of Utrecht This is a list of mayors of Utrecht since the end of the Napoleonic occupation in 1813. *J. van der Velden 1813–1815 *R. A. Schutt 1815–1824 *W. R. Baron van Heeckeren van Brandsenburg 1816–1824 *J. F. Gobius 1818–1821 *J. Borski 1821–1 ...

, Annie Brouwer-Korf, in the Spiegelzaal of the Paushuize in 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, ...

. Prince Bernhard and Princess Annette have three children: Isabella Lily Juliana (born 2002), Samuel Bernhard Louis (born 2004), and Benjamin Pieter Floris (born 2008). According to a royal decree of 5 July 2000 the children were granted the family name ''van Vollenhoven'', without titles. Prince Bernhard and his family live in Amsterdam. Upon the announcement of the planned

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, which took place on 30 April 2013, it was also restated that after the abdication, the children of Princess Margriet and Pieter van Vollenhoven would no longer be eligible for the throne. They would also cease to be members of the Royal House. He is still a member of the extended royal family, but he rarely takes part in official duties.

Health

Prince Bernhard has been receiving treatment for

Crohn's disease Crohn's disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that may affect any segment of the gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms often include abdominal pain, diarrhea (which may be bloody if inflammation is severe), fever, abdominal distensi ...

since 2002.Frank van Zijl,
Bernhard jr.: met een gouden lepel in de mond geboren, nu gezien als huisjesmelker
(in Dutch), ''

de Volkskrant ''de Volkskrant'' (; ''The People's Paper'') is a Dutch daily morning newspaper. Founded in 1919, it has a nationwide circulation of about 250,000. Formerly a leading centre-left Catholic broadsheet, ''de Volkskrant'' today is a medium-sized c ...

'', 24 November 2017. Retrieved 27 August 2021. In 2013, he was diagnosed with

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include enlarged lymph nodes, fever, night sweats, weight loss, and tiredne ...

, for which he has been on the intensive care for a month.Prins Bernhard junior heeft lymfklierkanker
(in Dutch), ''

'', 29 August 2013. After his recovery, he created the foundation Lymph & Co, which has spent over 2 million euros on lymphoma research.

Ancestry

References

External links

Prince Bernhard
at the website of the Royal House of the Netherlands {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernhard Of Orange-Nassau 1969 births Living people House of Orange-Nassau Georgetown College (Georgetown University) alumni Protestant Church Christians from the Netherlands Princes of Orange-Nassau Dutch racing drivers Blancpain Endurance Series drivers ADAC GT Masters drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers Audi Sport TT Cup drivers World Touring Car Cup drivers