Prince Jaime Bernardo of Bourbon-Parma, Count of Bardi (born 13 October 1972) is the second son and third child of Princess Irene of the Netherlands and

Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma and Piacenza (8 April 1930 – 18 August 2010) was the head of the House of Bourbon-Parma from 1977 until his death. Carlos Hugo was the Carlist pretender to the throne of Spain and sought to change the political directi ...

. He is a member of the House of Bourbon-Parma as well an extended member of the Dutch royal family. From 2014 to 2018 he was the Dutch ambassador to the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

. Until 2021 he was the Senior Advisor Private Sector Partnerships at UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency. Currently he is the Climate Envoy of the Netherlands.

Early life

Jaime was born 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 ...

, Netherlands. He has a

twin sister Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two e ...

, Princess Margarita, who was born one minute earlier. Besides his twin sister, the prince has one elder brother,

Carlos, Duke of Parma Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Parma, Duke of Parma and PiacenzaPrincess Carolina. Prince Jaime was born six weeks

premature Premature may refer to: * ''Premature'' (2014 film), an American comedy film * ''Premature'' (2019 film), an American romantic drama film * ''PREMature'', a 2015 British television drama miniseries See also * Premature aging, of an organism * P ...

ly and stayed with his sister in an

incubator An incubator is anything that performs or facilitates various forms of incubation, and may refer to: Biology and medicine * Incubator (culture), a device used to grow and maintain microbiological cultures or cell cultures * Incubator (egg), a de ...

at the hospital. Jaime was baptised by Cardinal Bernardus Johannes Alfrink, with his grandfather Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld and Princess Madeleine of Bourbon-Parma as his godparents. In 1981 his parents decided to divorce. Together with his mother and his siblings he moved to the Soestdijk Palace ( Baarn), then residence of his grandparents, Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard, where he lived for several years.

Education and career

Jaime studied

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

in the United States. He subsequently obtained a M.A. degree in International Economics and Conflict Management at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

. During this studies he performed an internship at the

World Wide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wor ...

and the

International Federation of the Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

. He now works for the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

of the Netherlands. His first role was as the prime secretary of the Netherlands Embassy in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

, before becoming a political advisor to the peace mission in

Pol-e Khomri Puli Khumrī (Dari: ), also spelled Pul-i-Khumri or Pol-e Khomri, is a city in northern Afghanistan. Puli Khumri is the capital and largest city of Baghlan Province, whose name comes from the other major town in the province, Baghlan. The city h ...

in the

Baghlan Province Baghlan (Dari: ''Baġlān'') is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the north of the country. As of 2020, the province has a population of about 1,014,634. Its capital is Puli Khumri, but its name comes from the other majo ...

in the northern part of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. Until the summer of 2007 the prince worked on secondment in the cabinet of the

European Commissioner A European Commissioner is a member of the 27-member European Commission. Each member within the Commission holds a specific portfolio. The commission is led by the President of the European Commission. In simple terms they are the equivalent ...

Neelie Kroes Neelie Kroes (; born 19 July 1941) is a retired Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businessperson who served as European Commissioner from 22 November 2004 to 1 November 2014. Kroes studied Economics at t ...

. He was back 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 ...

at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he had the position of Special Envoy for Natural Resources. On 7 February 2014, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that he would be appointed as ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the

. Prince Jaime was, on 15 July 2014, sworn in as ambassador by King Willem-Alexander and he served till August 2018. Thereafter he was seconded to UNHCR, the United Nations Agency for Refugees, as Senior Advisor Private Sector Partnerships to work on the

energy transition The energy transition is the process of downshifting fossil fuels and re-developing whole systems to operate on low carbon energy sources. More generally, an energy transition is a significant structural change in an energy system regarding ...

in refugee settlements. In August 2021 he started as the Climate Envoy of the Netherlands.

Other activities

Jaime has also worked as an interviewer for the documentary series ''Africa, War is Business''. In the documentary he investigated and explained how a country that is very rich in raw materials can be dominated by poverty and conflict. In the series he visited

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

and its diamond fields,

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

to see how an export embargo on its

hardwood Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...

is carried out, and the

DR Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

, where he goes on a night patrol in the war-torn east of the country, an area rich in gold and

cobalt Cobalt is a chemical element with the symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, pr ...

. In the documentary possible solutions are displayed from the perspective of the international community. The prince performs representative tasks for the Ducal House of Bourbon-Parma. He is regularly present at royal marriages, baptismal ceremonies, and funerals.

Personal life

Wedding of Prince Jaime and Viktória Cservenyák 07

On 12 August 2013, Jaime's engagement to Viktória Cservenyák was announced. Cservenyák (born 25 May 1982 in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

) is a Hungarian-born Dutch attorney and daughter of

Tibor Cservenyák Tibor Cservenyák (born 8 August 1948, in Szolnok) is a Hungarian former water polo player who competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics and in the 1976 Summer Olympics. Biography From the age of ten he played water polo for Szolnoki Dózsa, fro ...

and his former wife, Dorottya Klára Bartos. On 3 October 2013, they married in a civil wedding ceremony in Wijk bij Duurstede. Their religious wedding took place on 5 October 2013, at the Church of Our Lady in Apeldoorn. They have two daughters: Zita Clara (born on ), who was named after her paternal great-great aunt Empress Zita of Austria and her maternal great grandmother

Klára Killermann Klára Killermann (also known as ''Killermann-Bartos'') (born 23 June 1929 in Tatabánya, died 16 July 2012) was a breaststroke swimmer from Hungary. She first won a national championship in 1942, as a 13-year-old, to the big surprise of the Hun ...

. On 9 November 2015, it was announced that the couple were expecting a second child; daughter Gloria Irene was born on . In a 2015 interview, Princess Viktória stated that the gender of her future child did not matter ("fortunately, we can not influence nature in the terms of gender"), after being told that there were no grandsons for the late Duke of Parma (in April 2016, Jaime's elder brother Carlos, Duke of Parma finally had a son, named Carlos Enrique).

Titles, styles and honours

;Titles *13 October 1972 – 2 September 1996: His Royal Highness Prince Jaime of Bourbon-Parma *2 September 1996 – present: His Royal Highness Prince Jaime, Count of Bardi **Officially in the Netherlands: 15 May 1996 – present: His Royal Highness Prince Jaime de Bourbon de Parme ;Honours ;Dynastic honours * Ducal Family of Parma: **Bailiff Knight of the Parmese Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George ** Chancellor Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Louis for Civil Merit ;Foreign honours *SMOM: Knight of the

Sovereign Military Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...

*Grand Cross in the Order of Pope Pius IX

Ancestry

Notes

Already a ducal prince from birth, his father bestowed the

substantive title A substantive title is a title of nobility or royalty acquired either by individual grant or inheritance. It is to be distinguished from a title shared among cadets, borne as a courtesy title by a peer's relatives, or acquired through marriage. ...

''Conte di Bardi'' (Count of Bardi) upon him on 2 September 1996. In 1996 he was incorporated into the

Dutch nobility The Dutch nobility is a small elite social class constisting of individuals or families recognized as noble, and with or without a title of nobility in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The existence of nobility was established in the Constitution ...

by Queen Beatrix, with the highest noble title ''Prins de Bourbon de Parme'' (Prince of Bourbon-Parma), and styled ''Zijne Koninklijke Hoogheid'' (''

His Royal Highness Royal Highness is a style used to address or refer to some members of royal families, usually princes or princesses. Monarchs and their consorts are usually styled ''Majesty''. When used as a direct form of address, spoken or written, it takes ...

''). His other titles hold no ground within the Dutch nobility. He does not belong to the

House of Orange-Nassau The House of Orange-Nassau (Dutch: ''Huis van Oranje-Nassau'', ) is the current reigning house of the Netherlands. A branch of the European House of Nassau, the house has played a central role in the politics and government of the Netherlands ...

or the limited Dutch royal house, but as a grandson of Queen Juliana and cousin of the present King Willem-Alexander, he is an official member of the more extended Dutch royal family. Postbus 51 – Website of the Dutch Government Information Service (''in Dutch'')

References

External links

Official website of the House of Bourbon-Parma
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaime, Count of Bardi 1972 births Living people Ambassadors of the Netherlands to the Holy See Brown University alumni People from Nijmegen House of Bourbon-Parma Princes of Bourbon-Parma Dutch civil servants Dutch princes Italian nobility Spanish royalty Dutch twins Counts of Bardi