Princess Marilène turns 40

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Today, Dutch princess Marilène turns 40. So far, nothing is known about how she will be celebrating this milestone birthday. Since she and her husband Maurits (the eldest son of princess Margriet of the Netherlands) are living their life quite privately, it’s likely we will never find out if there has been a big party. Nevertheless I would like to use this birthday to look back at the last decade of Marilène’s life as a princess. Not everyone of you might know her very well, so here are some facts about this still very popular Dutch princess.

Marilène was born as Marie-Hélène Angela van den Broek on the 4th of February in Dieren, the Netherlands. She’s the youngest of two sisters. Her father, Hans van den Broek was minister of Foreign Affairs from 1982 untill 1992.Marilène attends high school in Wassenaar and after she graduates, she moves to Groningen to study Business Studies. In Groningen she meets prince Maurits in a bar where they both work. The couple gets engaged in November 1997. The civil wedding ceremony takes place on the 29th of May 1998 and the next day Maurits and Marilène have their church wedding. Both weddings take place in Apeldoorn, where prince Maurits grew up. Prince Maurits and princess Marilène were the first couple of the younger generation of Dutch royals to get married, which still makes them very popular with the Dutch people.

Prince Maurits and princess Marilène have three children: Anna (2001), Lucas (2002) and Felicia (2005). The family lives in Amsterdam, where Marilène works for the foundation ‘Friends of the Rijksmuseum’. The Rijksmuseum is the biggest museum in the Netherlands and it hosts many treasures from famous Dutch painters like Rembrandt and Vermeer.

Unfortunately the Dutch don’t get to see the family very often. Normally prince Maurits and princess Marilène take part in the Koniginnedag celebrations and each year they also participate in the Make a Difference Day in March. They might also pop up occasionally during family celebrations like weddings and baptisms.

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