On 25 December 1969, the royal family of the Netherlands was joined by a Christmas baby, according to Royal News.
Prince Bernhard was born on Christmas Day to Princess Margriet and Pieter van Vollenhoven of the Netherlands as their second son. He has an older brother, Prince Maurits, and two younger brothers, Princes Pieter-Christiaan and Floris.
He grew up in the Netherlands and was a member of the Dutch royal house by birth. Until his cousin Willem-Alexander ascended the throne in 2013, Bernhard was 11th in the line of succession. He lost his place in the royal household when Willem-Alexander ascended the throne, but retained his place in the extended royal family.
The prince was educated in the Netherlands and spent his university years in Washington, D.C., where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics. He continued his education by earning a master’s degree in marketing and market research from the University of Groningen. By 1995, he had earned his doctorate from this Dutch university.
Prince Bernhard does not officially represent the Royal Family and is self-employed. He has started two companies, Ritzen Koeriers and Chapman Andretti Partners. While he is no longer associated with the former, he still works with Chapman Andretti Partners.
After he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2013 and recovered, Bernhard set up the Lymph & Co Foundation to help raise money for lymphoma research.
Queen Juliana’s grandson met Annette Sekrev while studying in Groningen and they married in 2000. They have three children, Isabella, Samuel and Benjamin; none of the children have titles. He and his family live in Amsterdam.
