Editing Princess Christina of the Netherlands

{{Short description|Dutch princess (1947–2019)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name        = Princess Christina
| full name   = Maria Christina van Oranje-Nassau
| image       = Princess Christina of the Netherlands 1968.jpg
| caption     = Princess Christina in 1968
| birth_date  = {{Birth date|df=yes|1947|02|18}}
| birth_name  = Princess Maria Christina of the Netherlands
| death_date  = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2019|08|16|1947|02|18}}
| birth_place = [[Soestdijk Palace]], [[Baarn]], Netherlands
| death_place = [[Noordeinde Palace]], [[The Hague]], Netherlands
| house       = [[House of Orange-Nassau|Orange-Nassau]]
| spouse      = {{marriage|[[Jorge Guillermo|Jorge Pérez y Guillermo]]|1975|1996|end=div}}
| issue       = {{plainlist|
* Bernardo Guillermo
* Nicolás Guillermo
* Juliana Guillermo
}}
| father      = [[Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld]]
| mother      = [[Juliana of the Netherlands]]
| religion    = [[Catholic Church in the Netherlands|Catholicism]]<br />prev. [[Dutch Reformed]]
}}

'''Princess Christina of the Netherlands''' (Maria Christina; 18 February 1947 – 16 August 2019)<ref name="Hunter1992">{{cite book|last=Hunter|first=Brian|title=The Statesman's Year-Book 1992–93|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fESiambTUyoC|access-date=16 June 2011|date=1 June 1992|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-0-333-55836-2|page=992|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231200341/http://books.google.com/books?id=fESiambTUyoC|archive-date=31 December 2013|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.koninklijkhuis.nl/leden-koninklijk-huis/koninklijke-familie/inhoud/prinses-christina|title=Prinses Christina|first=Ministerie van Algemene|last=Zaken|website=www.koninklijkhuis.nl|access-date=1 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160724095136/http://www.koninklijkhuis.nl/leden-koninklijk-huis/koninklijke-familie/inhoud/prinses-christina|archive-date=24 July 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> was the youngest of four daughters of [[Queen Juliana of the Netherlands]] and [[Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld]]. She taught singing in New York and was a long-term supporter of the Youth Music Foundation in the Netherlands. Born [[visually impaired]], she worked to share her knowledge of dance and sound therapy with the blind.

She renounced her and her descendants' rights to the throne before marrying Cuban exile [[Jorge Guillermo]] in 1975, and converted to [[Catholicism]] in 1992. The couple had three children and built up an extensive art collection, before they divorced in 1996. Christina died of [[bone cancer]] in 2019.

==Early life==
Princess Christina, who was known as Princess ''Marijke'' in her youth, was born on 18 February 1947, at [[Soestdijk Palace]], [[Baarn]], the Netherlands. Her parents were [[Juliana of the Netherlands|Crown Princess Juliana]], the only child of [[Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands]], and [[Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld]].<ref name="AP">{{cite web |title=Dutch Princess Christina, sister of former queen, dies at 72 |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/newsfeature/dutch-princess-christina-sister-of-former-queen-dies-at-72/ar-AAFT5gB |website=msn.com |publisher=AP |access-date=16 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190816162117/https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/newsfeature/dutch-princess-christina-sister-of-former-queen-dies-at-72/ar-AAFT5gB |archive-date=16 August 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> At the time of her birth, she was fifth in the line to the throne after her mother and three older sisters: [[Beatrix of the Netherlands|Princess Beatrix]], [[Princess Irene of the Netherlands|Princess Irene]] and [[Princess Margriet of the Netherlands|Princess Margriet]].<ref name="AP" />

She was baptised on 9 October 1947 and her [[godparents]] included Queen Wilhelmina (her maternal grandmother), her eldest sister Princess Beatrix, [[Sir]] [[Winston Churchill]] (for whom her father stood proxy), her paternal grandmother [[Armgard von Cramm|Princess Armgard of Lippe-Biesterfeld]], [[Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma|Prince Felix of Luxembourg]], and his niece [[Queen Anne of Romania|Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.geheugenvannederland.nl/?/indonesie_onafhankelijk_-_fotos_1947-1953/items/SFA02:6001413/&p=15&i=7&t=287&sc=%28cql.serverChoice%20all%20Prinses%20%20AND%20marijke%29/&wst=Prinses%20marijke |title=Zegening door handoplegging bij de doop van prinses Marijke in de Domkerk in Utrecht. 9 oktober 1947 |website=Geheugen van Nederland |access-date=30 August 2016 |type=photo }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://leiden.courant.nu/issue/LD/1947-10-09/edition/0/page/1 |title=Indrukwekkende gebeurtenis in de Domstad: Plechtige doop van Prinses Marijke |newspaper=[[Leidsch Dagblad]] |language=nl |date=9 October 1947 |access-date=31 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920192351/http://leiden.courant.nu/issue/LD/1947-10-09/edition/0/page/1 |archive-date=20 September 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 4 September 1948, after a reign of nearly 58 years, Christina's grandmother Queen Wilhelmina (68) abdicated the throne and her mother was inaugurated as Queen of the [[Kingdom of the Netherlands]] on 6 September 1948.<ref name="The Guardian2004">{{cite news |last1=Vat |first1=Dan van der |title=Obituary: Queen Juliana of the Netherlands |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/mar/22/guardianobituaries |access-date=20 August 2019 |work=The Guardian |date=22 March 2004}}</ref>

== Childhood and education ==

While her mother was pregnant with Christina, she contracted either [[measles]] or [[rubella]] and as a result, Christina was born nearly blind. With medical treatment and custom eyeglasses, her vision improved to a point that she could attend school and live a relatively normal life.<ref>{{cite news |first=Lorna |last=Carroll |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19630610&id=66lPAAAAIBAJ&pg=7177,5547337 |title=Pediatric Surgery Has Given A New Life To Many Children |newspaper=[[St. Petersburg Times]] |location=St. Petersburg, Florida |date=10 June 1963 |page=32 }}</ref>

In 1963, she stopped using her first name Maria, from then on referring to herself merely as Christina. She graduated from secondary school (Amersfoort Lyceum) in 1965 and went on to<ref name="royal-house" /> attend the University of Groningen where she studied teaching theory. At age 21 she moved to [[Canada]] to study classical music at the ''École de musique Vincent-d’Indy'' in Montreal where she studied vocal teaching.<ref>{{cite web |title=In Memoriam Princess Christina |url=https://www.royal-house.nl/members-royal-house/in-memoriam/princess-christina |website=The Royal House of the Netherlands |date=16 August 2019 |publisher=The Royal Household of the Netherlands |access-date=22 November 2019}}</ref>

==Marriage==
[[File:Princess Christina and Jorge Guillermo 1975.jpg|thumb|left|Princess Christina & Jorge Pérez y Guillermo in 1975]]
[[File:Defile Soestdijk 78 Prinses Christina en Jorge Guillermo met zoon Bernardo (clo, Bestanddeelnr 929-6981.jpg|thumb|right|Princess Christina and Jorge Guillermo with Bernardo in 1978]]
While living in New York as Christina van Oranje, the Princess started a relationship with Cuban exile [[Jorge Guillermo]].<ref name="AP" />

Although societal attitudes were changing, because Guillermo was a [[Catholic Church|Catholic]], it was still possible that a marriage could cause a public scandal in the Netherlands such as the one that occurred in 1964 when Christina's sister [[Princess Irene of the Netherlands|Princess Irene]] married the Catholic [[Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma|Prince Carlos Hugo of Bourbon-Parma]]. Accordingly, Princess Christina, at that time ninth in line for the Dutch throne, renounced her and her descendants' rights to the throne before officially announcing her engagement on [[St. Valentine's Day]], 1975. She converted to Catholicism in 1992.<ref name=Trouw>{{cite news |first=Fred |last=Lammers |url=http://www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/5009/Archief/article/detail/2471964/1994/09/19/Huwelijk-Christina-niet-zo-romantisch.dhtml |title=Huwelijk Christina niet zo romantisch |newspaper=[[Trouw]] |language=nl |date=19 September 1994 |access-date=31 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911061943/http://www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/5009/Archief/article/detail/2471964/1994/09/19/Huwelijk-Christina-niet-zo-romantisch.dhtml |archive-date=11 September 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The couple were married on 28 June 1975, civilly in [[Baarn]] and then religiously in an [[ecumenical Christianity|ecumenical]] ceremony in the [[St. Martin's Cathedral, Utrecht|Cathedral of Saint Martin]], [[Utrecht (city)|Utrecht]].<ref name="royal-house" /> After their wedding, they lived in New York but later moved to the Netherlands, where they built {{Interlanguage link multi|Villa Eikenhorst|nl}} in [[Wassenaar]], near [[The Hague]].<ref name=Trouw/> The couple built up an extensive art collection.<ref>{{cite web |title=A possessing Princess |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/a-possessing-princess-1351744.html |website=Independent |date=10 November 1996 |access-date=1 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801155103/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/a-possessing-princess-1351744.html |archive-date=1 August 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> They had three children: 
* ''Bernardo'' Federico Thomas Guillermo (born 17 June 1977, Utrecht), has three children with ''Eva-Marie'' Prinz-Valdez (born 2 August 1979){{citation needed|date=May 2021|reason=Biographical information not in current ref (https://www.royal-house.nl/members-royal-house/royal-family/princess-christina)}}
** ''Isabel'' Christina Guillermo (13 April 2009).
** ''Julián'' Jorge Guillermo (21 September 2011).
* ''Nicolás'' Daniel Mauricio Guillermo (born 6 July 1979, Utrecht), has two children with ''Leah-Michelle'' Pilon:<ref>https://twitter.com/dutchroyals_/status/1791536170544869614 {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}}</ref>
** ''Joaquín'' Christiaan Guillermo (16 September 2020).
** ''Carmen'' Ester Ruby Guillermo (10 April 2023).
* ''Juliana'' Edenia Antonia Guillermo (born 8 October 1981, Utrecht), has three children with ''Tao'' Bodhi:{{citation needed|date=May 2021|reason=Biographical information not in current ref (https://www.royal-house.nl/members-royal-house/royal-family/princess-christina)}}
** ''Kai'' Bodhi Guillermo (12 September 2014).
** ''Numa'' Bodhi Guillermo (born in 2016).
** ''Aida'' Bodhi Guillermo (born in 2019).

By her request, the couple divorced on 25 April 1996.<ref name="royal-house">{{Cite web|url=https://www.royal-house.nl/members-royal-house/royal-family/princess-christina|title=Princess Christina|website=www.royal-house.nl|publisher=Ministry of General Affairs|language=en-GB|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180211071936/https://www.royal-house.nl/members-royal-house/royal-family/princess-christina|archive-date=11 February 2018|url-status=live|access-date=11 February 2018}}</ref>

==Career==
[[File:Rubens tekening van een jonge man.jpg|upright|thumb|left|P.P. Rubens's drawing sold in 2019 by Princess Christina]]
She began teaching singing in New York after completing her vocal teaching studies at the ''École de musique'' Vincent-d’Indy in Montreal. She recorded and released several CDs (classical, Broadway) in 2000 and 2002, and was a long-term supporter of the Youth Music Foundation in the Netherlands.<ref name="royal-house" /> In 1989, she allowed her name to be used for the ''Prinses Christina Concours'' an annual competition held in the Netherlands to encourage the musical talents of children in the Netherlands.<ref name="royal-house" />

She performed at the marriage of her nephew Prince Bernhard Jr. and this was one of her few public performances.<ref name="royal-house" /> She also sang at the funerals of both of her parents Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard in the [[New Church (Delft)]].<ref name="royal-house" />

She completed a dance therapist training and worked, in the later part of her career, with sound and dance therapy. She worked to share her knowledge in the fields of dance/sound therapy and physical contact, with the blind. She worked for the Visio foundation in the towns of [[Huizen]] and [[Breda]] to achieve this.<ref name="royal-house" />

Early 2019, Christina made headlines when she decided to sell several works of art. These works came to her through inheritance from the Dutch royal family: art lover [[William II of the Netherlands]]. Dutch institutions including the [[Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen|Museum Boymans Van Beuningen]] did not have enough funds to purchase the major piece of the auction, an anatomical drawing by [[Peter Paul Rubens]]. It was sold by [[Sotheby's]] for $8.2 million.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/old-master-drawings-n10006/lot.15.html|title=Sir Peter Paul Rubens, NUDE STUDY OF A YOUNG MAN WITH RAISED ARMS|website=Sotheby's|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202042351/http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/old-master-drawings-n10006/lot.15.html|archive-date=2 February 2019|url-status=live|access-date=1 February 2019}}</ref>

==Death==
In June 2018, it was announced that Princess Christina had been diagnosed with [[bone cancer]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Princess Christina, the aunt of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, has bone cancer |url=http://royalcentral.co.uk/europe/netherlands/princess-christina-the-aunt-of-king-willem-alexander-of-the-netherlands-has-bone-cancer-104844 |website=Royal Central |date=21 June 2018 |access-date=1 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801124911/http://royalcentral.co.uk/europe/netherlands/princess-christina-the-aunt-of-king-willem-alexander-of-the-netherlands-has-bone-cancer-104844 |archive-date=1 August 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> She died on 16 August 2019, aged 72.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/16/world/europe/princess-christina-dead.html|title=Christina, a Dutch Princess Who Married a Commoner, Dies at 72|newspaper=The New York Times|date=16 August 2019|access-date=18 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190817230130/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/16/world/europe/princess-christina-dead.html|archive-date=17 August 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Her body was taken to Fagel's Garden Pavilion nearby [[Noordeinde Palace]] for a private service held on 22 August, and her remains were cremated.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.apnews.com/3381d68d650f4baf8105dc850d3b55a7|title=Dutch Princess Christina, sister of former queen, dies at 72|publisher=Associated Press News|date=16 August 2019|access-date=18 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190818173805/https://www.apnews.com/3381d68d650f4baf8105dc850d3b55a7|archive-date=18 August 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Titles, styles and honours==
{{Infobox hrhstyles
|royal name=Princess Christina of The Netherlands
|image= Coat of Arms of the children of Juliana of the Netherlands.svg
|caption = 70px
|dipstyle=[[Royal Highness|Her Royal Highness]]
|offstyle=Your Royal Highness}}

===Honours===
====National honours====
* Knight Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Netherlands Lion|Order of the Lion of the Netherlands]]
* Recipient of the [[Decorations and medals of the Netherlands|Silver Wedding Anniversary Medal of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard]] 1962
* Recipient of the [[Decorations and medals of the Netherlands|Wedding Medal]] of Princess Beatrix, Princess of Orange and [[Claus von Amsberg]] 1966
* Recipient of the [[Decorations and medals of the Netherlands|Queen Beatrix Inauguration Medal]] 1980
* Recipient of the [[Decorations and medals of the Netherlands|Wedding Medal]] of Prince Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange and [[Máxima Zorreguieta]] 2002
* Recipient of the [[Decorations and medals of the Netherlands|King Willem-Alexander Inauguration Medal]] 2013

====Foreign honours====
* Luxembourg: Knight Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Oak Crown]]
* Kingdom of Nepal [[Shah dynasty|Nepalese Royal Family]]: Member Grand Cross of the [[Order of Tri Shakti Patta|Royal Order of the Three Divine Powers]]

==Ancestry==
{{See also|Dutch monarchs family tree}}
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed  = yes | align = center
|boxstyle_1 = background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2 = background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3 = background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4 = background-color: #bfc;
|1          = 1. '''Princess Christina of the Netherlands'''
|2          = 2. [[Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld]]
|3          = 3. [[Juliana of the Netherlands]]
|4          = 4. [[Prince Bernhard of Lippe (1872–1934)|Prince Bernhard of Lippe]]
|5          = 5. [[Armgard von Cramm]]
|6          = 6. [[Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin]]
|7          = 7. [[Wilhelmina of the Netherlands]]
|8          = 8. [[Ernest, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld]]
|9          = 9. [[Karoline of Wartensleben|Countess Karoline von Wartensleben]]
|10         = 10. [[Baron Aschwin of Sierstorpff-Cramm|Baron Aschwin von Sierstorpff-Cramm]]
|11         = 11. Baroness Hedwig von Sierstorpff-Driburg
|12         = 12. [[Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin]]
|13         = 13. [[Princess Marie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt]]
|14         = 14. [[William III of the Netherlands]]
|15         = 15. [[Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont|Princess Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont]]
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* [https://www.koninklijkhuis.nl/leden-koninklijk-huis/in-memoriam/prinses-christina Royal House of the Netherlands]
* {{YouTube|Kqpbq8Kapp8|Princess Christina singing "My sweetheart's the Man in the Moon"}}

{{Dutch princesses}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christina of the Netherlands, Princess}}
[[Category:1947 births]]
[[Category:2019 deaths]]
[[Category:House of Orange-Nassau]]
[[Category:Dutch people of German descent]]
[[Category:Dutch people of Russian descent]]
[[Category:Dutch women singers]]
[[Category:Dutch Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Dutch music educators]]
[[Category:Dutch women music educators]]
[[Category:Dutch expatriates in the United States]]
[[Category:Dutch expatriates in England]]
[[Category:Dutch expatriates in Italy]]
[[Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from Calvinism]]
[[Category:Princesses of Orange-Nassau]]
[[Category:University of Groningen alumni]]
[[Category:National Theatre School of Canada alumni]]
[[Category:People from Baarn]]
[[Category:Montessori teachers]]
[[Category:House of Lippe]]
[[Category:Blind musicians]]
[[Category:Blind educators]]
[[Category:Blind royalty and nobility]]
[[Category:Dutch blind people]]
[[Category:Deaths from bone cancer]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in the Netherlands]]
[[Category:Daughters of queens regnant]]