Prince Jaime, Count of Bardi

Prince Jamie of Bourbon-Parma
Duke of San Jamie; Count of Bardi
Father Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma
Mother Princess Irene of the Netherlands
Born 13 October 1972 (1972-10-13) (age 39)
Nijmegen
Parmese Ducal Family

Prince Jaime Bernardo of Bourbon-Parma, Count of Bardi, Duke of San Jaime (born 13 October 1972) is the second son and third child of Princess Irene of the Netherlands and late Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma, and is member of the Royal and Ducal House of Bourbon-Parma, as well of the Dutch Royal Family. The prince is heir to the headship of the House of Bourbon-Parma. Currently he is a Dutch diplomat.

Contents

Early life

Prince Jamie was born in Nijmegen. He has a twin sister, Princess Margarita, who was born one minute earlier. Besides his twin sister the prince has one elder brother Carlos, Duke of Parma, and one younger sister Princess Carolina. Prince Jaime was born six weeks prematurely and stayed with his sister in a couveuse at the hospital. Jaime was baptised by Cardinal Bernardus Johannes Alfrink with Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands as his godfather.

In 1981 his parents decided to divorce. Together with his mother and his siblings he then moved to the Soestdijk Palace (Baarn), the then residence of the queen of the Netherlands. He lived at the palace for a number of years with his grandparents, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard, the prince consort.

Education and career

Prince Jaime studied International relations at the Brown University in the United States. After finishing this study he subsequently obtained a M.A. degree in International Economics and Conflict Management at the Johns Hopkins University. During this study he performed an internship at the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Red Cross.

He now works for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. His first roles were as the prime secretary of the Netherlands Embassy in Baghdad, before becoming a political advisor to the peace mission in Pol-e Khomri in the Baghlan Province in the northern part of Afghanistan. In the summer of 2007 he was appointed a member of the cabinet of the European Commissioner Neelie Kroes. He is now back in The Hague at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Other activities

Prince 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 and its diamond fields, Liberia to see how an export embargo on its hardwood is carried out, before finishing the series in the DR Congo where he goes on a night patrol in the war torn East of the country, an area rich in gold and cobalt. In the documentary possible solutions are displayed from the perspective of the international community.[1]

The prince regularly performs representative tasks for the royal house of the Netherlands and the Ducal house of Bourbon-Parma. He is regularly present as a representative at royal marriages, baptismal ceremonies, and funerals.

Titles and honours

Royal styles of
Prince Jaime, Count of Bardi
Reference style His Royal Highness
Spoken style Your Royal Highness
Alternative style Sir

Already a ducal prince from birth, his father bestowed the substantive title Conte di Bardi (Count of Bardi) upon him on 2 September 1996,[2] as well as the Carlist title Duque de San Jaime (Duke of San Jaime) on 28 September 2003.[3] In 1996 he was incorporated into the Dutch Nobility by Queen Beatrix, with the highest noble title Prins de Bourbon de Parme (Prince of Bourbon-Parma)[4] and styled Zijne Koninklijke Hoogheid (His Royal Highness). He does not belong to the House of Orange-Nassau or the limited Dutch Royal House, but as a grandson of Queen Juliana and nephew of the present Queen Beatrix, he is an official member of the more extended Dutch Royal Family.[5]

Prince Jaime is Bailiff Grand Cross with Collar of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George, Grand Chancellor and Grand Cross of the Order of the Saint Louis for Civil Merit, Grand Cross of the Order of the Legitimidad Proscrita, and Knight of Honor and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.[6]

Chancellor

Prince Jaime is the Grand Chancellor of the Italian dynastic chivalric order "Ordine del Merito di San Lodovico" (Order of the Saint Louis for Civil Merit). The order was founded in 1836 by Charles II, Duke of Parma, his ancestor and who was the King of Etruria, Duke of Lucca, and Duke of Parma. The order consists of five degrees and is awarded to the members of the ducal house and praiseworthily citizens of Parma.

Ancestry

References

External links

Prince Jaime, Count of Bardi
Cadet branch of the House of Bourbon
Born: 13 October 1972
Titles in pretence
Preceded by
Carlos, Duke of Parma
Line of succession to the throne of Parma
1nd position
Succeeded by
Prince Sixtus Henry, Duke of Aranjuez
Legitimist line of succession to the French throne
40th position