Princess Carolina, Marchioness of Sala

Princess Carolina of Bourbon-Parma
Marchioness of Sala, Duchess of Guernica
House House of Bourbon-Parma
Father Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma
Mother Princess Irene of the Netherlands
Born 23 June 1974 (1974-06-23) (age 37)
Nijmegen
Parmese Ducal Family

Princess Maria Carolina Christina of Bourbon-Parma, Marchioness of Sala (born 23 June 1974), Duchess of Guernica, is the fourth and youngest child of Princess Irene of the Netherlands and Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma, and is member of the Royal and Ducal House of Bourbon-Parma, as well of the Dutch Royal Family.

Contents

Early life

Princess Carolina was born at 23 June 1974 in Nijmegen. She has two older brothers Prince Carlos, the head of the House of Bourbon-Parma, and Prince Jaime. She also has one older sister Princess Margarita. She was baptised at the castle of Lignières in France with Prince Claus of the Netherlands and Princess Christina of the Netherlands as her godparents.

In 1981, when she was six, her parents decided to divorce. She moved together with her mother and her brothers and sister to the Soestdijk Palace (Baarn), the then residence of the queen of the Netherlands. They lived at the palace for a number of years with her grandparents, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Consort Bernhard. Later on they lived for a while in a villa at Wijk bij Duurstede.

Education and career

Princess Carolina studied political science at University of Amsterdam and Harvard University. She has a career at the United Nations. For this organisation she was stationed at the UN headquarters in New York, as well as problematic areas like Eritrea, the Gaza Strip, and in Acheh (Indonesia) after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. At this moment she works in Geneva.

Other activities

The princess has been seen regularly at important events of the royal house of the Netherlands. In 2001 she was one of the maids of honor at the wedding of Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands. And during the baptism of their daughter Countess Eloise of Orange-Nassau, she was the godmother of the child. She was a witness at the church wedding of her cousin Prince Floris of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven, and in 2010, was named as the godmother of Floris' second child, Eliane.

Ennoblement

Royal styles of
Princess Carolina
Reference style Her Royal Highness
Spoken style Your Royal Highness
Alternative style Ma'am

Already a ducal princess from birth, her father bestowed the substantive title Marchesa di Sala (Marchioness of Sala) upon her on 2 September 1996,[1] as well later on the Carlist title Duquesa de Gernika (Duchess of Guernica) on 28 September 2003.[2] In 1996 she was incorporated into the Dutch Nobility by Queen Beatrix, with the highest noble title Prinses de Bourbon de Parme (Princess of Bourbon-Parma) [3] and styled Hare Koninklijke Hoogheid (Her Royal Highness). She does not belong to the House of Orange-Nassau or the limited Dutch Royal House, but as a granddaughter of Queen Juliana and niece of the present Queen Beatrix, she is an official member of the more extended Dutch Royal Family.[4]

Prince Carolina is Dame Grand Cross with Collar of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George, Grand Cross of the Order of the Saint Louis for Civil Merit, and Grand Cross of the Order of the Legitimidad Proscrita.[5]

Styles

Ancestry

References

  1. ^ Almanach de Gotha (182nd ed.). Almanach de Gotha. 1998. pp. 55. ISBN 0953214206. 
  2. ^ "Palabras de S.A.R. el Príncipe Don Carlos Hugo de Borbón Parma en al acto de imposición de cruces de la Orden de la Legitimad Proscrita, celebrado el domingo día 28 de septiembre de 2003 en Arbonne". House of Bourbon-Parma. http://www.borbonparma.org/docs/sar.html. Retrieved 2008-07-30. 
  3. ^ "The 14th list of nobility determined by royal decree on 9 June 2004 (Stb.307)". http://www.hogeraadvanadel.nl/veertiende_adelslijst.pdf.  Website of the High Council of Nobility in the Netherlands
  4. ^ "Members of the Dutch Royal House and the royal family". http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/koninklijk-huis/vraag-en-antwoord/wie-zijn-lid-van-het-koninklijk-huis.html#koninklijke-familie.  Postbus 51 - Website of the Dutch Government Information Service (in Dutch)
  5. ^ Principessa Maria Carolina - Website Reale e Ducale Casa di Borbone Parma

External links