| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Bea |
Posted - October 06 2002 : 5:26:43 PM
HRH Prince Claus of The Netherlands has died
: The Government Information Service has
: announced that this evening at seven p.m.
: local time, October 6th, His Royal
: Highness Prince Claus of the Netherlands
: has passed away at the Academic Medical
: Centre in Amsterdam.
: Prince Claus, husband of Queen Beatrix, was
: 76 years old. Queen Beatrix and the
: Prince's three sons were at his bedside
: when he died.
: In a speach to the nation via radio and
: television, Prime Minister prof. mr.
: dr. Jan- Peter Balkenende spoke of the
: noted role the Prince played in his work
: for the environment, poverty and
: developmental assistance. The
: Minister-President said The Netherlands
: had much to thank the Prince for, and also
: praised the support he gave Queen Beatrix.
: The German-born diplomat of noble descent,
: Claus Georg Otto Wilhelm Friedrich Gerd
: von Amsberg, married Princess Beatrix in
: 1966. A government-appointed historian
: investigated his role as a soldier in the
: German army in Italy, and found nothing
: damaging in his past. However his marriage
: festivities in Amsterdam were marred by
: demonstrations and a smoke bomb.
: In the years after his marriage he became a
: noted international figure due to his
: activities in the field of developmental
: assistance, the preservation of monuments
: and culture.
: Because of his easygoing manner he soon
: became popular in the Netherlands. Prince
: Claus and Queen Beatrix had three sons of
: whom the eldest, Prince Willem Alexander,
: the Prince of Orange, is the heir to the
: throne.
: Prince Claus has been in poor health for many
: years. In the early 1980s he struggled
: with severe depression, undergoing two
: years of treatment. Ten years later he was
: diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. In the
: summer of 1998 he was operated on after he
: was found to have cancer.
: The Prince subsequently lost his left kidney
: as a result of the radiation treatment.
: Despite his weakened condition he managed
: to attend the wedding of his eldest son,
: Prince Willem Alexander, to Máxima
: Zorreguieta in February this year. This
: spring he also celebrated the birth of his
: first grandchild, Countess Eloise. Shortly
: afterwards, however he was hospitalised
: with a pulmonary embolism. While in
: hopital he also suffered a heart attack.
: He spent several months recovering at home
: before returning to the Academic Medical
: Centre in Amsterdam, where he died this
: evening.
: It is the first death in the Royal Family
: since the grandmother of Queen Beatrix,
: Queen Wilhelmina, passed away in 1962. An
: official period of national mourning will
: probably not be announced. It is expected
: that the funeral will take place in the
: Nieuwe Kerk in the town of Delft, where
: the Orange-Nassau Mausoleum is located, on
: Wednesday the 16th of October.
: Because of the Prince's death, all Dutch
: television and radio stations have
: interrupted their regular schedules and
: are broadcasting appropriate music.
:
Ilse, your thoughts?
I am deeply saddened by his death. I still remember watching his wedding to Princess Beatrix.
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| 4 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Bea |
Posted - October 06 2002 : 11:33:42 PM
Below a pic of Prince Claus, Jonkheer Van Amsberg
http://www2.omroep.nl/nos/breakingnews/images/claus_gr.jpg
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| Bea |
Posted - October 06 2002 : 8:51:08 PM
My condolences to you Ilse, and of course to the Netherlands!
I was quite shocked when I got the news in a royalty forum! Total disbelief. He was a special human being, one the world needs more of. A man of substance who, as you very well pointed out was not into decorum and pomp. This is a great loss...
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| Ilse |
Posted - October 06 2002 : 8:20:04 PM
The Prince is dead. We Dutch don't know him as Claus just as the Prince. He was the conscience of the Dutch monarchy. As a die hard republican in the face of monarchy, I am in tears tonight.
You see The Prince was special. A German coming to Holland, when everybody hated Germans. He overcame that and became the most loved, respected member of the royal house. He had a very hard time adapting to the restrictions his position put on him. Underdevelopment, poverty, human rights, that was what engaged him.
The Prince was a devoted father and husband.
One time, he threw out an official speech to declare his love for his wife. As a matter of fact, the last 10 years (when he was very ill) he threw out much of all the decorum surrounding him.
Claus was special, but a very humble man, Scott. A very private man. National mourning wouldn't have been his way and is not the Dutch way anyway.
He will be so much missed, really.
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| Scott Bubar |
Posted - October 06 2002 : 5:50:54 PM
My condolences to our friends in the Netherlands.
I'm a bit surprised that there would be no period of official mourning.
~~Aim small, miss small. |
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