Princess Aimée Delivers a Girl

Princess Aimée and Prince Floris have added a second daughter to their family. Eliane Sophia Carolina was born at 1:50 pm (local time) yesterday at the VU hospital in Amsterdam. The baby weighed 4050 grams (8.92 lbs.). She is Princess Margriet's tenth grandchild.

Princess Lalla Meryem Visits Queen Beatrix

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands granted an audience to Princess Lalla Meryem of Morocco at the Paleis Huis ten Bosch on November 28th. The princess also attended a dinner and decoration ceremony. The following day, Princess Lalla Meryem visited the Al Maarif and Ibn Khaldoun Foundations in Amsterdam.

Photo: Frank van Beek

Prince Willem-Alexander Presents Heineken Prizes

The Prince of Orange presented the prestigious Heineken Prizes yesterday to six winners in a special session of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences at the Beurs van Berlage Building in Amsterdam.

“The Heineken Prizes are international prizes awarded biannually to five internationally renowned scientists and one highly talented Dutch visual artist for their great merits to science, Dutch art and society."

"The scientific Heineken Prizes recognise and reward unique achievement in the fields of biochemistry and biophysics, medicine, environmental sciences, history and cognitive science. The sixth Heineken Prize, the Heineken Prize for Art, is awarded every two years to an artist living and working in the Netherlands.”

Below are some highlights from the speech given by the Prince of Orange at the presentation of the Heineken Prizes in Amsterdam.

"I would like to start by warmly congratulating today’s laureates on the award of the prestigious Heineken Prize. I would also like to express my great respect to Mrs Charlene De Carvalho-Heineken, and thank her for the way in which she has continued the tradition started by her father, which now enjoys great international acclaim."

"The Dr. A.H. Heineken Prizes are awarded to scientists and artists who are – I quote – “outstanding” and “a source of inspiration to others”. The laureates are often creative individuals who are able to offer new perspectives, make unexpected breakthroughs, and develop new approaches that others can follow."

"The world is in dire need of people who excel at science, like today’s laureates, to solve a wide range of political, social, ecological, and human questions. And we are fortunate that the appeal the world makes to science, and those engaged in science, is not being ignored."

"However, I do not intend focusing primarily on the valuable results of all that scientific effort – on the results achieved and the way they are applied. Rather, I would like to consider the scientific process as such."

"To celebrate its two-hundredth anniversary, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences has selected as its theme “The Magic of Science”. This spotlights something that people often feel but that is seldom actually stated.
The magic of science. What is that exactly?"

"First of all, it’s an intriguing paradox. After all, isn’t the whole point of science to strip the magic away from natural phenomena, so as to literally discover what is unknown? Of course it is. And it is precisely that ambition to explain reality – or at least parts of it – that many people feel to be rather magical."

"Scientists are people who know how to stop and consider the simplest of questions. Why is something the way it is? Why does something work the way it does? What will happen if we do this…or this…or this? It’s the ability to feel amazement – the way children sometimes gaze in surprise at a speck of dust blown by the wind. It’s that kind of magic."

"And there are also magical elements in the challenge that scientific research involves – the sense of adventure that characterises every scientific quest, and the hard-to-grasp and sometimes fortuitous way in which new insights are generated."

The entire speech given by the Prince of Orange at the presentation of the Heineken Prizes in Amsterdam can be read here.

For more information on the Heineken Prizes, visit the official website.

Photo: Rick Nederstigt

Queen Rania Addresses Conference in Amsterdam

Queen Rania of Jordan was a keynote speaker at the Amsterdam Global Conference on Sustainability and Transparency yesterday. As she spoke at the opening plenary session entitled, The Critical Dimensions of Sustainability Reporting Today, the queen mentioned the establishment of the Arab Sustainability Leadership Group. (ASLG). According to Rania, the ASLG “will scale up efforts throughout [the Middle East] region… by liaising with business leaders…offering support…sharing ideas…and showcasing successes. It will be the region’s voice on the global stage, ensuring that the Arab world not only catches up, but keeps pace with the front runners in this field.”

Included in her conference agenda was a Royal Roundtable Lunch entitled, Climate Change and Adaption, which she attended with the Prince of Orange at the Okura Hotel.

The Amsterdam Global Conference was organized by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). The GRI “pioneered the development of the world’s most widely used sustainability reporting framework and is committed to its continuous improvement and application worldwide. This framework sets out the principles and indicators that organizations can use to measure and report their economic, environmental, and social performance.”

Queen Rania's speech from the opening plenary session entitled, The Critical Dimensions of Sustainability Reporting Today, can be read here.

For more information on the Global Reporting Initiative, visit the official website.

Photos: Petra and Frank Barnhoorn

New Portraits from The Dutch Royal House

On February 1st, the Dutch Royal Family gathered en masse to jointly celebrate the birthdays of Queen Beatrix and Princess Margriet of the Netherlands at the Royal Theatre Carré in Amsterdam. That same day, the Dutch royals posed for some portraits with photographer Frank van Beek.

Below are the portraits of Queen Beatrix, Prince Willem-Alexander, Princess Máxima, Prince Constantijn, Princess Laurentien, Princess Margriet, Prince Maurits, Princess Marilène, Prince Bernhard, Princess Annette and the husband of Princess Margriet, prof. mr. Pieter van Vollenhoven.
Photos: Frank van Beek

Prince Bernhard Presents His Son Benjamin

Prince Bernhard, son of Princess Margriet of the Netherlands, presented his son Benjamin today. Princess Annette gave birth to Benjamin Pieter Floris on March 12th at the Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis in Amsterdam. Benjamin is the third child for Bernhard and Annette. The names of their other children are Isabella and Samuel.

Photo: Frank van Beek

Prince Maurits and Princess Marilène Open Ronald McDonald Kinderstad in Amsterdam

Prince Maurits and Princess Marilène attended the opening ceremony of the VU Medical Center’s Ronald McDonald Kinderstad in Amsterdam yesterday. The children with long term illnesses can enjoy recreational activities with their families in a specially built play facility located on the 9th and 10th floors of the medical center. From a social development aspect, the Ronald McDonald Kinderstad helps the children cope with their isolation from the outside world whilst undergoing treatment at the medical center.

Photo: ANP

Royal Theater Carré Packed with Dutch Royals

The Dutch Royal Family gathered en masse yesterday to jointly celebrate the birthdays of Queen Beatrix and Princess Margriet of the Netherlands at the Royal Theater Carré in Amsterdam for a night of music and dance. At the reception afterwards, Queen Beatrix cheerfully mingled with the performers and as she left the theatre blew a kiss to the crowd outside.
Photos: ANP

Prince Willem-Alexander Reviews Water and Sanitation Objectives in Amsterdam

In his speech yesterday at the 8th Council Meeting of the Water and Sanitation Program in Amsterdam, the Prince of Orange reviewed objectives of the Hashimoto Action Plan. Furthermore, he challenged the attendees to advocate the International Year of Sanitation on the local and national level and said: “A month ago in New York we had a successful preparatory meeting on the International Year of Sanitation, where we pinpointed the general objectives. My main priority over the next seven months is to lobby as much support as possible. What we need are advocates to take the International Year of Sanitation to the national and local level. Sanitation must become a top priority at these levels. So I am here to ask for your support. I have already agreed with your chair in New York that the World Bank and WSP will be drawing up a plan of action to support the objectives of the IYS. I trust that with this plan we can work together to engage donors and governments.”

Prince Willem-Alexander's entire speech at 8th Council Meeting of the Water and Sanitation Program in Amsterdam can be read here.

Photo: Waternet