Princess Christina of the Netherlands

Princess Christina, known then as Princess Marijke (her first name in Dutch), was born on 18 February 1947, at Soestdijk Palace, Baarn Netherlands. Her mother was the then Princess Juliana, Princess of Orange, only child and heir of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and her late husband Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. At the time of her birth, she was fifth in the line of succession to her grandmother, Queen Wilhelmina. Her father was Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld, a son of Prince Bernhard of Lippe and his wife Armgard von Cramm.

Christina has three older sisters: Princess Beatrix, Princess Irene and Princess Margriet.

At her baptism on 9 October 1947, her godparents included: Queen Wilhelmina (her maternal grandmother), her eldest sister Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands, Winston Churchill (for whom her father stood proxy), her paternal grandmother Princess Armgard, Felix, Prince Consort of Luxembourg and his niece Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma.

During pregnancy, her mother had contracted German measles and as a result, Christina was born nearly blind. Over time, advances in medicine allowed for treatments that, with the aid of special glasses, brought about an improvement in her vision so that she could attend school and live a relatively normal life.

As Christina's eye treatments went on, Prince Bernhard introduced Princess Juliana to the faith healer Greet Hofmans, who came to have a great influence on Juliana, giving rise to the Dutch Royal Court crisis of 1948–1956.

On 4 September 1948, Christina's grandmother Queen Wilhelmina abdicated after a reign of nearly 58 years, in favour of Christina's mother, who was inaugurated as Queen of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on 6 September 1948.

Despite her initial handicap, Christina was a bright and happy child, with a considerable talent for music. She also had a capacity for languages and as a young girl delighted the visiting President of the French Republic, René Coty, by conversing fluently with him in French.

Like her sisters, Christina joined the Scouts as a young girl.

Princess Christina and Jorge Guillermo in 1975

In 1963, Princess Marijke changed her name to her second name, Christina. Pursuing her gift for music, at age 21 she moved to Canada to study classical music in Montreal. After a few years, she accepted a teaching position at a Montessori school in New York City. There, living under the name Christina van Oranje, the Princess met and started a relationship with a Cuban exile named Jorge Pérez y Guillermo, himself a teacher for the Addie May Collins Shelter of Harlem and a former hotelier. Guillermo was born in Havana on 1 August 1946. He is the son of Federico Gilberto Pérez y Castillo and wife Edenia Mercedes Guillermo y Marrero, who died in Florida in 2002; his brother, Gilberto Pérez y Guillermo, was a film studies professor.

Although societal attitudes were changing, because Guillermo was a Roman 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 married the Catholic Carlos Hugo, Duke of 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.

The couple were married on 28 June 1975, civilly in Baarn and then religiously in an ecumenical ceremony in the Cathedral of Saint Martin, Utrecht. Following their marriage, they lived in New York but later moved to the Netherlands, where they built Villa Eikenhorst (nl) in Wassenaar, near The Hague. Their children are: Bernardo (b. 1977), Nicolás (b. 1979), and Juliana (b. 1981). Princess Christina divorced in 1996 and then returned with her children to live in the United States. Since her mother's death, she has lived in London and in Monte Argentario, Italy.

She recorded several CDs and has a Music Foundation in the Netherlands. She sang at her parents’ funerals, and participated in a tribute concert that the CIMA Festival held in Italy for Queen Juliana, under the direction of Jorge Chaminé.

Titles

• 18 February 1947 – 1963: Her Royal Highness Princess Maria Christina of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld
• 1963 – present: Her Royal Highness Princess Christina of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld

Honours

National honours

•  Netherlands: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion
•  Netherlands: Knight of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau
•  Netherlands: Recipient of the Silver Wedding Anniversary Medal of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard
•  Netherlands: Recipient of the Wedding Medal of Princess Beatrix, Princess of Orange and Claus Van Amsberg
•  Netherlands: Recipient of the Queen Beatrix Inauguration Medal
•  Netherlands: Recipient of the Wedding Medal of Prince Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange and Maxima Zorruigeta
•  Netherlands: Recipient of the King Willem-Alexander Inauguration Medal

Foreign honours

•  Luxembourg: Grand Cross of the Order of the Oak Crown
• Nepalese Royal Family: Member 1st Class of the Order of the Three Divine Powers