Drakensteyn Castle | |
---|---|
Drakensteyn (sometimes Drakesteijn or Drakestein) | |
Lage Vuursche, the Netherlands | |
![]() Drakensteyn in 1959 | |
Coordinates | 52°10′47″N5°13′38″E / 52.17972°N 5.22722°E |
Type | Castle |
Site information | |
Owner | Beatrix of the Netherlands |
Open to the public | No |
Condition | Good |
Site history | |
Built | 1640 |
Built by | Gerard van Reede |
Drakensteyn Castle (Dutch: Drakensteyn, sometimes Drakesteijn or Drakestein) is a small castle at 8 Slotlaan in the hamlet of Lage Vuursche, in the municipality of Baarn, Netherlands. It is the private residence of Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands, the country's former Queen.
The royal connection aside, its most distinctive feature is its octagonal shape. It is surrounded by a moat that can be crossed via a bridge. Its style can be described as Classicist.
A house called Drakesteijn at this location was first mentioned in 1360, but the current building was constructed in the years 1640–1643 for a Gerard van Reede Läm [1] . In 1634 Drakensteyn was passed to Ernst van Reede. In the 17th and 18th centuries the castle changed hands several times. The mayor of Utrecht, Paulus Wilhelmus Bosch became the owner of Drakensteyn Castle from 1807 and he and his family owned the house for 150 years until Frederik Lodewijk Bosch van Drakestein sold it to Princess Beatrix. [2] Nearby, at 4 Kloosterlaan, is the similarly-named Klein Drakesteijn ("Little Drakesteijn"), which was built in 1780. [3]
Princess Beatrix bought the castle in 1959, when she was the heir to the Dutch throne, and took up residence in 1963 after a programme of renovations. After her marriage in 1966 she continued to live there with her husband, Prince Claus and raised their three sons there. After Beatrix succeeded her mother Juliana as Queen of the Netherlands in 1980, the family moved to The Hague in 1981. [2]
On 28 January 2013, it was announced that Beatrix would again take up residence at the castle after her abdication later that year. Her son, Willem-Alexander, was installed on the Dutch throne on 30 April 2013. On 2 February 2014, Beatrix moved into the castle. [4]
The House of Orange-Nassau is the current reigning house of the Netherlands. A branch of the European House of Nassau, the house has played a central role in the politics and government of the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, particularly since William the Silent organised the Dutch Revolt against Spanish rule, which after the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) led to an independent Dutch state. William III of Orange led the resistance of the Netherlands and Europe to Louis XIV of France, and orchestrated the Glorious Revolution in England that established parliamentary rule. Similarly, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands was instrumental in the Dutch resistance during World War II.
Juliana was Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 until her abdication in 1980.
Beatrix is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 until her abdication in 2013.
Willem-Alexander is King of the Netherlands.
Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau was the second son of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and Claus von Amsberg, and younger brother of King Willem-Alexander. Friso was a member of the Dutch Royal Family, but because of his marriage without an Act of Consent in 2004, he lost his membership of the Dutch Royal House and was no longer in the line of succession to the throne.
Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands is the third and youngest son of the former Dutch queen, Beatrix, and her husband, Claus von Amsberg, and is the younger brother of the reigning Dutch king, Willem-Alexander. He is a member of the Dutch Royal House and currently fourth in the line of succession to the Dutch throne behind his nieces.
Baarn is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, near Hilversum in the province of Utrecht.
Princess Christina of the Netherlands was the youngest of four daughters of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. She taught singing in New York and was a long-term supporter of the Youth Music Foundation in the Netherlands. Born visually impaired, she worked to share her knowledge of dance and sound therapy with the blind.
Princess Margriet of the Netherlands is the third daughter of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard. As an aunt of the reigning monarch, King Willem-Alexander, she is a member of the Dutch Royal House and currently eighth and last in the line of succession to the throne.
Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange is the heir apparent to the throne of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the constituent countries of Aruba, Curaçao, the Netherlands, and Sint Maarten.
Noordeinde Palace is one of the three official palaces of the Dutch royal family. Located in the city center of The Hague in the province of South Holland, it has been used as the official workplace of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima since 2013. The Noordeinde Palace and its surrounding palace grounds are property of the Dutch State.
Since 1983, the crown of the Netherlands passes according to absolute primogeniture. From 1814 until 1887, a monarch could only be succeeded by their closest female relative if there were no eligible male relatives. Male-preference cognatic primogeniture was adopted in 1887, though abolished when absolute primogeniture was introduced in 1983. Proximity of blood has been taken into consideration since 1922, when the constitution was changed to limit the line of succession to three degrees of kinship from the current monarch. In a situation where the monarch is succeeded by an eligible aunt or uncle, persons previously excluded could be reintroduced into the line of succession.
Huis ten Bosch is a royal palace in The Hague, Netherlands. It is one of three official residences of the Dutch monarch; the two others being the Noordeinde Palace in The Hague and the Royal Palace in Amsterdam.
Countess Eloise of Orange-Nassau, Jonkvrouwe van Amsberg, in the media often styled as simply Eloise van Oranje, is the first child and daughter of Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands. She is the first grandchild of Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus of the Netherlands. She is a member of the Dutch royal family and currently fifth in the line of succession to the Dutch throne.
In the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the monarchy of the Netherlands is a constitutional office and is controlled by the Constitution of the Netherlands. A distinction is made between members of the royal family and members of the royal house.
Princess Carolina of Bourbon-Parma, Marchioness of Sala, is the fourth and youngest child of Princess Irene of the Netherlands and Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma. She is a member of the House of Bourbon-Parma as well an extended member of the Dutch royal family. Per a 1996 royal decree issued by Queen Beatrix, she is entitled to the style and title Her Royal HighnessPrincess Maria Carolina de Bourbon de Parme in The Netherlands as a member of the extended royal family.
The monarchy of the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy whose role and position are governed by the Constitution of the Netherlands. Roughly a third of the Constitution explains the succession, mechanisms of accession and abdication to the throne, the roles and duties of the monarch, the formalities of communication between the States General of the Netherlands, and the monarch's role in creating laws.
The style of the Dutch sovereign has changed many times since the establishment of the Kingdom of the Netherlands due to formations and dissolutions of personal unions, as well as due to marriages of female sovereigns and cognatic successions.
Princess Annemarie of Bourbon-Parma, Duchess of Parma and Piacenza is a Dutch consultant, former journalist, and a member of the House of Bourbon-Parma and the Dutch royal family. She worked as a television journalist, specializing in European politics, for the Dutch station NOS Journaal. In 2011, she authored the book De smaak van macht, which focused on the lives of five former Dutch prime ministers. In 2019, Annemarie left journalism and became the first woman to make partner at the consulting firm Ward Howell International.
The inauguration of Beatrix as Queen of the Netherlands took place on 30 April 1980 at the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam. Beatrix ascended the throne immediately following the abdication of her mother Juliana earlier that day.