Communication from the Government Information Service on behalf of His Highness Prince Bernhard and Her Highness Princess Annette
After 25 years of marriage, we have decided to divorce. We are doing this by mutual agreement and with mutual respect. We will continue to care for our three children together. Despite this, it remains a difficult step. We therefore ask for everyone's understanding and respect for our privacy.
Bernhard van Oranje and Annette Sekrève
HH Prince Bernhard of Orange-Nassau, von Vollenhoven, is the second of four sons of HRH Princess Margriet of the Netherlands and Pieter van Vollenhoven. He was born on December 25, 1969, in Nijmegen. Margriet, who was the third of four daughters of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard, was the only one of Beatrix's to retain her right of succession to the Dutch throne.
[Princesses Irene and Christina lost their rights when they did not ask Parliament for permission to marry.]
Bernhard and King Willem-Alexander are first cousins.
Bernhard spent a year at Georgetown University, where he studied economics. In 1995, he graduated with a degree in economics from Groningen University. It was at Groningen University that he met Annette Sekrève, who graduated the following year with a degree in psychology. She has been a practicing psychologist, spending most of her career working with people with disabilities. She is now focused on charity work.
They annouced their engagement on March 11, 2000. Annette was said to be "overjoyed" with her future husband.
The civil wedding - the legal ceremony in the Netherlands - took place in Utrecht. Two days, the couple were married in a Dutch Reformed service at the Cathedral of St. Martin in Utrecht.
At the time of his marriage, Bernhard was a member of the Dutch Royal House and was in line for the throne. The day before his civil marriage, Beatrix issued a Royal Decree stating that his children would have the surname van Vollenhoven.
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The Dutch constitution limits succession to the throne to three degrees of kinship to the Sovereign. Thus, Isabella Lily Juliana (2002), Samuel Bernhard Louis (2004), and Benjamin Pieter Floris (2008) van Vollenhoven have never had succession rights to the Dutch throne. When Queen Beatrix abdicated in 2013, Bernhard and his older brother, HH Prince Maurits, ceased to be members of the Dutch Royal House and dynasts. [Their two brothers, Prince Pieter-Christiaan and Prince Floris, lost their rights when they married without seeking Parliament's approval.]
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Bernhard and Annette did not have official duties, although they did attend national events, including King's Day in April 2025.
With the divorce, Annette loses her marital status and title, HH Princess Annette of Orange-Nassau, and reverts to her maiden name.
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