Bright Young Royals (14 page)

AUTUMN PHILLIPS

THE GROOM:
Born November 15, 1977, Peter Phillips is the son of the Princess Royal and Captain Mark Phillips and the oldest grandchild of HM Queen Elizabeth II. His godfather is the Prince of Wales and his younger sister is the aforementioned Zara Phillips. Peter is eleventh in line to succeed to the British throne. He graduated from the University of Exeter with a degree in sports science.

THE BRIDE:
Autumn Patricia Kelly was born May 3, 1978, in Quebec. The pretty Canadian graduated from McGill University with a degree in East Asian studies. She met her handsome husband-to-be during the 2003 Montreal Grand Prix, where she was working in the BMW hospitality tent. Their engagement was announced in July 2007.

THE ROYAL WEDDING:
The marriage took place in Windsor Castle’s St. George’s Chapel on May 17, 2008. The entire wedding was covered extensively in a special edition of
Hello!
magazine. Autumn wore an ivory duchess satin wedding gown by Sassi Holford with a cathedral train, a lace bolero, and a diamond tiara on loan from her mother-in-law, Princess Anne. Attended by most senior members of the British royal family, the lavish reception was held at Frogmore House. The couple resides in Hong Kong, and on December 29, 2010, Autumn gave birth to the queen’s first great-grandchild—a baby girl named Savannah.

POWER COUPLES

A
fter all the pomp and pageantry of a regal wedding is behind them, young royal romances eventually blossom into hardworking royal families. Royal couples must into hardworking royal families. Royal couples must learn to juggle sovereign duties, parenthood, and the media spotlight and to do so with grace, dignity, and a constant smile.

Here we look at the crown princes and princesses of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Greece, as well as their gorgeous royal children. In their official portraits, all appear picture-perfect, with happy smiles and sunny complexions, but raising a royal family can be hard work. Not only must they successfully maintain their own royal duties, but they must raise the next generation of royals and see to it that the right values are instilled within them.

A life of extreme privilege can often breed disaster in adulthood, so these royal parents work hard to demonstrate the importance of charity and an entrepreneurial spirit. Crown Princess Marie-Chantal, who started a successful children’s clothing company all on her own, is a great role model for her five children. Prince Willem-Alexander, Crown Princess Maxima, Crown Prince Philippe, and Crown Princess Mathilde all strive to relax the ceremonial pomp and circumstance of their positions so their children can have a down-to-earth upbringing and remain as normal as possible.

Without exception, the young royal families of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Greece are using their royal titles for the greater good, with a huge array of philanthropic commitments. Yet through it all Maxima, Mathilde, and Marie-Chantal still make the time to take their children to school each day just like any regular loving parent would. Surrounded by such fantastic role models and raised in such a loving environment, we can be sure that the next generation of princes and princesses will make us proud.

PRECEDING PAGE:

Dutch Royals Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and wife Crown Princess Maxima with their daughters Princess Alexia, Princess Ariane, and Princess Catharina-Amalia

ABOVE:

Crown Prince Willem-Alexander with Princess Ariane and Princess Catharina-Amalia, and Crown Princess Maxima with Princess Alexia

HRH WILLEM-ALEXANDER, PRINCE OF ORANGE, AND HRH CROWN PRINCESS MAXIMA OF THE NETHERLANDS

THE PRINCE:
Born April 27,1967, Prince Willem-Alexander is the oldest child of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. The tall, blond prince is first in line to inherit the Dutch throne and is a direct descendant of the British King George II.

Queen Beatrix insisted that her children have a normal upbringing and told others to call her son by his first name rather than his title until he was sixteen. She also made sure that Willem-Alexander was educated in local grammar schools, where he could mix with children from all social backgrounds. As a result, the prince is extremely down-to-earth.

The prince enjoys running, tennis, skiing, sailing, golf, rock climbing, horseback riding, and diving, but his greatest love is flying. Since gaining his military pilot’s licence, the prince has flown humanitarian relief missions in Kenya and has worked as a pilot for Dutch government officials.

In 1999, Willem-Alexander met a striking Argentinean blonde named Maxima at party in Seville. He was instantly taken by Maxima’s winning smile and unassuming nature and crossed the Atlantic one month later in order to visit her. They announced their engagement in 2001.

THE PRINCESS:
Princess Maxima was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on May 17, 1971, as Maxima Zorreguieta. She was working for Deutsche Bank in New York City when she started dating Willem-Alexander. The couple married in royal style on February 2, 2002, making Prince Willem-Alexander the first male heir to the Dutch throne to marry in the Netherlands. (Willem I, II, and III married in the native countries of their brides.)

Maxima now represents the Dutch Royal House at official occasions of all kinds and accompanies the queen on state visits.

THEIR ROYAL OFFSPRING:
The proud prince and princess have three beautiful daughters: HRH Princess Catharina-Amalia (born December 7, 2003), HRH Princess Alexia (born June 26, 2005), and HRH Princess Ariane (born April 10, 2007).

USING THEIR TITLES FOR THE GREATER GOOD:
The Prince of Orange has a strong passion for ethical water management and believes that solving problems related to water access and sanitation will play a central role in eradicating poverty. The prince is an honorary member of the World Commission on Water for the 21st Century and chair of the Water Advisory Committee in the Netherlands. He also chairs the UN’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation, which contributes to solving water-related problems all over the world.

Prince Willem-Alexander is also a patron of the Global Water Partnership, which supports the sustainable development and management of water resources at all levels.
http://www.gwp.org/

Meanwhile, Princess Maxima feels passionately about the integration of immigrants into Dutch culture and stresses the importance of learning the Dutch language—as she did upon her engagement—in order to fully participate in Dutch society. Her Royal Highness also works as patroness to Scouting Nederland, the Royal Orchestra Foundation, the Royal Tropical Institute, and the Royal Institute for Culture and Language.

Most recently, the princess has been busy promoting the importance of “inclusive finance” to reduce poverty and due to her expertise in the field, she has been named the UN special advocate for inclusive finance for development.

Finally, both Princess Maxima and Prince Willem-Alexander are patrons of the Orange Fund, which promotes social welfare and cohesion in the Netherlands. The royal couple regularly visit projects supported by the Orange Fund, and every year, Princess Maxima presents
Appeltje van Oranje
awards to institutions that set an example in the field of welfare.
http://www.oranjefonds.nl/

PRECEDING PAGE:

Crown Prince Philippe of Belgium and his wife Crown Princess Mathilde with their children Princess Elisabeth, Prince Gabriel, Prince Emmanuel, and Princess Eléonore

ABOVE:

Crown Prince Philippe, Crown Princess Mathilde, and children

CROWN PRINCE PHILIPPE AND CROWN PRINCESS MATHILDE OF BELGIUM

THE PRINCE:
Born in Brussels on April 15, 1960, Crown Prince Philippe is the son of King Albert II and Queen Paola of Belgium. He studied Constitutional History at Oxford before completing a master’s degree in Political Science at Stanford University in California. Some thought he might remain a bachelor forever, but just before he turned forty, the prince gave the Belgian people their longed-for princess. He married Mathilde on December 4, 1999 (the marriage ceremony was repeated in three languages), in what became the last royal wedding of the twentieth century.

THE PRINCESS:
The glamorous Mathilde was born on January 20, 1973, the daughter of the Count and Countess Patrick d’Udekem d’Acoz. The intelligent, down-to-earth aristocrat studied Psychology and was working as a speech therapist in her own practice when she met Prince Philippe during a game of tennis. Because she was raised in the French part of the country yet hails from a noble Flemish family, Princess Mathilde was welcomed by both sides of Belgium. She’s fluent in Dutch, French, English, and Italian, and when Philippe becomes king, Mathilde will be the country’s first ever Belgian-born queen consort.