- Claus von Amsberg
Infobox Dutch Royalty|prince|consort
name =Claus von Amsberg
full name = Claus Georg Wilhelm Otto Friedrich Gerd
title = Prince consort of the Netherlands
caption = Queen Beatrix with her husband, the late Claus von Amsberg. The background show several family members, amongst whom The Queen's mother Juliana.
reign = 1980–2002
spouse = Beatrix
issue =Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange
Prince Friso
Prince Constantijn
royal house =House of Orange-Nassau
father = Count Claus Felix von Amsberg
mother = Baroness Julie von dem Bussche-Haddenhausen
date of birth = birth date|1926|9|6|mf=y
place of birth =Hitzacker ,Germany
date of death = Death date and age| 2002|10|6|1926|9|6
place of death =Amsterdam ,Netherlands |Prince Claus of the Netherlands, Jonkheer of Amsberg (
September 6 1926 –October 6 2002 ) was a German-born aristocrat who became the husband ofQueen Beatrix of the Netherlands . Upon his marriage he became HRH Prince Claus of the Netherlands.Biography
He was born at the family estate Haus Dötzingen near
Hitzacker ,Germany as Klaus-Georg Wilhelm Otto Friedrich Gerd von Amsberg. His parents wereKlaus Felix von Amsberg and Gösta Julie Adelheid Marion Marie Baroness von dem Bussche-Haddenhausen. His father operated a large farm inTanganyika from 1928 untilWorld War II . Claus and his six sisters grew up at their grandparents' manor inLower Saxony . Claus also attended a boarding school in Tanzania from 1936 to 1938. He was also a member of Naziyouth organisation s such asDeutsches Jungvolk and theHitler Youth (the latter being mandatory for all fit members of his generation) [http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/hitleryouth/hj-prelude.htm] . From 1938 until 1942, he attended theBaltenschule Misdroy .In 1944, he was conscripted to the German
Wehrmacht . He became a member of the German 90th Panzergrenadier Division inItaly in March 1945, but was taken as aprisoner of war by the U.S. atMerano before taking part in any fighting. After hisrepatriation , he finished school inLüneburg and studiedlaw inHamburg . He joined the Germandiplomatic corps and worked inSanto Domingo andCôte d'Ivoire . In the 1960s he was transferred toBonn .Claus and Beatrix met at the wedding-eve party of
Princess Tatjana of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg andMoritz, Landgrave of Hesse in the summer of 1964. Sections of the Dutch population were unhappy that Beatrix' fiancé was a German, only twenty years after the end of the war and there were protests during the wedding celebrations, notably by the anarchist-artist group Provo. The two married on onMarch 10 1966 .Over time, Claus became accepted by the public, even so much that in the last part of his life he was generally considered the most popular member of the royal familyFact|date=February 2007. Reasons for this change in Dutch opinion were his strong motivation to contribute to public causes, especially
third world development (on which he was considered an expert), his sincere modesty, his candidness (within, but sometimes on the edge of, royal protocol), and his approachability to all layers of society.The public also sympathized with Claus for his efforts to give meaning to his life beyond the restrictions that Dutch law imposed on the royal family's freedom of speech and action (lest they get involved in political controversy). Many also believed that these restrictions were at least partly the cause of his severe depression), which lasted many years. As a result, restrictions were loosened; Claus was even appointed as senior staff member at the
Department of Developing Aid , albeit in an advisory role.A fine example of his mildly rebellious attitude toward protocol was the "Declaration of the Tie". In 1998, after presenting the annual
Prince Claus Awards to threeAfrica nfashion design ers, Claus told "workers of all nations to unite and cast away the newshackle s they have voluntarily cast upon themselves", meaning thenecktie , that "snake around my neck", and encouraged the audience to "venture into open-collarparadise ". Then Claus removed his tie and threw it to the ground.Issue
Health/Death
Claus suffered various health problems during his life, such as depression,
cancer andParkinson's disease . He died onOctober 6 2002 after a long illness, aged 76.His embalmed body was placed in the royal family's tomb in
Delft on October 15. It was the first fullstate funeral since Wilhelmina's in 1962.External links
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2306935.stm In pictures: Prince Claus remembered]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/38308000/rm/_38308129_claus02_cheallaigh_vi.ram Video: Condolences pour in, 7 October 2002]
* [http://www.koninklijkhuis.nl/english/content.jsp?objectid=13929 Dutch Royal Family website: Biography]
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