Princess Irene of the Netherlands

Princess Irene
Duchess of Parma
Princess Irene in 2015
Born	(1939-08-05) 5 August 1939 (age 77) Soestdijk Palace, Baarn, Netherlands
Spouse	Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma (m. 1964; div. 1981)
Issue	Carlos, Duke of Parma Princess Margarita, Countess of Colorno Prince Jaime, Count of Bardi Princess Carolina, Marchioness of Sala
Full name Irene Emma Elisabeth
House	Orange-Nassau
Father	Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld
Mother	Juliana of the Netherlands
Religion	Roman Catholicism, prev. Calvinism

Dutch royal family
HM The King * HM The Queen * HRH The Princess of Orange * HRH Princess Alexia * HRH Princess Ariane * HRH Princess Beatrix * HRH Princess Mabel Countess Luana Countess Zaria HRH Prince Constantijn * HRH Princess Laurentien * Countess Eloise Count Claus-Casimir Countess Leonore Extended royal family HRH Princess Irene HRH The Duke of Parma HRH The Duchess of Parma HRH The Countess of Colorno HE The Count of Colorno HRH The Count of Bardi HRH The Countess of Bardi HRH The Marchioness of Sala HE The Marquess of Sala HRH Princess Margriet * Professor Pieter van Vollenhoven * HH Prince Maurits HH Princess Marilène HH Prince Bernhard HH Princess Annette HH Prince Pieter-Christiaan HH Princess Anita HH Prince Floris HH Princess Aimée HRH Princess Christina Bernardo Guillermo Eva Guillermo Nicolás Guillermo Juliana Guillermo * Member of the Dutch royal house

Styles of Princess Irene of The Netherlands
Reference style	Her Royal Highness
Spoken style	Your Royal Highness
Alternative style	Ma'am

Princess Irene of the Netherlands (Irene Emma Elisabeth; born 5 August 1939) is the second child of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. Irene was first in the public eye when her family fled the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands during World War II, traveling first to Britain and later to Canada. In 1964, her decision to convert to Roman Catholicism and to marry the eldest son and heir of one of the pretenders to the Spanish throne caused a crisis in both the Dutch royal family and government, bringing her into the world spotlight once again. An activist for disarmament, she is also well known for her work with nature.

The princess was born in 5 August 1939 at Soestdijk Palace. At the time of her birth, war was a distinct possibility but, because her parents hoped for a peaceful solution, they chose to name their new daughter for Eirene, the Greek goddess of peace. She has three sisters, the eldest of whom is the former monarch of the Netherlands, Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands; the two younger ones are Princess Margriet and Princess Christina.

Because of the invasion of the Netherlands by Nazi Germany during World War II the Dutch royal family first fled to the United Kingdom. Irene was not yet a year old when the family was forced to leave the Netherlands; she was christened in the Chapel-Royal of Buckingham Palace in London, the wife of King George VI, Queen Elizabeth being one of her godparents. As the family was leaving the Netherlands, the port where they were boarding the British warship was fiercely attacked by a German air raid; one of the German bombs exploded within 200 yards of the family. Irene was placed in a gasproof carrier to guard the child against chemical warfare.

Princess Juliana and her daughters again took flight when the London Blitz began, this time to exile in Ottawa, Canada, where her younger sister, Margriet, was born and where Irene attended Rockcliffe Park Public School. As a teenager, she was dubbed by the Dutch press "the glamorous Princess of the Netherlands." During the war, the Royal Dutch Brigade (the formation of Free Dutch soldiers that fought alongside the Allies) was named for Princess Irene. This was continued after the war as the Regiment Prinses Irene.