On 29 May 1998, Prince Maurits of Orange-Nassau married Marilène van den Broek in a civil ceremony. He is the eldest son of Princess Margriet of the Netherlands and Pieter van Vollenhoven.
The civil marriage took place in The Loo Palace and was performed by the mayor of Apeldoorn. For this ceremony, Marilène wore a red suit. Around sixty family members were present for the ceremony. However, then Queen Beatrix and her husband Prince Claus, were not there as they were in Portugal.
Maurits’s brother Prince Bernhard and a friend named Jean-Paul Drabbe were his witnesses, while Marilène’s witnesses were her sister Caroline van Weele-van den Broek and her friend Emilie van Karnebeek.1
Their religious ceremony took place the following day in the Great Church of Apeldoorn, led by N.M.A. ter Linden and G.Th.Oostvogel. Marilène was led down the aisle by her father in a dress designed by Pierre Yves. The dress was made of Brussels lace and had a 4-metre-long train. She also wore the Dutch Ears of Wheat tiara, which originally existed as eight brooches.
After the ceremony, the newlyweds went by carriage to the Loo Palace.
The Dutch parliament officially granted their permission for this wedding, which meant that Prince Maurits retained his place in the line of succession. He lost his place in the line of succession with the accession of King Willem-Alexander in 2013 due to his degree of kinship. By Royal Decree, it was decided that their children would carry the name “van Lippe-Biesterfeld van Vollenhoven.”2
Marilène is referred to as Her Highness Princess Marilène of Orange-Nassau. The couple went on to have three children together: Anna (2001), Lucas (2002) and Felicia (2005).
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