Yesterday the NOS showed a wonderful portait and after the documentary on TV De Telegraaf publishes an interview with Princess Margriet (by Alex de Vries) today.
Looking back at her life as "reserve Queen":
"An enrichment of my life. Yes, for this I am truly grateful."
"My task next to my mother and later next to my sister offered me the chance to experience a wide range of events in the Netherlands and to come into contact with many aspects of society. The diversity of that work and also the fascinating and sometimes unexpected meetings I had I would never have wanted to miss. They broadened my perspective of the world."
About taking the responsibility of being the Nr. 2 after Princess Irene lost her membership of the Royal House by marrying Prince Carlos Hugo without parliamentary consent.
"My home [parents] taught me a great sense of responsibility. My sisters and I were brought up freely - we went to normal schools and could choose our own friends - but it was the Second World War that influenced our opbringing. Freedom in Europe had been fought for heavily and this means that one has certain responsibilities. Besides, my parents used to stress the binding factor of our family and by this our duty to serve society. You must also see this within the strong ideological group-thinking [verzuiling] of the time."
About her youth during which her parents also let her see national disasters like f.i. the great flooding of 1953:
"My parents let us experience a lot. Also when we had guests for dinner, we were present. This was inspiring and stimulating. Some conversations with foreign guests will always stick in my memory."
[The princes remembers] "Many visits. Also from well-known persons linked with the Second World War, such as Winston Churchill made a big impression on me. He was godfather of my youngest sister. Unfortunately I was much too young to be able to remember President Roosevelt. He was my godfather. I still have a photo of both of us; I as a baby in the playpen, he next to me."
About values:
"I strongly treasure honesty and trust. Respect for the other person. And to socialize with eachother in a civilized manner. When bringing up my own children I used the method of little red and green lights, just like in traffic. And that you should use your breaks in time."
About her "career":
How would your career have looked liked if you had stayed Nr. Three in line to the throne?
"In those days it was not usual to think in those terms [career]. For their daughters the main goal of parents was marriage, then they were taken care of ["onder de pannen"]. As a matter of course, study and a good personal development were important for young women but they were not used to make a career, something which is the case now. Nowadays women deliberately choose what they want to do with their study."
About breaking off her law study in Leyden:
"I would have preferred to study history, but law was preferred. Within the context of my position it was seen as a better basis. If I could choose now, it would be cultural anthropology. Although I don't have any speficic idea of what I would have done with that professionally."
About her training as a nurse:
"On second thought I noticed that during that training I couldn't really stand bloody and nasty situations."
Any regrets?
"With regard to past or future my mother used to say: There are no such things as The Good Old Days! And as a society I find we should cherish what we did achieve."
About being member of the Royal House. Any limitations?
"In our position one should always be aware of what you do or don't. Already before there was any yellow press, especially when I studied, it was sometimes really bothering. Later I saw it as something positive that I learned to deal with it at such an early stage. Shouldn't each person be responsible for his dos and don'ts? Our relationship with the media I see in this light. However, I just can not stand easily when facts are twisted. Of course, I sometimes ask myself what kind of image people have of me and how this image starts. But to that question one only gets an answer with great difficulty."
"On the other hand, you do [get an impression] when people talk about you behind your back when you are in a shop. Then sometimes you hear things about yourself which are interesting but also weird. Some people really think that as a princess you keep lying on the sofa and eat bonbons all day long."
About daughters-in-law being called "Princess".
"That one gets the name of the husband has become a custom in our society. That's a mere fact and has not been discussed. If it wouldn't have happened it would have been strange. My granddaughter Anna asked me the other day: "Why do people say Princess to you?" Then I really don't know what to say. "Because I am," I then answer. What else should I say?"
About being a grandmother:
"It's a new dimension, a great joy."
"After each birth of a grandchild there is the same amazement. You enjoy and observe. It has also something nostalgic. I now compare situations with when my children were small. Besides, those little arms around your neck and hugging [knuffelen]: wonderful. Also I go swimming with them and often go for a walk in nature, especially in the woods around Het Loo. And I read stories to them, I always enjoyed that."
About reaching the age of 65, the normal age of retirement:
"Not for me. I never had a job from nine to five. And these days the trend is: keep working! We adjust to time. The more you keep standing with your feet in society, the better it is for you: it keeps your mind active. I cannot sit still. This my sons are very well aware of. Then I get in their way. When you get older, your tempo gets slower, which sometimes bothers me, but one learns to cope with that. Everybody has his ailments."
About her hernia:
"It gets better. But some sports, such as horseriding, I can no longer do."
About the European Cultural Society:
[...]"Co-operation in Europe I always saw as the opposite of war, violence and non-freedom. Perhaps my being born in Canada has to do with it. I grew up in an era of postwar reconstruction and reconcialition. My youth has been imbued in this. The founders of this cultural foundation had a European community in mind, with Culture as binding factor. Building bridges to heal the raw wounds of war."
About cultural differences:
"When you don't study the cultural background of the person who asks for help well enough, it might happen that giving aid fails." [for instance by distribute food which the receiver isn't allowed to eat for religious reasons?] "Yes, something like that."
About the Red Cross values: humanity, impartiality, neutrality and volunteership.
[...] "Mahatma Ghandi said "The power of love and compassion is stronger than the power of arms." [...] "Impartial help to people in distress, to upkeep human dignity, that's our drive.""[...]
"Staffmembers of the Red Cross are being threatened more and more often, taken hostage or even murdered. That's an extremely worrying development. That's why we should go on spreading our message, especially among disorderly, armed groups, of which there are more and more: Don't do to an other person what you don't want to happen to yourself."
Who got the idea of celebrating your birthdays jointly?
"The older one got the idea. Actually it's remarkable that we never got that idea before. The performance will be focused on young people and young talent."
