Princess Anita of Orange-Nassau turns 40

HH Princess Anita of Orange-Nassau, the wife of HH Prince Pieter-Christiaan, today celebrates her fortieth birthday.

Princess Anita was born Anita Theodora van Eijk on October 27th, 1969, to Leonardus Antonius and J.C.M. van Eijk. Anita was born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland and has an older sister and brother (her brother passed away when Anita was 16 years of age).

From her birth, Anita was a ‘citizen of the world’. She spent her early childhood in Aix-en-Provence, France before the family headed back to the Netherlands where Anita undertook her primary school education. With three countries already under her belt, the future Princess then moved to Singapore where she attended high school at the United World College of South East Asia. It was then back to the Netherlands, and Anita completed an International Baccalaureate from the Rhineland Lyceum.

Princess Anita continued her tertiary education in 1990 at the University of Leiden, where she studied English and literature, and the University of Amsterdam, where she studied communication sciences. During her university years, Anita undertook an internship in London at the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency. She graduated from the UoA in the Class of 1996.

The following year Anita was employed by the Amsterdam branch of Bloomberg, and was subsequently sent to London for a stint in Sales/Marketing and Television Production. She then worked in the marketing department of auction house Christie’s. It was in London that Anita met her future husband, Prince Pieter-Christiaan.

Their engagement was announced on February 25th, 2005 in a double-engagement with the Prince’s younger brother, Prince Floris, and his girlfriend Aimée Söhngen. Pieter-Christiaan and Anita were the first to tie the knot, on August 25th in a civil ceremony at Het Loo Palace. This was followed by a religious ceremony two days later at the Grote van St. Jeroenskerk in Noordwijk. As a result of her marriage, Anita became Her Highness Princess Anita of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven-van Eijk.

The couple have two children. Emma Francisca Catharina van Vollenhoven, their eldest, was born on November 28th, 2006 at the Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis in Amsterdam at 18:00 local time. Pieter Anton Maurits Erik van Vollenhoven, their youngest, was born on November 19th, 2008 in The Hague at 01:32 local time.

The family currently lives in Amsterdam.

Read more about Princess Anita and her current events here.

Filed under The Netherlands
Tagged Biography, Birthday, Princess Anita of Orange-Nassau.