The love was radiant!
Although Beatrix has always largely protected her private life from the press, she has never hidden her love for Prince Claus. Over the years, the princess has made quite a few sweet, touching statements about her husband.
Sensitive
On March 10, 1966, Princess Beatrix gave her consent to Prince Claus van Amsberg. Like many other royal couples, this marriage was quite sensitive at the time. Claus was of German descent, and the Netherlands almost exploded when it turned out that although he had not committed war crimes, he had served in the Hitler Youth and the Wehrmacht. However, Beatrix was in love, it was mutual and neither of them intended to abandon the controversial relationship. Their early love was the start of a beautiful marriage.
Loving sayings
During her inauguration in 1980, Beatrix already expressed her gratitude for Claus. “I realize how lucky I am that my husband is next to me, who supports, complements and corrects me.”
In honor of her fiftieth birthday, Beatrix gave a remarkably candid interview, in which she said she found it important to spend quality time with ‘her’ Claus. “We have found that very important in our marriage from the beginning,” says Bea. “Because you are both naturally active and do many different things; that there would always be time for us together and for our family.”
Beatrix told journalist Hella Haagse that she and Claus complemented each other well. “He’s the one who, let’s say, also coaches me. He takes the lead, often gives me good advice, also thinks very carefully about the content of my work and helps me enormously. You have to do it together. I don’t believe this is a task you can do alone. So I am very happy that I share my life with someone who is willing to take on this as well.”
Beatrix and Claus, as we all know, have also had less pleasant times together. In the 1980s, Claus was treated for severe depression. Although this was very unusual for that time, the whole of the Netherlands was informed of his mental illness, which the prince himself called ‘anguish’. It was a seminal moment for the taboo on such topics. Beatrix was also one hundred percent in favor of this openness. “If you get through it together, it can also be very enriching. You are also more approachable to people who are also experiencing a lot of sadness and difficult times.”
Claus
Beatrix has never disguised her love for her husband, but Claus has also spoken the necessary loving words about Bea in public. “Without my wife as she is, I would never have made it. I would never have survived, as it were,” he spoke candidly during an interview in honor of his sixtieth birthday. Three years before his death, in 1999, he thanked his wife again during the presentation of the Prince Claus Award that year. “I am so happy. I owe you so much. It’s fantastic. Thank you, Beatrix.”
It is an incredible shame that Beatrix and Claus were not able to spend more years together. These statements are proof that the two have found true love in each other!
Source: Blue Blood | Image: NL Image
