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Upon his wife's accession to the throne in 1948, he became the prince consort of the Netherlands.Īlthough his private life was rather controversial, Prince Bernhard was still generally regarded as a popular figure by the majority of the Dutch for his performance as a combat pilot and his activities as a liaison officer and personal aide to Queen Wilhelmina during World War II, and for his work during post-war reconstruction. In 1937 he married Princess Juliana of the Netherlands and was immediately given the title Prince of the Netherlands with the style of Royal Highness. He studied law and worked as an executive secretary at the Paris office of IG Farben. From birth he held the title Count of Biesterfeld his uncle raised him to princely rank with the style of Serene Highness in 1916. He belonged to the princely House of Lippe and was a nephew of the Principality of Lippe's last sovereign Leopold IV. Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld (later Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, German: Bernhard Leopold Friedrich Eberhard Julius Kurt Karl Gottfried Peter Prinz zur Lippe-Biesterfeld 29 June 1911 – 1 December 2004) was a German-born nobleman who was the consort to Queen Juliana of the Netherlands they were the parents of four children, including Beatrix, who was Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 to 2013. Military officer, aviator, conservationist, nonprofit director
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