Dutch royal house


In the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the monarchy of the Netherlands is a constitutional office and is controlled by the Constitution of the Netherlands. A distinction is made between members of the Dutch royal family#The [royal family and the royal house|Dutch royal family] as a whole and members of the royal house in particular. Both the royal house and the larger royal family are part of the Orange-Nassau dynasty.

Membership

According to the Membership to the Royal House Act, which was revised in 2002, the members of the royal house are:
  • the monarch as head of the royal house;
  • the members of the royal family in the line of succession to the Dutch throne, but limited to two degrees of kinship from the current monarch ;
  • the heir to the throne;
  • the former monarch ;
  • the members of the royal house of further degrees of kinship if they: were already members of the royal house prior to the revision of the act in 2002, were adults at the time, and remain in the direct line of succession;
  • the spouses of the above;
  • the widows and widowers of the above, provided that they do not remarry and that their spouses would still qualify if they were alive today.

Current members

Loss of membership

The membership ends if the right to succeed to the Dutch throne is lost, e.g. by marrying without parliament’s approval. This applied to several members of the royal family:
In addition, membership is lost when a person, who was formerly a member, loses the direct right to succession because he or she is no longer related to the current monarch within three degrees of kinship. When King Willem-Alexander assumed the throne in 2013, this applied to:
Membership is also lost when a person is still in the direct line of succession but is no longer related to the current monarch within two degrees of kinship. When King Willem-Alexander assumed the throne in 2013, this applied to:
All children of Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien