Youth
Margriet Francisca, Princess of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau and Princess of Lippe-Biesterveld, was born in Ottawa, Canada, on 19 January 1943.
The Princess is the third daughter of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard. She has three sisters: Queen Beatrix, Princess Irene and Princess Christina.
The family had been living in Ottawa since June 1940, after the German occupation of the Netherlands. The place where Princess Margriet was born was placed temporarily outside the jurisdiction of Canadian law to ensure that she would not have dual nationality. She was named after the marguerite, the flower worn during the war as a symbol of resistance to Nazi Germany.
It was not until 2 August 1945, when the Netherlands had been liberated, that Princess Margriet first set foot on Dutch soil. Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard returned to Soestdijk Palace in Baarn, where the family had lived before the war.