CLAUS GEORGE WILLEM OTTO FREDERIK GEERT VAN AMSBERG (CLAUS VON AMSBERG)

(1926–2002)

   Diplomat, prince of the Netherlands, and husband of Queen Beatrix. Although their marriage in 1966, with the memory of World War II still in mind, encountered resistance because Prince Claus was of German origin, he was fully accepted by the Dutch people in a short time. Be fore his marriage, he had studied law in Hamburg and worked for the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Caribbean and Africa. As prince consort, most of his attention went to development cooperation and the problems of poor countries. He advised the government for many years in this field. Due to his illnesses since 1982, Prince Claus could not function anymore as he had wished, but he perse vered, for instance, during the presentations of the Prince Claus Prize, an annual cultural award since 1996.