Prince Ricardo De La Cerda
Princess Margriet of the Netherlands carried out a touching annual engagement.
Early on Sunday morning, Princess Margriet attended the commemoration ceremony marking the lives of all Canadian soldiers who died during the Second World War who have been buried in the Canadian War Cemetery. She laid a wreath on behalf of the Dutch Royal Family.
The date, 27 October, is an important anniversary in the Netherlands. In 1944, Canadian forces liberated Bergen op Zoom and the Brabantine Wal. While the liberation was successful, sadly it came with a high cost of life. Over 6,000 Canadian soldiers died, were wounded, or went missing.
In 2014, 27 October was officially declared the Memorial Day of Canada in The Netherlands. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation.
Princess Margriet attends this ceremony each year on behalf of the monarch. She has a particularly strong connection with Canada.
The princess was born to Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard on 19 January 1943. She born at the Ottawa Civic Hospital in Ottawa, Canada when the Dutch Royal Family was living in Canada in exile during the war.
The hospital’s maternity ward was temporarily declared to be outside of Canada so that the young Princess would have Dutch citizenship.