HAGUE – After a five-year romance, the Netherlands‘ Prince Constantijn married the Dutch agriculture minister‘s daughter Laurentien Brinkhorst in a small civil ceremony on Thursday. The bride, dressed in a smart pink suit, smiled and stole glances at the groom during the brief ceremony attended by the Dutch royal family, Prime Minister Wim Kok and other members of the Dutch cabinet.

Large crowds of well-wishers, many wearing plastic orange crowns, gathered outside the registry office despite the rain. The couple will get the chance to say „I do“ all over again on Saturday at a lavish church ceremony before 1,000 guests including royalty from Japan, Belgium and Sweden. Constantijn, 31, is the first of Queen Beatrix‘s three sons

to tie the knot. His older brother, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, is due to marry Argentinian fiancee Maxima Zorreguieta early next year. The wedding comes as local media reported that the Labour Party (PvdA) was calling for the Dutch royal house to be limited to the monarch and closest heirs to the throne.

Reuters