Princess Irene (born 1939) is the second daughter of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands. Her 1964 marriage to Spanish prince Carlos Hugo de Bourbon-Parma - which required her to convert to Catholicism and renounce her place in the line of succession - triggered a constitutional crisis. After their 1981 divorce she returned to the Netherlands and devoted herself to ecology and nature philosophy, founding the Lippe-Biesterfeld NatuurCollege in 2001, writing several books, and giving lectures on the spiritual bond between humanity and the natural world.
Singer Laren opened the exhibition 'We are Nature', inspired by the ideas of Princess Irene, with an accompanying program of lectures and workshops; the exhibition ran until August 31, 2025.
At the exhibition in Singer Laren, a book appeared with an exclusive interview with Princess Irene, published by Jap Sam Books.
Princess Irene is patron of the Foundation for the Rights of Nature, which collaborates with her NatuurCollege to support a legal movement for the rights of nature.
The NatuurCollege collaborates with Wageningen University on a chair on 'The Relationship of Humans and Nature in the Anthropocene'.
