caption father standard_alt house religion mother birth_place birth_date spouse issue image article_title name standard_img
princess irene in 1978 prince bernhard of lippe-biesterfeld standard of the princesses of the netherlands house -lrb- agnatic -rrb- house of bourbon-parma -lrb- by marriage -rrb- of orange-nassau -lrb- official -rrb- house of lippe roman catholicism , '' prev . '' calvinism juliana of the netherlands soestdijk palace , baarn , netherlands 5 august 1939 carlos hugo , duke of parma 1964 1981 div carlos of colorno prince jaime , count of bardi princess carolina , , marchioness of sala duke of parma princess margarita , countess princes irene 1978.jpg princess irene of the netherlands
 princess irene standard of queen juliana -rrb- . png of the princesses of the netherlands -lrb- daughters
princess irene of the netherlands

princess irene emma elisabeth of the netherlands , princess of orange-nassau , princess of lippe-biesterfeld -lrb- born 5 august 1939 -rrb- is the second child of queen juliana of the netherlands and prince bernhard of lippe-biesterfeld .
irene was first in the public eye when her family fled the nazi invasion of the netherlands during world war ii , traveling first to britain and later to canada .
in 1964 , her decision to convert to roman catholicism and to marry the eldest son and heir of one of the pretenders to the spanish throne caused a crisis in both the dutch royal family and government , bringing her into the world spotlight once again .
an activist for disarmament , she is also well known for her work with nature .
