Prince Claus of the Netherlands -- Rest in Peace

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Subject: Prince Claus of the Netherlands

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Dead at 76

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Date Posted: October 07, 2002 8:33:27 EDT

Prince Claus

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) - Prince Claus, the German-born husband of Queen Beatrix who employed wit, charm and patience to overcome Dutch hostility and win the affection of his adopted nation, died Sunday of Parkinson's disease and pneumonia. He was 76.

Claus' entry into Dutch society was a struggle, since the nation still bore scars inflicted by the German army in which he had served.

It helped when he and the queen produced the first male heir to the Dutch throne in nearly a century. The royal couple had two more sons, Prince Johan Friso and Prince Constantijn.

Claus was born in northern Germany. Like many German secondary school children from aristocratic families, he joined the Nazi youth organizations Jungvolk and Hitlerjugend. After finishing school in 1944, he served with the German army in Denmark and with the 90th Panzer Division in Italy, but didn't see combat.

He was captured by U.S. forces near Merano, Italy, in 1945 and sent to a prisoner of war camp at Ghedi, near Brescia. Later he was transferred to Britain, where he worked as a driver and interpreter.

It will be the first royal funeral since the death of Beatrix's grandmother, Queen Wilhelmina, in 1962.

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