Let's introduce myself. My full name is Netty Nynke Leistra (my call name is Netty) and I was born in Sneek, the Netherlands, on September 13th 1973. I am the oldest daughter of Wop Leistra and Sietie Groeneveld, who married in 1971. I have one younger sister, Selma (1975).
I went to kindergarten and primary school in the neighbourhood of the house of my family in Sneek. In 1985 I went to a secondary school in Sneek, which I finally finished in 1993. I studied history at the University of Groningen until 1995 and then decided to do an education for social worker. I quit in the summer of 1998 after my practice went wrong. At the end of March 1999 I started a one-year education for financial administration. I did practise in February and March 2000 to close my study. Since May 2000 I work as an administrative worker. I am also doing some freelance work in royalty journalism.
Currently I am living in Groningen, a student town in the northeast of the Netherlands. Since July 1999 I have my own little house, which has started to become too small for my growing royal collection already.
I have many hobbies: history, royalty (including collecting their genealogies), reading, writing letters, travelling, culture, music (among others De Kast, Frank Boeijen, Clouseau, Marco Borsato, Ilse de Lange, Tori Amos, ABBA, Patrick Bruel, Nena, Varius Manx, Sissel, Celine Dion, Patricia Kaas and classical music -Strauss, Grieg, Smetana- etc.), sports, films and watching TV.
I have been fond of royalty since 1980. I was 6 years old when the Netherlands got a new Queen, Beatrix, and someone could buy interesting things everywhere. I must say my mother encouraged me in it. I collected all kind of pictures and articles in the beginning. At the end of the 80's I discovered the genealogies of royal families, and that is the thing I still like most. I share my hobby with some other people, including Henri van Oene who has become one of my best friends. We try to make the genealogy of the Nassau family as complete as possible. Together we have visited the homeland of the Nassau family, now the royal families of the Netherlands and Luxemburg, in 1996. It was a very interesting trip. In 1997 we visited lots of royal places in the Netherlands.
The first time I saw a royal person was in 1986 when I saw our Crown Prince Willem-Alexander when he was skating the Eleven-Towns-Race. I saw a big part of the Dutch royal family when they visited Sneek on Queen's Day on April 30th, 1993. In 1998 Henri and I went to see the Queen and her guests on her 60th birthday, when many international royals (including Kings and Queens) joined her. On Queen's Day 1998 she visited Zutphen, which was not far from Apeldoorn where Henri lives. On May 30th Prince Maurits van Oranje-Nassau, Van Vollenhoven and Marilène van den Broek married in Apeldoorn. We went to see the spectacle near the church and saw some more royals there. On August 14th, 1999, I saw Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus when the Queen opened an exhibition in Oranienburg, Germany. I saw some members of the Dutch royal family during Prinsjesdag on September 21st, 1999. On November 2nd, 1999, I was there when Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands paid a visit to Groningen. I went to Brussels on December 4th, 1999, to watch the wedding of Prince Philippe of Belgium with Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz, and met some other royalty watchers from the Internet over there. On July 8th, 2000, I was standing outside of the Dom church to see the wedding of Prince Bernhard van Oranje-Nassau, Van Vollenhoven and Annette Sekrève, together with Henri, Hein and Verena. With Henri, Hein and Andrew I went to see the wedding of Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands and Laurentien Brinkhorst in The Hague on May 19th, 2001. Later I went to Oslo for the wedding of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby the 25th of August, 2001. I had press accreditation and met with a Norwegian, Dag, and in Oslo I also met several other people from the Internet. Since I have visited several royal events. From most of them this website contains reports and photos.
My favourite royal families are Denmark and Liechtenstein, the last one especially because it is such a small and unknown country. I often get the question which princes I like most. I especially like Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and Prince Maximilian of Liechtenstein. There are lots more I also like, but these are the 'best' to me. From the Princesses I like Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and Princess Alexandra of Denmark most. I have lots of respect for my own Queen Beatrix, but am also very fond of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.
Do you want to know more about me, just ask and I consider answering your questions.
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