Heritage
studying law in Leiden for two years and French in Geneva for one
year. She gained work experience at a major advertising agency
in England and a large architectural practice in France. She also
worked for an American photographer after studying
photography in the United States. In this she was already
following her father's interests in advertising, architecture and
photography. She was to follow his greatest passion, the brewery,
later. Charlene spent two years working in different parts of the
Fleineken company in The Netherlands (Amsterdam and
Zoeterwoude) and France (Paris and Strasbourg).
In the 1980s she married Michel de Carvalho, a British merchant
banker who had represented his country at three Olympic winter
games in the sixties and seventies. They live in London with their
five children, who are aged between 10 and 17. Michel de
Carvalho (57) is Vice-Chairman of the prestigious London
merchant bank, Schroder Salomon Smith Barney and was
appointed to the Supervisory Board of Heineken N.V. in 1996.
In November 2001, Alfred Heineken announced his intention to
step down as Chairman and Delegated Member of the
Management Board of Heineken Holding at the Annual General
Meeting of shareholders in April 2002. Maarten Das was to
succeed him as Chairman and Charlene would take his place as
Delegated Member of the Management Board (of which she had
been a regular Member since 1988). Karei Vuursteen would be
invited to join the Management Board to ensure the continuity of
the brewing experience.
Alfred Heineken died on 3 January this year, a few months before
the Annual General Meeting of shareholders. However, the
shareholders voted in line with his wishes. The shareholders'
meeting on 25 April was Charlene's first public Heineken
appearance since the death of her father. She told the
shareholders that: "This has been a period of change -
particularly for me. My father is part of the history of Heineken
and his achievements provide the foundation for our company's
future. I will now play my part to the best of my abilities, fully
sharing my father's commitment to the outstanding quality of our
company, as well as to looking after the interest of all our
shareholders and the well-being of Heineken employees, in The
Netherlands and in the rest of the world. Heineken is a truly
outstanding company and I am very proud to be part of it. I now
look forward to playing a full role as the family shareholder and
continuing of course to serve as a Member of the Management
Board of Heineken Holding N.V. Heineken represents for me not
