April 27, 1967: Birth of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands.

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Abdication, Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands, House of Orange-Nassau, King Willem IIII of the Nethlands, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands., Kingdom of the Netherlands, Prince Constantijn, Prince Johann Friso, Prince of Orange, Princess of Orange, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands

Today is King’s Day in the Netherlands: The celebration of the 53rd birthday of King Willem-Alexander.

Generally, this is a day with huge celebrations, everybody goes out to party. This time, because of Covid-19 it’s totally different sadly.

Willem-Alexander (Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand; born April 27, 1967) is the reigning King of the Netherlands, having acceded to the throne following his mother’s abdication in 2013.

Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht as the oldest child of Princess Beatrix and diplomat Claus van Amsberg. His mother, Beatrix, became Queen of the Netherlands on April 30, 1980 after his grandmother Queen Juliana abdicated. He then received the title of Prince of Orange as heir apparent to the throne of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. From birth, Willem-Alexander has held the titles Prince of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau, and Jonkheer of Amsberg. He was baptised as a member of the Dutch Reformed Church on September 2, 1967.

Willem-Alexander is interested in sports and international water management issues. Until his accession to the throne, he was a member of the International Olympic Committee (1998–2013),chairman of the Advisory Committee on Water to the Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and the Environment (2004–2013),and chairman of the Secretary-General of the United Nations’ Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation (2006–2013)

He had two younger brothers: Prince Johann Friso (1968–2013) and Prince Constantijn (born in 1969). He lived with his family at the castle Drakensteyn in the hamlet Lage Vuursche near Baarn from his birth until 1981, when they moved to the larger palace Huis ten Bosch in The Hague.

On January 28, 2013, Beatrix announced her intention of abdicating. On the morning of April 30, Beatrix signed the instrument of abdication at the Moseszaal (Moses Hall) at the Royal Palace of Amsterdam. Later that afternoon, Willem-Alexander was inaugurated as king in front of the joint assembly of the States General in a ceremony held at the Nieuwe Kerk.

As king, Willem-Alexander has weekly meetings with the prime minister and speaks regularly with ministers and state secretaries. He also signs all new Acts of Parliament and royal decrees. He represents the kingdom at home and abroad.

At the State Opening of Parliament, he delivers the Speech from the Throne, which announces the plans of the government for the parliamentary year. The Constitution requires that the king appoint, dismiss and swear in all government ministers and state secretaries. As king, he is also the chairman of the Council of State, an advisory body that reviews proposed legislation. In modern practice, the monarch seldom chairs council meetings.

At his accession at age 46, he was Europe’s youngest monarch. On the inauguration of Spain’s Felipe VI on June 19, 2014 he became, and remains, Europe’s second-youngest monarch. He is also the first male monarch of the Netherlands since the death of his great-great-grandfather Willem III in 1890.

On February 2, 2002, he married Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti at the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam. Máxima is an Argentine woman of Basque, Portuguese and Italian ancestry, who prior to their marriage worked as an investment banker in New York City. The marriage triggered significant controversy due to the role the bride’s father, Jorge Zorreguieta, had in the Argentinian military dictatorship.

The couple have three daughters:
* HRH The Princess of Orange (Catharina-Amalia Beatrix Carmen Victoria; born December 7, 2003 at HMC Bronovo in The Hague)
* HRH Princess Alexia Juliana Marcela Laurentien of the Netherlands (born June 26, 2005 at HMC Bronovo in The Hague)
* HRH Princess Ariane Wilhelmina Máxima Inés of the Netherlands (born April 10, 2007 at HMC Bronovo in The Hague)

Here is the link to an earlier blog post which discusses why Willem-Alexander reigns under his double names and not as Willem IV of the Netherlands.

https://europeanroyalhistory.wordpress.com/2019/10/08/the-naming-of-a-king-willem-alexander-of-the-netherlands/

The Naming of a King: Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands.

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Frederick II, King Willem IIII of the Nethlands, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands., Kings and Queens of Sweden, Kings and Queens of the Netherlands., Princess of Orange, Prussia, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Regal Number, Royal numbering, Wilhelm II of Germany, Willem IV of the Netherlands

Last week in my post about the titles and styles of the Dutch Sovereign I asked a question concerning the name and future numbering of a King Willem of the Netherlands. This is a follow up to that blog entry.

Willem-Alexander, King of the Nertherlands

Here was my question: What will another King Willem of the Netherlands call himself, assuming he just uses his first name only? Will he be Willem IV or possibly Willem V? I also wondered why King Willem-Alexander didn’t call himself Willem IV of the Netherlands? After doing some research and discussing the topic with some Dutch monarchists I found some answers.

King Willem-Alexander was born on April 27, 1967 the eldest son of future Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and her diplomat husband, Claus van Amsberg. He was christened with the names Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand; and became Prince of Orange as heir apparent upon his mother’s accession as queen on April 30, 1980.

Although he publicly went by the double name Willem-Alexander, he is called Alexander within the family. The King himself stated that his name has always been Willem-Alexander and that it would feel wrong for him to be called just Willem prior to being king, or Willem IV after coming to the throne. In earlier interviews he did acknowledge that there were options to what he could be called once he mounted the throne but he never publicly stated what his name would be as king.

His Majesty the King of the Nertherlands

Simply his options were:

Willem-Alexander
Willem IV Alexander
Willem IV
Alexander
Claus
George
Ferdinand

These were different combinations of his given names. Theoretically he could have chosen a completely different name altogether. I don’t think he had to stick with options stemming from his list of given names. However, he opted for Willem -Alexander since that has been his legal first name since birth.

Double names, such as Willem-Alexander, do have a rich tradition among European Royalty, reaching its peak of popular usage in the 18th and 19th centuries. Prussia is a prime example of how double names were handled when numbering single and double names that were closely related.

For example, the first Prussian king, Friedrich I, was succeeded by Friedrich Wilhelm I, then came Friedrich II, Friedrich Wilhelm II, III and IV, and then (after Wilhelm I) there was Friedrich III. In other words, the names Friedrich and Friedrich Wilhelm were regarded as different and separate regnal names and thus were treated differently.

What is also interesting to note is that both Friedrich III and his son Wilhelm II were publicly known by the double names Friedrich-Wilhelm prior to them succeeding the throne. However, within the family the future Friedrich III was known as “Fritz” while his son, the future Wilhelm II, was known as “Willy.” When they came to the Prussian and Imperial thrones they chose as their regal names that which reflected how they were known within the family.

Friedrich III, German Emperor & King of Prussia

Wilhelm II, German Emperor & King of Prussia

Sweden is another excellent example of how similar names were treated, specifically with the names Carl and Gustaf. We’ve seen kings named Carl, the notable Carl XII for example. We’ve seen kings named Gustaf, Gustaf V is an example. We’ve also seen double names used uniquely. Unlike the Prussians who have regarded the names Friedrich and Friedrich Wilhelm as different and separate regal names, in Sweden the first name was treated as the primary name and the regal number was placed in the middle of the name not at the end.

This resulted in names such as Gustaf II Adolph, Carl X Gustaf, Carl XIV Johan, Gustaf VI Adolph and the current king, Carl XVI Gustaf. If the succession to the Swedish Crown had not been altered to absolute primogeniture then the next King of Sweden would be Carl XVII Philip.

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands.

It could be theoretically possible for the sovereign of the Netherlands treating Willem and Willem-Alexander as different regnal names as was done in Prussia. This would mean that there could be a Willem IV, or a Willem-Alexander II, at some point in the future, and that the current king is not counted as Willem IV, even though he has not taken that regal name and number.

However, Willem-Alexander wanting to be known by his given names are not the only reasons he chose this option. From this article I found online by The Guardian, published on April 30, 2013 when Willem-Alexander came to the throne, I learned that being called Willem IV could open himself up for ridicule.

King Willem-Alexander does not wish to be called Willem IV, he says, because he doesn’t want to be labelled with a number. It has been suggested that his real motive is to avoid being called “vier” (four) because it rhymes with “bier” (beer), which would make the temptation to call him “Willem Bier”, following his previous nickname “Prince Pils”, almost irrestible. His father, Prince Claus, was so committed to informality that he became famous for his condemnation of tie-wearing. He first made his feelings known at an awards ceremony for African fashion designers, when he announced his contempt for this “snake around my neck” – a statement that has since become known as “The Declaration of the Tie”. LB

There is also another reason Willem-Alexander didn’t want a regal number attached to his name….he seems to detest them.

In an interview Willem-Alexander made a rather degrading comment that the regal numbers remind him of farm animals. He stated that “Willem IV stands next to Bertha XII (a cow) in the pasture.” It seems that the king feels that numbering a Dutch Monarch is the same as numbering cattle.

HRH The Princess of Orange

This does create a problem in the future. How could a sovereign of the Netherlands now be known by a regal number with that image in their minds? The heiress to the throne is the Princess of Orange, Princess Catherina-Amalia, and her father’s remarks makes it very difficult for her to choose an already existing name for her eldest child from the list of the Dutch sovereigns, should she ever have one.

These names include Willem, Wilhelmina, Juliana, Beatrix, Willem-Alexander or her own, Catherina-Amalia. Since any of those names would require a regnal number if used again, it would open them up for criticism or ridicule with every television channel or news organization in the Netherlands repeating her father’s comment on how Willem IV (or any name requiring a regular number) “stands in a pasture next to Bertha XXII.”

There hasn’t been a Monarch of the Netherlands with a regal number since the death of King Willem III on November 23, 1890, 128 years, 10 months, 15 days ago.

Since the reign of Queen Wilhelmina the tradition within the Dutch Royal family has been to pick a name with a familial connection but one that does not require a regal number. Now one cannot rule out the possibility of there being a Willem IV or Willem-Alexander II (or even a Wilhelmina II or Beatrix II) but that is unlikely to occur in the near or foreseeable future.






This date in History October 7, 1840. Abdication of King Willem I of the Netherland.

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Abdication, Count of Nassau, Frederick the Great, Frederick William II of Prussia, Grand Duke Luxembourg, King Willem IIII of the Nethlands, Kingdom of the Netherlands, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, Willem I of the Netherlands, Willem III of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander of the netherlands

Willem I (August 24, 1772 – December 12, 1843) was a Prince of Orange and the first King of the Netherlandsand Grand Duke of Luxembourg.

Willem-Frederik, Prince of Orange.

King Willem I’s parents were the last stadtholder Willem V, Prince of Orange of the Dutch Republic, and his wife Wilhelmina of Prussia (the fourth child of eight born to King Friedrich-Wilhelm II of Prussia and Queen Frederica Louisa (of Hesse-Darmstadt). Her upbringing was dominated by the strict regime of her great-uncle, Friedrich II the Great, but in general very little is known about her youth)

Willem I of the Netherlandsand Grand Duke of Luxembourg.

Until 1806, Willem was formally known as Willem VI, Prince of Orange-Nassau,and between 1806 and 1813 also as Willem-Frederik, Prince of Orange. In Berlin on October 1, 1791, Willem married his first cousin (Frederica Louisa) Wilhelmina of Prussia, born in Potsdam. And as mentioned was She the daughter of King Friedrich-Wilhelm II of Prussia. Wilhelmina died in 1837.

Constitutional changes were initiated in 1840 because the terms which involved the United Kingdom of the Netherlands had to be removed due to the loss of Belgium in 1830. These constitutional changes also included the introduction of judicial ministerial responsibility. Although the policies remained uncontrolled by parliament, the prerogative was controllable now. The very conservative Willem could not live with these constitutional changes.

Wilhelmina of Prussia, Queen Consort of the Netherlands

Around 1840, King Willem found himself in discord with much of the Dutch population, not only due to his resistance to the Constitutional changes, it was also due to his refusal to implement demanded reforms. This discord was enhanced when the king, head of the strictly Protestant and royal House of Orange-Nassau, announced his intention to marry the Catholic Countess Henriëtte d’Oultremont de Wégimont (February 28, 1792 – October 26 1864) who had been a lady-in-waiting to his first wife, the late Queen consort Wilhelmine (1774-1837).

The resistance was so great—Henriëtte, who was Catholic and a native of Belgium, which had seceded from the Netherlands—that Willem abdicated on October 7 1840 in favour of his son The Prince of Orange who took the throne as Willem II.

King Willem II of the Netherlands

After abdication, he styled himself King Willem-Frederik, Count of Nassau. He married Henriëtte on 17 February 17, 1841; he was 69 years old at the time, she was 47, and the couple would have no children. Since the marriage was morganatic she received the Dutch title, Countess of Nassau on February 7, 1841, by which she was known during the couple’s subsequent retirement in Berlin. King Willem-Frederik, Count of Nassau died in Berlin on December 12, 1843 aged 71.

Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and Princess Juliana

Incidentally, the abdication of King Willem I did not start the tradition of abdication in the kingdom of the Netherlands. Willem I’s son Willem II died as King in 1849 as did his son and successor Willem III, who died as King in 1849. It was Wilhelmina, the daughter of Willem III, who started this tradition when she abdicated September 4, 1948. Her daughter, Juliana and granddaughter, Beatrix, both abdicated. The current King of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander, is under no obligation to abdicate in time for abdication is a tradition and not a law.

On this date in History: July 1, 1862: Wedding of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom and Prince Ludwig of Hesse and By Rhine.

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Friedrich-Wilhelm II of Prussia, Grand Duke Ludwig IV of Hesse and By Rhine, House of Hesse and By Rhine, King Willem IIII of the Nethlands, Ludwig IV, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, royal wedding

Princess Alice was born on April 25, 1843 at Buckingham Palace, the second daughter and third child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, and her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. She was christened “Alice Maud Mary” in the private chapel at Buckingham Palace by The Archbishop of Canterbury, William Howley, on June 2, 1843. “Maud,” the Anglo-Saxon name for Matilda, was chosen in honour of one of Alice’s godparents, Princess Sophia Matilda of Gloucester, (Her father was Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, the third son of The Prince Frederick, Prince of Wales, making her a great-granddaughter of King George II of Great Britain and niece of King George III). “Mary” was chosen because Alice was born on the same day as her maternal great-aunt, the Duchess of Gloucester (the eleventh child and fourth daughter of King George III of the United Kingdom and his consort Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz).

Princess Alice of the United Kingdom

Ludwig of Hesse and By Rhine was born on September 12, 1837 at the Prinz-Karl-Palais in Darmstadt, the first son and child of Prince Carl of Hesse and by Rhine (April 23, 1809 – March 20, 1877) and Princess Elisabeth of Prussia (June 18, 1815 – March 21, 1885), granddaughter of King Friedrich-Wilhelm II of Prussia. As his father’s elder brother Ludwig III (1806-1877), the reigning Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, had been married to his first wife, Princess Mathilde Caroline of Bavaria, eldest daughter of Ludwig I of Bavaria and Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. The marriage produced no children and the Grand Duke remarried, morganatically, in 1868 to Magdalene Appel who was created Baroness of Hochstädten. Since Grand Duke Ludwig III remained childless, Prince Ludwig was, from birth, second-in-line to the grand ducal throne, after his father.

Prince Ludwig of Hesse and By Rhine

Alice’s matrimonial plans were begun in 1860 by her mother. Queen Victoria had expressed her wish that her children should marry for love, but this did not mean that her choice of suitors would necessarily be extended to anybody outside the royal houses of Europe. Raising a British subject to royalty, however high their rank, was politically objectionable, and also wasted any opportunity for a useful foreign alliance. The Queen instructed her daughter Victoria, recently married to Prince Friedrich of Prussia, to produce a list of eligible princes in Europe. Her search produced only two suitable candidates: the Prince of Orange; and Prince Albert of Prussia, cousin to Victoria’s husband Friedrich. Willem, Prince of Orange, was heir apparent to the Dutch throne as the eldest son of King Willem III of the Netherlands from March 17, 1849 until his death on June 11, 1879. The Prince of Orange journeyed to Windsor Castle so that Queen Victoria could look him over in person, but he proved unpalatable to Alice. The prince too showed little interest in Alice, despite strong pressure from his pro-British mother, Queen Sophie of the Netherlands. He was soon discounted. Prince Albert, too, was spurned, with Prince Friedrich of Prussia remarking that his cousin would not do for “one who deserves the very best.”

With both of the leading candidates now discounted, Princess Victoria suggested Prince Ludwig of Hesse and By Rhine, a minor German royal, the nephew of the Grand Duke of Hesse and By Rhine. Princess Victoria had gone to the court of Hesse to inspect Ludwig sister, Princess Anna, as a potential bride for her brother, the Prince of Wales. Although not favorably impressed with Princess Anna, she was impressed with Ludwig and his brother Prince Heinrich. Both were invited to Windsor Castle in 1860, ostensibly so they could watch the Ascot Races in the company of the royal family, but in reality, the visit was a chance for the Queen to inspect her potential son-in-law. The Queen admired both Ludwig and Heinrich, but noted how well Ludwig and Alice got along together. When the Hessian family departed, Ludwig requested Alice’s photograph, and Alice made it clear that she was attracted to him.

Engagement and wedding

Princess Alice in her Wedding Dress

Alice was engaged to Prince Ludwig of Hesse and By Rhine on April 30, 1861, following the Queen’s consent. The Queen persuaded the Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, to vote Alice a dowry of £30,000 (£2.75 million as of 2019). Although the amount was considered generous at the time, Prince Albert remarked that “she will not be able to do great things with it” in the little realm of Hesse, compared to the riches that her sister Victoria would inherit as future Queen of Prussia and German Empress. Furthermore, the couple’s future home in Darmstadt, the Grand Ducal seat, was uncertain. Although Queen Victoria expected that a new palace would be built, the people of Darmstadt did not want to meet that expense, and the resulting controversy caused resentment there. This meant that Alice was unpopular in Darmstadt before she even arrived.

On July 1, 1862, Ludwig married Princess Alice, at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. On the day of the wedding, the Queen issued a royal warrant granting her new son-in-law the style of Royal Highness in the United Kingdom. The Queen also subsequently made Prince Ludwig a knight of the Order of the Garter.

Wedding at Osborne House

Alice was given away by her uncle, Albert’s brother Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and was flanked by four bridesmaids: her younger sisters, Princesses Helena, Louise and Beatrice, as well as Ludwig’s sister Princess Anna of Hesse and By Rhine. For the ceremony, Alice wore a white dress with a veil of Honiton lace, but was required to wear black mourning clothes before and after the ceremony as the Royal Family was still in deep mourning for Prince Albert who had died seven months previously on the 14th of December 1861. Queen Victoria later confided to her daughter Vicky, the Princess Royal and the Crown Princess of Prussia, that the wedding of ‘poor Alice’ had been ‘more like a funeral and the saddest day I can remember.”

Abdication of the Queen of the Netherlands

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Abdication, King Willem IIII of the Nethlands, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands., Prince of Orange, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander of the netherlands

Reading responses from people on some royalty related message boards they are evenly divided about the name of the new king. There are those, like myself, disappointed that he will not be calling himself King Willem IV of the Netherlands. One thing I have learned is that privately among his family and close friends he is known by the name Alexander, or even Alex. I guess I will just have to get used to it. I do like double names so this certainly isn’t the end of the world.

Here is more information on the abdication of the Queen of the Netherlands and the succession of the prince of Orange.

This is from the website of the Dutch royal house.

Prince of Orange to become King Willem-Alexander

When Queen Beatrix abdicates, His Royal Highness the Prince of Orange will become King Willem-Alexander, and Her Royal Highness Princess Máxima of the Netherlands will become Queen Máxima. They will both be addressed as ‘Your Majesty’. After abdicating, Queen Beatrix will be called Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, etc. As soon as the Prince of Orange ascends the throne, his eldest child, Her Royal Highness Princess Catharina-Amalia, will be the first in line to the throne. She will then become the Princess of Orange (under section 7 of the Membership of the Royal House Act). The titles and names of the other members of the Royal Family will not change after Queen Beatrix’s abdication.

The membership of the Royal House and the line of succession will however change under the above Act. After the abdication, the line of succession will begin with the children of His Majesty the King: Her Royal Highness the Princess of Orange, Her Royal Highness Princess Alexia, and Her Royal Highness Princess Ariane. The next in line will be His Royal Highness Prince Constantijn, his children and finally Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet. After the abdication, the children of Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet of the Netherlands and Professor Pieter van Vollenhoven will no longer be eligible for the throne. They will also cease to be members of the Royal House.

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands to abdicate April 30, 2013.

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Abdication, King Willem IIII of the Nethlands, Prince of Orange, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander of the netherlands

Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands announced today that after a reign of almost 33 years she will abdicate the throne in favor of her eldest son, HRH The Prince of Orange, on April 30, 2013.

Although there is a strong tradition of abdication in the Netherlands it is not mandatory so in some ways this comes as a bit of a shock. I had thought she would hold onto the throne until her death. She seemed to enjoy and relish her role/job as Queen. She is very popular in the Netherlands and excelled in performing her duties.

It was also announced that her son will be known as King Willem-Alexander. While I do like double names I also like Roman numerals after royal names so I had thought (and hoped) that he would be called King Willem IV. There was also some speculation that his wife, Princess Maxima, would not have the title of Queen but the prime minister mentioned her future title as Queen specifically.

Willem-Alexander will be the first King of the Netherlands since the death of King Willem III in 1890. Ever since then the Netherlands has had women serve as queens. Williem-Alexander’s heir is his eldest daughter Catherina-Amalia.