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

Tags

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.






Titles of the Dutch Sovereign

Tags

Beatrix, Congress of Vienna, House of Orange-Nassau, Juliana, Kings and Queens of the Netherlands., Prince of Orange, Wilhelmina, Willem I, Willem II, Willem III, Willem-Alexander, William the Silent

Willem I, the Silent, Prince of Orange, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg, Stadholder of the Netherlands.

I must admit that one of my interests in royalty is an interest in titles from their history to their correct usage. Although there is some uniformity across the different monarchies, each country also has its unique history and rules/laws. Today I’ll be examining the history and usage of titles with the monarchy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Willem I, King of the Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Duke of Limburg, Prince of Orange-Nassau.

The style of the Dutch sovereign has changed many times since the establishment of the Kingdom of the Netherlands due to formations and dissolutions of personal unions, as well as due to marriages of female sovereigns and cognatic successions.

History

Before I begin discussing the titles of the Dutch monarchy I’d like to give a brief history of their royal house, The House of Orange-Nassau.

The House of Orange-Nassau is a branch of the European House of Nassau, and it has played a central role in the politics and government of the Netherlands and Europe especially since William the Silent organized the Dutch revolt against Spanish rule, which after the Eighty Years’ War (1568–1648) led to an independent Dutch state.

Willem II, King of the Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Duke of Limburg, Prince of Orange-Nassau.

The dynasty was established as a result of the marriage of Heinrich III of Nassau-Breda from the German Holy Roman Empire and Claudia of Châlon-Orange from French Burgundy in 1515. Their son René inherited in 1530 the independent and sovereign Principality of Orange from his mother’s brother, Philibert of Châlon. As the first Nassau to be the Prince of Orange, René could have used “Orange-Nassau” as his new family name. However, his uncle, in his will, had stipulated that René should continue the use of the name Châlon-Orange. History knows him therefore as René of Châlon. After the death of René in 1544, his cousin William of Nassau-Dillenburg inherited all of his lands. This “William I of Orange”, in English better known as Willem I the Silent, became the founder of the House of Orange-Nassau.

Willem III, King of the Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Duke of Limburg, Prince of Orange-Nassau.

Stadholder

In the Low Countries, stadtholder was an office of steward, designated a medieval official and then a national leader. The stadtholder was the replacement of the duke or earl of a province during the Burgundian and Habsburg period (1384 – 1581).

The title was used for the official tasked with maintaining peace and provincial order in the early Dutch Republic and, at times, became de facto Head of State of the Dutch Republic during the 16th to 18th centuries, which was an effectively hereditary role. For the last half century of its existence, it became an officially hereditary role and thus a monarchy (though not a monarchial title) under Prince Willem IV. His son, Prince Willem V, was the last stadtholder of the republic. The Dutch monarchy is only distantly related to the first stadtholder of the young Republic, Prince Willem I “The Silent” of Orange, the leader of the successful Dutch Revolt against the Spanish Empire, his line having died out with Willem III in 1702. (who was also King William III of England, Scotland and Ireland).

The title stadtholder is roughly comparable to England’s historic title Lord Lieutenant.

Kingdom of The Netherlands

Prince Willem-Frederick of Nassau-Orange, son of the last stadtholder of the Netherlands, Willem V, returned to the Netherlands in 1813 and proclaimed himself Sovereign Prince of the Netherlands. Two years later, in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, the Congress of Vienna added the southern Netherlands to the north to create a strong country on the northern border of France. Willem-Frederick raised this United Netherlands to the status of a kingdom and proclaimed himself as King Willem I on March 16, 1815. In addition, Willem became hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg in exchange for his German possessions.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands as a state was not politically united with the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, they were in a personal union together under Willem I. As a member of the House of Orange-Nassau Willem I who already inherited a vast number of titles and lands inherited from his ancestors. On April 19, 1839, the Duchy of Limburg joined the union. Willem I, Willem II and Willem III all ruled as kings, grand dukes and dukes.

In 1866, however, the Duchy of Limburg ceased to exist as a separate polity and instead became integrated into the Kingdom of the Netherlands as a province. Willem III kept the ducal title and passed it on to his successor, Wilhelmina, but she did not succeed him to the throne of Luxembourg, as the country’s succession laws provided for strict observance of Salic Law at the time. Thus, the reference to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg disappeared from the title of the Dutch monarch.

Wilhelmina, Queen of the Netherlands, Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Duchess of Limburg, Duchess of Limburg, Princess of Orange-Nassau.

The male line of the House of Orange-Nassau ended with the death of Willem III on November 23, 1890. His only surviving child and successor, Wilhelmina, married Duke Heinrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin on February 7, 1901 and, as customary, assumed the feminine form of her husband’s title. The title of Duchess of Mecklenburg was thus added to her full title. The government did not want the House of Orange-Nassau to become extinct on Wilhelmina’s death, and so in 1908 she issued a royal decree conferring the title of Prince or Princess of Orange-Nassau to her descendants. Her only child, Juliana, was therefore born not only Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin but also Princess of Orange-Nassau, like previous members of the royal family.

When Juliana married Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld in 1936, Wilhelmina decreed that her daughter and heir presumptive would assume the title of Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld, as customary, but that it would come after her birth title of Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. On September 4, 1948, Wilhelmina abdicated in favor of Juliana, which brought the title of Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld into the full style of the Dutch monarch. At the same time, the title of Duchess of Limburg was dropped, Wilhelmina being the last person to hold it.

Juliana, Queen of the Netherlands, Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld

Like Wilhelmina, Juliana had no sons. She abdicated in favor of Beatrix, the eldest of her four daughters, on April 30, 1980. Beatrix is not a male-line descendant of Duke Heinrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and thus was not a Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. She was the first Dutch monarch in 79 years not to bear the title. Through her father, she is a Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld.

On April 30, 2013, she abdicated in favour of her eldest son, Willem-Alexander, who thus became the first male on the throne in 123 years. He is not a male-line descendant of Prince Bernhard and thus not a Prince of Lippe-Biesterfeld. He bears the honorific Jonkheer van Amsberg as the son of Claus van Amsberg.

Beatrix, Queen of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld

Willem-Alexander is the first Dutch king since Willem III, who died in 1890. Willem-Alexander had earlier indicated that when he became king, he would take the name Willem IV, but it was announced in January 2013 that his regnal name would be Willem-Alexander. Personally, I’m torn by this decision. One the one hand I like the use of Roman numerals to designate one monarch from those of the same name. However, I also love the usage double names which was prominent during the 18th and 19th centuries especially within the German monarchies.

However, I think it may cause some confusion in the future. 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 rather doubt he’d call himself Willem V but a Willem IV after a Willem-Alexander does seem odd.

Willem-Alexander, Kingdom of The Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau, Jonkheer van Amsberg

Full Styles

“We, William III, by the Grace of God, King of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, etc., etc., etc.

“We, Beatrix, by the Grace of God, Queen of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, etc., etc., etc.”

Shortened versions of the styles, used in preambles:

* 1815–1890: By the Grace of God, King of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, etc., etc., etc.

* 1890–2013: By the Grace of God, Queen of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, etc., etc., etc.

* 2013–present: By the Grace of God, King of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau, etc., etc., etc.

Titles that have appeared in shortened styles, preceded by “His Majesty” or “Her Majesty” and the monarch’s name:[5]

* 1815–1890: King of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, etc.

* 1890–1901: Queen of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, etc.

* 1901–1948: Queen of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Duchess of Mecklenburg, etc.

* 1948–1980: Queen of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Duchess of Mecklenburg, Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld, etc.

* 1980–2013: Queen of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld, etc.

* 2013–present: King of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau, etc.