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April 25, 1843: Birth of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine

25 Monday Apr 2022

Posted by liamfoley63 in Featured Monarch, Featured Royal, Grand Duke/Grand Duchy of Europe, Kingdom of Europe, Royal Birth, Royal Genealogy, royal wedding, This Day in Royal History

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Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia, Grand Duke Ludwig IV of Hesse and By Rhine, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Prince Albrecht of Prussia, Prince Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine, Prince of Orange, Prince Willem of the Netherlands, Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, Princess Royal, Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom., Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

Princess Alice of the United Kingdom (Alice Maud Mary; April 25, 1843 – December 14, 1878) was Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine from June 13, 1877 until her death in 1878 as the wife of Grand Duke Ludwig IV.

She was the third child and second daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Alice was the first of Queen Victoria’s nine children to die, and one of three to predecease their mother, who died in 1901. Her life had been enwrapped in tragedy since her father’s death in 1861.

In this blog entry I will be focusing on her marriage to the future Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine.

When her father, Prince Albert, became fatally ill in December 1861, Alice nursed him until his death. Following his death, Queen Victoria entered a period of intense mourning and Alice spent the next six months acting as her mother’s unofficial secretary.

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 Wilhelm of Prussia, to produce a list of eligible princes in Europe.

Her search produced only two suitable candidates: the Willem, Prince of Orange; and Prince Albrecht of Prussia. Prince Albrecht of Prussia was a cousin to Victoria’s husband Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia.

Prince Albrecht of Prussia

Prince Albrecht of Prussia (1837 – 1906) was also a cousin of the Prince of Orange given he was the son of Prince Albrecht of Prussia and his wife Princess Marianne of the Netherlands, daughter of King Willem I of the Netherlands.

Willem, Prince of Orange (1840 – 1879), was heir apparent to the Dutch throne as the eldest son of King Willem III and his first wife, Princess Sophie of Württemberg. In 1849, after the death of his grandfather King Willem II of the Netherlands, he became Prince of Orange as heir apparent. His Victorian upbringing turned out to be a disaster.

The Prince of Orange was soon discounted. He journeyed to Windsor Castle so that Queen Victoria could look him over in person, but he proved unpalatable to Alice.

Prince Willem of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange

Albrecht of Prussia was born in Berlin, the son of Prince Albrecht of Prussia and his wife Princess Marianne, daughter of King Willem I of the Netherlands. His father was a brother of King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia and of Wilhelm I, German Emperor, whose son was Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia (future German Emperor Friedrich III) the wife of Princess Alice’s sister, Princess Victoria the Princess Royal.

Prince Albrecht of Prussia also showed little interest in Alice, despite strong pressure from his pro-British mother, Queen Sophie of the Netherlands. Prince Albrecht, too, was spurned, with Prince Friedrich Wilhelm 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’s sister, Princess Anna, as a potential bride for her brother, the Prince of Wales.

Princess Alice of the United Kingdom

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

Alice was engaged to Prince Ludwig of Hesse on 30 April 30,1861, following the Queen’s consent. The Queen persuaded the Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, to secure the agreement of Parliament for Alice to receive a dowry of £30,000 (£2.86 million as of 2022).

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.

Prince Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine

Between the engagement and the wedding, Alice’s father Prince Albert died on December 14, 1861. Despite the Queen’s grief, she ordered that the wedding should continue as planned.

On July 1, 1862, Alice and Ludwig were married privately in the dining room of Osborne House, which was converted into a temporary chapel. The Queen was ushered in by her four sons, acting as a living screen blocking her from view, and took her place in an armchair near the altar.

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 Louis’s sister Princess Anna. For the ceremony, Alice wore a simple white dress, with a veil of Honiton lace and a wreath of orange blossom and myrtle, but was required to wear black mourning clothes before and after the ceremony.

Prince and Princess Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine

The Queen, sitting in an armchair, struggled to hold back her tears, and was shielded from view by the Prince of Wales and Prince Alfred, her second son, who cried throughout the service.

The weather at Osborne was dreary, with winds blowing up from the Channel. The Queen wrote to her eldest daughter, Victoria, that the ceremony was “more of a funeral than a wedding”, and remarked to Alfred, Lord Tennyson that it was “the saddest day I can remember”.

The Princess’s life in Darmstadt was unhappy as a result of impoverishment, family tragedy and worsening relations with her husband and mother.

April 24, 1533: Birth of Willem I the Silent, Prince of Orange

24 Sunday Apr 2022

Posted by liamfoley63 in Featured Royal, Principality of Europe, Royal Birth, Royal Genealogy, Royal House, Royal Titles, This Day in Royal History

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Anne of Saxony, Dutch Uprising, King Philip II of Spain, Margaret of Parma, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder of Holland, the Netherlands, Willem the Silent, William the Silent, Zeeland and Utrecht

Willem the Silent (April 24, 1533 – July 10, 1584) was the main leader of the Dutch Revolt against the Spanish Habsburgs that set off the Eighty Years’ War (1568–1648) and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1581. Born into the House of Nassau, he became Prince of Orange in 1544 and is thereby the founder of the Orange-Nassau branch and the ancestor of the monarchy of the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, he is also known as Father of the Fatherland.

Early life and education

Willem was born on April 24, 1533 at Dillenburg Castle in the County of Nassau-Dillenburg, in the Holy Roman Empire. He was the eldest son of Count Wilhelm I of Nassau-Dillenburg and Juliana of Stolberg.

Willem’s father had one surviving daughter by his previous marriage, and his mother had four surviving children by her previous marriage. His parents had twelve children together, of whom Willem was the eldest; he had four younger brothers and seven younger sisters. The family was religiously devout and Willem was raised a Lutheran.

In 1544, Willem’s agnatic first cousin, René of Châlon, Prince of Orange, died in the siege of St Dizier, childless. In his testament, René of Chalon named Willem the heir to all his estates and titles, including that of Prince of Orange, on the condition that he receive a Roman Catholic education.

Willem’s father acquiesced to this condition on behalf of his 11-year-old son, and this was the founding of the House of Orange-Nassau. Besides the Principality of Orange (located today in France) and significant lands in Germany, Willem also inherited vast estates in the Low Countries (present-day Netherlands and Belgium) from his cousin. Because of Willem’s young age, Emperor Charles V, who was the overlord of most of these estates, served as regent until Williem was old enough to rule them himself.

On July 6, 1551, Willem married Anna, daughter and heir of Maximiliaan van Egmond, an important Dutch nobleman, a match that had been secured by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Anna’s father had died in 1548, and therefore Willem became Lord of Egmond and Count of Buren upon his wedding day. The marriage was a happy one and produced three children, one of whom died in infancy. Anna died on March 24, 1558, aged 25, leaving Willem much grieved.

On August 25, 1561, Willem of Orange married for the second time. Willem’s second wife was Anna of Saxony, the daughter of Maurice, Elector of Saxony, and Agnes, eldest daughter of Philipp I, Landgrave of Hesse

His new wife was described by contemporaries as “self-absorbed, weak, assertive, and cruel”, and it is generally assumed that Willem married her to gain more influence in Saxony, Hesse and the Palatinate. The couple had five children. They divorced in 1571.

The marriage used Lutheran rites, and marked the beginning of a gradual change in his religious opinions, which was to lead Willem to revert to Lutheranism and eventually moderate Calvinism. Still, he remained tolerant of other religious opinions.

Up to this time Willem’s life had been marked by lavish display and extravagance. He surrounded himself with a retinue of young noblemen and dependents and kept open house in his magnificent Nassau palace at Brussels.

Consequently the revenue of his vast estates was not sufficient to prevent him being crippled by debt. But after his return from France, a change began to come over Willem. King Felipe II of Spain made him councillor of state, knight of the Golden Fleece, and stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland and Utrecht, but there was a latent antagonism between the natures of the two men.

Willem married for a third time to the former Abbess of Jouarre, Charlotte de Bourbon-Montpensier, a daughter of Louis II of Bourbon, Duke of Montpensier, and his first wife, Jacqueline de Longwy.

Willem also served the Habsburgs as a member of the court of Margaret of Parma, governor of the Spanish Netherlands and natural half-sister to Felipe II.

The Dutch uprising began with the increased opposition to Spanish rule among the then mostly Catholic population of the Netherlands. Lastly, the opposition wished to see an end to the presence of Spanish troops.

Willem was unhappy with the centralisation of political power away from the local estates and with the Spanish persecution of Dutch Protestants, Willem joined the Dutch uprising and turned against his former masters. The most influential and politically capable of the rebels, he led the Dutch to several successes in the fight against the Spanish. Declared an outlaw by Felipe II of Spain in 1580, he was assassinated by Balthasar Gérard in Delft in 1584.

Willem’s eldest son, Philip Willem, by his first wife Anna van Egmont, succeeded him as Prince of Orange.

Elizabeth Stuart of England, Scotland and Ireland and Queen of Bohemia. Conclusion.

02 Thursday Sep 2021

Posted by liamfoley63 in Featured Monarch, Featured Royal, Kingdom of Europe, Principality of Europe, Royal Death, Royal Genealogy, Royal Succession

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Anna van Solms, Charles II of England, Elizabeth Stuart of England, Frederick V of the Palatinate, Prince of Orange, Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Queen of Bohemia, Scotland and Ireland, The Hague

Fearing the worst, by the time of the defeat at the Battle of White Mountain, Elizabeth already had left Prague and was awaiting the birth of her fifth child at the Castle of Custrin, about 80 km (50 mi) from Berlin. It was there on 6 January 1621 that she “in an easy labour lasting little more than an hour” was delivered of a healthy son, Maurice.

The military defeat, however, meant that there was no longer a prospect of returning to Prague, and the entire family was forced to flee. They could no longer return to the Palatinate as it was occupied by the Catholic league and a Spanish contingent. So, after an invitation from Maurice, the Prince of Orange, they made their move towards The Hague.

Elizabeth arrived in The Hague in spring 1621 with only a small court. Elizabeth’s sense of duty to assist her husband out of the political mess in which they had found themselves, meant that “she became much more an equal, if not the stronger, partner in the marriage”. Her lady-in-waiting, Amalia van Solms, soon became involved with Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange and married him in 1625. The two women became rivals at the court of The Hague.

While in exile Elizabeth produced eight more children, four boys and four girls. The last, Gustavus, was born on January 2, 1632 and baptised in the Cloister Church where two of his siblings who had died young, Louis and Charlotte, were buried. Later that same month, Friedrich farewell to Elizabeth and set out on a journey to join the king of Sweden on the battlefield.

After declining conditions set out by King Gustavus II Adolphus that would have seen the Swedish king assist in his restoration, the pair parted with Friedrich heading back towards The Hague. however, he had been suffering from an infection since the beginning of October 1632, and he died on the morning of November 29, 1632 before reaching The Hague.

Widowhood

When Elizabeth received the news of Friedrich’s s death, she became senseless with grief and for three days did not eat, drink, or sleep. When Charles I heard of Elizabeth’s state, he invited her to return to England; however, she refused. The rights of her son and Friedrich’s heir Charles Ludwig “remained to be fought for”. Elizabeth then fought for her son’s rights, but she remained in The Hague even after he regained the Electorate of the Palatinate in 1648.

She became a patron of the arts, and commissioned a larger family portrait to honour herself and her husband, to complement the impressive large seascape of her 1613 joyous entry to the Netherlands. Her memorial family portrait of 1636 was outdone however by Amalia van Solms who commissioned the Oranjezaal after the death of her husband Frederick Henry in 1648–1651.

Elizabeth filled her time with copious letter writing and making marriage matches for her children. Her life after the death of Friedrich, however, had its share of heartache. Between his death in 1632 and her own death 30 years later, she witnessed the death of four more of her ten surviving children: Gustavus in 1641, Philip in 1650, Henriette Marie in 1651, and Maurice in 1652.

Elizabeth suffered another blow with the execution of her brother Charles I, King of England, Scotland and Ireland in early 1649, and the removal into exile of the surviving Stuart family during the years of the Commonwealth. The relationships with her remaining living children also became somewhat estranged, although she did spend time with her growing number of grandchildren. She began to pay the price for having been “a distant mother to most of her own children”, and the idea of going to England now was uppermost in her thoughts.

Death

In 1660, the Stuarts were restored to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland in the person of Elizabeth’s nephew Charles II. Elizabeth, now determined to visit her native land, arrived in England on May 26, 1661. By July, she was no longer planning on returning to The Hague and made plans for the remainder of her furniture, clothing, and other property to be sent to her.

She then proceeded to move to Drury House, where she established a small, but impressive and welcoming, household. On January 29, 1662 she made another move, to Leicester House, Westminster, but by this time she was quite ill. Elizabeth was suffering from pneumonia, and on February 10, 1662 she haemorrhaged from the lungs and died soon after midnight on February 13, 1662.

Her death caused little public stir as by then her “chief, if not only, claim to fame was as the mother of Prince Rupert of the Rhine, the legendary Cavalier general”. On the evening of February 17, when her coffin (into which her remains had been placed the previous day) left Somerset House, Rupert was the only one of her sons to follow the funeral procession to Westminster Abbey. There in the chapel of Henry VII, “a survivor of an earlier age, isolated and without a country she could really call her own” was laid to rest among her ancestors and close to her beloved elder brother, Henry, Prince of Wales.

History of Male British Consorts Part XI

07 Wednesday Jul 2021

Posted by liamfoley63 in Duchy/Dukedom of Europe, Featured Royal, Kingdom of Europe, Royal Titles

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Ernest III of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, King Consort, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Prince of Orange, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld

Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Francis Albert Augustus Charles Emmanuel; August 26, 1819 – December 14, 1861) was the consort of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom from their marriage on February 10, 1840 until his death in 1861.

Albert was born on August 26, 1819 at Schloss Rosenau, near Coburg, Germany, in the Saxon duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld to a family connected to many of Europe’s ruling monarchs. Prince Albert was the second son of Ernst III, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and his first wife, Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. His first cousin and future wife, Victoria, was born earlier in the same year with the assistance of the same midwife, Charlotte von Siebold.

In 1825, Albert’s great-uncle, Friedrich IV, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, died without an heir. His death led to a realignment of the Saxon duchies the following year and Albert’s father became the first reigning duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

Albert and his elder brother, Ernst, spent their youth in a close companionship marred by their parents’ turbulent marriage and eventual separation and divorce. After their mother was exiled from court in 1824, she married her lover, Alexander von Hanstein, Count of Pölzig and Beiersdorf. She presumably never saw her children again, and died of cancer at the age of 30 in 1831. The following year, their father married his niece, his sons’ cousin, Princess Marie of Württemberg; their marriage was not close, however, and Marie had little—if any—impact on her stepchildren’s lives.

The brothers were educated privately at home by Christoph Florschütz and later studied in Brussels, where Adolphe Quetelet was one of their tutors. Like many other German princes, Albert attended the University of Bonn, where he studied law, political economy, philosophy and the history of art. He played music and excelled at sport, especially fencing and riding. His tutors at Bonn included the philosopher Fichte and the poet Schlegel.

Marriage

The idea of marriage between Albert and his cousin, Victoria, was first documented in an 1821 letter from his paternal grandmother, the Dowager Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, who said that he was “the pendant to the pretty cousin”. By 1836, this idea had also arisen in the mind of their ambitious uncle Leopold, who had been King of the Belgians since 1831.

At this time, Victoria was the heir presumptive to the British throne. Her father, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, the fourth son of King George III, had died in 1820 when she was a baby, and her elderly uncle, King William IV, had no legitimate children. Her mother, the Duchess of Kent, was the sister of both Albert’s father—the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha—and King Leopold I of the Belgians. Leopold arranged for his sister, Victoria’s mother, to invite the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and his two sons to visit her in May 1836, with the purpose of meeting Victoria. William IV, however, disapproved of any match with the Coburgs, and instead favoured the suit of Prince Alexander of the Netherlands, second son of the Willem, Prince of Orange, future King Willem II.

Victoria came to the throne aged eighteen on June 20, 1837. Although she resisted attempts to rush her into marriage, her letters of the time show interest in Albert’s education for the role he would have to play. In the winter of 1838–39, the prince visited Italy, accompanied by the Coburg family’s confidential adviser, Baron Stockmar.

Albert returned to the United Kingdom with Ernst in October 1839 to visit the Queen, with the objective of settling the marriage. Albert and Victoria felt mutual affection and the Queen proposed to him on October 15, 1839. Victoria’s intention to marry was declared formally to the Privy Council on November 23, and the couple married on February 10, 1840 at the Chapel Royal, St James’s Palace. Just before the marriage, Albert was naturalised by Act of Parliament, and granted the style of Royal Highness by an Order in Council.

Initially Albert was not popular with the British public; he was perceived to be from an impoverished and undistinguished minor state, barely larger than a small English county. The British Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, advised the Queen against granting her husband the title of “King Consort”; Parliament also objected to Albert being created a peer—partly because of anti-German sentiment and a desire to exclude Albert from any political role.

Albert’s religious views provided a small amount of controversy when the marriage was debated in Parliament: although as a member of the Lutheran Evangelical Church Albert was a Protestant, the non-Episcopal nature of his church was considered worrisome. Of greater concern, however, was that some of Albert’s family were Roman Catholic.

Lord Melbourne led a minority government and the opposition took advantage of the marriage to weaken his position further. They opposed the ennoblement of Albert and granted him a smaller annuity than previous consorts, £30,000 instead of the usual £50,000. Albert claimed that he had no need of a British peerage, writing: “It would almost be a step downwards, for as a Duke of Saxony, I feel myself much higher than a Duke of York or Kent.” For the next seventeen years, Albert was formally titled “HRH Prince Albert” until, on June 25, 1857, Victoria formally granted him the title Prince Consort.

For the second time a husband of a Queen Regnant was denied the title of King Consort. The concept of Jure uxoris (a Latin phrase meaning “by right of (his) wife”), became out of date. This term describes a title of nobility used by a man because his wife holds the office or title suo jure (“in her own right”). This practice slowly replaced as customs and laws changed and the sharing of Royal authority by foreigners was not welcome.

In the next entry I will examine Prince Albert’s political role as husband of Queen Victoria.

July 8, 1545: Birth of Carlos, Prince of Asturias. Part II.

09 Thursday Jul 2020

Posted by liamfoley63 in Featured Royal, Kingdom of Europe, Royal Death, Royal Succession, Royal Titles, This Day in Royal History

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3rd Duke of Alba, Alcázar of Madrid, Carlos of the Asturias, Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, John of Austria, Juan of Austria, Philip II of Spain, Prince of Orange, William the Silent

Insanity, treason and attempted patricide

Carlos’ frustration and mental problems were useful for the rebel factions in the Low Countries. In 1565, Carlos made contacts with a representative of Count Egmont and Philip of Montmorency, from the Low Countries, who were among the leaders of the revolt against his father King Felipe II.

Carlos planned on fleeing to the Netherlands and declaring himself King of Spain with the support of the rebels. In one of his chaotic actions he confessed the plot to Ruy Gómez de Silva, Prince of Eboli, who loyally informed the king. In 1566, Floris of Montmorency established new contacts with him in the name of Count Egmont and Philip of Montmorency, to repeat the previous plot.

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In 1567, the prince gave new proofs of mental instability. During a walk, water thrown from a window accidentally splashed him. He ordered the house to be set on fire. He tried to stab and kill Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba in public and in broad daylight. He tried to throw a servant who bothered him through the window of the highest floor of the palace, and also tried to kill a guard who had also displeased him that same year.

In the autumn of 1567, he made another attempt to flee to the Netherlands by asking Juan of Austria to take him to Italy. Juan of Austria (1547-1578) was an illegitimate son of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. He became a military leader in the service of his half-brother, King Felipe II of Spain, and is best known for his role as the admiral of the Holy Alliance fleet at the Battle of Lepanto.

Juan of Austria was loyal to the king and aware of Carlos’s mental state. He asked for 24 hours to think about it and used them to consult the plan with the king who immediately denied permission for the trip.

As a consequence, Carlos tried to murder Juan. He charged his gun and called Juan of Austria to his room, where he tried to shoot him repeatedly. The attempted assassination was fruitless because one of the servants, knowing the prince full well, had discharged the gun while the prince called Juan. Carlos got so irate that he tried to attack Juan with his bare hands. He eventually informed various people in court of his desire to murder the King. There is debate about whether he actually tried to do so. After that incident, King Felipe II imprisoned the prince in his rooms without receiving correspondence and with limited contacts with the exterior world.

Just before midnight on January 17, 1568, Felipe II, in armour, and with four councillors, entered Don Carlos’ bedchamber in the Alcázar of Madrid where they declared his arrest, seized his papers and weapons, and nailed up the windows. Since Carlos threatened ending his own life, the king banned him from having knives or forks in his room. Carlos also tried a hunger strike, in which he failed.

Death

When it came to explaining the situation to public opinion and European courts, Felipe II tried to explain his son’s absence without disclosing his actual faults or mental condition, in hopes of an eventual recovery. This lack of transparency was used to fuel the anti-Imperial propaganda of Willem the Silent, Prince of Orange.

On July 24, 1568, the prince died in his room, probably as the result of his delicate health. His death was used as one of the core elements of the Spanish Black Legend in the Netherlands, which needed to justify a revolt against the king.

It was later claimed that he was poisoned on the orders of King Felipe II, especially by Willem the Silent in his Apology, a 1581 propaganda work against the Spanish king. The idea of the poisoning had been held by central and north European historians, based on the pieces of propaganda produced in the Netherlands, until the 20th century, while most Spanish and Italian historians kept claiming that evidence and documentation pointed at a death by natural causes.

Modern historians now think that Don Carlos died of natural causes. Carlos grew very thin and some had interpreted his “hunger strikes” as an eating disorder developed during his imprisonment, alternating self-starvation with heavy binges.

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

27 Monday Apr 2020

Posted by liamfoley63 in Abdication, Featured Monarch, Happy Birthday, Kingdom of Europe, Royal Genealogy, Royal Succession, Royal Titles

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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/

This date in history: December 24, 1660. Death of Mary, Princess Royal, Princess of Orange.

24 Tuesday Dec 2019

Posted by liamfoley63 in Featured Royal, Kingdom of Europe, Royal Genealogy, Royal Succession, This Day in Royal History

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Charles I of England, Charles II of England, Elector of Brandenburg, Elector of Hanover, Frederick William I of Brandenburg, George I of Great Britain, Henry IV of France, King James II-VII of England and Scotland, Mary of England, Prince of Orange, Princess Royal, Republic of the Netherlands, Restoration, Stadthouder of the Netherlands, William II of Orange

Mary, Princess Royal (Mary Henrietta; November 4, 1631 – December 24, 1660) was Countess of Nassau by marriage to Prince Willem II of Orange and co-regent for her son during his minority as Sovereign Prince of Orange from 1651 to 1660.

Mary Henrietta was born at St. James’s Palace, London to Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland and Henrietta Maria de Bourbon of France, the eldest daughter of the youngest daughter of King Henri IV of France (Henri III of Navarre) and his second wife, Marie de’ Medici.

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Mary, Princess Royal

Princess Mary was named after her mother. Her father, King Charles I, liked to call his wife Henrietta Maria simply “Maria”, with the English people calling her “Queen Mary.”

Charles I designated Mary Princess Royal in 1642, thus establishing the tradition that the eldest daughter of the British sovereign might bear this title. The title came into being when Queen Henrietta Maria, the daughter of Henri IV of France to imitate the way the eldest daughter of the French king was styled (Madame Royale). Until that time, the eldest daughters of English and Scottish kings were variously titled lady or princess (The younger daughters of British sovereigns were not consistently titled Princess of England/Scotland or Great Britain with the style Royal Highness until the accession of George I in 1714). George I of Great Britain codified styles and titles using the German system and this code is still in effect today.

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Betrothal portrait of Princess Mary and Prince Willem of Orange

Her father, Charles I, wished that Mary should marry her first cousin Balthasar Carlos, Prince of Asturias, the son of Felipe IV of Spain. The Prince of the Asturias died on October 9, 1646 (aged 16) before succeeding to the throne. Mary’s first cousin, Charles I Ludwig, Elector Palatine, was also a suitor for her hand. Both proposals fell through and she was betrothed to Willem of Orange, the son and heir of Frederik Hendrik, Prince of Orange and Stadtholder of the United Provinces, and of Amalia of Solms-Braunfels. The marriage took place on May 2, 1641 at the Chapel Royal, Whitehall Palace, London.

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The Prince and Princess of Orange

The marriage was reputedly not consummated for several years because the bride was nine years old. In 1642, Mary moved to the Dutch Republic with her mother, Queen Henrietta Maria, and in 1644, as the daughter-in-law of the stadtholder, Frederik Hendrik she became more engaged in courtly and public events.

In March 1647, Mary’s husband, Willem II, succeeded his father as stadholder. However, in November 1650, just after his attempt to capture Amsterdam from his political opponents, he died of smallpox.

Co-regency

The couple’s only child, Willem III Prince of Orange and Stadthouder of the Netherlands (later William III of England, Scotland and Ireland), was born two weeks after his father’s death. Mary, now a Dowager, was obliged to share the guardianship of her infant son with her mother-in-law, Amalia of Solms-Braunfels, and brother-in-law, Friedrich Wilhelm I, Elector of Brandenburg. They had more power over the young Prince’s affairs than she, as evidenced by his being christened Willem, and not Charles as she had desired.

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Prince Willem II of Orange, Stadthouder of the Netherlands

She was unpopular with the Dutch because of her sympathies with her own family, the Stuarts. She lived in the palace of the Stadthouder at the Binnenhof in the Hague, the building complex that now houses the Senate of the Netherlands. Her boudoir is still intact. At length, public opinion having been further angered by the hospitality that she showed to her brothers, the exiled Charles II and the Duke of York (later James II-VII) she was forbidden to receive her relatives.

Her moral reputation was damaged by rumours that she was having an affair with (or had been secretly married to) Henry Jermyn, a member of her brother James’ household. The rumours were probably untrue, but Charles II took them seriously, and tried to prevent any further contact between Jermyn and Mary. From 1654 to 1657, Mary was usually not in Holland. In 1657, she became regent on behalf of her son for the principality of Orange, but the difficulties of her position led her to implore the assistance of her first cousin Louis XIV of France and Navarre.

Death

The restoration of Mary’s brother, Charles II in England and Scotland greatly enhanced the position of the Princess of Orange and her son in Holland. In September 1660, she returned to England. She died of smallpox on December 24, 1660, at Whitehall Palace, London and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
I

Life of Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll. Part II.

04 Wednesday Dec 2019

Posted by liamfoley63 in Duchy/Dukedom of Europe, Featured Royal, Royal Genealogy

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Alexandra of Denmark, Duchess of Argyll, Duke of Argyll, Frederick VIII of Denmark, John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne, Prince Alfred, Prince of Orange, Princess Louise of the United Kingdom, Princess of Wales, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

Marriage

Suitors

As a daughter of the queen, Louise was a desirable bride; more so as she is regarded as the queen’s most beautiful daughter by both contemporary and modern biographers. However, she was accused by the press, without substantiation, of romantic affairs. This, coupled with her liberalism and feminism, prompted the queen to find her a husband. The choice had to suit Victoria as well as Louise, and the queen insisted that her daughter’s husband should live near her, a promise which had also been extracted from Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, the husband of Helena, Louise’s sister.

Various suitors were proposed by the leading royal houses of Europe: Princess Alexandra, the Princess of Wales, proposed her brother, the Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, (future Frederick VIII) but the queen was strongly opposed to another Danish marriage that could antagonise Prussia at a time of diplomatic tension over the Schleswig-Holstein question.

Victoria, Louise’s eldest sister, Victoria, Crown Princess of Prussia, proposed the tall and rich Prince Albert of Prussia, but Queen Victoria disapproved of another Prussian marriage that would have been unpopular in England. Prince Albert was also reluctant to settle in England as required. Willem, Prince of Orange, was also considered a suitor, but because of his extravagant lifestyle in Paris, where he lived openly with a lover, the queen quickly vetoed the idea.

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Louise viewed marriage to any prince as undesirable, and announced that she wished to marry John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne, heir to the Dukedom of Argyll. No marriage between a daughter of a monarch and a British subject had been given official recognition since 1515, when Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, married King Henry VIII’s sister Mary. Louise’s brother, the Prince of Wales, was strongly opposed to a marriage with a non-mediatized noble.

Furthermore, Lorne’s father, George Campbell, was an ardent supporter of William Ewart Gladstone, and the prince of Wales was worried that he would drag the royal family into political disputes. The queen averred that Louise’s marriage to a subject would bring “new blood” into the family, while all European princes were related to each other. She was convinced that this would strengthen the royal family morally and physically.

Louise became engaged to the Marquess of Lorne on October 3, 1870 while they were visiting Balmoral. Lorne was invited to Balmoral Castle in Scotland, and accompanied Louise, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Hatherley and Queen Victoria’s lady-in-waiting Lady Ely on a drive. Later that day, Louise returned and announced to the queen that Lorne had “spoken of his devotion” to Louise, and she accepted his proposal in the knowledge of the queen’s approval.

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Princess Louise and John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne.

The Queen found it difficult to let go of her daughter, confiding in her journal that she “felt painfully the thought of losing her”. The new breach in royal tradition caused surprise, especially in Germany, and Queen Victoria wrote to the Queen Augusta of Prussia that princes of small impoverished German houses were “very unpopular” in Britain and that Lord Lorne, a “person of distinction at home” with “an independent fortune” was “really no lower in rank than minor German Royalty”.

The ceremony was conducted at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on 21 March 21, 1871, and the crowd outside was so large that, for the first time, policemen had to form chain barriers to keep control. Louise was escorted into the Chapel by her mother, and her two eldest brothers, the Prince of Wales and the Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh. On this occasion, the usually severe black of the queen’s mourning dress was relieved by the crimson rubies and blues of the Garter star. Following the ceremony, the queen kissed Louise, and Lorne – now a member of the royal family, but still a subject – kissed the queen’s hand.

These dates in History: October 22nd…

22 Tuesday Oct 2019

Posted by liamfoley63 in From the Emperor's Desk, This Day in Royal History

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Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein, Charles Martel, Emperors of Russia, England, German Empress & Queen of Prussia., Ireland, October 22nd, Peter the Great, Prince of Orange, Willem IV

Today, October 22, is my birthday and these are the Royal events that occurred on this date.

1383 – King Fernando of Portugal dies without a male heir to the Portuguese throne, sparking a period of civil war and disorder.

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Peter I the Great, Emperor of Russia

* 1721 – Russian Empire is proclaimed by Tsar Peter I after the Swedish defeat in the Great Northern War.

* 1727 – George II and Caroline of Ansbach were crowned King and Queen of Great Britain.

* 1923 – The royalist Leonardopoulos–Gargalidis coup d’état attempt fails in Greece, discrediting the monarchy and paving the way for the establishment of the Second Hellenic Republic.

* 1978 – Papal inauguration of Pope John Paul II.

Births
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Princess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, The German Empress, Queen of Prussia

* 1071 – William IX, Duke of Aquitaine (d. 1126)
* 1197 – Juntoku, Japanese emperor (d. 1242).
* 1689 – John V, Portuguese king (d. 1750)
* 1701 – Maria Amalia, Holy Roman Empress (d. 1756)
* 1781 – Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France (d. 1789).
* 1858 – Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein (d. 1921)
* 1859 – Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria (d. 1949)

Deaths

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Willem IV, Prince of Orange

* 741 – Charles Martel, Duke and Prince of the Franks, Mayor of the Palace, (b. 688)
* 842 – Abo, Japanese prince (b. 792)
* 1383 – Ferdinand I of Portugal (b. 1345)
* 1751 – Willem IV, Prince of Orange (b. 1711)
* 1761 – Louis George, Margrave of Baden-Baden (b. 1702)
* 2002 – Geraldine, Queen of Albania (b. 1915)

John_V_of_Portugal_Pompeo_Batoni.jpg

John V, Portuguese king

Titles of the Dutch Sovereign

03 Thursday Oct 2019

Posted by liamfoley63 in Duchy/Dukedom of Europe, Kingdom of Europe, Royal Genealogy, Royal Succession

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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

IMG_0090

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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