Category Archives: Current Monarchies

Alice Heine, Princess of Monaco

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2015

source: Wikipedia

Alice Heine, second wife of Prince Albert I of Monaco

Alice Heine, Princess of Monaco, was the second wife of Prince Albert I of Monaco, and the first American woman ever to marry a reigning European sovereign.

She was born Mary Alice Heine on February 10, 1858, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Michel Heine and Amélie Marie Céleste Miltenberger, and had two younger brothers. Her father, a French banker and businessman, came from a prominent German Jewish banking family and was a cousin of German poet Heinrich Heine. Michel and his brother had established themselves as bankers in the United States.

In 1874, the family returned to France following the American Civil War and quickly established themselves amongst Parisian society. The following year, Alice married Marie Odet Richard Armand de La Chapelle de Saint-Jean de Jumilhac, 7th Duke of Richelieu. Jewish by birth, Alice had converted to Roman Catholicism prior to the marriage. The couple went on to have two children:

  • Marie Odet Jean Armand de La Chapelle de Saint-Jean de Jumilhac, 8th Duke of Richelieu (1875-1952)
  • Odile Chapelle de Jumilhac, later Princess of La Rochefoucauld by marriage (1879-1974)

In June 1880, the Duke of Richelieu died while on a trip to Athens, Greece. Widowed at just 22 years old, Alice became a very wealthy woman and soon established herself as one of the leading hostesses in European society. Several years later, while on the island of Madeira in Portugal, Alice met the future Prince Albert I of Monaco. From all accounts, the couple was immediately drawn to each other. Both had been married before and had children, and their personalities seemed to greatly complement each other. However, Albert’s father, Prince Charles III, did not approve of the match, and would not permit them to marry.

After four years, Prince Charles III died and Albert ascended to the Monegasque throne. Just seven weeks later, Alice and Albert married on October 30, 1889. Along with her two young children, Alice also brought an extensive collection of jewels and a massive dowry of six million dollars.

Albert II, Prince of Monaco; Credit – Wikipedia

Hugely welcomed by the people of Monaco, Alice quickly became instrumental in the development of the principality. Her advanced business sense (as well as her large dowry) helped to restore the nation’s financial stability, and Alice then set out to turn Monaco into more than just a small principality dominated by its casino. An avid supporter of the arts, Alice brought the theater, opera, and ballet to Monaco, and is often credited with turning Monaco into one of the cultural hotspots in Europe.

While her husband supported her efforts in the arts, Alice never fully supported or understood Albert’s love of the sea and oceanography. Their mutual lack of support drove the couple apart, and Alice embarked on an affair with the composer Isidore de Lara. Despite his own affairs, Prince Albert was devastated by his wife’s infidelity, but the couple continued to put on the facade of a happy marriage. However, it came crashing down in 1901. On the opening night of the opera, Prince Albert publicly accused Alice of her affair with the composer, in front of the entire opera hall, going as far as slapping her across the face. Humiliated, Alice left the opera immediately and left Monaco the next morning. Her husband quickly banned her from ever returning to Monaco, and made every effort to strip her from Monaco’s history. The couple was granted a legal separation in 1902 but never divorced.

AliceHeine

Alice settled at Claridge’s in London, England where she established herself in the upper echelons of British society, entertaining extensively and continuing to patronize the arts. While in London, she became a close friend of Queen Alexandra, wife of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom.

Several years after her estranged husband’s death, Alice, now the Dowager Princess of Monaco, died in Paris, France on December 22, 1925, at the age of 67. She is buried at the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, France.

Grave of Alice Heine, Princess of Monaco; Credit – www.findagrave.com

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Guillaume IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2015

Guillaume IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg; Credit – Wikipedia

Guillaume IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg was born as His Highness The Hereditary Prince of Nassau on April 22, 1852, at Biebrich Palace in Wiesbaden, Duchy of Nassau, now in Hesse,  Germany, and was given the name Wilhelm. He was the eldest child and the eldest son of Adolphe, Duke of Nassau (later Grand Duke of Luxembourg) and his second wife Princess Adelheid-Marie of Anhalt-Dessau.  Wilhelm had four siblings, but only he and his sister Hilda reached adulthood:

The Duchy of Nassau supported the Austrian Empire in the Austro-Prussian War (1866). After Austria lost the war, the Duchy of Nassau was annexed to Prussia and Wilhelm’s father Adolphe lost his duchy. Adolphe did make an agreement with Prussia for a severance payment and was also able to keep several of his palaces.

In September 1867, Wilhelm entered the Royal Cadet School of Saxony in Dresden. After a stay in Switzerland, he passed the examination required to be an officer in the Austro-Hungarian Army in 1871. In 1888, Wilhelm ended his military career with the rank of Major General.

During its history, Luxembourg has been a part of several different countries. At the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Luxembourg was made a Grand Duchy and united with The Netherlands. In 1839, following the Belgian Revolution, the Treaty of London partitioned territories and created the new Kingdom of Belgium and the new Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was still united with the Netherlands and King Willem I of the Netherlands was still the Grand Duke of Luxembourg. This rule continued until the death of King Willem III of the Netherlands in 1890. His successor was his daughter Wilhelmina, who could not inherit the throne of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg due to the Salic Law which prevented female succession. Through the Nassau Family Pact, Wilhelm’s father Adolph became the Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Wilhelm became His Royal Highness The Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg on November 23, 1890.

Wilhelm on the right with his father; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1884, Wilhelm had fallen in love with Infanta Maria Ana of Portugal, daughter of former King Miguel I of Portugal and Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg.  Maria Ana grew up mostly in Austria and Germany due to her father’s exile from Portugal. Wilhelm’s father had opposed the marriage because his family was Lutheran and the Infanta’s family was Roman Catholic. In 1890, when Wilhelm’s father Adolphe became the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, he became the sovereign of a Catholic country and he revised his opinion and gave his permission in 1893.

Wilhelm and Maria Ana were married on June 21, 1893, in Schloss Fischhorn in Zell am See, Austria. On July 22, 1893, the young couple arrived in Luxembourg. They chose Berg Castle  as their residence and it is there that five of their six children, all princesses brought up as Catholics, were born:

Maria Ana with her six daughters; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

On April 4, 1902, Grand Duke Adolphe appointed his son Lieutenant-Representative and Wilhelm took over some duties for his father. Adolphe died on November 22, 1905, and his son succeeded him. Usually, Wilhelm is styled using the French for Wilhelm, Guillaume IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg. At that time, the succession in Luxembourg was Salic, meaning a woman could not become the sovereign, and the new Grand Duke only had daughters. When it became clear that Maria Ana would not have further children, Wilhelm named his would-be successors the Counts of Merenburg (products of a morganatic marriage) to be ineligible for the throne. His eldest daughter Marie-Adélaïde became her father’s heir.

In 1898, Wilhelm suffered a minor stroke and by 1906, his health was deteriorating. On March 19, 1908, Wilhelm informed the government that his condition was deteriorating and he appointed his wife, Grand Duchess Maria Ana, his Lieutenant Representative. Eight months later, Wilhelm’s health did not allow him to continue to participate in any duties. On the proposal of the State Council, the Chamber of Deputies named Grand Duchess Maria Anna Regent. On September 15, 1911, Wilhelm returned to Berg Castle, whose renovations had just been completed. There Guillaume IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg died on February 25, 1912, at the age of 59. He was buried at the burial chapel (link in German) at Schloss Weilburg,  the former residence of the House of Nassau and Dukes of Nassau-Weilburg, in Weilburg, Germany.

Schloss Weilburg, burial place of Guillaume IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg; Photo Credit – Wikipedia, photo by Oliver Abels

His successor Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde was 17 at the time of her father’s death, so her mother Grand Duchess Maria Ana remained Regent until she reached her 18th birthday. Marie-Adélaïde abdicated in 1919 in favor of her sister Charlotte, from whom the current Luxembourg grand ducal family descends.

Maria Ana and her daughters in 1920; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Grand Duchess Maria Ana survived her husband for 30 years. After fleeing Luxembourg when the German Army invaded during World War II, Maria Ana went to live in New York City where she died in 1942 at the age of 81. She was temporarily interred at Calvary Cemetery in Queens in New York City. Her remains were later repatriated and buried at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg.

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Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Adelheid-Marie of Anhalt-Dessau, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2015

Photo Credit – Wikipedia

The second wife of Grand Duke Adolphe of Luxembourg, Princess Adelheid-Marie was born on December 25, 1833, in Dessau, Duchy of Anhalt, now in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. She was the eldest of the three daughters of Prince Friedrich Augustus of Anhalt-Dessau and Princess Marie Luise Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel.  Her mother Princess Marie Luise Charlotte was the elder sister of Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel, the wife of King Christian IX of Denmark. Therefore, Adelheid-Marie was the first cousin of Princess Louise and King Christian IX’s children: King Frederick VIII of Denmark, Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom, King George I of Greece, Empress Marie Feodorovna of Russia, Thyra, Crown Princess of Hanover, and Prince Valdemar.

Adelheid-Marie’s sisters:

On 23 April 1851, Princess Adelheid-Marie married Adolphe, who was then Duke of Nassau. Six years earlier, Adolphe’s first wife Grand Duchess Elisabeth Mikhailovna of Russia had died in childbirth along with her daughter. Adolphe and Adelheid-Marie had five children, but only two lived to adulthood:

The Duchy of Nassau supported the Austrian Empire in the Austro-Prussian War (1866). After Austria lost the war, the Duchy of Nassau was annexed to Prussia and Adolph lost his duchy. Adolph did make an agreement with Prussia for a severance payment and was also able to keep several of his palaces.

During its history, Luxembourg has been a part of a number of countries. At the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Luxembourg was made a Grand Duchy and united with The Netherlands. In 1839, following the Belgian Revolution, the Treaty of London partitioned territories and created the new Kingdom of Belgium and the new Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was still united with the Netherlands and King Willem I of the Netherlands was still the Grand Duke of Luxembourg. This rule continued until the death of King Willem III of the Netherlands in 1890. His successor was his daughter Wilhelmina, who could not inherit the throne of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg due to the Salic Law which prevented female succession. Through the Nassau Family Pact, Adolph became the Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Adelheid-Marie became the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg on November 23, 1890.

Adolphe and Adelheid-Marie; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Adolphe died on November 17, 1905, at the age of 88. Adelheid-Marie survived him by 11 years dying on November 24, 1916, at the age of 82 in Königstein im Taunus, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Hesse, Germany. She was buried with her husband at the burial chapel of Schloss Weilburg, the former residence of the House of Nassau and Dukes of Nassau-Weilburg.

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Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Grand Duke Adolphe of Luxembourg

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2015

Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Born on July 24, 1817, in Biebrich Palace in Wiesbaden, Duchy of Nassau, now in Hesse, Germany, as Adolf Wilhelm August Karl Friedrich, His Highness The Hereditary Duke of Nassau. Adolphe was the eldest son and the third of the eight children of Wilhelm, Duke of Nassau and his first wife Princess Louise of Saxe-Hildburghausen.

Adolphe had three brothers and four sisters:

From his father’s second marriage to Princess Pauline of Württemberg, Adolphe had four half-siblings:

Adolphe before 1830; Credit – Wikipedia

On August 20, 1839, Adolph’s father died and Adolph began a 27-year reign of the Duchy of Nassau. Adolph married Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mikhailovna of Russia, daughter of Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich of Russia and granddaughter of Paul I, Emperor of All Russia, on January 31, 1844. The couple was very happy and delighted when Elizabeth soon became pregnant with their first child, but the happiness did not last. On January 28, 1845, 18-year-old Elizabeth died while giving birth to a daughter who also died. With the blessing of Elisabeth’s uncle Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia, the grief-stricken Adolphe used Elisabeth’s dowry to build the Russian Orthodox Church of Saint Elizabeth in Wiesbaden where Elisabeth’s remains were buried.

Grand Duchess Elisabeth Mikhailovna of Russia; Credit – Wikipedia

On 23 April 1851, Adolphe married for a second time to Princess Adelheid-Marie of Anhalt-Dessau. They had five children, but only two lived to adulthood:

Adelheid-Marie of Anhalt-Dessau; Credit – Wikipedia

The Duchy of Nassau supported the Austrian Empire in the Austro-Prussian War (1866). After Austria lost the war, the Duchy of Nassau was annexed to Prussia and Adolph lost his duchy. Adolph did make an agreement with Prussia for a severance payment and was also able to keep several of his palaces.

During its history, Luxembourg has been a part of a number of countries. At the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Luxembourg was made a Grand Duchy and united with The Netherlands. In 1839, following the Belgian Revolution, the Treaty of London partitioned territories and created the new Kingdom of Belgium and the new Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was still united with the Netherlands and King Willem I of the Netherlands was still the Grand Duke of Luxembourg. This rule continued until the death of King Willem III of the Netherlands in 1890. His successor was his daughter Wilhelmina, who could not inherit the throne of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg due to the Salic Law which prevented female succession. Through the Nassau Family Pact,  Adolph became the Grand Duke of Luxembourg on November 23, 1890.

Grand Duke Adolphe and Grand Duchess Adelheid-Marie of Luxembourg; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

73-year-old Adolphe was a Protestant in a Catholic country and knew little about Luxembourg, so he left the governing to his prime minister. On November 17, 1905, at the age of 88, Adolphe died at his summer home Schloss Hohenburg in Lenggries, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria. Grand Duke Adolphe was buried at the burial chapel of Schloss Weilburg, a former residence of the House of Nassau and Dukes of Nassau-Weilburg, now in the German state of Hesse.

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Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Countess Georgina von Wilczek, Princess of Liechtenstein

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2015

Photo Credit – Wikipedia

The wife of Franz Josef II, Prince of Liechtenstein, Georgina Norberta Jane Marie Antonie Raphaela, called Gina, was born on October 24, 1921, in Graz, Austria. She was the daughter of Count Ferdinand von Wilczek and Countess Norbertine (Nora) Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau. Her mother Nora founded a hospital in Austria at the outbreak of World War I. She then became a Red Cross nurse working in a Russian prisoner-of-war camp that held captured soldiers from the Austrian-Hungarian Empire and the German Empire. In 1916, Nora traveled to Siberia with a Russian officer visiting sixteen prisoner-of-war camps and fifteen labor camps to check on human rights violations. In the midst of the Russian Revolution, Nora made a dramatic escape and returned home to Austria in the summer of 1918. She married Count Ferdinand von Wilczek in 1921 and gave birth to Gina two years later. Sadly, Nora died in 1923 during the birth of her second child, who also died.

In 1942, Gina became engaged to Franz Josef II, Prince of Liechtenstein. On March 7, 1943, the wedding took place at St. Florian Cathedral in Vaduz, Liechtenstein. It was the first royal wedding in Liechtenstein’s history that took place in the principality.

 

The couple had five children:

Franz Josef II Liechtenstein family

Franz and Gina with their four eldest children; Credit – lux-arazzi.blogspot.com

During World War II, Princess Gina, like her mother, had concerns for prisoners of war. On June 22, 1945, she founded the Liechtenstein Red Cross, and was president from 1945 to 1984, when she handed over the position to her daughter-in-law Princess Marie, wife of her eldest son Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein. Princess Marie has since handed over the position of president to her daughter-in-law Hereditary Princess Sophie, wife of her eldest son Hereditary Prince Alois.

 

Princess Gina died on October 18, 1989, in a hospital in Grabs, Switzerland, six days before her 68th birthday after a long battle with cancer. Her husband Franz Josef died 26 days later. The couple was buried in the Princely Crypt at St. Florian Cathedral in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.

GeorginavonWilczek

Tomb of Princess Gina; Photo Credit – www.findagrave.com

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Principality of Liechtenstein Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Franz Josef II, Prince of Liechtenstein

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2015

Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Franz Josef II, Prince of Liechtenstein (Franz Josef Maria Aloys Alfred Karl Johannes Heinrich Michael Georg Ignatius Benediktus Gerhardus Majella) was born August 16, 1906, at Schloss Frauenthal in Steiermark, Austria. He was the eldest of the eight children of Prince Aloys of Liechtenstein and Archduchess Elisabeth Amalie of Austria, who was the half-sister of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, whose assassination was one of the factors that led to World War I.

Franz Josef had five brothers and two sisters:

  • Princess Maria Theresia (1908 – 1973), married Count Arthur Strachwitz von Gross-Zauche und Camminetz, had issue
  • Prince Karl Alfred (1910 – 1985), married Archduchess Agnes Christina of Austria, had issue
  • Prince Georg Hartmann (1911 – 1998), married Duchess Marie Christine of Württemberg, had issue
  • Prince Ulrich Dietmar (1913 – 1978), unmarried
  • Princess Marie Henriette (1914 – 2011), married Count Peter von Eltz genannt Faust von Stromberg, had issue
  • Prince Aloys Heinrich (1917 – 1967), unmarried
  • Prince Heinrich Hartneid (1920 – 1993), married Countess Amalie von Podstatzky-Lichtenstein, had issue

Franz Josef was named after Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria who was his mother’s paternal uncle and his godfather. He grew up in the Austrian castles of the Princely House of Liechtenstein where he developed his love of nature which influenced his future studies. Franz Josef’s father, Prince Aloys of Liechtenstein was the son of Prince Alfred of Liechtenstein and Princess Henriette of Liechtenstein, daughter of Aloys II, Prince of Liechtenstein. On February 26, 1923, Prince Aloys renounced his rights to the succession in favor of his son Franz Josef. At the time, Prince Aloys was the second in the line of succession behind his childless uncle Franz who succeeded to the throne in 1929 as Franz I, Prince of Liechtenstein.

In 1925, Franz Josef graduated from the Schottengymnasium in Vienna, Austria. He then enrolled at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna, Austria where he studied forestry. In 1930, Franz Josef graduated with distinction from the university as a forest engineer. He used his forestry skills on the family-owned farms, then in Czechoslovakia, now part of the Czech Republic.

Franz Josef took on various official roles on behalf of the elderly Prince Franz I. On March 30, 1938, Franz I named Franz Josef regent. Although he cited old age as his reason for the regency, it is widely believed that it was because he had no desire to be ruling if Nazi Germany invaded his small principality. Franz I died on July 25, 1938, and was succeeded by his grandnephew, Franz Josef II.

During World War II, Liechtenstein remained officially neutral. Family treasures from Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia were taken to Liechtenstein for safekeeping. At the end of World War II, Czechoslovakia and Poland seized all of Liechtenstein’s property in Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia which included large areas of farms and forests and several family castles and palaces. Prior to World War II, the family burial place was the Princely Mausoleum which was in Vranov, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic) after the war. The Princely Mausoleum was also seized after World War II. Since then, the Czech Republic has refused to return the property to the Princely Family of Liechtenstein, and there has been no preservation or restoration of the tombs and mausoleum.

Franz Josef was the first sovereign prince to live full-time in the principality and made his home at Vaduz Castle.

Vaduz Castle; Photo Credit – Wikipedia, photo by Michael Gredenberg

On March 7, 1943, Franz Joseph married Countess Georgina von Wilczek (Gina) at St. Florian Cathedral in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.

 

The couple had five children:

Franz Josef II Liechtenstein family

Franz and Gina with their four eldest children; Credit – lux-arazzi.blogspot.com

After World War II, the economic, social, and cultural progress of Liechtenstein was Franz Josef’s chief concern. The family often resorted to selling family art treasures, including the portrait “Ginevra de’ Benci” by Leonardo da Vinci, which was purchased by the National Gallery of Art of the United States in 1967 for $5 million ($35 million in 2015 dollars), then a record price for a painting. By the late 1970s, Liechtenstein used its low corporate tax rates to draw many companies to the country, becoming one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Today, Liechtenstein has the second-highest per capita income in the world.

 

In 1984, Franz Josef II handed over most of his powers to his son Hans-Adam. After 46 years of marriage, Princess Gina died on October 18, 1989, at the age of 68 after a long battle with cancer. She had once said. “My husband and I have become one. Everyone believes we are not able to exist without the other.” Only 26 days after the death of his wife, Prince Franz Josef II died on November 13, 1989, in a hospital in Grabs, Switzerland at the age of 83. The couple was buried in the Princely Crypt at St. Florian Cathedral in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.

Franz Josef II Liechtenstein tomb

Tomb of Franz Josef; Photo Credit – www.findagrave.com

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Principality of Liechtenstein Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Emma of Waldeck-Pyrmont, Queen of the Netherlands, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2015

Emma of Waldeck-Pyrmont, Queen of the Netherlands, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg; Credit – Wikipedia

Her Serene Highness Princess Emma of Waldeck-Pyrmont (Adelheid Emma Wilhelmina Theresia) was born on August 2, 1858, at Arolsen Castle in the town of Arolsen, the capital of the Principality of Waldeck-Pyrmont. Today the town is known as Bad Arolsen and is located in the Waldeck-Frankenberg district of Hesse in Germany. Her parents were George Victor, Sovereign Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont and Princess Helena of Nassau. Through both of her parents, Helena was a descendant of Anne, Princess Royal, the eldest daughter of King George II of Great Britain.

Helena, the fourth of seven children, had five sisters and one brother. Her brother Friedrich was the last reigning Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont. One of her sisters married a future king and another married Queen Victoria’s youngest son. Emma’s father married again after her mother died in 1888, and the only child of that marriage, Emma’s half-brother Wolrad, died in action during World War I.

Emma’s siblings:

Emma had one half-brother from her father’s second marriage to Princess Louise of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg:

Emma at 12 years old (1870); Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Emma’s family lived mostly at Arolsen Castle, a Baroque-style home built during 1713-1728. The Scottish philosopher, historian, and writer Thomas Carlyle was a great friend of Emma’s mother and a frequent visitor to Arolsen Castle. Carlyle described life at Arolsen Castle as a “pumpernickel court.” Emma had a Lutheran education from a very liberal-minded pastor. With her English governess, Emma studied crafts, drawing, and French literature. She traveled with her family to France, England, Italy, and Scandinavia. In an interview in 1929, Emma said that her mother was at the center of the family life and very active in her children’s education.

In 1877, Queen Sophie, the first wife of King Willem III of the Netherlands died, and Willem was eager to marry again to ensure the future of the House of Orange. One of his three children (all sons), Prince Maurits, had died in 1850 and neither of the other two sons was married. King Willem’s reputation was not a good one. He had many mistresses and many illegitimate children. Queen Sophie had lived apart from him from 1855 until her death. Willem’s ministers had decisively rejected a marriage with a French opera singer and then two eligible princesses refused to marry him. At the suggestion of his only sister, he got in touch with the royal couple of Waldeck and Pyrmont, who had several marriageable daughters. In July 1878, Willem visited the family at their summer home where he met 23-year-old Princess Pauline and 20-year-old Princess Emma. His eyes first fell on Pauline, but soon he chose Emma and proposed to her. Willem was 61 years old, 41 years older than Emma. Emma had lessons in the Dutch language and history before her marriage because she wanted to come to her new country Dutch. The couple was married on January 7, 1879, in Arolsen, Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont, now in Hesse, Germany. Emma had a positive influence on Willem and the marriage was extremely happy. The last decade of Willem’s life was definitely the best years of his reign.

Willem and Emma; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

In September 1879, Willem’s eldest son Prince Willem died, leaving only one son.  A year later Emma and Willem’s only child, a daughter, was born:

The Netherlands followed the Sem-Salic Law which allowed for female succession only if there were no male dynasts alive. At the time of Wilhelmina’s birth, her half-brother Prince Alexander and the King’s uncle Prince Frederik were alive, so Wilhelmina was third in the line of succession. Prince Frederik died in 1881 and upon the death of Prince Alexander in 1884, Wilhelmina became the heir presumptive to the Dutch throne, and Emma was appointed to be Regent if Wilhelmina came to the throne before her majority.

Queen Emma and Princess Wilhelmina in June 1885; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1888, King Willem’s health began to decline. When it became apparent that Willem could no longer reign, Emma was sworn in as Regent on November 20, 1890. Three days later King Willem III died and ten-year-old Wilhelmina became Queen. Emma took over as Regent for her daughter until Wilhelmina’s eighteenth birthday in 1898. The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg could not be inherited by a woman at that time and it passed to a distant cousin Adolphe, Duke of Nassau who was also Queen Emma’s maternal uncle.

Emma and Wilhelmina in 1890; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Emma took her position of Regent seriously. She met personally with every government minister at least once every two weeks and strictly adhered to the rules of the constitutional monarchy. She was open to anyone who wanted to talk to her and insisted that she personally open and handle as much mail as possible. In addition to her administrative duties, Emma paid great attention to her daughter’s education. When Wilhelmina reached the age of 16, Emma considered her childhood over and Wilhelmina spent the next two years being prepped for her job as a reigning queen.

Emma and Wilhelmina in 1897; Credit – Wikipedia

As a reigning queen, the young Queen Wilhelmina insisted on making her own way and tried to resist any pressures from her mother. Occasionally, Wilhelmina had to rely on the extensive knowledge of Emma in protocol matters. Initially, the two queens lived together in Noordeinde Palace, but when Wilhelmina married, Emma retired to the Palace Lange Voorhout. Emma was active in the fight against tuberculosis, then the number one disease. She had lost her sister Sophie to tuberculosis.

In 1909, when Wilhelmina’s only child Juliana was born, planning for an unexpected regency during the minority of Juliana occurred. Wilhelmina’s husband Prince Hendrik (born Prince Heinrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin) was found unsuitable by the government to act as Regent. Those in the government had fond memories of Emma as Regent and Wilhelmina agreed. Emma was appointed as Regent from 1909 to the majority of Princess Juliana in 1927.

The royal family of the Netherlands in 1930. From left to right: Queen Mother Emma, Princess Juliana, Prince Hendrik, and Queen Wilhelmina; Credit – Wikipedia

Emma died on March 20, 1934, at the age of 75 from pneumonia. She first had a cold which developed into bronchitis and then because there were no antibiotics yet, the bronchitis developed into fatal pneumonia. Her remains were buried in the crypt at the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft, the Netherlands.

The access to the royal crypt in the foreground; Credit – By Sander van der Wel from Netherlands – Royal grave tomb and the grave of Willem van Oranje, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28146859

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Kingdom of the Netherlands Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Sophie of Württemberg, Queen of the Netherlands, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2015

Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Sophie of Württemberg was the first wife of King Willem III of the Netherlands. Sophie Friederike Mathilde was born in Ludwigsburg Palace in Stuttgart, Kingdom of Württemberg, now in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, on June 17, 1818. She was the youngest of the two daughters of first cousins King Wilhelm I of Württemberg and Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna of Russia, daughter of Paul I, Emperor of All Russia. Before Sophie reached her first birthday, her mother died. A little more than a year later, Sophie’s father married another first cousin, Duchess Pauline of Württemberg. Sophie’s aunt Catharina of Württemberg, the wife of Jerome Bonaparte, helped raise Sophie.

Sophie had one sister:

  • Princess Marie of Württemberg (1816–1887); married Alfred, Count von Neipperg (no issue)

Sophie had three half-sisters and one half-brother from her father’s second marriage to Pauline of Württemberg:

King Wilhelm and Queen Pauline (above), Crown Prince Karl (center), Princesses Sophie (center left), Marie (center right), Catherine (bottom left) and Augusta (bottom right); Credit – Wikipedia

King Otto I of Greece was an early candidate as a husband for Sophie. However, Sophie’s father had no confidence in the newly established Greek monarchy and Willem, Prince of Orange (the future King Willem III of the Netherlands), eldest son of King Willem II of the Netherlands and Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna of Russia, Sophie’s maternal aunt, was chosen. Sophie met Willem for the first time in 1838 after both fathers had already agreed upon the marriage.

Willem fell in love with Sophie, but she saw nothing in him. She tried to resist the marriage, but it was in vain. Sophie’s father thought Willem was an excellent match for his daughter and Willem’s father did not want to abandon the commitment to the marriage. Willem’s father had personal reasons to persevere with the marriage of his son and Sophie. In 1814, he himself experienced a similar situation when Princess Charlotte of Wales, the only child of the future King George IV of the United Kingdom, broke off an engagement with him. King Willem II of the Netherlands did not want the House of Orange to experience the disgrace of a broken engagement again. Willem’s mother, Anna Pavlovna, was strongly opposed to the marriage of her son to the daughter of a sister she loathed. Once Sophie was married to Wilhelm, Anna Pavlova treated her daughter-in-law (and niece) with a complete lack of respect because she did not think Sophie was good enough for her son. Sophie and Willem were married on June 18, 1839, in Stuttgart and had three sons, all of whom had no children and predeceased their father:

Prince Maurits (left) with his brother Prince Wilhelm; Credit – Wikipedia

Prince Alexander; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

The marriage of Sophie and Willem was ultimately unsuccessful. Willem had numerous extramarital affairs and had numerous illegitimate children. Sophie let him know that she thought him inferior to her and unfit to serve as king. She was convinced that she could do better ruling the country as regent. Sophie tried to divorce her husband, but because of national interests, this was impossible. In 1855, an agreement was made that Sophie would have her own quarters at Noordeinde Palace and that she would spend the summers at Huis ten Bosch Palace without her husband.

Sophie’s diaries and her letters reveal that she was well-read, empathetic, and highly intelligent. She corresponded with European scholars and statesmen and maintained close ties with Napoleon III with whom she shared relatives via her father’s sister Catharina, the wife of Jerome Bonaparte. She published articles in the prestigious journal “Revue des Deux Mondes”. Sophie’s letters to Lady Marian Dora Malet, originally written in English, were edited by Hella Haase and published under the title A Stranger in The Hague in 1989.
Google Books: A Stranger in The Hague

Queen Sophie in 1877, the year of her death; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

On June 3, 1877, Queen Sophie died at the age of 58 at Huis ten Bosch Palace. In accordance with her wishes, she was not embalmed and was buried in her wedding dress because she considered that her life had ended on the day she married. Her remains were buried in the crpt at the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft, the Netherlands.

The access to the royal crypt in the foreground; Credit – By Sander van der Wel from Netherlands – Royal grave tomb and the grave of Willem van Oranje, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28146859

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Kingdom of the Netherlands Resources at Unofficial Royalty

King Willem II of the Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxembourg

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2015

Credit – Wikipedia

Willem II, King of the Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (Willem Frederik George Lodewijk) was the eldest child of Willem I, King of the Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Princess Wilhelmine of Prussia. He was born on December 6, 1792, at Noordeinde Palace, The Hague, Dutch Republic. Willem had one brother and two sisters:

Willem in 1815; Credit – Wikipedia

Willem was the only one of his siblings to be born in their homeland. When he was two years old, his family was forced into exile when the French invaded and occupied the Dutch Republic during the Napoleonic Wars. Willem spent his childhood at the Prussian court where he received military training, served in the Prussian Army, and then attended Oxford University in England. In 1811, he entered the British Army and was an aide-de-camp to Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.  He was popular with the British troops who nicknamed him “Slender Billy.” Willem returned with his father to the Netherlands in 1813 after the French retreated following their defeat in the Battle of Leipzig. He served in the Allied Army after Napoleon’s escape from his exile in Elba. Willem took part in the Battle of Quatre Bras (June 16, 1815) and the Battle of Waterloo (June 18, 1815), where he was wounded. In 1815, he officially became the heir apparent with the title Prince of Orange when his father was proclaimed King of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The injury to the Prince of Orange at Waterloo (1815); Credit – Wikipedia

From December 1813 – May 1814, Willem was engaged to Princess Charlotte of Wales, daughter of the future King George IV of the United Kingdom. Charlotte broke off the engagement, married Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, later King Leopold I of Belgium, and tragically died, along with her son, due to childbirth complications. Willem married Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna of Russia, youngest sister of Alexander I, Emperor of All Russia, on February 21, 1816, at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia. The bride’s brother had arranged the marriage to foster good relations between Imperial Russia and the Netherlands.

Willem and Anna had five children:

Willem II and Anna Pavlovna with their family. From left to right: the future Willem III, Alexander, Willem II, Anna Paulovna, Sophie and Hendrik; Credit – Wikipedia

While Willem was heir to the throne, he was the defense minister in his father’s government. He stayed in the southern provinces in Brussels for six months of the year and in The Hague, the seat of government, for the other six months.  In 1829, Willem was appointed Vice President of the Council of State and Chairman of the Council of Ministers. In these positions, he was formally the chief adviser to his father. In 1830-1831, the Belgian Revolution resulted in the secession of the southern provinces from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium. Willem came to the Dutch throne on October 7, 1840, when his father King Willem I abdicated due to constitutional changes he did not agree with, anger over the loss of Belgium, and his desire to make a morganatic second marriage with Henriëtte d’Oultremont after the death of his wife Wilhelmine. King Willem II’s inauguration ceremony took place on November 28, 1840, in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam.

The inauguration of William II on 28 November 1840 by Nicolaas Pieneman; Credit – Wikipedia

During Willem II’s reign, the power of many monarchs diminished. The revolutions of 1848 and 1849, in which Louis-Philippe of France was deposed and other European monarchs were forced by violence to make concessions, made him fear for his throne. Willem decided to institute a more liberal government, believing it was better to grant reforms instead of having them imposed on him on less favorable terms later. Jokingly, Willem said he turned from conservative to liberal in one night. He chose a committee headed by the prominent liberal Johan Rudolf Thorbecke to create a new constitution that resulted in a constitutional monarchy.

On February 13, 1849, King Willem II addressed the new parliament for the first time. It was noted that he looked ill and his voice was weak. Willem decided to spend some time in his favorite town Tilburg. He said of Tilburg, “Here I can breathe freely and I feel happy” and he commissioned the construction of a palace, which would function as his country residence. On March 13, 1849, Willem said goodbye to his wife and drove in a carriage to Rotterdam to visit a steam yacht under construction. At the top of some stairs, he became confused, his boot became stuck in his cloak, and he fell.

Once Willem reached Tilburg, his health problems got worse. Willem was no longer able to concentrate on state papers. For two days, he was seriously short of breath. On March 17, 1849, Willem’s condition was very critical. Around three o’clock in the afternoon, Willem had such a severe attack of breathlessness that he jumped into his doctor’s arms. The king was put back into his chair, and then he died.

The access to the royal crypt in the foreground; Credit – By Sander van der Wel from Netherlands – Royal grave tomb and the grave of Willem van Oranje, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28146859

King Willem II was buried at the Royal Crypt of the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft, the Netherlands. In February 1865, Queen Anna became seriously ill and subsequently died at The Hague on March 1, 1865. She remained Russian Orthodox her entire life and her funeral service was conducted according to her religion’s rites. Her remains are buried at the Royal Vault of the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft, the Netherlands.

Queen Anna Pavlovna as a widow, next to the bust of her husband King Willem II; Credit – Wikipedia

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Kingdom of the Netherlands Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Wilhelmine of Prussia, Queen of the Netherlands, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2015

Credit – Wikipedia

The first wife of King Willem I of the Netherlands, Princess Wilhelmine of Prussia (Friederike Luise Wilhelmine) was born in Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany, on November 18, 1774. Her parents were  King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia and Frederica Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt.

Wilhelmine had four brothers and two sisters:

Wilhelmine had one half-sister from her father’s first disastrous marriage to Elizabeth Christine of Brunswick-Lüneburg:

Wilhelmine was called Mimi in the family and her sense of duty was influenced by her great-uncle King Friedrich II (the Great) of Prussia.  Her education included the ideas of the French philosopher Voltaire which were popular at the Prussian court and learning several languages. Wilhelmine was musically gifted and an excellent artist.

Wilhelmine in the 1790s; Credit – Wikipedia

On October 1, 1791, in the royal palace in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in the German state of Brandenburg,  Wilhelmine married her first cousin Prince Willem of Orange-Nassau (later King Willem I of the Netherlands), son of Willem V, Prince of Orange and Princess Wilhelmina of Prussia, the bride’s aunt. The wedding celebrations lasted seventeen days. The marriage was arranged as an alliance between Prussia and the House of Orange, but it was also a love match. After the marriage, the couple lived at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, Netherlands.

The couple had four children:

Wilhelmine and Willem’s family life was disrupted by the Napoleonic Wars. The French invaded the Dutch Republic in 1795 and the family went into exile first in England and then in 1796 in Prussia where they lived until 1813. In 1806, Willem’s father died and he inherited the title Prince of Orange. In 1813, after Napoleon’s defeat at the Battle of Leipzig, the French retreated all over Europe including the Dutch Republic. On November 13, 1813, Willem returned to his homeland, landing only a few yards from the place where he had left with his father 18 years before. The provisional government offered Willem the title of King, which he refused, instead proclaiming himself Sovereign Prince. He was also made Grand Duke of Luxembourg, receiving that territory in return for trading his hereditary German lands to Prussia and the Duke of Nassau. When Napoleon escaped from Elba, his place of exile, Willem felt threatened. Urged on by the powers who met at the Congress of Vienna, Willem proclaimed the Netherlands a monarchy on March 16, 1815. After Napoleon’s defeat at the Battle of Waterloo and his second exile, the Congress of Vienna formally confirmed Willem as the hereditary ruler of what was known as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.

King Willem I of the Netherlands; Credit – Wikipedia

Wilhelmine was not successful in her role as Queen. While she still contributed generously to charities, her subjects thought her cold and distant as she only came in contact with family and her court ladies. In the areas that are now modern-day Belgium, Wilhelmine was ridiculed for her old-fashioned German style of dress. Wilhelmine and her court spent the summers at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague and the summers at Het Loo Palace in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, or at the Royal Palace of Laeken in Brussels (now in Belgium). Wilhelmine and Wilhelm traveled annually to Berlin, where they performed duties on behalf of Wilhelmine’s brother King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia.

In 1820 Wilhelmine’s health worsened and by 1829, she rarely appeared in public. Her condition was not helped by the tense relationship between her husband and her eldest son and by the 1830-1831 Belgian Revolution which resulted in the secession of the southern provinces from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium.

Her last trip was to Berlin in May-June 1837 for the christening of her grandson Prince Albert of Prussia, the son of her daughter Marianne. Despite her ill health, Wilhelmine was determined to make this trip. Beyond exhaustion upon her return, Wilhelmine spent the summer at Het Loo Palace. On October 4, 1837, Wilhelmine and her husband traveled to Noordeinde Palace in The Hague. The trip greatly weakened Wilhelmine and once in The Hague, her condition worsened. Queen Wilhelmine died on October 12, 1837, at the age of 63, with her family at her bedside. She was buried in the Royal Vault of the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft, the Netherlands.

The access to the royal crypt in the foreground; Credit – By Sander van der Wel from Netherlands – Royal grave tomb and the grave of Willem van Oranje, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28146859

King Willem I abdicated in 1840 due to constitutional changes he did not agree with, anger over the loss of Belgium, and his desire to make a morganatic second marriage with Henriëtte d’Oultremont after the death of Wilhelmine. He died in exile in Berlin on December 12, 1843. His remains were buried at the Royal Vault of the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Kingdom of the Netherlands Resources at Unofficial Royalty