Category Archives: Dutch Royals

Louise of the Netherlands, Queen of Sweden and Norway

by Scott Mehl © Unofficial Royalty 2015

Queen Lovisa of Sweden and Norway, photographed by Maths. Hansen, c.1865. source: Wikipedia/National Library of Norway

Queen Lovisa of Sweden was the wife of King Carl XV of Sweden (also King Karl IV of Norway). She was born Princess Wilhelmina Frederika Alexandrine Anna Louise of the Netherlands on August 5, 1828, in The Hague, the Netherlands. Her father, Prince Frederik of the Netherlands, was a son of King Willem I of the Netherlands, and her mother, Princess Luise of Prussia, was a daughter of King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia. She had three younger siblings:

  • Prince Frederik (1833 – 1834) – died at 16 months old
  • Prince Willem (1836 – 1846) – died at 9 years old
  • Princess Marie (1845 – 1910) – married Wilhelm, Prince of Wied, had issue

Princess Louise was educated by a governess, studying French, German, English, Russian, and piano. Following her confirmation in 1845, a hunt began to find a suitable husband for the young princess. In 1849, she met Prince Carl of Sweden, the son and heir of King Oscar I, and negotiations were soon underway to arrange a marriage between the two. While Louise was enamored of her future husband from their first meeting, he found her unattractive. However, King Oscar wanted to create familial ties between the relatively new Bernadotte dynasty and the other long-established European dynasties. With Louise’s Dutch and Prussian families and the promise of a large dowry, she was an ideal candidate. Prince Carl eventually conceded to his father’s wishes and the couple’s engagement was announced in February 1850. Louise quickly learned to speak Swedish, although she never studied Norwegian.

Louise and Carl were married on June 19, 1850, at the Storkyrkan in Stockholm, Sweden and the couple had two children:

Lovisa with her husband and daughter, late 1850s. source: Wikipedia

The marriage was an unhappy one. Lovisa (as she was now known) was desperately in love with her husband, but he was consistently unfaithful to her. Having had complications in her second pregnancy, Louise was unable to bear any more children. Following their son’s death in 1854, leaving no male heir to inherit the throne, Lovisa offered her husband a divorce, which he declined.

Upon her father-in-law’s death on July 8, 1859, her husband ascended the thrones of Sweden and Norway and Lovisa became Queen. She was crowned with her husband in Sweden on May 3, 1860, and in Norway on August 5, 1860. She was the first Queen in the union of Sweden and Norway to be crowned in both countries, as the two previous consorts had been Catholic and could not be crowned in Norway.

Unlike her predecessors, Lovisa took little interest in politics. Instead, she put her efforts into philanthropic work, founding and supporting numerous charities in both Sweden and Norway. She preferred these activities to those of the formal court functions she was required to attend as Queen and often feigned illness to avoid attending. However, she did suffer from ill health, often experiencing fainting spells, and at least once having what may have been an epileptic seizure. The cause of these maladies was typically attributed to her husband’s affairs.

Tombs of King Carl XV and Queen Lovisa. photo © Susan Flantzer

Lovisa traveled to the Netherlands to be at her mother’s deathbed in late 1870. Upon returning, her husband fell ill and she nursed him back to health. Physically drained, Lovisa contracted pneumonia and died on March 30, 1871, at the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Sweden. She was buried at the Riddarholm Churchen in Stockholm, Sweden. Despite their strained relationship, King Carl XV was reportedly distraught at Lovisa’s death and died a year and a half later.

Kingdom of Sweden Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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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, 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, was killed 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. Emma studied crafts, drawing, and French literature with her English governess. 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 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 no male dynasts were 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. Because a woman could not inherit by the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg at that time, 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 Emma’s extensive knowledge of 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. If Queen Wilhelmina died while her daughter was still in her minority, Emma would be Regent.

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

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

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

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2015

Sophie of Württemberg, Queen of the Netherlands, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg; 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 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 she could do better ruling the country as the 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 letters reveal 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.

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

On June 3, 1877, Queen Sophie died at the age of 58 at Huis ten Bosch Palace. Per 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 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

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

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

Wilhelmine of Prussia, Queen of the Netherlands; 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:

The Napoleonic Wars disrupted Wilhelmine and Willem’s family life. 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. After Napoleon’s defeat at the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, the French retreated all over Europe including from 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, the Dutch people thought her cold and distant as she only came in contact with family and her court ladies. In the now modern-day Belgium areas, 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 winters at Het Loo Palace in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, or 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.

Wilhelmine’s health worsened in 1820 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.

Wilhelmine’s 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 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

The Royal Palace of Amsterdam

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2015

photo © Susan Flantzer

photo © Susan Flantzer

The Royal Palace of Amsterdam

The Royal Palace of Amsterdam is one of the primary palaces of the Dutch monarchy. Owned by the Dutch State, it is one of three palaces placed at the disposal of the Sovereign (along with Noordeinde Palace and Huis ten Bosch). Located in central Amsterdam, the palace sits on Dam Square next to the Nieuwe Kerk.

While once a royal residence, today it is used by the Dutch Royal Family for official functions, such as the annual New Year receptions and award presentations, and is the site of the formal welcoming ceremony during State Visits from foreign Heads-of-State. It is also used during the abdications and accessions of the Dutch sovereigns and has been the site of many balcony appearances by the Royal Family. It also houses guest apartments for visiting Heads of State. When not in use by the Royal Family, the palace is open to the public and is the site of several exhibitions each year.

The old town hall, from a painting by Jan van Kessel. source: Wikipedia

Originally the Town Hall, the building was turned into a Royal Palace by Louis Napoleon who became King of Holland in 1808. Following his abdication, and Hollands’ annexation by France, it was used as a residence for the French Governor. In 1813, Willem Frederik of Orange (son of the last Stadholder Willem V) returned and declared himself Sovereign Prince of the Netherlands, and eventually became King Willem I of the Netherlands. He returned the palace to the city but continued to use it for official functions, including the first State Visit in 1814, by Tsar Alexander I of Russia.

While King Willem I used the palace extensively, his two successors – Willem II and Willem III – used it just a few days each year during their reigns. Sitting empty for so long caused much criticism from the Dutch people and the government, which resulted in disagreements as to the actual ownership of the palace. It was eventually determined that the palace was legally owned by the City of Amsterdam. At the end of 1935, it was resolved to sell the building to the Dutch State, and designate that it be permanently at the disposal of the Sovereign. Queen Wilhelmina inaugurated the palace and used it as her winter residence in the last years of her reign.

Queen Juliana and Queen Beatrix used the Royal Palace primarily for official functions while living elsewhere (Soestdjik Palace and Huis ten Bosch, respectively). And King Willem-Alexander continues this tradition.

Queen Beatrix arriving at the abdication signing ceremony in the Moseszaal. source: Daily Mail

Queen Beatrix arriving at the abdication signing ceremony in the Moses Hall. source: Daily Mail

The Council Chamber, also known as the Moses Hall (Moseszaal), originally served as the meeting room of the city council when the palace was still the Town Hall. It was later used as a concert hall, and for the Council of State. It takes its name from several of the paintings depicting Moses which adorn the room. In 2013, the Moseszaal was the site of the abdication ceremony of Queen Beatrix, just as it was for Queen Juliana in 1980.

The Council Hall. photo © Susan Flantzer

The Citizens Hall. photo © Susan Flantzer

The Citizens Hall is the grand hall in the center of the palace.  At 120 feet in length, 60 feet in width and 90 feet in height, it is the largest and grandest room in the palace.  The marble floor features maps of the eastern and western hemispheres of the globe (seen in the above photo with low metal railings around them), detailing Amsterdam’s colonial influence. The current hemispheres were made in the mid-1700s, replacing earlier maps from the 1650s.  The Citizen’s Hall is often the site of palace exhibits and was the site of a reception following the inauguration of King Willem-Alexander in 2013.

Looking out onto the Balcony. photo © Susan Flantzer

Looking out onto the Balcony, overlooking Dam Square. photo © Susan Flantzer

The Balcony dates from 1808 when it was installed as part of the changes made to the palace by Louis Napoleon. It was later reduced to its current size and design. The former railings were removed and replaced with medallions featuring the gold lion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Overlooking Dam Square, the balcony is used by the Royal Family following significant events, such as royal weddings and the accession of a new sovereign.

View image | gettyimages.com

Learn more about the other Dutch Royal Residences here!

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Huis ten Bosch

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2015

source: Wikipedia/Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed (National Cultural Heritage)

Huis ten Bosch

Huis ten Bosch, in The Hague, is one of the state-owned palaces placed at the disposal of the Dutch sovereign. Having served as a summer residence for much of its royal history, it became the primary residence of the sovereign during the reign of Queen Beatrix. A year after her abdication, she left Huis ten Bosch and now resides at Drakensteyn Castle, the home she has privately owned since 1959. In January 2019, after a period of extensive renovations, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima and their family formally took up residence at Huis ten Bosch.

Huis ten Bosch was built in 1645 to be a summer residence for the Stadholder Prince Frederik Hendrik of Orange and his wife, Amalia, Countess of Solms-Braunfels. The first stone was laid on September 2, 1645 by Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia (born Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of King James VI/I of Scotland and England, and Princess Anne of Denmark). Following Frederik Hendrik’s death, his widow turned the palace into a mausoleum in his memory. The large central domed room – The Orange Hall – was decorated with artwork dedicated to the life and work of the Prince. Following Amalia’s death, the palace passed her daughters and was later sold to Prince William III, a grandson of Frederik Hendrik (and later King of England). He continued to use Huis ten Bosch as a summer palace and made many changes to the building as well as the gardens.

Following Willem III’s death in 1702, the palace became the property of King Friedrich I of Prussia but returned to the House of Orange-Nassau in 1732. Prince Willem IV made major renovations, extending the building by adding two large wings to the east and the west – the Hague Wing and the Wassenaar Wing.

After the French invasion in 1795, all the properties of the Stadholder were seized, becoming the property of the state – and much of the furniture and art from Huis ten Bosch was sold. Over the next 20 years, the palace was used for many different things – it served briefly as a prison following a coup in 1798, the east wing was rented out as a brothel, and it later housed the National Art Gallery, the predecessor of today’s Rijksmuseum. Louis Napoleon lived there briefly after being proclaimed King of Holland and is credited with much of the style with exists today.

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From 1815, with the proclamation of King Willem I of the Netherlands, the palace began to be used regularly as a summer residence of the Dutch royal family. Queen Wilhelmina used it during World War I (giving up her usual summer residence at Het Loo Palace), and again prior to fleeing the German invasion in 1940. The palace suffered significant damage during World War II and following the liberation, it was totally uninhabitable. Over the next 30 years, the palace underwent several significant restorations and was used sporadically for royal functions. It was not until August 10, 1981, that it returned to use as a royal residence when Queen Beatrix and her family moved in.

Today, just as during the reign of Queen Beatrix, Huis ten Bosch also serves as the site of many official functions. In 2014, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima hosted a large group of world leaders for The Nuclear Security Summit, which included an official dinner held in the Orange Hall (pictured below). The Orange Hall underwent a complete restoration in the late 1990s and continues to serve as the backdrop for many ceremonies and functions. Additionally, the Hague Wing of the palace is used as guest accommodations.

 

 

 

Learn more about the other Dutch Royal Residences here!

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Villa Eikenhorst

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2015

NL-eikenhorstVilla Eikenhorst

Located on the De Horsten estate in Wassenaar, about 10km from The Hague, Villa Eikenhorst served as the official residence of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands and their three daughters from 2003 until January 2019, when the family moved to Huis ten Bosch in The Hague.

The house was originally built between 1985-1987 for Princess Christina (the youngest daughter of Queen Juliana) and her husband, Jorge Guillermo. The couple lived there with their children until divorcing in 1996. After sitting empty for some time, the property was renovated and became the residence of the then-Prince of Orange in 2003. While primarily a private residence, The King and Queen occasionally host foreign visitors there as well as other official events.

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The De Horsten Estate comprises over 400 acres and is privately owned by the Royal Family. Its origins go back to 1838 and 1845 when Prince Frederik (a son of King Willem I) purchased three neighboring estates – Raephorst, Ter Horst, and Eikenhorst – to establish his own private hunting grounds. At his death, the property was inherited by his daughter Marie, Princess of Wied. In the early 1900s, she sold the property to Queen Wilhelmina, and it has since passed by inheritance to Queen Juliana and then to Queen Beatrix who is the current owner. Beatrix’s sister, Princess Margriet, holds the leasehold and building rights on the area which was originally the Raephorst estate.

 

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Noordeinde Palace

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2015

source: Wikipedia

Noordeinde Palace

Noordeinde Palace is the working palace of the Dutch monarchy and the site of the King’s offices. Owned by the State, it is one of three palaces placed at the Sovereign’s disposal (along with the Royal Palace of Amsterdam and Huis ten Bosch). The palace is used for official and state functions, as well as housing the offices of the Royal Court.

The palace began as a farmhouse which was converted into a residence in 1533. In 1591 it was leased (and later purchased) by the States of Holland for the widow and son of Willem the Silent, in recognition of his service to the nation. The son, Frederik Hendrik, enlarged the house significantly, naming it Oude Hof, and purchased much of the surrounding land. Following his death in 1647, and his wife’s death in 1675, the house sat empty for many years and eventually passed to his grandson, King Friedrich I of Prussia.

In 1754, King Friedrich II of Prussia (Frederick the Great) sold the palace to Stadholder Willem V, and his son, who would later become King Willem I of the Netherlands, took up residence in 1792. However, three years later, he was forced to flee during the French Revolutionary Wars, and the palace became the property of the State, which it remains today.

In 1813, Willem I returned to the Netherlands. As the constitution required that a summer and winter palace be provided for the sovereign, extensive renovations were made to the Oude Hof which then became the winter residence of King Willem I in 1817. Subsequent sovereigns used the palace sporadically – Willem II didn’t use it at all, while Willem III used it as his winter residence. It was Willem III who had the Royal Stables built in the palace gardens, and it was the birthplace of the future Queen Wilhelmina in 1890.

The Royal Archives. source: Wikipedia, Photo by Pauline van Till

Queen Emma, while serving as Regent, had the Royal Archives building built within the gardens. In 1901, the newly married Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Hendrik made Noordeinde their home and continued to use it until the German invasion in 1940. Following her return to the Netherlands after the war, she continued to use the palace occasionally but spent most of her time living at Het Loo Palace.

Just before Wilhelmina’s abdication in 1948, the central part of the palace was damaged by fire. Months later, when Queen Juliana ascended to the throne, she chose to keep her residence at Soestdijk Palace which had been her home since marrying in 1936. Instead, Noordeinde was used to house offices for the royal household.

From 1952 until 1976, the north wing of the palace housed the International Institute of Social Studies. In 1969, it was announced the future Queen Beatrix would, upon her accession, use Noordeinde as her offices and after the Institute relocated in 1976, the palace underwent seven years of extensive renovations.

Queen Beatrix hosting a State Dinner for King Abdullah II and Queen Rania of Jordan. source: Dutch Royal House

Queen Beatrix hosting a State Dinner for King Abdullah II and Queen Rania of Jordan. source: Dutch Royal House

In 1984, the palace was reopened as the working palace of the monarchy, housing Queen Beatrix’s offices as well as the Royal Court. It also became the site of many official and State functions, including many State dinners for visiting Heads-of-State.

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King Willem-Alexander has continued the tradition, maintaining his offices at Noordeinde while living elsewhere. It is at Noordeinde where the King meets with foreign ambassadors as well as holds many official and State functions.

 

Each year, on Prinsjesdag (Prince’s Day, also known as Budget Day), the Sovereign travels by coach from Noordeinde Palace to open the Dutch Parliament and give the speech from the throne. Following their return to the palace, the Sovereign and members of the Royal House appear on the balcony overlooking the palace square to greet the crowds below.

Learn more about the other Dutch Royal Residences here!

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Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2015

Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands; Credit – Wikipedia

Queen Wilhelmina holds the record for the longest-reigning Dutch monarch, 58 years. Her reign spanned World War I, the Great Depression, and World War II. Queen Wilhelmina’s father King Willem III was the third monarch of the Netherlands and had married his cousin Sophie of Württemberg in 1839. The couple had three sons, Willem (1840–1879), Maurits, (1843–1850), and Alexander (1851–1884), all predeceased their father without any legitimate children. Queen Sophie had died in 1877 and Willem was eager to remarry. After considering some other princesses, the 62-year-old Willem married Princess Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont who was 21 years old. 19 months later, Willem and Emma’s only child Wilhelmina was born on August 31, 1880, at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, Netherlands. At the time of her birth, Wilhelmina was third in the line of succession after her half-brother Alexander and her great-uncle Prince Frederick of the Netherlands. By the time Wilhelmina was four years old, both men had died and Wilhelmina was the heir presumptive.

Wilhelmina was named for:

Wilhelmina with her mother; Credit – Wikipedia

King Willem III died on November 23, 1890, without producing a son with Queen Emma, so ten-year-old Wilhelmina became Queen of the Netherlands. Until Wilhelmina was 18 years old, Queen Emma served as regent. On September 6, 1898, when Wilhelmina was 18 years old, her inauguration was held at the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam.

Inauguration of Queen Wilhelmina; Credit – Wikipedia

In May 1900, Queen Mother Emma and Queen Wilhelmina traveled to Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt in present-day Thuringia, Germany to meet with three marriage candidates: Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia (a great-grandson of King Willem I of the Netherlands) and two sons of Friedrich Franz II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Only one of the Mecklenburg-Schwerin brothers showed up, Heinrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and it was him that Emma and Wilhelmina selected. The engagement was announced on October 16, 1900. The wedding preparations were overshadowed by the deaths of Wilhelmina’s uncle Karl Alexander, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach on January 5, 1901, and Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom on January 22, 1901.

The couple was married on February 7, 1901, at the Grote of Sint-Jacobskerk in The Hague in the Netherlands. Following the wedding, Heinrich became a Prince of the Netherlands and was known by Hendrik, the Dutch version of his name. Wilhelmina decreed that the Dutch royal house would remain the House of Orange-Nassau and not change to the House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Although the marriage was a peaceful one, Wilhelmina and Hendrik grew apart due to her religious mysticism and his unfaithfulness and frustrations over his lack of an official role in the Netherlands.

Wilhelmina and Hendrik on their wedding day; Credit – Wikipedia

Wilhelmina needed to provide herself with an heir or the Dutch throne would pass to her second cousin Wilhelm Ernst, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, a grandson of Wilhelmina’s aunt Sophie.  On November 9, 1901, Wilhelmina had her first miscarriage. In March 1902, it was announced that the Queen was pregnant again, but a month later Wilhelmina was seriously ill with typhoid fever. She miscarried again in May 1902 and her condition was life-threatening. Wilhelmina recovered and on July 23, 1906, she had a third miscarriage. At the end of 1908, an announcement was made that Wilhelmina was once again pregnant and her only child Juliana was born. After Juliana’s birth, Wilhelmina suffered two additional miscarriages in 1912.

Wilhelmina with Juliana in 1914; Credit – Wikipedia

Wilhelmina had inherited a substantial amount of money from her father and her half-brother Alexander. She made wise investments that made her the world’s richest woman and the world’s first female billionaire (in United States dollars).

During World War I, the Netherlands remained neutral. While Queen Wilhelmina was concerned with the possibility of a German attack, the Allied blockade of Germany affected the Dutch. Dutch ships were included in the Allied blockade of Germany to ensure that none of the goods would get to the Germans. This severely restricted Dutch imports. At the end of World War I, Kaiser Wilhelm II fled to the Netherlands and was granted political asylum. When the Allied countries tried to gain custody of Wilhelm, Wilhelmina called the Allies’ ambassadors to a meeting and lectured them on the rights of political asylum.

During World War II, three days after Germany invaded the Netherlands in May 1940, the Dutch Royal Family left for London, England. One month later, Juliana and her daughters Beatrix and Irene went to Ottawa, Canada, where they would be safer. Juliana’s husband Prince Bernhard stayed with Queen Wilhelmina in London during the war, although both occasionally visited the family in Canada. Juliana’s third daughter Margriet was born while the family was in Canada. On August 2, 1945, the whole family returned to the Netherlands.

Queen Wilhelmina talks on the radio to the Dutch people during World War II; Credit – Wikipedia

After World War II, Juliana served twice as regent (October 14, 1947 – December 1, 1947, and May 14, 1948 – August 30, 1948) due to her mother’s ill health. On September 4, 1948, after a reign of nearly 58 years, Queen Wilhelmina abdicated in favor of her daughter and Juliana became Queen of the Netherlands. After her abdication, the former queen was styled Her Royal Highness Princess Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and retired to her home Het Loo Palace. She made few public appearances but did appear to support the Dutch people during the terrible floods of 1953.

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

On November 22, 1962, the Dutch government announced that while there was no reason for immediate concern, Wilhelmina’s health had taken a turn for the worse. On November 28, 1962, Wilhelmina died at the age of 82 due to heart disease. After Wilhelmina’s death, it was announced that her condition during the last weeks of her life was more serious than had been announced. Wilhelmina was buried on December 8, 1962, in the royal crypt at the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft. According to her wishes, white dress was the protocol at her funeral.

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