by Emily McMahon
© Unofficial Royalty 2014
Anna Pavlovna of Russia, Queen of the Netherlands; Credit – Wikipedia
Born on January 18, 1795, at the sumptuous Gatchina Palace just south of St. Petersburg, Russia, Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna was the eighth of the ten children and youngest daughter of Paul I, Emperor of All Russia and his second wife Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg.
Anna had nine siblings:
- Alexander I, Emperor of All Russia (1777 – 1825), married Princess Luise Auguste of Baden (Elizabeth Alexeiyevna), had two daughters who both died in childhood
- Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia (1779 – 1831), married (1) Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (Anna Feodorovna), no children (2) Joanna, Countess Grudsinska, Princess Lowicz, no children
- Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna of Russia (1783 – 1801), married Archduke Joseph of Austria, Count Palatine of Hungary, had one daughter who died at birth along with her mother
- Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia (1784 – 1803), married Friedrich Ludwig, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, had one son and one daughter
- Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia (1786 – 1859), married Karl Friedrich, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, had two sons and two daughters including Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, wife of Wilhelm I, German Emperor
- Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna of Russia (1788 – 1819), married (1) Duke Georg of Oldenburg, had two sons; (2) Wilhelm I, King of Württemberg, had two daughters
- Grand Duchess Olga Pavlovna of Russia (1792 – 1795), died young
- Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia (1796 – 1855), married Princess Charlotte of Prussia (Alexandra Feodorovna), had four sons and five daughters
- Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich of Russia (1798 – 1849), married Princess Charlotte of Württemberg (Elena Pavlovna), had five daughters
Like her siblings, Anna received an excellent education in the arts, mathematics, foreign languages, and sciences. Once Anna hit adolescence, stiff competition began for her hand in marriage. She was considered as a possible wife for both Napoleon I of France and the future William IV of the United Kingdom, but Anna’s family rejected them as being unsuitable. Anna was instead engaged to the future King Willem II of the Netherlands, then Prince of Orange. The marriage had been arranged by Anna’s brother and sister, Emperor Alexander I and Catherine, Queen of Württemberg. Willem and Anna married at the Grand Church of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia on February 21, 1816. With no pressing need to immediately return to the Netherlands, the couple spent about a year living in Russia after their marriage.
Anna and Willem had five children:
- King Willem III of the Netherlands (1817–1890), married (1) Sophie of Württemberg, had issue and (2) Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont, had one child, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
- Prince Alexander “Sasha” of the Netherlands (1818–1848), unmarried
- Prince Hendrik of the Netherlands (1820–1879), married (1) Amalia of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and (2) Marie of Prussia, no issue from either marriage; Prince Hendrik died from measles
- Prince Ernst of the Netherlands (born and died 1822)
- Princess Sophie of the Netherlands (1824–1897), married Karl Alexander, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, had issue
Willem II and Anna Pavlovna with their family. From left to right: the future Willem III, Alexander, Willem II, Anna Pavlovna, Sophie, and Hendrik; Credit – Wikipedia
Anna and Willem moved to the Netherlands shortly before the birth of their first child. She became known in the Netherlands (which at that time included present-day Belgium) by the Dutch version of her name, Anna Paulownia. Although she was interested in Dutch history and learned to speak the language quite well, Anna was very homesick for her family and Russia. She compensated by remaining in constant contact with her family and recreating bits of Russia in the Netherlands.
Anna became especially dismayed in 1840 when the family was forced to leave Brussels for Amsterdam due to the revolution and formation of the Kingdom of Belgium. Always very observant and proud of her impressive position, Anna found the more relaxed social constraints in Amsterdam very difficult to weather. Anna and Willem also separated around this time due to differences in personalities and his affairs with both men and women.
Anna became Queen of the Netherlands in October 1840 after her father-in-law’s abdication. Anna and her husband, now King Willem II of the Netherlands, came to an understanding in their relationship early in his reign and lived together after that time. However, Anna never connected with the Dutch public and was not a popular queen. She founded several orphanages in the Netherlands and did not meddle in politics. Anna is remembered particularly for her association with a genus of plants named in her honor by a Dutch botanist. Paulownia, which is native to Southeast Asia, is a fast-growing plant; its wood is used in making musical instruments and some furniture. Charcoal made from Paulownia wood is used in fireworks, cosmetics, and by artists for sketching.
Queen Anna Pavlovna as a widow, next to the bust of her husband King Willem II; Credit – Wikipedia
Willem II died in 1849 and was succeeded by his son Willem III. Anna had already disliked court life for years and during her son’s reign, she left it completely. Although she discussed returning to her native Russia, Anna stayed in the Netherlands. She died on March 1, 1865, in The Hague and was buried in the crypt at the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft.
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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