Anna Pavlovna of Russia, Queen of the Netherlands

by Emily McMahon
© Unofficial Royalty 2014

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:

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 of 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:

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 took an interest in Dutch history and learned to speak the language quite well, Anna was very homesick for her family and for Russia. She compensated by remaining in constant contact with her family and recreating bits of Russia in the Netherlands.

Anna became especially dismayed when in 1840 the family was forced to leave Brussels due to the revolution and formation of Belgium. Always very observant and proud of her impressive position, Anna found the more relaxed social constraints in Amsterdam very tough 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 of 1840 after her father-in-law’s abdication. She and Willem II came to something of an understanding in their relationship early in his reign and lived together after that time. However, Anna never really 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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