The House of Orange-Nassau
The
House of Nassau is a diversified dynasty from a German county which is
today located in the Rhineland-Palatinate. Members of this House were originally titled
Counts of Nassau, in the seventeenth century they were elevated to the princely class as princely counts
(Fürst) and later on some branches took the title Duke of Nassau.
The name Orange originates from a small Burgundian county, later sovereign principality (Orange) in the South of France.
The principality of Orange was a fief of the Holy Roman Empire.
The princely family of Chalon who ruled the territory in the 16th
century became extinct in
the male line and the title and lands transferred, through marriage, to
one of the branches of the House of Nassau which was to become the House
of Orange-Nassau. The sovereign principality
of Orange seized to exits in 1713, when King Louis XIV annexed it and
Orange became a French province.
Members of the Nassau family, which had several branches named after their primary estates, gradually gained privileges, titles and lands in the Low Countries (today's Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg) and held important military and administrative offices there.
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Arlay - Principality of Orange |
Dillenburg - County of Nassau |
| The founding of the House of Orange-Nassau | ||
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The relation between Nassau and the Netherlands dates from 1403 when Engelbrecht I, Count of Nassau married Johanna van Polanen, Lady of Breda. Through this marriage this Nassau branch (Nassau-Breda) gained lands and privileges in the Low Countries. Almost a century later, in 1515, Hendrik III Count of Nassau, a grandson of Engelbrecht I, married Claudia of Chalon, the daughter of Jean IV of Chalon-Arlay, Prince of Orange. Hendrik and Claudia had one son, Renee of Nassau. When in 1530 the brother of Claudia of Chalon, Philibert the Prince of Orange dies, their son Renee of Nassau inherits the title Prince of Orange together with all the lands and privileges. Renee of Nassau, who's better known by his adopted name Renee of Chalon was thus the first to unite the Houses of Nassau and Orange. Strictly speaking the new Nassau branch that emerged should have been called Nassau-Orange (German: Nassau-Oranien) but its has historically grown into Orange-Nassau as the sovereign princely title had precedence over the title of count. As his father, Renee became an influential nobleman in the Low Countries, serving Emperor Charles V as a Stadtholder and General. Unfortunately Renee of Nassau died on the battlefield in 1544, leaving no legitimate children. By testament Renee of Nassau had appointed his 11 year old cousin Willem of Nassau (from the Nassau-Dillenburg branch) as his heir. |
Willem was the eldest
son of Renee's paternal uncle Count Willem (the Rich) of Nassau-Dillenburg
and Countess Juliana of Stolberg-Wernigerode. Because of
the large inheritance, the political significance of the sovereign
princely title and the Lutheran upbringing of Willem, Emperor Charles V
demanded that young Willem was to be educated at his court in Brussels and that he
had to adopt the Roman-Catholic faith. Although Willem's parents were devout Lutherans,
they accepted the
Emperor's conditions in view of dynastic interests. Young Willem
thus travelled to
Brussels, took residence in the Nassau palace, and was educated under
the tutelage of Maria of Hungary, sister of Emperor Charles V and Regent of the Low Countries. When Willem came of age
he was already the richest noble in the Low Countries. In 1551
Willem of Orange married the wealthy Countess Anna of Egmond,
sole heiress of the County of Buren. It was to be Willem's first of four marriages.
From this marriage Willem had two surviving children:
Philips-Willem, named after Charles V's son Philips, and Maria,
named after Maria of Hungary. In 1555 Willem started his
political career when he was appointed to
the Council of State, the highest advisory council in the Low
Countries, by Emperor Charles V.
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| Leading a Nation | ||
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When
Emperor Charles V abdicated a year later, in 1556, due to poor health,
the large Habsburg Empire
was divided : His younger brother Ferdinand, who had been
governing the Habsburg hereditary lands was elected as Emperor
of the Holy Roman Empire. And his son Philips II
became King of Spain and ruler of the Low Countries. Philips II
who was born and raised in Spain was not in the least familiar with and
susceptible to the precarious social, political and religious
situation in the Low Countries. When he took over the rule from his
father he instantly raised the local taxes, reduced the influence of the
Dutch nobles by appointing civil servants in key positions, stationed Spanish
garrisons in the most strategic towns and
intensified the Inquisition against rising Protestantism. Although
Willem of Orange never directly opposed Philips II at this
stage, he did become one of the most prominent members of the opposition
in the Council of State, together with the Counts of Horne and Egmont. Together they lobbied with Philips II for
religious tolerance, lower taxes and a restoration of the privileges
(power) of the Dutch nobles.
When Willem
of Orange was present during the negotiations for the Peace
Treaty of Cateau Chambrésis between Spain and France he learned that both
former adversaries were determined to
crush
Protestantism within their territories as soon as the Treaty was signed.
Willem tactfully kept
silent but warned his allies, which later earned him his nick name: Willem the Silent. In 1559
Philips II decided to return
to Spain and appointed his half-sister Margareta of Parma as
Regent of the Low Countries.
The real power however rested with Cardinal Granvelle, Bishop of
Atrecht, trusted subject of Philips II, primary advisor of the
Regent and head of the Spanish Inquisition.
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As a counter measure, the most powerful and ' Protestant'
provinces of the Low Countries Holland and Zeeland appointed
Willem of Orange as Stadtholder that same year. The office of
Stadtholder was a 'Stewardship' of the feudal overlord but would
later develop into a (by the Provincial Estates or
Estates-General) appointed Governor in the Province with great
military and political powers. In 1561, Willem of Orange married
for the second time. Mainly out of political reasons he married
the wealthy Lutheran Princess Anna of Saxony-Meissen, niece of
Elector August of Saxony. This was a clear signal that Willem's
loyalties were changing. From this turbulent marriage three children survived: Anna,
Maurits and Emila of Nassau. When
in 1564 tensions were rising over the burdening taxes and the
Spanish Inquisition, the leading nobles in the Council of State
(Orange, Egmont and Horne) threaten the Regent with resignation
if Granvelle was not removed from his position, the inquisition stopped and the
Estates General (Council of the Provincial Governments)
reconvened. Philips II, although furious, wisely asked for Granvelle's resignation as a means
to temper the unrest but he did not stop the Inquisition nor did
he
reconvene the Estates General. A year later in 1565 a group of lower nobles,
including Willem's younger brother Lodewijk of Nassau, formed the
Confederation of Nobles and offered a petition to the Regent
requesting among others the end of prosecution of Protestants. The Regent was
outraged by their audacity, calling them beggars, but did
nothing. Meanwhile Protestant factions, mainly the Calvinists,
were now rapidly radicalizing and in 1566 a wave of iconoclasm
engulfed the Low Countries: churches and monasteries were
ransacked, priests and nuns harassed. In the face of total
chaos, the Regent finally conceded to the demands of the Confederation of Nobles providing they
restored order.
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| Eighty Years War | ||
| When Philips II learned of these developments he demanded the highest nobles to sign a document in which they renewed their pledge of allegiance to him. Willem of Orange who foresaw retaliation against him by Philips II regardless of what he would pledge, refused and fled to the German Nassau lands. Later that year an army led by the Duke of Alba (The Iron Duke) arrived in the Low Countries and restored the order. The Duke reinstated the inquisition with full force and punished all who had defied Spanish rule. This Spanish Fury, as it was called, lead to thousands of deaths and confiscation of lands. Willem's possessions in the Low Countries were also confiscated and his oldest son, Phillips-Willem was captured by the Duke of Alva while studying at university in Leuven and was sent to Spain as ransom. Father and son would never see each other again. Willem's closest allies the Counts of Egmont and Horne who had refused to leave, were tried for treason and beheaded in Brussels. From Nassau, Willem of Orange started to organize an army with which he began to attack the Spanish troops in the Low Countries. From 1568 onwards his (hired) armies fought the Spanish in several battles while bands of fugitives, loyal to Willem of Orange, attacked from the coast in the hopes of forging a popular revolt. These were the humble beginnings of the 80 years war that would eventually lead to an independent Dutch nation. In 1572, Willem of Orange finally gained strongholds in Holland and Zeeland from which he continued the fight against the Spanish troops. The following years he engaged the Spanish troops in several battles. Willem lost two of his brothers in one of them (the battle of Mookerheide). In 1575 Willem of Orange's armies lifted the siege (by the Spanish) of the city of Leiden by inundating the surrounding polders. In Leiden, Willem of Orange established the first free (Protestant) university. That same year, Willem of Orange married for the third time. His failed marriage with his estranged and mentally unstable wife Anna of Saxony had been legally annulled in 1571. This time Willem married out of affection but his choice of bride, Charlotte, Duchess de Bourbon-Montpensier, raised some eyebrows: firstly because she was French and secondly because she was a penniless former abbess turned Calvinist. The marriage seems to have been a very happy one. They had 6 daughters in 7 years: Louise Juliana, Elisabeth, Catharina Belgica, Charlotte Flandria, Charlotte Brabantina and Emilia Secunda Antwerpiana. |
Meanwhile
more cities and provincial estates in the North of the Low Countries choose the side of
Willem of Orange and joined the fight against the Spanish. In 1580
Philips II, as a desperate measure,
declared Willem of Orange an outlaw in his realm. The following year, an
assassination attempt was made on Willem of Orange. Although badly wounded he survived thanks to the intensive care of
his wife Charlotte, who herself died soon after because of
exhaustion. Later that year, the 7
Northern Provinces convened illegally (because without
permission of King Philips II ) in an Estates General and passed an Act of Abandonment in which they
formally deposed their overlord, King Phillips II. With this Act
they de-facto
declared the independence of the 7 Provinces. For a time the Estates
General sought for a foreign sovereign to head the newly created country.
There were few takers. The
Duke of Anjou, brother of French King Henry II, agreed at one
point and for a short while acted as sovereign but
when in 1583 he tried to take the city of Antwerp by force the Estates
General deposed of him quickly and decided they could do without a
foreign overlord all together. That same year Willem
of Orange married for the fourth time. His new wife was Louise, Countess de
Coligny, daughter of the murdered French Huguenot leader Caspar
de Coligny. Willem and Louise had one son: Frederik-Hendrik,
born in 1584. When that same year the Provinces of Holland and
Zeeland are about to proclaim Willem Sovereign Count of
Holland (an ancient title formerly carried by
Burgundian and Habsburg rulers) Willem is assassinated by a religious fanatic in his
quarters in the city of Delft. In the past, members of the Nassau-Breda family
had been
interred in a crypt in the city of Breda but since that city was under
Spanish control, Willem of Orange was buried in the New Church
in Delft. Since then, most members of the Orange-Nassau family,
including all Dutch monarchs have been buried there. Fighting
between the Republican and the Spanish armies continued
intermittently for years. Over the course of the war a division
became clear: the Southern predominantly Roman Catholic
Provinces (which would later be called Belgium) came under the rule of the Habsburgs and the Northern
predominantly Protestant Provinces (the Netherlands) united under the
leadership of the Nassau's. The war
with Spain would finally end in 1648 with the Peace Treaty of Westphalia:
the formal recognition of the independence of the Republic of
the Seven United Provinces.
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| Establishing a dynasty | ||
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After Willem I of Orange was assassinated in 1584 , his eldest
son Philips-Willem, who had been abducted to Spain, inherited
the title Prince of Orange. Unmarried and Roman Catholic
he was however never considered a candidate as Stadtholder in the Dutch
Protestant Provinces. Moreover he fought a long legal battle for
his inheritance with his half-brother Maurits who considered
himself the true heir of his father and thus also carried the
title Prince of Orange. When in 1596 Philips-Willem
tried to travel to his estates in the County of Buren, from 1584
onwards administered by his sister Maria of Nassau, he was refused entry
into the Republic by Maurits. Philips-Willem took residence in the Nassau Palace in
Brussels in stead. It wasn't until after the signing of the 12
years truce between the Republic and Spain, that Philips-Willem
received some of his father's estates in the Southern, Spanish
controlled, Low Countries. In 1606 Philips-Willem married the
niece of the French King, Eleonora of Bourbon-Condé in order to
provide for an heir but the marriage remained childless.
Philips-Willem died in 1619 leaving his inheritance to his
half-brother Maurits. Maurits meanwhile had been appointed Stadtholder
in Holland a year after his father's assassination. As such, Maurits,
just eighteen, had become
his father's successor in the Republic. Together with his
cousin, Willem-Lodewijk of Nassau-Dietz, Stadtholder of two
Northern Provinces, Maurits had taken up arms against the
Spanish. Maurits turned out to be a
brilliant general. He reorganized the Republican army into a
well trained modern and most importantly a regularly paid
standing army that could be dispatched on short notice. This
proofed vital for fast military expeditions and the conquering
of cities by siege. Later on he was joined in battle by his younger
half-brother, Frederik-Hendrik a formidable army-leader
who would later consolidate Maurits successes and who would
greatly expand the Republics territory. Frederik-Hendrik was to become Maurits successor and
ultimately the savior of the
young Orange-Nassau dynasty as Maurits had remained unmarried and thus without a
legitimate heir.
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In 1625 an ailing Maurits urged his still unmarried half-brother
Frederik-Hendrik to marry or he himself would marry
his life-long mistress Margareta of Mechelen
and thereby legitimizing his many children with her. Frederik-Hendrik
choose a bride quickly. His eye fell on a courtier had an
eye on for some time, Countess Amalia of Solms-Braunfels.
Penniless but from a respected and well connected family she was
considered a match. Their union would proof to be a highly
successful one. Maurits now appointed Frederik-Hendrik as his sole
heir and died that same year. Frederik-Hendrik and Amalia had grand ambitions for the
Orange-Nassau dynasty and succeeded in securing its future. Frederik-Hendrik was not only a renowned general like his
brother but also a statesman like his
father Willem of Orange. Together with his wife Amalia he
established a Royal
court in The Hague, gave orders to build grand palaces and became
patron of the now flourishing Dutch Arts. During their
'reign' the Republic
became the center of trade, science, religious tolerance and the
Arts in Europe and beyond. Their
grandest achievements however were the marriages of their
children. Their son Willem II married the Princess Royal of
Great Britain, thus forging an allegiance with the powerful
Stuarts in England. Their eldest daughter Louise-Henriëtte
married the (Great) Elector of Brandenburg, a powerful protestant
ally. Their second daughter Albertine Agnes married the Count of
Nassau-Dietz, in order to maintain close relations with the
collateral Nassau line, and their youngest daughter
Henriëtte-Catharina married the Prince of Anhalt-Dessau another
German protestant ally and a General in the Dutch Republican
army. Frederik-Hendrik took even further measures to
guarantee the future of his dynasty by proclaiming by will that
also his daughters could be eligible to inherit his titles, land
and privileges. Through Frederik-Hendrik and Amalia von Solms,
most Royal Houses are now related. At this
stage the Republic was at the height of its power and
Frederik-Hendrik seized the opportunity to finally forge a Peace
Agreement with his enemies in order to end 80 years of war. One
year after his death, the all compassing Peace of Westphalia was
signed, which recognized the Dutch Republic's independence.
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Hanging by a thread |
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| Frederik-Hendrik's successor, Willem II became Prince of Orange and was appointed Stadtholder in the main Provinces upon his father's death in 1647. Unfortunately he died only a few years later in 1650, just after his son Willem III was born. Because of Willem III's age, the Estates of the several Provinces did not want to appoint young Willem III as Stadtholder. The young heir would however be raised as a child of State, which meant that the Estates General were formally responsible for his education and well being. His mother (Mary-Henrietta Stuart) and later his grandmother (Amalia von Solms) were appointed as Governesses. When in 1672 the Republic's under attack by France, England and Munster and on the brink of surrender, the provincial estates finally appoint Willem III as Stadtholder and General of the Republican Armies. Under Willem III's leadership the Republican armies repel the attacks from land and destroy a British war fleet. Willem III (married to his cousin, Mary II Stuart of England) had now established himself as a force to be reckoned with in Europe and became a life long adversary of the French King Louis XIV. In order to prevent yet another war Willem III crossed the British channel in 1688 with a large army to fight his Roman Catholic father in law, King Jacob II . During the subsequent Glorious Revolution Willem III of Orange and his wife, Princess Mary II Stuart were offered the crown of England, Scotland and Ireland. In 1689 they became King William and Queen Mary. As their marriage remained childless, the British Parliament appointed Mary's sister Anne as heir to the throne of England, Ireland and Scotland. Willem III in turn appointed by testament his cousin, Willem-Friso, member of the collateral Nassau-Dietz line, as his heir. After Willem III death in 1701, this testament was contested by several claimants. Most notably by the direct descendants of Frederik-Hendrik through the female line like Frederik III of Prussia, who was a descendant of Frederik-Hendrik's eldest daughter Louise-Henriëtte of Nassau. |
Because of this legal
battle the Provincial Estates decided not to appoint Willem-Friso
as Stadtholder outside the two Northern Provinces. His son,
Willem IV, finally settled Willem III's inheritance in 1732 and
persuaded the Estates-General to proclaim him as hereditary
Stadtholder (in male and female line!) in all seven Provinces, making the Dutch Republic a
de-facto monarchy. The Treaty of Separation (1732) that was
drawn up between the claimants of Willem III's inheritance provided for
the separation of the title Prince of Orange from all other
Nassau lands and estates. From now on the title Prince of Orange
was to be carried by both the Head of the House of Orange-Nassau and
the Head of the House of Hohenzollern (Prussia). Meanwhile, the
Principality of Orange had been annexed by the French King Louis
XIV in 1712 and as such did no longer exist.
When Willem IV dies in 1751 his wife, Anna of Hanover, is appointed Governess for her one year old young son, Willem. Until
he came of age the country was in effect ruled by
his (foreign) advisor the Duke of Brunswick. When Willem V Batavus
finally assumed power his family had lost too much credit
amongst the population and he was soon confronted with popular
uprisings. Thanks to his wife, Princess Wilhelmina of Prussia or
better her brother the Prussian King who send troops to aid him, Willem V survived politically
until 1795. That year, Willem V and his family were forced to
flee to England when the French revolutionary
armies invaded the Republic. For 18 years, the
Orange-Nassau's spend their time between England and their
German estates. The Dutch Republic seized to exist and became
the Batavian Republic (1795-1806), then the Kingdom of Holland
(1806-1810) under Louis Napoleon as the first King of Holland, and
finally
incorporated into the French Empire as a province in 1810.
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| Power Restored | ||
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After the fall of Napoleon in 1813, Willem V's son, Willem-Frederik was invited back to Holland and was proclaimed Sovereign Prince of the Netherlands (the former 'Republic'). Two years later, after Napoleon's final defeat at Waterloo, the European powers decided at the Congress of Vienna that the former Republic and Austrian-Netherlands (Belgium) were to be reunited as a strong buffer against France. The new state became the United Kingdom of the Netherlands with Willem-Frederik invested as King Willem I in 1815. As compensation for the loss of his German estates, Willem I became Grand-Duke of the former Duchy of Luxemburg. The union between the former Dutch Republic and the former Austrian-Netherlands lasted only for a short time. In 1830 the Southern Provinces revolted against the centralized rule from the Protestant North and proclaimed their independence as the Kingdom of Belgium under the House of Saxen-Coburg Gotha. |
King Willem I sent his son with a large army to quell the revolt but the threat of intervention by the French ended the campaign abruptly. It was not until 1839 that the Dutch government and in particular King Willem I finally accepted the loss of the Southern Provinces and recognized an independent Belgian Kingdom south of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Willem I did however acquire the title Duke of Limburg (and some of its territories) as part of the settlement. In 1866 the Duchy of Limburg was formally incorporated into the Kingdom of the Netherlands as a Province. The title, Duke of Limburg was never used again. Years later, When Willem I grandson dies without a male heir also Luxemburg is lost, this time to the House of Nassau-Weilburg (an other collateral Nassau line) because Willem I grandson, Willem III dies without a male heir.
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Troubled Kings |
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King
Willem I, who had married his cousin Wilhelmina, Princess of
Prussia, became known as the Merchant King because of his
relentless efforts to stimulate business enterprises in the
Netherlands and it's colonies. He was also famous for preparing
the Dutch infrastructure for industrialization. Disappointed
with the loss of the Southern Provinces and aware of the growing resistance,
both within his family as in the country,
to his plans to remarry with a Catholic Countess, King
Willem I abdicated in 1840 in favour of his son, Willem II who
would rule for the next 9 years until his early death in 1849. Willem II
who was married to the wealthy Russian Grand Duchess Anna Paulowna
Romanov was more of a military man, amateur architect and Arts
collector than a Statesman. Under his reign the Royal Court
became very lavish but when he died there were tremendous debts.
Much of his huge arts collection had to be sold to his brother in law
the Tsar to settle his debts. Many of these paintings are now in the Hermitage in St.
Petersburg. Willem II son, Willem III, succeeded his father reluctantly
(he had to be persuaded to come from abroad) because a new liberal
constitution had curtailed the power of the Monarch the previous
year (1848).When he ascended,
King Willem III, expected to reign only until his oldest son
would come of age. He would then abdicate in his favour. King Willem III 's reign
however lasted much longer than he anticipated.
His 41 years reign was marked by confrontations with
several governments, his failed marriage (from 1855 onwards he
lived
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separated from
his wife, Queen Sophie (who had asked for a divorce but was not
granted one by the Dutch Government) and his strained relations
with his sons. Willem III refused his oldest son and heir,
Willem, permission to marry with a Dutch Countess as he found
the union to be unequal. King Willem III had an even more difficult relationship with his youngest son, Alexander,
who had taken sides with his mother from an early age. King Willem III's often erratic behavior
was legendary so much so that he was nicknamed King-Gorilla.
When his wife, Queen Sophie, died in 1877 he refused to attend
her funeral. Within a year of her death the 62 year old King
decided to remarry. Willem III had no hope that his two estranged sons would
be suitable heirs, marry and have children, plus his brother
Prince Hendrik
and uncle Prince Frederik had no male offspring either. And thus King Willem
III found himself a young new bride in Germany. Princess Emma of Waldeck and
Pyrmont, a mere 21 year old from a small but well connected family with Nassau ties,
agreed to marry the old King after her two older sisters refused
to even consider the thought. Emma married the King, forty years her senior, out of a sense of
duty. The King's eldest son, Willem the Prince of
Orange, died that same year (1879) in Paris were he had been living
in exile for
years. He never met his father's young bride. The following year, in
1880, Queen Emma
gave birth to a daughter, the later Queen Wilhelmina. The King was delighted. A few years later in 1884, the King's remaining son, Alexander,
also died and thus the little Princess Wilhelmina
became heir apparent to the Dutch throne.
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| Reigning Queens | ||
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After
years of bad health and a frail mental state, King Willem III, died in 1890.
His
wife Queen Emma had already been appointed Regent the previous year and had in effect
taken over his reign. With the old King dead, his ten years old daughter Wilhelmina,
was now Queen of the Netherlands. The future of
the Orange monarchy rested on the shoulders of a small, albeit very
intelligent child. Her mother Queen Dowager Emma was appointed
Regent until Wilhelmina would turn 18. After decades of downfall Queen Emma took it upon
herself to improve the image of the Orange monarchy and traveled
up and down the country
to show the people their young Queen. When on September 6, 1898 Queen
Wilhelmina's invested as Queen Regnant, the popularity of the
monarchy ( Emma and the young Queen) is immense. Not long after
Wilhelmina's investiture the Queen-Mother, as she was now known, sought
for a suitable spouse for her daughter. An heir was needed. In 1900 a
suitable candidate was found in Duke Hendrik of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
Healthy, Protestant and from a reigning German princely family he was
considered a match. The young Queen consented and married the Duke in
1901. As the name (Orange) Nassau would die out with her, the young
Queen received permission from the new Head of the House of Nassau, for
the continued use of the name Nassau. The Queen then decreed that any
children from her marriage would bare the
titles Princes(s) of the Netherlands, Princes(s) of Orange-Nassau and Dukes (Duchess)
of Mecklenburg. Since then, the family names of all the offspring from
Wilhelmina's determined at the time of marriage by Royal Decree. In
1909, after 8 years of marriage and several miscarriages, Queen
Wilhelmina and Prince Hendrik had a child together: Princess Juliana. When in 1934
both Queen-Mother Emma and Prince Hendrik died, the Royal Family was
again reduced to only two women and the future of the monarchy rested
once again on the shoulders of a young woman After years of finding a
suitable spouse , the somewhat shy but head strong Princess Juliana married a flamboyant German prince called Bernhard of
Lippe-Biesterfeld. In every sense her counterpart. A year later an heir was born: Princess Beatrix.
In 1938 Queen Wilhelmina, lonesome and tired, longed to abdicate but was persuaded by
her daughter, son in law and the government to postpone her decision.
The outbreak of World War II in 1939 and the subsequent invasion by the
Nazis in 1940 forced the Royal Family to go into exile in the UK and
Canada for five years.
During the war Queen Wilhelmina, previously respected and
even feared, now grew to be a beloved mother of the nation: a symbol of
the Dutch
resistance against tyranny and a hope for renewed independence. During
her exile in London, the Queen broadcasted many radio speeches to her
countrymen in occupied territory.
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In
exile, Queen Wilhelmina, finally released from her royal
entourage and etiquette, experienced a more normal life. The absence of a Parliament gave
her more room to act as she pleased, which brought her into many
confrontations with her government in exile. Soon after her glorious
return to the Netherlands a war of independence (1945-1949)started in the
Dutch East Indies and her quarrels with her ministers resumed. The
Queen, tired after carrying so much responsibility for so many
years and not feeling physically fit any longer, decided to abdicate in 1948. Princess Juliana,
who had been Regent on and off in 1947 and 1948 when her mother
was ill, respected
her mother's wishes now but ascended the
throne reluctantly nevertheless. The
abdicated Queen, retreated
to her beloved Summer Palace, Het Loo, where she spent the rest
of her life with
religious studies, painting and writing her memoirs. She was rarely seen in public
after her abdication and finally died in 1962, 82 years old. In
stead of moving to The Hague, the royal residence and seat of
government, Queen Juliana
chose to remain living in Soestdijk Palace in the
middle of the country. From 1948 onwards Queen Juliana faced
many challenges: the advent of the Cold War,
the independence struggle of the
former Dutch East Indies and later Surinam and the turbulent
political and social times during the 1960's and 1970's.
Queen Juliana, although very insecure and not very decisive, had
chosen a more common
approach to her role as Monarch and insisted to be called Madam
in stead of Majesty. Because of this less formal approach she steered the
monarchy through these difficult years although her marriage problems during the 1950's and her husband's lack of propriety
during the 1970's did cause two constitutional crises.
Regardless, she was immensely popular. In 1980
Queen Juliana, who was no longer feeling physically up to the task,
abdicated in favour of her eldest child, Princess Beatrix who
had married a German diplomat Claus Von Amsberg in 1966 and
had provided the Orange-Nassau dynasty with three male heirs. After
her abdication, Queen Juliana stepped out
of the spotlights and spent her time on a great many of
charities. Queen
Beatrix who from an early age had the ambition to be Queen choose
an all together different, more professional approach to the
task at hand and introduced a more regal, distant yet
intellectually more engaging style. She thoroughly modernized
her Court, which she
brought back to The Hague. Although not as beloved as her mother
once was, Queen Beatrix's
dedication, involvement, impeccable behavior and formidable
knowledge have earned her much sympathy and praise over the
years both in the Netherlands and abroad. In 2002, after years
of experiencing a fragile health, Queen Beatrix beloved husband,
Prince Claus passed away. Queen Beatrix has indicated that she
feels the heavy burden of her task even more since then but
shows no intention of abdicating in the near future.
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| Queen Beatrix's heir apparent, Prince Willem-Alexander, who carries the ancient title of Prince of Orange since his mother's investiture in 1980, married an Argentinean Banker called Maxima Zorreguita Cerutti in 2002. They have three daughters: Princess Amalia, Princess Alexia and Princess Ariane. When Prince Willem-Alexander ascends the Dutch throne in the future he will be the first male monarch in the Netherlands for more than a century and his daughter will then be the first Princess of Orange in history, thanks to a recent change in the constitution. If en when Willem IV is succeeded by his first born child, Catharina-Amalia, she will be the 15th generation of Orange-Nassau's leading the Dutch nation and the fourth Queen Regnant of her House. | ||
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Royal Titles
The Dutch Royal Family strictly speaking does not belong to the Dutch nobility as such. Members of the royal family do however carry noble titles. The monarch can no longer raise commoners into the nobility but still has the prerogative to grant his/her (grand-)children and the spouse of the heir presumptive royal and noble titles. The variety of the titles however has been very limited. Upon marriage of members of the Royal House their future (royal) titles, familyname and those of possible offspring is determined by Royal Decree.
The following royal titles are currently used in the Dutch Royal Family:
Prince(ss) of the Netherlands
Non-hereditary title for the children of a Dutch Monarch. Can be granted to the consort of the heir presumptive.
Prince(ss) of Orange
Hereditary title for the heir presumptive: male or female.
Prince(ss) of Orange-Nassau
Hereditary title for children of a Dutch Monarch. Can be granted to the consort of the heir presumptive
Prince of Orange-Nassau of Vollenhoven
Non-hereditary title for children of Princess Margriet of the Netherlands only)
Count(ess) of Orange-Nassau
Hereditary noble title for (children of) Prince Johan Friso of Orange-Nassau and Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands.
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Etc, etc, etc....
Apart from the above mentioned royal titles, the Orange-Nassau family acquired many noble titles through the centuries. However most, if not all of these titles have either been abolished, lost or dormant because of the female succession since Queen Wilhelmina. Legally speaking, the family can no longer claim any of these old titles but they are still used out of tradition by the Monarch of the Netherlands.
These historical titles include:
● Duke of Limburg
● Marquis of Veere and Vlissingen
● Count of Buren, Culemborg, Diez, Katzellenbogen, Leerdam, Spiegelberg and Vianden
● Viscount of Antwerpen
● Baron of Beilstern, Breda, Cranendonk, Cuijk, Diest, Eindhoven, Grave, Liesveld, Warnelou, IJsselstein, Herstal, Waasten, Arlay and Nozeroy
● Lord of Baarn, Bredevoort, Borculo, Bütgenbach, Dasburg, Ter Eem, Geertruidenberg, Heilo, Hooge en Lage Zwaluwe, Klundert, Lichtenvoorde, Maartensdijk, Montfort, Polanen, Soest, Sankt Vith, Steenbergen, Turnhout, Willemstad, Zevenbergen and Ameland