Prince Wiwill was not always set on a love match.
He went to Russia to meet a prospective bride but she did not like him. The feeling appears to have been mutual as he described her as a peasant (boerin).
He was in the running to marry Alexandra of Denmark but Eddie got her.
Alice, Helena and Louise of Great Brittain were all potential candidates and he would have married any of them. It seems he even made inquires after Beatrice who was considerably younger.
His mother did not want to consider princess Marie of the Netherlands as a potential bride (she thought the girl was too ugly).
He seems to have been engaged to an English aristocrate and made inquiries at the Danish court for the hand of Thyra of Denmark.
It was only in the 1870's he fell for Anna Mathilde van Limburg-Stirum. His parents were united in their resistance to this marriage. Sophie because she was a snob and Willem III because he did not want a daughter of a woman he himself seems to have had an affair with as Princess of Orange. So it was not so much her position as a Dutch noble but rather the reputation of her mother that ruined Mattie's chances. Had Wiwill fallen for another aristocratic girl he could very well have married her.
A marriage with Mattie had been possible if the ministers had sent the required bill to the Estates-General. They opted not to do so, but could have done it without the King's approval. Worse he would have had to sign the bill had the Estates-General given their consent. The fact that the cabinet did not follow Wiwill's request shows they had their own reservations about the prospective bride.
Wiwill had the same kind of crownprince decease other heirs had and sometimes still had. One heartbeat away from the throne yet without any opportunity to do things the way they want (ussually very different from their father or mother). The same applied to Willem II, Willem III, Edward VII, Rudolph of Habsburg and many more in history.
As for Willem III not being faithful during his first marriage. That was quite normal for those days. Both his grandfather and father had extra-marital affairs and his father-in-law cheated on Sophie's mother and her successor. Sophie never wrote a thing about her father's indescretions even though one of his affairs may have caused the illness that in the end caused the death of her mother.
Even Willem's aunt Marianne and her husband Albert of Prussia both found love outside of their marriage. Only when Marianne got pregnant from her lover did the courts of Prussia and the Netherlands approve of a full divorce.
the lover of Sophie's first cousin Mathilde Bonaparte was count Emile de Nieuwerkerke (he made the statue of Willem the Silent in front of Noordeinde Palace). The count was said to be a descendant of Prince Willem IV the first hereditary Stadholder and grandfather of King Willem I.
Emma played her part well, so did Wilhelmina but the first only became popular in later life and Wilhelmina was only popular at the beginning and the end of her reign.
I was of course not talking about all what could have been. We do know that Wiwill, who was a handsome man, was as strong headed as both his parents, (one of the many reasons for their failed marriage) and felt the same superiority over his father as his mother had done which had always infuriated the King. So Wiwill had a contentious relationship with his father, your lauded Willem III (who was philandering throughout his marriage and physical abuser of his wife and a brut to his children). Other than that, I am sure he was lovely man... Wiwill refused to marry anyone other than his longtime sweetheart who was not of noble birth. Well that alone disqualified him for the top job in the 19th century. One did not marry out of love... After a final fallout with his lovely father Wiwill left the country and became rather self destructing with heavy drinking and probably opiate use that ended with a lethal lung infection. His brother Alexander was a physically weak, unattractive intellectual recluse who had no interest in women (also according to his own mother) and thoroughly hated his father. The fact that his marriage proposals were all declined was not surprising. Neither his nor his father's reputation worked in his favour.
Emma did save the monarchy whether you like it or not. Wilhelmina in turn did the same. They provided a legal heir and put their lives in service of their country. A little more than we can say of Wiwill and Alexander.... Their hate for their father Willem III ran deeper than their sense of duty.
I think you are talking like someone who grew up with female monarchs and feels comfortable with it. Had in 1890 Willem III been succeeded by Willem IV (possibly one of his sons Wiwill or Alexander, his nephew or a son of prince Frederik) things would have worked out.
Had Willem Lodewijk the first child of Wilhelmina and Hendrik lived we would have had king Willem IV in the 1930's. Wilhelmina would have been that rather stiff woman who took care of the crown between the death of her father and the succession of her son. Wilhelmina was only popular as a young queen and later during WWII.
Im don't nessecarily agree with your view on Willem III either. Had he been born the son of rather than the father of Wilhelmina he might have been very popular.
He was a tall man with a good voice (practical for speeches either on the radio or tv). He had an easy manner with ordinary people. Yes he also had plenty of difficult character traits but im not sure they were part of him or possibly the result of the way he was raised and the time he lived in.
I always feel Emma would probably have been a better match for Alexander than for his father. Though he actually proposed to women much better looking than Emma and of a higher standing (Royal princesses rather than the daughter of a sovereign prince). Both Thyra of Denmark and Frederica of Hanover turned him down. It would have been great if either one of them had married him.
Wiwill for a very long time was supposed to marry one of Victoria's daughters. Had Albert lived longer im fairly certain his ambition would have seen the marriage of either Helena or Louise to the prince of Orange. In the case of Helena that might have introduced hemofelia into the House of Orange-Nassau so we probably got lucky there.
A son of prince Frederik as successor to his first cousin Willem III would have worked very well. Frederik was very capable and well connected. Had Willem IV been his son he would not only have been a close relative of the German Emperor but also the uncle of the crown princess of Denmark and her sons (king Christian X of Denmark and King Haakon VII of Norway) as well as the brother of the Princess von Wied and uncle to the prince of Albania.
Prince Hendrik also had and has a good reputation so his son would most likely take after him and it's mother. Again both Amalia of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and Mare of Prussia were gentle women. I don't see how a son of them would have messed things up.
In fact Wilhelmina's very distorted upbringing did not help her. The way her spouse was treated made finding one of decent rank and character almost impossible for her daughter. Juliana was popular but potentially not particularly effective.
Beatrix was a good queen and is rightfully praised for her professional approach at the same time she was probably not the best head of the family. Creating undesirable situations by allowing Irene's children to be incorporated into the Dutch nobility or giving the children of her two younger sons the same style. Where those of the middle son were the result of an non-dynastic marriage where those of the youngest are dynasts for the Dutch monarchy.
Im also not that pleased with her selling countless possessions of the family to the Dutch state and letting go of Soestdijk Palace.
Not to begin about the upkeep of her yacht. She is a wealthy woman but expects the Dutch tax payer to foot the bill for the maintenance of the Groene Draeck. Im also not that charmed with her thesaurier (treasurer) who is paid for by the Dutch state working in Noordeinde Palace (also the property of and paid for by the Dutch State) doing the taxes for her sisters Irene and Christina and possibly their offspring as well.
It's all a bit too easy for me.
Yes Emma turned to boat around but that is also part of the story that has been maintained for over a century. Wilhelmina might have been a popular young queen but she basically wasn't popular from 1910 till 1940 and that is most of her reign.
Juliana was popular but im never sure how much was her own achievement. I tend to feel she just got lucky being Queen in the age she reigned.
Beatrix was a good monarch but had her issues as well.
Willem-Alexander is dealing the with fact that he is the first king since 1890 and people are still getting adjusted to a male monarch. It might take another twenty years for them to do so. Im just not sure he'll be king for another 20 years.
Had the monarchy passed into male hands in 1890 im sure that would have gone well. Had Wilhelmina's son lived Juliana might have married Paul of Greece and she would have become Queen of the Hellenes. In turn her brother might have married either a Greek, Swedish or Danish princess. Im sure such a marriage would not only have been popular with Wilhelmina but also with the Dutch population.
The survival of the monarchy in the Netherlands well into the 21 century might for a large part be contributed to the fact that we had four strong women on the throne during some very turbulent times in our history.
Neither Willem III nor his children were fit for the job. Willem reduced the House of Orange to a House of ill repute. I don't think Willem III last surviving son, Alexander, would have been able to function as Head of State nor as provider of royal offspring. Luckily Emma wasn't fainthearted and singlehandedly saved the monarchy. I can't praise her enough!
His second marriage lasted from August 24th 1778 til his death on January 13th 1879. His first one lasted 19 years.
I was just surprised to hear about this son. There have been plenty of stories about extra-marital offspring from Willem I, II and III as well as of Wiwill. So far the only grown up princes who did have not children outside wedlock are Prince Frederik, second son of Willem I and both Alexanders. Neither one of them seemed very interested in women though the younger one did propose to Princess Frederica of Hanover and she was a stunning beauty. Had either of prince Hendrik's two marriages resulted in a son he would have succeeded his uncle in 1890 and not Princess Wilhelmina.
Never heard of this person. But, as we all know both Willem III and Hendrik took a very young second wife and Willem even fathered a daughter with Emma in his 60's so its quite possible Hendrik was also still capable of fathering children.
To my surprise the German version of wikipedia mention in it's description of King Willem III's youngest brother Hendrik that he fathered a son between the demise of his first wife Amalia of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach and his second marriage to Marie of Prussia.
The son would have been Elmer Philipp Ladislas zu Istein (1877-1904). This is the first time i heard anything about Hendrik having offspring. Does anyone have more information about this son or are we dealing with someone altering wikipedia with fake information?
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