Prince of Orange

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Coat of Arms of the Principality of Orange.
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Coat of Arms of the Principality of Orange.

Prince of Orange is a title of nobility, originally associated with the principality of Orange in southern France. It may be carried by members of the House of Orange-Nassau and the House of Hohenzollern, and is currently carried by Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands (Orange-Nassau) and Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia (Hohenzollern).

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[edit] The Principality of Orange

The title originally referred to the sovereign principality of Orange in the valley of Rhone in southern France, which was a property of the House of Orange (and from 1544 of the House of Orange-Nassau). Because Orange was a fief in the Holy Roman Empire, in its Kingdom of Burgundy, the title contained feudal rights and that sovereignty which German principalities came to enjoy. The last descendant of the original princes, René of Nassau, left the principality to his cousin William the Silent, who was not a descendent of the original Orange family. In 1673, Louis XIV of France annexed all territory of the principality as part of the war actions against the stadtholder William III of Orange, who later became king William III of England and Scotland).

Because William III died without legitimate children, the principality was regarded as having been inherited by his closest cognatic relative, Frederick I of Prussia, who ceded the principality (at least the lands, but not formally the title) to France in 1713 (France supported his claim, of course). In this way the territory of the principality lost its feudal and secular privileges and became a part of France. The title remains in the Hohenzollern royal family (who reigned in Prussia until 1918) and could be used even today by them; it was also bestowed by the French king upon Louis de Mailly, whose family still holds the title today.

An agnatic relative of William III, Johan Willem Friso of Nassau, who also by female line descended from William the Silent, was designated the heir to the princes of Orange in the Netherlands, by the last will of William III, and several of his descendants became stadtholders. They claimed the principality of Orange on the basis of agnatic inheritance (similar to that of William the Silent inheriting from his cousin René, though not being a descendant of original princes of Orange), and also on basis of the testament of William III. France never allowed them to obtain anything of the principality itself (located in southern France), but they nevertheless assumed the title. From that derivation of the title comes the tradition of later stadtholders of the Netherlands, and the present-day royal family of the Netherlands, also holding this title.

[edit] The Princes of Orange

William the Silent (Willem I) was the first Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic and the most significant representative of the House of Orange in the Netherlands. He was count of a small German county, part of the of Nassau and heir to some of his father's fiefs in Holland. William obtained more extensive lands in the Netherlands (the lordship of Breda and several other dependencies) as an inheritance from his cousin René, Prince of Orange, when William was only 11 years old. After William's assassination in 1584, the title passed to his son Philip (who was Catholic and was long imprisoned), and then to his second son Maurice, and finally to his youngest son, Frederick Henry.

The title of Prince of Orange became synonymous with the stadtholder of the Netherlands.

William III (Willem III) was also King of England, Scotland and Ireland, and his legacy is commemorated annually by the Protestant Orange Order.

William and Mary had no legitimate children. After his death in 1702, the Dutch contender to his title was his heir in the Netherlands, John William Friso of Nassau, who assumed the title. William's testament designated Friso to inherit the title. The other contender was the King of Prussia, who based his claim to the title on the will of Frederick Henry, William III's grandfather. Eventually, a compromise was reached by which both families were entitled to bear the title of Prince of Orange. By then, it was no more than a title because the principality had been annexed by Louis XIV of France.

Friso's line held it as their principal title during the 1700s. The French army drove them away from Holland in 1795, but on their return, the Prince of Orange became the first sovereign of the Netherlands in 1813.

After the establishment of the current Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815, the title was partly reconstitutionalized in a bill and granted to the eldest son of King William I of the Netherlands, Prince William, who later became William II of the Netherlands. Since 1983, the heir to the Dutch throne, whether male or female, bears the title Prince or Princess of Orange. The first-born child of the heir to the Dutch throne bears the title Hereditary Prince or Princess of Orange. Currently, Princess Catharina-Amalia is the Hereditary Princess of Orange. She will be the Princess of Orange once her father, Prince Willem-Alexander, is crowned King of the Netherlands.

The Prince(ss) of Orange is styled "His/Her Royal Highness the Prince(ss) of Orange" (Zijne/Hare Koninklijke Hoogheid de Prins(es) van Oranje).

[edit] Bearers of the title (with dates):

Image:PrinceWillemAlexander.jpg
HRH The Prince of Orange

[edit] as sovereign prince of Orange

Until 1340, it was customary for all sons of the prince of Orange to inherit the title. Only the direct line of descent to Raimund V is shown here.

  • Bertrand I of Baux (1171-1181)
  • William I of Baux (1182-1218)
  • Raymond I of Baux (1218-1282)
  • Bertrand IV of Baux (1281-1314)
  • Raymond IV of Baux (1314-1340)
  • Raymond V of Baux (1340-139)

Here starts the house of House of Orange-Châlon

  • Marie (1393-1417), with her husband John III of Châlon (1393-1418)
  • Louis II the Good (1418-1463)
  • William VII of Châlon (1463-1475)
  • John II of Châlon (1475-1502)
  • Philibert of Châlon (1502 - 1530)

The House of Orange-Nassau starts with

[edit] as a personal title

[edit] as Heir Apparent

And so the current Heir Apparent is the 15th bearer of the title in the House of Orange-Nassau.

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