William, Prince of Orange
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William, Prince of Orange, Prince of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau (Dutch: Willem Nicolaas Alexander Frederik Karel Hendrik; The Hague, 4 September 1840 – Paris, 11 June 1879), was from 17 March 1849 until his death the heir apparent of his father King William III of the Netherlands.
[edit] Biography
Prince William was the oldest son of King William III of the Netherlands and his first wife, Princess Sophie of Württemberg. His nickname was Wiwill. At his birth, he held the third position in the line of succession to the Dutch throne and the seventeenth position in the line of succession to the British throne. A month afterwards on 7 October 1840, his great-grandfather, the reigning King William I of the Netherlands, abdicated the throne due to the disappointed over the recent Treaty of London, which recognised the independence of Belgium (previously provinces of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands), and the intention of marrying a Roman Catholic and Belgian noblewoman, Henrietta d'Oultremont. In 1849, after the death of his grandfather King William II of the Netherlands, he became the heir apparent. His Victorian upbringing turned out to be a disaster.
After the failed plans for a marriage between Prince William and Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, the second daughter of Queen Victoria, the prince fell in love with the noblewoman named Mathilde van Limburg Stirum. The relationship between the prince and his parents became very problematic, as the parents refused to accept Mathilde as his bride. By the standards of the Dutch royal family, a marriage between a member of the royal family and a member of the nobility was unequal and not acceptable. Possibly it also had to do with King William III having had a relationship with Mathilde's mother. Thus he might have feared that Mathilde was Prince William's half-sister.[citation needed]
William then went into exile in Paris, where he threw himself into a life of sex, drink and gambling. Henriette Hauser, his Parisian mistress, gave the Prince of Orange the pet name Lemon, something that led to him being known in the Parisian boulevard papers as the Prince of Lemon when they reported about his debauched and scandaluous lifestyle. Prince William died at age 38 in his apartment in the Rue Auber, near the Paris Opera from a combination of typhus, liver complaints and total exhaustion. One 26 June 1879, his body was entombed in the royal crypt at the New Church of Delft. But he had not lost all his social position in Paris. On his coffin there was a wreath from French Empress Eugénie and one from the British Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII). After his death, his brother Prince Alexander became heir and Prince of Orange. However he also died before their father, who was now without direct male heirs. Neither his uncle, Prince Henry nor his great-uncle, Prince Frederick, had any male issue as well. The States-General adopted agnatic-cognatic primogeniture making his half sister, Princess Wilhelmina, heiress presumptive. Up until 1884, the Dutch throne used Salic law. Princess Wilhelmina successed their mutual father in 1890.
[edit] Ancestry
| Prince William of Orange | Father: King William III of The Netherlands (1817–1890) |
Paternal Grandfather: King William II of The Netherlands (1792–1849) |
Paternal Great-grandfather: King William I of The Netherlands (1772–1843) |
| Paternal Great-grandmother: Princess Wilhelmina of Prussia (1774–1837) |
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| Paternal Grandmother: Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna of Russia (1795–1865) |
Paternal Great-grandfather: Emperor Paul I of Russia (1754–1801) |
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| Paternal Great-grandmother: Princess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg (1759–1828) |
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| Mother: Princess Sophie of Württemberg (1818–1877) |
Maternal Grandfather: King William I of Württemberg (1781–1864) |
Maternal Great-grandfather: King Frederick I of Württemberg (1754–1816) |
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| Maternal Great-grandmother: Duchess Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1764–1788) |
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| Maternal Grandmother: Grand Duchess Catherina Pavlovna of Russia (1788–1819) |
Maternal Great-grandfather: Emperor Paul I of Russia (1754–1801) |
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| Maternal Great-grandmother: Princess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg (1759–1828) |
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William, Prince of Orange
Born: 4 September 1840 Died: 11 June 1879 |
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| Dutch royalty | ||
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| Preceded by William III |
Prince of Orange 1849–1879 |
Succeeded by Alexander |
