William, Prince of Orange (Willem Nicolaas Alexander Frederik Karel Hendrik; 4 September 1840 – 11 June 1879), was heir apparent to the Dutch throne as the eldest son of King William III from 17 March 1849 until his death.
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 19-year-old Countess Mathilde von Limburg-Stirum in 1873. The relationship between the prince and his parents became very problematic, as his parents refused William's wish to accept Mathilde as his bride in 1874. By the standards of the Dutch royal family, a marriage between a member of the royal family and a member of the nobility was considered unequal and therefore unacceptable. Also a rumour circulated that Mathilda was an illegitimate daughter of King William III and so William would potentially be marrying his own half-sister. The 33-year-old William wanted to marry, if necessary, without the consent of his parents. However Mathilda was not yet twenty and permission was needed from her parents too. Since they denied permission, the prince's attempt to marry Mathilda failed. She finally married in 1881 Baron Reginald van Tuyll (1845–1903, who may have inspired the eponymous character in P. G. Wodehouse's book Indiscretions of Archie, 1921).[1] She died on 14 May 1932, at age 77 at Popham, Hampshire, in England, nearby her daughter Julia Sheffield, Lady Sheffield.[2]
Death and aftermath
Heavily disillusioned with his situation in the Netherlands, Prince William then went into exile in Paris, where he threw himself into a life of sex, drinking and gambling. He shared this life with Henriette Hauser (also Hausser), his Parisianmistress, a "boulevard theatre" actress. The Duke de Gramont-Caderousse, a French fellow hedonist, gave him the nickname "Prince Lemon" [le prince Citron in French];[3] the nickname became popular among the regulars in the recently created boulevards and the Parisian newspapers when they reported about his debauched lifestyle. Prince William died at the age of 38 in his apartment in the Rue Auber, near the Paris Opera from a combination of typhus, liver complaints and total exhaustion. On 26 June 1879 his body was entombed in the royal crypt at the New Church of Delft. On his coffin there was a wreath from French Empress Eugénie de Montijo and one from the future King Edward VII, who had been his fellow debauchee.
After his death, his brother Alexander became heir-apparent and Prince of Orange. However he also died before their father, who was now without sons. The States-General adopted cognatic primogeniture in 1888.
His half-sister, the future queen Wilhelmina, was born a year after his death.
1title granted by Royal Decree to consort of the Queen, without the title "Prince of Orange-Nassau"
2gave up the title "Prince of the Netherlands, but still held the title "Prince of Orange-Nassau"3title granted by Royal Decree to descendants of Princess Irene