Emma Of Waldeck And Pyrmont
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Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont (Adelheid Emma Wilhelmina Theresia; 2 August 1858 – 20 March 1934) was
Queen of the Netherlands The monarchy of the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy. As such, the role and position of the monarch are governed by the Constitution of the Netherlands. Consequently, a large portion of it is devoted to the monarch. Roughly a third of ...
and
Grand Duchess of Luxembourg The territory of Luxembourg has been ruled successively by counts, dukes and grand dukes. It was part of the medieval Kingdom of Germany, and later the Holy Roman Empire until it became a sovereign state in 1815. Counts of Luxembourg House of A ...
as the wife of King-Grand Duke William III. An immensely popular member of the
Dutch Royal Family The monarchy of the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy. As such, the role and position of the monarch are governed by the Constitution of the Netherlands. Consequently, a large portion of it is devoted to the monarch. Roughly a third of ...
, Queen Emma served as
regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
for her daughter,
Queen Wilhelmina Wilhelmina (; Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, longer than any other Dutch monarch. Her reign saw World Wa ...
, during the latter's minority from 1890 until 1898.


Early life

Emma was born a princess of Waldeck and Pyrmont on 2 August 1858 in
Arolsen Castle Arolsen Castle (german: Residenzschloss Arolsen) is a baroque-style ''schloss'' in Bad Arolsen, Hesse, Germany. The castle is now a museum, and is still inhabited by Wittekind, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont and his family. As a result, it contin ...
in
Arolsen Bad Arolsen (, until 1997 Arolsen, ''Bad'' being the German name for ''Spa'') is a small town in northern Hesse, Germany, in Waldeck-Frankenberg district. From 1655 until 1918 it served as the residence town of the Princes of Waldeck-Pyrmont and ...
, the capital of the small German principality of
Waldeck and Pyrmont The County of Waldeck (later the Principality of Waldeck and Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire and its successors from the late 12th century until 1929. In 1349 the county gained Imperial immediacy and in 1 ...
. She was the fourth daughter of Georg Viktor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont, and Princess Helena of Nassau-Weilburg. Her brother, Prince Friedrich I, was the last reigning prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont. Her sister, Princess Helena, was the wife of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, a son of
Queen Victoria I Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
. Her maternal grandfather was Wilhelm I, Duke of Nassau, a grandson of
Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau (''Wilhelmine Carolina''; 28 February 1743 – 6 May 1787) was a Dutch regent. She was the daughter of William IV, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder of the Netherlands, and Anne, Princess Royal. She was regent of the ...
, through which she inherited a place in the line of succession to the Dutch Crown until 1887. Emma had a religious education from a very liberal minded pastor. With her English governess, Emma studied
crafts A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale prod ...
,
drawing Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, ...
, and
French literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of France other than F ...
. Her upbringing has been described as fairly informal, though with a focus on a sense of duty. She was given an interest for social work early on due to the charity work she became involved in already as young, and an interest for medical work due to the illness of her eldest sister, who suffered from tuberculosis.Redactie, Emma Wilhelmine Therese van Waldeck-Pyrmont, in: Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon van Nederland. URL: http://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/vrouwenlexicon/lemmata/data/Emma 4/03/2014/ref> Emma was described as tactful, sensible and engaging.


Queen of the Netherlands

Princess Emma married the elderly King William III in
Arolsen Bad Arolsen (, until 1997 Arolsen, ''Bad'' being the German name for ''Spa'') is a small town in northern Hesse, Germany, in Waldeck-Frankenberg district. From 1655 until 1918 it served as the residence town of the Princes of Waldeck-Pyrmont and ...
on 7 January 1879, two years after the death of his first wife,
Sophie of Württemberg Sophie of Württemberg (Sophie Friederike Matilda; 17 June 1818 – 3 June 1877) was Queen of the Netherlands as the first wife of King William III. Sophie separated from William in 1855 but continued to perform her duties as queen in public. ...
.George Edmundson, ''History of Holland'' (2013), p. 421 The king, born in 1817, was no less than forty-one years older than Emma; indeed, all three of his children from his first marriage were older than her. Two of his three sons were still alive at the time of Emma's wedding, and the match was not motivated by the need to produce an heir. The marriage was suggested during William's visit to Pyrmont in 1878. Emma was one of several daughters of a minor German prince, with very moderate marriage prospects, and her parents were enthused by the idea that their daughter would become a queen on her wedding day. Emma, raised in a loving and conservative family, acceded to the wishes of her beloved parents without demur. Immediately after the engagement, she began receiving lessons in the Dutch language. The king had three sons from his first marriage,
William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
,
Maurice Maurice may refer to: People * Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr * Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor *Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and ...
, and
Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
, the youngest of whom was seven years older than Emma. Maurice had died in childhood, but the other two were alive to receive their step-mother. Six months after the wedding, Crown Prince William died in France of a combination of
typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...
, liver complaints (excessive indulgence in drink). The King's youngest son, Alexander, than became heir apparent. In August 1880, Emma became a mother with the birth of what would be her only child, the future
Queen Wilhelmina Wilhelmina (; Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, longer than any other Dutch monarch. Her reign saw World Wa ...
. When her last surviving stepson Alexander, Prince of Orange died in 1884, her daughter became heiress to the throne. This changed Emma's own position, since it was likely that her daughter would succeed while yet a minor, in which case Emma herself would be regent during the minority. After the death of his youngest son, the king retired from public life due to his health conditions, and Emma undertook the task of nursing him.


Regency

Three days before William died on 23 November 1890, Emma became
regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
for her incapacitated husband. She continued her regency until Wilhelmina's eighteenth birthday on 31 August 1898. The
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
, the crown of which according to the House-Treaty should not be inherited by a woman, passed to Adolf, Duke of Nassau, who happened to be Queen Emma's maternal uncle. Emma was the first woman to rule The Netherlands since
Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau (''Wilhelmine Carolina''; 28 February 1743 – 6 May 1787) was a Dutch regent. She was the daughter of William IV, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder of the Netherlands, and Anne, Princess Royal. She was regent of the ...
a century before, and the first woman to rule the Kingdom of the Netherlands. She took her position of regent seriously. Her task was not simple, since William had antagonized many politicians with his autocratic ways. She managed to establish better relations between the royal house and the political world fairly quickly with good advisors, particularly Jhr J. Röell and Jhr GCJ van Reenen. She met personally with every government minister at least once every two weeks to keep herself informed of all political issues, and strictly adhered to the rules of the constitutional monarchy. She used the trust she gained by respecting the constitutional forms by using her influence on political issues she cared about, which resulted in compromises where she often managed to get her way. One statesman commented that Emma was efficient because she combined a strong will with soft forms, something they had not been used to. As regent Emma presided over three cabinets. In 1891, Emma refused to appoint the suggested minister
Johannes Tak van Poortvliet Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as "John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, ''Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' Yeh ...
, with whom she had a tense relationship, in favor of G. van Tienhoven. In 1894 she was convinced by Tak van Poortvliet to dissolve Parliament. When a new cabinet was to be sworn in, she refused until she had read and approved of their political program. In 1897, she demanded that both the Liberal parties was to be included in the new cabinet and the Aceh war was to continue, before she agreed to have the new government sworn in. She wrote and held her speeches in Dutch, and engaged herself in the Dutch Colonial Empire, attending the military parades and celebrations associated with Imperial achievements. In addition to her administrative duties, Emma paid great attention to the education of her daughter. When Wilhelmina reached the age of 16, Emma considered her childhood over and Wilhelmina spent the next two years being prepared for her job as a reigning queen. During her government, she took Wilhelmina on tours through the provinces to visit local charities, hospitals, churches and factories and acquaint Wilhelmina with her future duties.


Queen mother

On August 31st 1898 her daughter queen Wilhelmina reached legal majority (inauguration on September 6th) and queen Emma thereby retired from regency. In her farewell speech as regent, she expressed her wish that The Netherlands should continue to be great in the way small nations could show greatness. Emma continued to live with her daughter until Wilhelmina's marriage to Henry of Mecklenburg in 1901, after which she moved to her own residence Lange Voorhout in The Hague. When her granddaughter
Juliana Juliana (variants Julianna, Giuliana, Iuliana, Yuliana, etc) is a feminine given name which is the feminine version of the Roman name Julianus. Juliana or Giuliana was the name of a number of early saints, notably Saint Julian the Hospitaller, wh ...
was born in 1909, it was declared that in case Juliana succeeded to the throne as a minor, her grandmother Emma should be regent rather than her father. As queen mother Emma continued to attend to public royal representational duties, supporting her daughter and son-in-law, and was a well known figure in her black widow lace. She was called "queen of charity" and especially engaged in improvement of the conditions for those suffering from tuberculosis. She retired from public life when her granddaughter Juliana was declared adult and started to participate in public duties in 1927. The queen mother died in
The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
on 20 March 1934, of complications from
bronchitis Bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchi (large and medium-sized airways) in the lungs that causes coughing. Bronchitis usually begins as an infection in the nose, ears, throat, or sinuses. The infection then makes its way down to the bronchi. ...
at the age of 75, and was buried in
Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...
.


Honours and arms

;National orders and decorationsH.M. (koningin Emma) koningin Adelheid Emma Wilhelmina Theresia, prinses van Waldeck en Pyrmont
. ''arlement.nl''.
''Staatsalmanak voor het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden'', 1921, "Koninkrijk Huis der Nederlanden" p
2
/ref> * Grand Cross of the
Order of the Netherlands Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands ( nl, De Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw, french: L'Ordre du Lion Néerlandais) is a Dutch order of chivalry founded by King William I of the Netherlands on ...
* Grand Cross of the
Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...
* Grand Cross of the
Order of the House of Orange The Order of the House of Orange (Dutch: ''Huisorde van Oranje''), sometimes referred to as the House Order of Orange, is a dynastic order of the House of Orange-Nassau, the royal family of the Netherlands similar to the Royal Victorian Order in ...
* Cross of Merit of the Red Cross ;Foreign orders and decorations * Austro-Hungarian Imperial and Royal Family: Grand Cross of the Imperial Austrian
Order of Elizabeth The Imperial Austrian Order of Elizabeth (German: ''Kaiserlich österreichischer Elisabeth-Orden''), founded in 1898 by Francis Joseph, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, was an order created for women. The order was the namesake of Saint E ...
, ''1901'' * : Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold (civil division), ''August 1898'' * : Grand Cross of the
National Order of the Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...
, ''December 1896'' * German Imperial and Royal Family: Dame of the
Order of Louise The Order of Louise (German: ''Luisen-Orden'') was founded on 3 August 1814 by Frederick William III of Prussia to honor his late wife, the much beloved Queen Louise (''née Luise Auguste Wilhelmine Amalie, Herzogin zu Mecklenburg-Strelitz''). ...
, 1st Division, ''30 May 1892'' ** Mecklenburg Grand Ducal Family: Grand Cross of the
House Order of the Wendish Crown The House Order of the Wendish Crown (german: Hausorden der Wendischen Krone) was an Order of the House of Mecklenburg, jointly instituted on 12 May 1864 by Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Grand Duke Friedrich Wilhelm of ...
* : Grand Cordon of the
Order of the Precious Crown The is a Japanese order, established on January 4, 1888 by Emperor Meiji of Japan. Since the Order of the Rising Sun at that time was an Order for men, it was established as an Order for women. Originally the order had five classes, but on Apr ...
, ''18 June 1898'' * Persian Imperial Family: Order of the Sun, 1st Class *
Portuguese Royal Family The Most Serene House of Braganza ( pt, Sereníssima Casa de Bragança), also known as the Brigantine Dynasty (''Dinastia Brigantina''), is a dynasty of emperors, kings, princes, and dukes of Portuguese people, Portuguese origin which reigned in ...
: Dame of the Order of Queen Saint Isabel *
Russian Imperial Family The House of Romanov (also transcribed Romanoff; rus, Романовы, Románovy, rɐˈmanəvɨ) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastasia Romanova, was married to t ...
: Grand Cross of the Imperial
Order of Saint Catherine The Imperial Order of Saint Catherine (russian: Императорский Орден Святой Екатерины) was an award of Imperial Russia. Instituted on 24 November 1714 by Peter the Great on the occasion of his marriage to Catherine ...
* : 812th Dame of the
Order of Queen Maria Luisa The Royal Order of Noble Ladies of Queen Maria Luisa is an Order created by King Charles IV of Spain by royal decree on April 21, 1792, at the request of his wife, Queen Maria Luisa, to reward noble women who distinguished themselves for their s ...
, ''29 March 1880'' *
Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 mi ...
: Dame of the
Order of the Royal House of Chakri The Most Illustrious Order of the Royal House of Chakri ( th, เครื่องขัตติยราชอิสริยาภรณ์อันมีเกียรติคุณรุ่งเรืองยิ่งมหาจัก ...
, ''7 September 1897'' * Turkish Imperial Family: Grand Cordon of the Order of Charity


Ancestry


References


External links


Koningin Emma (1858–1934)
at the Dutch Royal House website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Emma Of Waldeck And Pyrmont 1858 births 1934 deaths People from Bad Arolsen People from the Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont Dutch queens consort Dutch regents 19th-century women rulers Grand Ducal Consorts of Luxembourg House of Waldeck and Pyrmont Princesses of Waldeck and Pyrmont Queen mothers Wilhelmina of the Netherlands Dames of the Order of Saint Isabel Recipients of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau Grand Crosses of the Order of the House of Orange Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur Grand Cordons of the Order of the Precious Crown Deaths from bronchitis Burials in the Royal Crypt at Nieuwe Kerk, Delft