Alexander, Prince of Orange (Willem ''Alexander'' Karel Hendrik Frederik; 25 August 1851 – 21 June 1884), was

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

to his father

King William III of the Netherlands William III (Dutch: ''Willem Alexander Paul Frederik Lodewijk''; English: ''William Alexander Paul Frederick Louis''; 19 February 1817 – 23 November 1890) was King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 1849 until his death in 18 ...

from 11 June 1879 until his death. For a span of 116 years, from the birth of Alexander (1851) until the birth of the present king

Willem-Alexander Willem-Alexander (; Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand; born ) is King of the Netherlands, having acceded to the throne following his mother's abdication in 2013. Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht as the oldest child of Princess Beat ...

(1967), no male heirs were born into the Dutch Royal House.

Life

Prince Alexander of the Netherlands was born 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 o ...

on 25 August 1851.Prins Alexander (1851 -1884)
. Retrieved on 2008-07-28. He was the third child of

King William III William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from the ...

and Queen Sophie. His second brother,

Prince Maurice Maurice, Prince Palatine of the Rhine KG (16 January 1621, in Küstrin Castle, Brandenburg – September 1652, near the Virgin Islands), was the fourth son of Frederick V, Elector Palatine and Princess Elizabeth, only daughter of King James VI ...

had died the previous year. Unlike his brother

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 ...

, the heir-apparent, he was disciplined, intellectual and well-read. His mother, Queen Sophie died in 1877. After Prince William's death two years later on 11 June 1879, he became

to the Dutch throne and as such the

Prince of Orange Prince of Orange (or Princess of Orange if the holder is female) is a title originally associated with the sovereign Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France and subsequently held by sovereigns in the Netherlands. The title ...

. Alexander held the position of heir apparent until his own death, at age 32, on 21 June 1884 in The Hague from

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. ...

. Although he never married, negotiations were held for him to marry, firstly

Princess Thyra of Denmark Princess Thyra of Denmark, , (Thyra Amalie Caroline Charlotte Anna; 29 September 1853 – 26 February 1933) was the youngest daughter and fifth child of Christian IX of Denmark and Louise of Hesse-Kassel. In 1878, she married Ernest Augustus, ...

, and supposedly secondly the

Infanta Marie Anne of Portugal Infanta Marie Anne of Portugal ( pt, Maria Ana; 13 July 1861 – 31 July 1942) was Grand Duchess of Luxembourg as the wife of Grand Duke Guillaume IV. She was the regent of Luxembourg between 1908 and 1912; first during the illness of her spouse ...

. He was buried in the new royal burial vault in the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft on 17 July 1884.The royal burial vaults
. Retrieved on 2008-07-28. After his death, his half-sister, 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 ...

, became

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. ...

to the Dutch throne. Alexander's death meant that on the death of William III 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 ...

came into the hands of Duke Adolphus from the Walram line of the

House of Nassau The House of Nassau is a diversified aristocratic dynasty in Europe. It is named after the lordship associated with Nassau Castle, located in present-day Nassau, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The lords of Nassau were originally titled "Count ...

, as under the terms of the house-treaty a princess could not succeed to that title. Prince Alexander was Grand Master of the

Grand Orient of the Netherlands The Grand Orient of the Netherlands or Grand East of the Netherlands (Dutch: ''Orde van Vrijmetselaren onder het Grootoosten der Nederlanden'') is a Masonic Grand Lodge in the Netherlands. It falls within the mainstream Anglo-American tradition of ...

Honours

* : 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 ...

, ''1861'' * : Grand Cross of the

Order of the Oak Crown The Order of the Oak Crown (french: Ordre de la Couronne de chêne, german: Eichenlaubkronenorden, lb, Eechelaafkrounenuerden) is an order of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. History The Order of the Oak Crown was established in 1841 by Gran ...

, ''1861'' * : Grand Cross of the Order of the Württemberg Crown, ''1869'' * : Grand Cross of the

Order of the White Falcon Order of the White Falcon (german: Hausorden vom Weißen Falken) is a grand-ducal order of Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, founded by Duke Ernest Augustus on 2 August 1732, and renewed in 1815 by Charles Augustus. Description In the early 2 ...

, ''1873'' * : Knight of the Order of the Elephant, ''4 July 1874'' *

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

: Grand Cross of the Royal Hungarian

Order of Saint Stephen The Order of Saint Stephen (Official: Sacro Militare Ordine di Santo Stefano Papa e Martire, "Holy Military Order of St. Stephen Pope and Martyr") is a Roman Catholic Tuscan dynastic military order founded in 1561. The order was created by C ...

, ''1874'' *

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

: Knight of the

Order of the Black Eagle The Order of the Black Eagle (german: Hoher Orden vom Schwarzen Adler) was the highest order of chivalry in the Kingdom of Prussia. The order was founded on 17 January 1701 by Elector Friedrich III of Brandenburg (who became Friedrich I, King ...

, ''4 December 1874'' * : Grand Cross of the Order of Kamehameha I, ''1881''

Ancestry

References

External links

Biography of Alexander of the Netherlands (1851–1884)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Prince Of Orange 1851 births 1884 deaths Dutch members of the Dutch Reformed Church House of Orange-Nassau Heirs apparent who never acceded Princes of Orange Princes of Orange-Nassau Leiden University alumni Nobility from The Hague Burials in the Royal Crypt at Nieuwe Kerk, Delft Deaths from typhus Recipients of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary Sons of kings