Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (german: Heinrich Wladimir Albrecht Ernst; nl, Hendrik Vladimir Albrecht Ernst; 19 April 1876 – 3 July 1934) was

Prince consort of the Netherlands A consort of the Netherlands is a person married to a Dutch monarch during his or her reign. All female spouses of the monarchs of the Netherlands have been titled " Queen of the Netherlands" with the style '' Majesty''. The male spouses of the th ...

from 7 February 1901 until his death in 1934 as the husband of

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 ...

. He was the longest-serving Dutch consort.

Biography

Henry of

Mecklenburg-Schwerin The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was a duchy in northern Germany created in 1701, when Frederick William and Adolphus Frederick II divided the Duchy of Mecklenburg between Schwerin and Strelitz. Ruled by the successors of the Nikloting Hou ...

was born on 19 April 1876 in

Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgian Low German: ''Swerin''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the capital and second-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as well as of the region of Mecklenburg, after Rostock. It ...

. He was the youngest son of

Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Frederick Francis II (German: ''Friedrich Franz II;'' 28 February 1823 – 15 April 1883) was a Prussian officer and Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin from 7 March 1842 until 15 April 1883. Biography He was born in Schloss Ludwigslust, th ...

, and his third wife,

Princess Marie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Princess Marie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (german: Prinzessin Marie von Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt; 29 January 1850 – 22 April 1922) was the consort and third wife of Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. She was mother of Pr ...

. On 6 February 1901, Henry was created a Prince of the Netherlands and the next day, 7 February, married Queen Wilhelmina 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 ...

. Their only child together,

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. On 4 September 1948, Wilhelmina abdicated as queen of the Netherlands, to be succeeded by her daughter. Henry also fathered at least one illegitimate child,

Pim Lier Albrecht Willem "Pim" Lier (22 July 1918 – 9 April 2015) was a Dutch lawyer and jurist. He became well known in 1979 when he was revealed to be the illegitimate son of Prince Henry, the husband of Queen Wilhelmina. This made him a paternal ...

. Born in 1918, Lier eventually rose to prominence in

post-war In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period ...

Dutch politics as chairman of the right-wing extremist Centre Party. The birth of a son out of wedlock was likely to be only symptomatic for the duke's increasingly strained relationship with his wife. This became all the more clear at the time of the opening ceremony of the Amsterdam Summer Olympics in 1928. Henry was not only to attend, but even to preside over the festivities, but Wilhelmina stayed away, stating that she was prevented from attending by her personal religious conviction that this type of event should not take place on a Sunday. Henry became the 279th

Knight Grand Cross Grand Cross is the highest class in many orders, and manifested in its insignia. Exceptionally, the highest class may be referred to as Grand Cordon or equivalent. In other cases, there may exist a rank even higher than Grand Cross, e.g. Grand ...

of the Portuguese

Order of the Tower and Sword The Ancient and Most Noble Military Order of the Tower and of the Sword, of the Valour, Loyalty and Merit ( pt, Antiga e Muito Nobre Ordem Militar da Torre e Espada, do Valor, Lealdade e Mérito), before 1910 Royal Military Order of the Tower an ...

and in 1924 was appointed as the 1,157th

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

of the Spanish

Order of the Golden Fleece The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece ( es, Insigne Orden del Toisón de Oro, german: Orden vom Goldenen Vlies) is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in 1430, to celebrate his marriag ...

. He died in

, Netherlands, on 3 July 1934, aged 58.Joop W. Koopmans, Arend H. Huussen, Jr., ''Historical Dictionary of the Netherlands'' (2007), p, 243

Scouting

He successfully merged the two Dutch Boy Scout organisations Nederlandse Padvinders Organisatie (NPO, Netherlands Pathfinder Organisation) and the Nederlandse Padvinders Bond (NPB, Netherlands Pathfinder Federation) on 11 December 1915 to form De Nederlandse Padvinders (NPV, The Netherlands Pathfinders). He became the Royal Commissioner of that organisation and he asked

Jean Jacques Rambonnet Jean Jacques Rambonnet (8 March 1864, Wijhe – 3 August 1943, Rotterdam) was a Dutch naval officer and politician. Reaching the rank of vice admiral, he served as Minister of the Navy, Acting Minister of Colonies, and Acting Minister of War ...

to become chairman in 1920.

Extramarital relationships

Prince Henry was known to have had numerous extra-marital affairs. It is rumored that, overall, Prince Henry fathered between three and ten illegitimate children, but firm proof remains elusive, except for Albrecht Willem Lier, known as the above-noted Pim Lier (22 July 1918 – 9 April 2015). During her widowhood, Queen Wilhelmina paid monthly allowances to three known ex-mistresses: Julia Cervey in Geneva (two hundred guilders per month); Wilhelmine Steiner in Zurich (five hundred guilders per month); and Mien Lier-Wenneker (1887-1973), in The Hague (five hundred guilders per month). Mien Abbo-Wenneker (later Lier-Wenneker, 1887-1973), gave birth to a total of six children; the older two, sisters Christina Margaretha Abbo & Edith Abbo (later Sheep-Abbo) were ostensibly the daughters of Mien’s first husband, Dhr. Abbo, but strongly rumored to have been fathered by Prince Henry. In 1919, Mien married Lieutenant Jan Derk Lier, a former aide-de-camp to Prince Henry. A grant of one hundred thousand guilders was arranged for Lt. Lier from the State by police chief François van 't Sant, whom Queen Wilhelmina engaged to verify the facts of her husband’s extramarital relationships and children. This, plus a monthly allowance to the Lt from the state of one thousand guilders, was in return for his commitment to "the three children of HRH.” The male parent of the remaining three children was not verified as being either Prince Henry or Lt. Lier. Subsequent to their birth, no additional allowance was settled on the family; in fact, the monthly allowance of one thousand guilders to Lt. Jan Derk Lier was halved by van't Sant after a short period, although the allowance to his wife continued.

Honours and awards

;German decorations
Grossherzoglich Mecklenburg-Schwerinscher Staatskalendar
', 1908, p. 5
Staatsalmanak voor het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden
', 1921, "Koninkrijk Huis der Nederlanden" pp. 1-2 ;Foreign decorations

Ancestry

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin 1876 births 1934 deaths House of Orange-Nassau Dutch royal consorts Dutch members of the Dutch Reformed Church Members of the Council of State (Netherlands) House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Dutch people of German descent Royal Netherlands Army officers Royal Netherlands Army generals Royal Netherlands Navy admirals Royal Netherlands Navy officers Royal Netherlands East Indies Army generals Royal Netherlands East Indies Army officers Prussian Army personnel Converts to Calvinism from Lutheranism Sea rescue Scouting and Guiding in the Netherlands Burials in the Royal Crypt at Nieuwe Kerk, Delft Wilhelmina of the Netherlands 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 Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary Grand Crosses of the Order of Christ (Portugal) Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knights of the Order of Saint John in the Netherlands Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)