Prince William Frederick Henry of the Netherlands (

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

: Willem Frederik Hendrik; 13 June 1820 – 13 January 1879) was the third son of King

William II of the Netherlands William II ( nl, Willem Frederik George Lodewijk, anglicized as William Frederick George Louis; 6 December 1792 – 17 March 1849) was King of the Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and Duke of Limburg. William II was the son of Willia ...

and his wife, Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna of Russia. He was born at

Soestdijk Palace Soestdijk Palace ( nl, Paleis Soestdijk ) is a palace formerly belonging to the Dutch Royal Family. It consists of a central block and two wings. Although named after the village of Soestdijk, which is largely in the municipality of Soest, the ...

. Prince Henry became Governor 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 ...

in 1850, in which capacity he served until his death in 1879. During his tenure, he worked with the government to launch the reactionary Coup of 1856, which consolidated power in the monarchy and the executive. However, most of the changes were reversed by the new

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

issued in 1868 after the 1867 Luxembourg Crisis, during which the crown tried to sell the grand duchy to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Career

Prince Henry was appointed an officer in the navy in his teens, and served many years, whence the sobriquet ''de Zeevaarder'' ("the Navigator"), after the Portuguese

Prince Henry the Navigator ''Dom'' Henrique of Portugal, Duke of Viseu (4 March 1394 – 13 November 1460), better known as Prince Henry the Navigator ( pt, Infante Dom Henrique, o Navegador), was a central figure in the early days of the Portuguese Empire and in the 15t ...

. He visited the Dutch East Indies in 1837, remaining there for seven months.

Personal life

He married twice. On 9 May 1853, in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

, he married Amalia Maria da Gloria Augusta of

Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (german: Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach) was a historical German state, created as a duchy in 1809 by the merger of the Ernestine duchies of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach, which had been in personal union since 1741. It was ra ...

(

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...

, 20 May 1830 -

Walferdange Castle Walferdange Castle (french: Château de Walferdange), located in the small town of Walferdange in central Luxembourg, dates from 1824, when William I of the Netherlands, who was also Grand Duke of Luxembourg, built it as a stud farm. It was a part ...

, 1 May 1872). On 24 August 1878, in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream o ...

, he married Marie Elisabeth Louise Frederica of Prussia (

Marmorpalais The Marmorpalais (or Marble Palace) is a former royal residence in Potsdam, near Berlin in Germany, built on the grounds of the extensive '' Neuer Garten'' on the shores of the '' Heiliger See'' (lake). The palace was commissioned by King ''Friedr ...

, 14 September 1855 – Schloss Albrechtsberg, 20 June 1888). Both marriages were childless. At the time of his death at

from measles, he was third in line of succession to the Dutch throne. Throughout his life, his title was His Royal Highness Prince Henry of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, Prince of Orange-Nassau.

Legacy

The

Prins Hendrikkade Prins Hendrikkade (Dutch for "Prince Henry's Quay") is a major street in the centre of Amsterdam. It passes Amsterdam Central Station, intersects the Damrak at the mouth of the Amstel river, and forms the southern end of the IJtunnel across the ...

, a major street in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

, was named after Prince Henry following his death in 1879. A bust of Henry stands on the street. The Prins Hendrik Stichting, a charity founded by Prince Henry in 1871 and named after him, provides care to sailors and their widows. In Luxembourg, an oak tree in Grünewald forest was planted and named after him following his death in 1879. The city of

also has a street named after Henry, the Boulevard Prince-Henri.

Honours

He received the following orders and decorations: * : 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 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 ...

* : Knight of the Order of St. Andrew the First-called, ''10 June 1834'' *

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 ...

, ''8 February 1842'' * : 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 ...

, ''4 February 1845'' * : Grand Cross of the Order of the Württemberg Crown, ''1849'' *

Sweden-Norway Sweden and Norway or Sweden–Norway ( sv, Svensk-norska unionen; no, Den svensk-norske union(en)), officially the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, and known as the United Kingdoms, was a personal union of the separate kingdoms of Sweden ...

: Knight of the

Order of the Seraphim The Royal Order of the Seraphim ( sv, Kungliga Serafimerorden; ''Seraphim'' being a category of angels) is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the P ...

, ''23 February 1850'' *

Ernestine duchies The Ernestine duchies (), also known as the Saxon duchies (, although the Albertine appanage duchies of Weissenfels, Merseburg and Zeitz were also "Saxon duchies" and adjacent to several Ernestine ones), were a group of small states whose num ...

: Grand Cross of the Saxe-Ernestine House Order, ''June 1853'' * : Grand Cross of the

Order of Adolphe of Nassau The Order of Civil and Military Merit of Adolph of Nassau (french: Ordre de Mérite civil et militaire d’Adolphe de Nassau) is an order of merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg for meritorious service to the Grand Duke, the Grand-Ducal House ...

, with Swords, ''June 1858'' *

Electorate of Hesse The Electorate of Hesse (german: Kurfürstentum Hessen), also known as Hesse-Kassel or Kurhessen, was a landgraviate whose prince was given the right to elect the Emperor by Napoleon. When the Holy Roman Empire was abolished in 1806, its p ...

: Knight of the

House Order of the Golden Lion }) was an order of the German Landgraviate and Electorate of Hesse-Kassel and later, the Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine. It was first instituted in 1770 by Landgrave Frederick II, in honour of and under the patronage of Saint Elizabeth of Hun ...

, ''12 September 1859'' * : Grand Cross of the House and Merit Order of Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig, with Golden Crown, ''24 February 1878'' * : Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold (military), ''25 March 1878''

Ancestry

Footnotes

External links

1820 births 1879 deaths Dutch members of the Dutch Reformed Church Princes of Orange-Nassau House of Orange-Nassau Orangism in Luxembourg Burials in the Royal Crypt at Nieuwe Kerk, Delft Recipients of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Sons of kings {{Europe-noble-stub