Messages

1

BeNeLux Royalty / Re: Frederik van Oranje-Nassau (1797-1881) and Luise

« on: August 16, 2015, 06:13:21 AM »

http://20150814_152532


With allowance: painting of the elder prince Frederick from  Het Loo Palace Apeldoorn, former Dutch royal residence, the Netherlands.

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The Hohenzollern / Re: Hannover jewels

« on: December 18, 2011, 06:40:59 AM »

The description says that it is possible that this jewelry was brought in the Hannoverian family bij Viktoria Luise at the event of her marriage but it could also be a gift to Thyra from her relatives (especially her mother was named) at the wedding of Thyra. So it does not give a definite answer to this issue. Sorry.

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BeNeLux Royalty / Re: Time for historic portraits of The Benelux Royalty

« on: November 27, 2011, 11:39:49 AM »

Thank you Marc, indeed a pity that it is not a coloured one. Where is it now? In Karlsruhe?
I tried to locate if there is a coloured version from Marie of the Netherlands, daughter of prince Frederick (you posted recently) but did not succeed so far.
It is the only real portrait from princess Marie as far as I know at least. And she looks pretty in this portrait.

Greetz and thanks a lot.

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The Hohenzollern / Re: The Wied family

« on: November 06, 2011, 08:45:06 AM »

Very interesting Marc, never seen this one. Where is this painting now? In Neuwied palace?
Thanks for sharing

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The Stuarts of Scotland / Re: Mary Princess Royal and William II

« on: October 29, 2011, 08:23:23 AM »

There are 2 Mary Stuarts princess royal:

1. Mary Stuart 1631 - 1660 daughter of Charles l married William ll 1626-1650  son of Stadtholder Frederick Henry and his wife Amalia von Solms (detail: Amaliahad been lady in waiting of Elisabeth Stuart the winterqueen and aunt of Mary Stuart).

They married in may 1641, she was nearly ten and he was fourteen. One year later she came to The Hague in 1642 but she entered public life in the Netherlands in 1644. The marriage was not consumed for several years. William led a free and happy life with other beauties until his mother (Amalia) warned him: she had been informed that Mary 's father had possible intentions to marry her off again to either the French or the Spanish (don't know this exactly anymore). As long as the marriage was not consumed this could be a threat for her disappearing from the Dutch Republic. So William had to bring an offer and slept with her. Eventually she gave birth to a son (William lll who was to become king of Great Britain: the so called Glorious Revolution).
Mary was disliked by naerly every one in The Hague for several reasons. She refused to speak a singel Dutch word at any time, she claimed to be treated as a Royal princess with a big R, she was stobbern and not very bright. Even her own family members (memoirs of Elisabeth Charlotte Palatine and Sophie Hannover) made fun of her insisting to get preference above all other royals in The Hague.

Allthough her husband was indifferent to her she seemed to have fallen for his good looks and charms but he died in 1650 aged 24 (small pox). A few months later she gave birth to a son, William lll. A hell of fight broke out for custody over William lll, Eventually a commission became responsible for his upbringing and Willam lll was "child of state and especially the States of Holland).
Mary and her mother in law Amalia where enemies. Allthough Amalia had been a driving force to marry her son William ll with Mary Stuart but moreover for her own prestige and that of the House of Orange.

As far as I can tell Mary Stuart had no special bonds with her son, she died in London and I believe reading somewhere that she even didn't leave him anything. Amalia, William lll grandmother, watched over him during his years. Only untill 1672 William lll role became more important after becoming Stadtholder and leader in fighting the enemies that threated the Dutch Republic (1672 the so called uear of disaster for the Dutch because of being attacked from the Germans, the French and the British).

In the end William lll married his cousin Mary Stuart daughter of James king of Great Britain. He and his wife became king and queen of Great Britain. Allthough Mary Suart (ll) was not very keen of marrying her nephew and cried out loud when she had to leave to live in The Hague, the Dutch liked her and she learned to appreciate her husband and eventually loved him.

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The Hohenzollern / Re: Sachsen Altenburg family

« on: September 21, 2009, 02:00:59 PM »

One of the sons of Duke Friedrich and duchess Charlotte

Duke JOSEPH Georg Friedrich Ernst Karl 1789-1868 married 1817 Amalie Dss of Württemberg 1799-1848
 
Children
 
Alexandrine Marie Wilhelmine Katharine Charlotte Therese Henriette Luise Pauline Elisabeth Friederike Georgine 1818-1907 married 1843 King Georg V of Hannover 1819-1878
 
Pauline Friederike Henriette Auguste  
1819-1825
 
Henriette Friederike Therese Elisabeth  
1823-1915  
 
Elisabeth Pauline Alexandrine  
1826-1896 married 1852 Peter II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg 1827-1900
 
Alexandra Friederike Henriette Pauline Marianne Elisabeth 1830-1911 married 1848 Constantine, Grand Duke of Russia 1827-1892
 
Luise  
1832-1833

Here a painting of his family I have posted before: duke Joseph, duchess Amalie and their daughters Elisabeth (grandduchess of Oldenburg) Therese (not married) and Marie (queen of Hannover) all looking at another painting possibly their sister Alexandra (grandduchess Alexandra Iosifowna of Russia).
  

I am just back from a trip to Germany. I visited several locations (Halle, Leipzig, Dresden and Altenburg). I really enjoyed Altenburg. The schloss is a museum and the people who work there are so kind and helpfull. I made some great photo's of portraits. I will put them here in short time.

For instance: we got an explanation of this painting by our tour guide (an pensioned woman professor in history and native Altenburg citizen). She knew so much about the Altenburg family and the history of the "Wettiners". But for now the portraits: the 2 princesses on the right are standing as we got explained because they were unmarried (they are Elisabeth, later grandduchess of Oldenburg and on the very right princess Therese). Onlu married princesses could be painted sitiing she told us. Also they both wear shawls (is not the right word am afraid) around there waistes (with a rosa design) to let know that they were still virgins. Also the tour guide told us that princessTherese never married because she took care of her mother (at the time the painting was made in 1848 princess Amalia was already very sick and one year later she died) and later on Therese took care of her father. She was said to be the most prettiest of the four daughters and Napoleon lll wanted to marry her but she refused because she wanted to stay unmarried and she lived the rest of her live in the Schloss of Altenburg.
I just wanted to share this with you because I always wondered why Therese never married and there was so little known of her live and it seemed that nobody could provide any information about her at all.

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BeNeLux Royalty / Re: BeNeLux royal jewels

« on: June 06, 2009, 11:53:07 AM »

Lucien, I can see the hits right here. What I am interested in is an overview of all the jewels and especially the ones not be seen or hardly known, like for instance the new earrings of maxima. Would be nice to have a complete overview. I have seen the site you mentioned so I am aware of that.

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BeNeLux Royalty / Re: BeNeLux royal jewels

« on: June 06, 2009, 09:57:24 AM »

I don't know if there is interest here in looking in all the jewelry of the House of Orange Nassau. I myself am very interested in pieces of the collection which haven't been seen for a long time as was the case with the Peacock ruby tiara. For insatnce I am thinking of pieces like the Stuart diademe or the sapphire bracelets. Is it a good idea to create an overview of the Royal Dutch collection?

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BeNeLux Royalty / Re: Time for historic portraits of The Benelux Royalty

« on: June 06, 2009, 09:52:51 AM »

I am not quite sure if she was really mad and in which degree. It is known to me that she had outbursts of rage during her pregnancies and tyrannized her servants during both pregnancies (she had two sons). From other sources I get the impression that she was highly sensible and very homesick to her mother.  In her early wedding years she visited her homeland and than started crying (as I remeber reading in a book about her mother Marie Louise of Hessen Kassel) as soon as she saw the church tower of Arnhem (she must have travelled by boat down on the Rhine to the Netherlands). So she certainly was a emotional personal.

I am sure her mother raises her to be a good and kind person, so to speak as Marie Louise was herself. Maybe she could have been treatened very easily (by our standards today) for her mental illness, allthough it is not clear to me what she was suffering from.

So alltogether I would say that it will not be easy to find a good portrait of her. Maybe this summer I will visit karlsruhe and Baden Baden. Perhaps there is more to be found overthere.

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BeNeLux Royalty / Re: Nassau Weilburg branche

« on: June 05, 2009, 04:08:04 PM »

Sofia of Nassau (9 July 1836 - 30 December 1913). Married King Oscar II of Sweden. The present Belgian, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish royal families descends from this marriage. Sofia was a half sister of grandduke Adolphe.

Queen Sophie of Sweden




King Oscar ll of Sweden

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BeNeLux Royalty / Re: Nassau Weilburg branche

« on: June 05, 2009, 04:01:04 PM »

On 23 April 1851, Adolphe remarried in Dessau Princess Adelheid-Marie of Anhalt-Dessau (Dessau, 25 December 1833 - Schloss Königstein, 24 November 1916), a daughter of Friedrich, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau. They had five children, of whom only two lived to the age of eighteen and to become prince and princess of Luxembourg:

Adelheid





Adolphe and Adelheid

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BeNeLux Royalty / Re: Nassau Weilburg branche

« on: June 05, 2009, 03:44:40 PM »

Adolphe I, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (Adolph/Adolf Wilhelm August Karl Friedrich of Nassau[-Weilburg]) (Biebrich, 24 July 1817 – Schloss Hohenburg, 17 November 1905) was the last Duke of Nassau, and the fourth Grand Duke of Luxembourg.

On 31 January 1844, Adolph married firstly in St. Petersburg Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mikhailovna of Russia, niece of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia. She died less than a year afterwards in childbirth with a stillborn daughter.

On 23 April 1851, he remarried in Dessau Princess Adelheid-Marie of Anhalt-Dessau (Dessau, 25 December 1833 - Schloss Königstein, 24 November 1916), a daughter of Friedrich, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau. They had five children, of whom only two lived to the age of eighteen and to become prince and princess of Luxembourg:

William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (1852–1912)
Prince Friedrich Paul Wilhelm of Nassau (Biebrich, 23 September 1854 - Biebrich, 23 October 1855)
Princess Marie Bathildis of Nassau (Biebrich, 14 November 1857 - Biebrich, 28 December 1857)
Prince Franz Joseph Wilhelm of Nassau (Biebrich, 30 January 1859 - Vienna, 2 April 1875)
Princess Hilda Charlotte Wilhelmine (1864 - 1952), married HRH Friedrich II, Grand Duke of Baden.

In 1892, Grand Duke Adolphe conferred the hereditary title Count of Wisborg on his Swedish nephew, Oscar, who had lost his Swedish titles after marrying without his father's approval. Wisborg (also spelt Visborg) was the old castle in the city of Visby within Prince Oscar's lost Dukedom of Gotland, but the title itself was created in the nobiliy of Luxembourg.

Adolphe



And in later years

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BeNeLux Royalty / Re: Time for historic portraits of The Benelux Royalty

« on: June 05, 2009, 03:31:19 PM »

Lovely portraits...are there any of Princess Anna Charlotte?

The closest I can get for you: Anna Charlotte Amalia. She was a highly sensible woman and after her husband died at young age she gradually lost grip of her mind. She lived in the same castle as her two children but in a different wing. She was separated from her children by her father in law because he did not want his grandchildren to be influenced by her. Her children though kept in touch with their grandmother and uncle in the Netherlands and they visited Marie Louise regularly at Soestdijk palace for instance.

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BeNeLux Royalty / Re: The Three Kings Willem/William of the Netherlands

« on: June 05, 2009, 09:04:17 AM »

Willem ll and Anna Paulowna. Looking at the protrait of Anna she is frequently wearing a brooch and (small) pearl necklace and pearl tiara. They must have been quitte valuable as she is seen wearing them on onther portraits and especially on this investure painting as queen of the Netherlands.  You might expect that she would wear her most valuable jewelry for this state portrait or am I wrong. Any idea of the whereabouts of these jewelry?

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BeNeLux Royalty / Re: The Three Kings Willem/William of the Netherlands

« on: June 05, 2009, 08:56:27 AM »

Well, I think you're both right about the topic, Willem ll did speak Dutch but not so good though. Throughout his life he was hard to understand. As it seems his wife, queen Anna Paulowna, allthough native Russian, spoke better Dutch than her husband. I was surprised to learn that she even knew the Dutch language. On the contrary, her daughter in law, queen Sophie, never learned Dutch not until her last living years she became interested in the language of the country she was queen of. But she never really managed to speak the language. I remember reading that she pitied not to be a Francaise from childhood on because, as she stated, she always had the feeling that she could not express her feelings in French the way she wanted.

Though Willem ll seemde to have been a very charming person he did not have a stable and firm character. He deperately wanted to be liked by every one and there are speculations that he was vonourable for blackmail because of his bisexuality.
Thanks for your intrest The Prussian, and for your contribution to this board. I appriciate that.