The Prince of Orange's mother,
Queen Sophie of the Netherlands, was an Anglophile and very, very keen on a marriage to one of Queen Victoria's daughters and Prince Albert was initially in favor of Alice marrying the heir to the Dutch throne. Both Alice and William were very indifferent to the idea though they were aware of their parents desires. The British and Dutch press often wrote about it.
Guess I've wondered about what would have happened if Prince Albert's original plan to marry Princess Alice to the Prince of Orange had happened. Hemophilia into the Dutch Royal Family. Would Nicholas II had married one of her daughters and would it have made a difference in Russian to non-German Dutch bride since so much much was made of Alexandra's German origins especially in World War II. Would they have a son and heir since the House of Orange in the male line died out in that generation? Princess Alice probably would have been beyond miserable in that marriage. Wonder if Edward VIII would have partied with the Prince of Orange the way he in the same seeing how miserable his marriage with his beloved sister was going? Would Alice have better the Prince of Orange? Would they both died young (she in 1878 and he in 1879)? There's a lot of "what if" in this.
This is what David Duff has to say in 'Hessian Tapestry' about the 'Orange Boy' and his subsequent history.
''What then, of the future of "the Orange Boy", who, of man's age, became "Citron" of the Paris boulevards? Not long after the debacle with Princess Alice, he pondered on the possibilities of Princess Mary of Cambridge, with whom he had been at the theatre on the night when he had no eyes for the ballet girls. He prepared another onslaught on London.
The thought of such an alliance filled Napoleon III with many misgivings. Princess Mary's brother was British Commander-in-Chief. Her family was, on her mother's side, strongly entrenched in Germany. He decided that the marriage should not take place. But he shelved the customary high level methods of other rulers, and employed more subtle means. His plan was made easier when he learned that "Citron" was travelling to London via Paris.
There was laid across his route, as if by accident, one Elizabeth Cookson, a strumpet of great renown, who had once served in a New York whisky dive. The trap proved even more successful than the Emperor had dared to hope. Not only did the Prince delay his journey to England so that he might dally with Elizabeth, but he openly drove around with her in an orange coloured landau bearing the Royal Arms of Holland. The news flashed around London and, when the Prince finally arrived there, he found all doors firmly closed.
Apparently unconcerned, the Prince returned to Paris and continued his love life with Miss Cookson. The idyll was broken by the furious King of Holland, who cut off financial supplies. The couple were quickly in debt. It was Elizabeth who suggested the plan that she should go to the Hague and apeal to the King for help to relieve them of their pressing needs. "Citron" agreed, and she took the train to Holland.'
The upshot was that she became his father's mistress, caused a hige scandal in Holland and departed a very rich woman with the deeds to an apparently worthless lead mine that the King had given her, which subsequently turned out to be very valuable!
The Orange Boy tried his hand for Pcss Louise, but Q.Victoria blocked that idea swiftly; other objects of his affection were an American heiress, Cora Pearl, the notorious courtesan, Lady Diana Beauclerk, daughter of the Duke of St Albans and finally Sarah Bernhardt.
He died in 1879, diabetic and very much a victim of his fast way of life. In the words of Sir George Arthur, he died with no real enemy in the world except himself.
