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Alexander, Prince of Orange

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Alexander
Prince of Orange
Born(1851-08-25)25 August 1851
Noordeinde Palace, The Hague, Netherlands
Died21 June 1884(1884-06-21) (aged 32)
The Hague, Netherlands
Burial17 July 1884
Nieuwe Kerk, Delft, Netherlands
Names
Willem Alexander Karel Hendrik Frederik
HouseOrange-Nassau
FatherWilliam III of the Netherlands
MotherSophie of Württemberg

Alexander, Prince of Orange (Willem Alexander Karel Hendrik Frederik; 25 August 1851 – 21 June 1884), was heir apparent to his father King William III of the Netherlands 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 (1967), no male heirs were born into the Dutch Royal House.

Life

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Prince Alexander of the Netherlands was born in The Hague on 25 August 1851.[1] He was the third child of King William III and Queen Sophie. His second brother, Prince Maurice had died the previous year.[2] Unlike his brother William, 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 heir apparent to the Dutch throne and as such the Prince of Orange.

Alexander held the position of heir apparent until his own death, at age 32, on 21 June 1884 in The Hague from typhus.[1] Although he never married, negotiations were held for him to marry, firstly Princess Thyra of Denmark, and supposedly secondly the Infanta Marie Anne of Portugal. He was buried in the new royal burial vault in the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft on 17 July 1884.[3] After his death, his half-sister, the future Queen Wilhelmina, became heir presumptive to the Dutch throne.[4] Alexander's death meant that on the death of William III the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg came into the hands of Duke Adolphus from the Walram line of the House of Nassau, 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.

Honours

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Ancestry

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References

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  1. ^ a b (in Dutch) Prins Alexander (1851 -1884) Archived 2008-09-18 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 2008-07-28.
  2. ^ (in Dutch) Stamboom Koninklijk Huis Archived 2008-07-26 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 2008-07-28.
  3. ^ The royal burial vaults Archived 2012-02-13 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 2008-07-28.
  4. ^ "Genealogy of the Royal Family of the Netherlands". Archived from the original on 2009-10-28. Retrieved 2013-05-04.
  5. ^ Württemberg (1869). Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreichs Württemberg: 1869. p. 32.
  6. ^ Staatshandbuch für das Großherzogtum Sachsen / Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach (1880), "Großherzogliche Hausorden" p. 14
  7. ^ Jørgen Pedersen (2009). Riddere af Elefantordenen, 1559–2009 (in Danish). Syddansk Universitetsforlag. p. 467. ISBN 978-87-7674-434-2.
  8. ^ "A Szent István Rend tagjai" Archived 22 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "Schwarzer Adler-orden", Königlich Preussische Ordensliste (in German), vol. 1, Berlin, 1877, p. 14{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  10. ^ "The King's Tour Round the World: Additional Particulars of the Royal Visit to Spain and Portugal". Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands: The Pacific Commercial Advertiser. October 15, 1881. Retrieved December 16, 2016 – via Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alexander, Prince of Orange.
Alexander, Prince of Orange
Born: 25 August 1851 Died: 21 June 1884
Dutch royalty
Preceded by Prince of Orange
1879–1884 		Vacant
Title next held by
Willem-Alexander
Masonic offices
Preceded by Grand Master of the
Grand Orient of the Netherlands
1882–1884 		Succeeded by
Pieter Johannes Gesinus van Diggelen
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