Everything about Prince Of Orange totally explained
Prince of Orange is a
title of
nobility, originally associated with the
Principality of Orange, now in southern
France.
It is carried by members of the
House of Orange-Nassau, as
heirs to the crown of the Netherlands, and is also seen carried by the pretenders by members of the
House of Hohenzollern. It is currently carried by
Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands (Orange-Nassau) and the pretender
Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia (Hohenzollern).
The Principality of Orange
The title originally referred to the sovereign
Principality of Orange in the
Rhone valley in southern
France, which was a property of the
house of Orange and from 1544 of the
house of Orange-Nassau.
Because Orange was a fief in the
Holy Roman Empire, in its
Kingdom of Burgundy, the title contained feudal rights and that sovereignty which German principalities came to enjoy.
The last descendant of the original princes,
René of Nassau, left the principality to his cousin
William the Silent, who wasn't a descendant of the original Orange family but the legal heir of the principality of Orange.
In 1673,
Louis XIV of France annexed all territory of the principality to the royal domain, as part of the war actions against the
stadtholder William III of Orange — who later became King William III of
England and King William II of
Scotland.
In 1673, Louis XIV bestowed the principality on Louis of Mailly-Nesles, marquis of Nesles (1689-1764), a very remote descendant of the original princes of Orange. His descendant still claim the title today. In 1714, Louis XIV bestowed the
usufruct of the principality on prince Louis Armand of Bourbon-Conti. He died in
1727 and the principality was merged in the Crown in
1731.
Because William III died without legitimate children, the principality was regarded as having been inherited by his closest cognate relative,
Frederick I of Prussia, who ceded the principality — at least the lands, but not the formal title — to France in 1713. France supported his claim. In this way, the territory of the principality lost its feudal and secular privileges and became a part of France. The
treaty of Utrecht allowed the King of Prussia to erect part of the duchy of Gelderland (the city of Geldern, Straelen and Wachtendonk with their bailliwicks, Krickenbeck including Viersen, the land of Kessel, the lordships of Afferden, Arcen-Velden-Lomm, Walbeck-Twisteden, Raay and Klein-Kevelaer, Well, Bergen and Middelaar) into a new
principality of Orange. The Kings of Prussia and German Emperors styled themselves Princes of Orange till [1918]].
An
agnatic relative of William III,
John William Friso of Nassau, who also by female line descended from
William the Silent, was designated the heir to the princes of Orange in the
Netherlands by the last will of William III. Several of his descendants became stadtholders. They claim the principality of Orange on the basis of agnatic inheritance, similar to that of William the Silent, inheriting from his cousin
René, though not being a descendant of original princes of Orange, and also on basis of the testament of William III. France never allowed them to obtain anything of the principality itself, but they nevertheless assumed the title. From that derivation of the title comes the tradition of later stadtholders of the Netherlands, and the present-day royal family of the Netherlands, also holding this title.
Thus, there are now two pretender claimants to this title:
Bearers of the title (with dates)
as sovereign prince of Orange
Until 1340, it was customary for all sons of the prince of Orange to inherit the title.
Only the direct line of descent to Raimond V is shown here.
Bertrand I (1171-1181)
William I (1182-1218)
Raymond I (1218-1282)
Bertrand II (1281-1314)
Raymond II (1314-1340)
Raymond III (1340-1393)
Mary (1393-1417), with her husband John I (1393-1418)
Louis I (1418-1463)
William II (1463-1475)
John II (1475-1502)
Philibert (1502 - 1530)
René (1530-1544), nephew of Philibert
William I (1544-1584), cousin of René of Châlon, also Lord of Breda and Count of Dillenburg, stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland etc.
Philip William (1584-1618), son of William I from his 1st marriage, not a stadtholder
Maurice (1618-1625), son of William I from his 2nd marriage, stadtholder
Frederick Henry (1625-1647), son of William I from his 4th marriage, stadtholder
William II (1647-1650), stadtholder
William III (1650-1702), stadtholder, and from 1688 King of England and Scotland
As a personal title or as heir apparent
House of Orange-Nassau (second creation)
John William Friso (1702-1711), descendant in male line of William I's brother, and in female line also of William I himself, stadtholder of Friesland, and his descendants
William IV (1711-1751), stadtholder
William V (1751-1806), stadtholder
William I (1806-1815), invested as first King of the Netherlands in 1815
William II (1815-1840) title dropped on accession to the throne
William III (1840-1849) title dropped on accession to the throne
William (1849-1879), eldest son of William III from his 1st marriage
Alexander (1879-1884), third son of William III from his 1st marriage
William-Alexander (1967-), crown prince of the Netherlands
House of Hohenzollern
Frederick I of Prussia (1702-1713), a senior descendant in female line from William the Silent, who ceded his claims to the lands of Orange to France in 1713, and his descendants
House of Mailly
Louis de Mailly, appointed by the French king, and his descendants
House of Bourbon-Conti
prince Louis Armand of Bourbon-Conti, appointed by the French king, and his descendants
The Princes of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau
Historical background
William the Silent (Willem I) was the first Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic and the most significant representative of the House of Orange in the Netherlands. He was count of a small German county, part of the Duchy of Nassau and heir to some of his father's fiefs in Holland. William obtained more extensive lands in the Netherlands (the lordship of Breda and several other dependencies) as an inheritance from his cousin René, Prince of Orange, when William was only 11 years old. After William's assassination in 1584, the title passed to his son Philip William (who had been held hostage in Spain until 1596), and after his death in 1618 to his second son Maurice, and finally to his youngest son, Frederick Henry.
The title of Prince of Orange became synonymous with the stadtholder of the Netherlands.
William III (Willem III) was also King of England, Scotland and Ireland, and his legacy is commemorated annually by the Protestant Orange Order.
William and Mary had no legitimate children. After his death in 1702, the Dutch contender to his title was his heir in the Netherlands, John William Friso of Nassau-Diez, who assumed the title. William's testament designated Friso to inherit the title. The other contender was the King in Prussia, who based his claim to the title on the will of Frederick Henry, William III's grandfather. Eventually, a compromise was reached by which both families were entitled to bear the title of Prince of Orange. By then, it was no more than a title because the principality had been annexed by Louis XIV of France.
Friso's line held it as their principal title during the 1700s. The French army drove them away from the Netherlands in 1795, but on their return, the Prince of Orange became the first sovereign of the Netherlands in 1813.
After the establishment of the current Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815, the title was partly reconstitutionalized in a bill and granted to the eldest son of King William I of the Netherlands, Prince William, who later became William II of the Netherlands. Since 1983, the heir to the Dutch throne, whether male or female, bears the title Prince or Princess of Orange. The first-born child of the heir to the Dutch throne bears the title Hereditary Prince(ss) of Orange. Currently, Princess Catharina-Amalia is the Hereditary Princess of Orange. She will be the Princess of Orange once her father, Prince Willem-Alexander, is crowned King of the Netherlands.
The Prince(ss) of Orange is styled His/Her Royal Highness the Prince(ss) of Orange (Dutch: Zijne/Hare Koninklijke Hoogheid de Prins(es) van Oranje).
Pretender heirs apparent
Other heirs apparent include:
Dauphin of France in the kingdom of France
Prince of Wales in the united kingdom of Great-Britain and Northern-Ireland
Duke of Brabant in the kingdom of the Belgians
Prince of the Asturias in the kingdom of Spain
Diadochos or Duke of Sparta in the kingdom of the Hellenes
Rex iunior in the kingdom of Hungary
King of the Romans (Rex Romanorum) in the Holy Roman empire
Tsesarevich in the Russian empire
Prince of Naples in the kingdom of Italy
Prince of Beira in the kingdom of Portugal
Prince of Turnovo in the kingdom of Bulgaria
Duke of Calabria in the kingdom of the Two Sicilies
Duke of Rothesay in the kingdom of Scotland
Duke of Cornwall in the kingdom of England
Further Information
Get more info on 'Prince Of Orange'.
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