Stadholder Willem III and Princess Mary, King and Queen of England & Scotland

[Marengo]

Stadholder-King Willem III (1692-1702), Princess/Queen Mary (II) (1662-1694)

This thread is about Prince Willem III Hendrik of Orange, (The Hague, 14 November 1650 – Kensington Palace, 8 March 1702 Prince of Orange from his birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders and Overijssel from 28 June 1672, King of England and King of Ireland from 13 February 1689, and King of Scotland from 11 April 1689, in each case until his death and Princess Mary (St. James Palace 30 April 1662 – Kensington Palace 28 December 1694)

Parents Willem III: Stadholder Willem II, Prince of Orange and Princess Mary Henrietta of England

Parents Mary: King James II of England, Scotland and Ireland and Lady Anne Hyde

Sister Mary II: Queen Anne of Great-Britain

Half-brother Mary II: James Francis Edward Stuart, ´The Old Pretender´

Nickname Willem III: King Billy

Nickname Mary II: The Faultless Queen

Note that the images posted by me in this thread are free of copyrights, unless stated differently.

 

[Marengo]

William III of England (The Hague, 14 November 1650 – Kensington Palace, 8 March 1702; also known as William II of Scotland and William III of Orange) was a Dutch aristocrat and a Protestant Prince of Orange from his birth, Stadtholder of the main provinces of the Dutch Republic from 28 June 1672, King of England and King of Ireland from 13 February 1689, and King of Scotland from 11 April 1689, in each case until his death.
Born a member of the House of Orange-Nassau, William III won the English, Scottish and Irish Crowns following the Glorious Revolution, during which his uncle and father-in-law, James II, was deposed. In England, Scotland and Ireland, William ruled jointly with his wife, Mary II, until her death on 28 December 1694. He reigned as 'William II' in Scotland, but 'William III' in all his other realms. Among Unionists in Northern Ireland, he is today informally known as King Billy.
William III was appointed to the Dutch post of Stadtholder on 28 June 1672 (Old Style), and remained in office until he died. In that context, he is sometimes referred to as 'William Henry, Prince of Orange', as a translation of his Dutch title, Willem Hendrik, Prins van Oranje. A Protestant, William participated in many wars against the powerful Catholic King Louis XIV of France. Many Protestants heralded him as a champion of their faith; it was partly due to such a reputation that he was able to take the crown of England, many of whose people were intensely fearful of Catholicism and the papacy, although other reasons for his success might be his army and a fleet four times larger than the famed Spanish Armada. His reign marked the beginning of the transition from the personal control of government of the Stuarts to the Parliamentary type rule of the House of Hanover.

Read more about Stadholder Willem III in this wikipedia article.

 

[Marengo]

Mary II (30 April 1662 – 28 December 1694) reigned as Queen of England and Ireland from 13 February 1689, and as Queen of Scots (as Mary II of Scotland) from 11 April 1689 until her death. Mary, a Protestant, came to the thrones following the Glorious Revolution, which resulted in the deposition of her Roman Catholic father, James II. Mary reigned jointly with her husband and first cousin, William III, who became the sole ruler of both countries upon her death in 1694. Popular histories usually refer to the joint reigns as those of "William and Mary". Mary, although a sovereign in her own right, did not wield power during most of her reign, instead ceding it to her husband. She did, however, govern the realms when William was engaged in military campaigns abroad.

Read more about Princess Mary in this wikipedia article.

 

[Marengo]

Some paintings and drawings of the landing of Prince Willen III in England, which started the Glorious Revolution:

 

[Marengo]

Willem III teacher was raadspensionaris Johan de Witt. Willem was a child of state in an era when the House of Orange was with little power and did not receive the stadholderships. In the disaster year 1672 Johan de Witt and his brother Cornelis de Witt were dragged to the Inner Court in The Hague and butchered by the populace of The Hague. According to some statements Willem III watched it all from a window. After this the people looked to the House of Orange again to save them from the French, English and some German states, which he did.

 

[Marengo]

As they William and Mary were joint souvereigns in England there are many portraits showing the two of them together, which wasn´t a custom in those days. Here a painting of them granting the Bill of Rights:

 

[Marengo]

Young Willem III:

Prince Willem III with his aunt Princess Maria of Orange-Nassau, future Princess of Simmern

 

[Marengo]

More portraits:

 

[Marengo]

Some more:

 

[Marengo]

More:

 

[Marengo]

Mary II:

 

[Marengo]

More of Queen Mary II:

 

[Marengo]

Mary in her younger years:

 

[Marengo]

More portraits of Willem III:

 

[Marengo]

Property of the Rijksmuseum, these curious bustes of Willem and Mary:

 

[Marengo]

And Mary again:

 

[Marengo]

Michiel de Ruyter visiting Willem III:

 

[lucien]

What a wonderfull thread and images,thank you Marengo.Just imagine,if they had offspring..

 

[Marengo]

That is one of those interestinng ´What if....´ scenarios. I don´t think it would have been likely that one child would head both states though. Already during Willem III´s reign the Dutch became overshadowed by the British, which speeded up the decline of the republic (with many other factors of course).

 

[Marengo]

You are welcome Al bina, I am glad somebody is enjoying them as I seem to be posting for a very small niche-market here

Here an engraving from 1687 of Mary and William:

´The Queen is wearing a Fontange à la Sultane head-dress. The décolleté is starting to become rectangular. The jupe is decorated with broad fringes at the hem. The King is wearing an embroidered coat with vertical pockets, and a swordbelt à la the latest military fashion, 1687´

More engravings of others on this site.

 

[Helena]

Is there any thruth in the rumours that Willem III had a gay relationship with Hans Willem Bentinck, the first Earl of Portland.

Another thing I heard is that the States of Gueldres offerend Willem III the title Duke of Guelders. Why didn´t this work out?

 

[Marengo]

About your last question: Guelders and the other 2 provinces that were so easily invaded by the French had difficulties in getting their position back in the States General after the peace treaty. Esp. Holland thought that Gueldres surrendered far too quickly and wanted to govern the province as a generalitietsland, like they did with N-Brabant. So no vote in the state general and under direct rule of The Hague. Now the House of Orange and the regents of Holland were usually each others enemies, and in this case it was no exception. Guelders hence sought protection with the Orange party. The Orange party in return made sure that Gueldres got their nromal position in the States General back. They offered Willem III the Ducal title, but that was probably blocked by the regents. Still, Gueldres, like Zeeland, would remain the most loyal state to the house of Orange till the French invasion in 1797. They basically always supported the Orange party.

 

[Marengo]

On the frontpage of saturdays NRC Handelsblad newspaper there was an article about new research on the murder on the de Witt brother. Before it was assumed that the brothers were lynched by the mob, with the approval of Willem III. The recent research says this is untrue and they were lynched by burghers as well, who were usually anti-Orange. So the role of Willem III in this is not as clear.

Of course Dumas made a real crook out of him in 'The Black Tullip', as he made WIllem III watch in the middle of the crowd, while his old tutor was lynched.

 

[bartholomeus]

Mary II:

Are you sure this picture could not be Queen Anne?? (notice st. Edwards crown)

 

[bartholomeus]

I'm referring to the third picture btw

 

[Kotroman]

I too think it's Queen Anne, because the portrait you're referring to bears some resemblance to other portraits of Queen Anne, but I'm not sure...

 

[bartholomeus]

yes the resemblance also ... but the composition too.. Mary, I believe is never painted with such a regal 'aura' that doesnt seem to leave room for William... but please correct me if im wrong..

 

[Marengo]

I think you are right actually. Mary's face is usually somewhat different like in the first painting and her eyes are smaller.
Out of curiosity, why wouldn't Mary wear the Edwards crown?

 

[Kotroman]

I suppose because she was always submissive to her husband, which is shame, considering that she was a queen regnant. She didn't want to look more regal than her husband, not even in the portraits. It seems that she was only painted while touching the crown with her hand in the style of Portuguese monarchs.

Are there any theories about their incapability to bear children? William didn't have children by any of his mistresses, as far as I know, so it's likely that he was the one with a problem.

 

[Marengo]

I m not sure if William ever had a mistress actually. I believe there were rumours about Elizabeth Villiers, who was aknowledged as his mistress but the nature of their relationship is unclear. Historians still disagree about William's (supposed) homosexuality though.

In any case, Mary was pregnant but miscarried. After an illness (I do not know which one) she was unable to have children anymore.