Who was King Willem III of The Netherlands?

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On 23 November 1890, King Willem (William) III of The Netherlands died in Apeldoorn.


Birth

William was born on 19 February 1817 in the Palace of the Nation in Brussels, which was then a part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. 



Family

His parents were the future King William II of the Netherlands and Anna  Pavlovna of Russia. He had three brothers (one died young) and one sister. 



King William II (the father) and his family. 


Early life


At the age of 10, in 1827, he was made an honorary colonel in the Royal Netherlands Army. In the 1830's he served as lieutenant in the Grenadiers Regiment. 




Reign


At the beginning, King William III ruled over the Netherlands and Luxembourg as well. 

In 1856, the "Luxembourg Coup" took place. William instituted a new constitution for Luxembourg which he ruled personally separate from the crown. 

In 1867, France offered to buy Luxembourg, which led to the Luxembourg Crisis. However the Second Treaty of London re-established Luxembourg as a fully independent country. 

During his reign, the king became more and more unpopular with the bourgeois- liberal subjects, but he remained quite popular with the common man. 

Health


King William became seriously ill in 1887. He suffered from a kidney-ailment. In 1888 and 1889, the ailing king became demented. The Council of State and then Queen Emma became Regents. 



Love and marriage


King William III of the Netherlands married his first cousin, Sophie. She was the daughter of King William I of Württemberg and Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna of Russia. This took place on 18 June 1839 in Stuttgart. 

Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, who corresponded with Princess Sophie, called him an uneducated farmer.  William and Sophie had three children together:

- Willem Nicolaas Alexander (1840-1879);
- Willem Frederik Maurits (1843-1850):
- Willem Alexander Karel (1851-1884).

His children died all before King William III. 

After the death of Sophie, King William III married princess Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont in 1879. They had one daughter Wilhelmina. King William III of the Netherlands also had some natural children.  However he was succeeded by Emma as regent and Wilhelmina as Queen of the Netherlands. 




Source picture 1 : book cover
Source pictures :  Wikipedia
Location: Apeldoorn, Nederland

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