Who was King Willem III of The Netherlands?
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