Maria Henrietta Stuart
Princess Maria, Princess Royal, Princess of Orange and Countess of Nassau (Mary Henrietta Oranien-Nassau , née Stuart ; born November 4, 1631 in St James's Palace , London , † December 24, 1660 in the Palace of Whitehall , ibid) was the oldest Daughter of King Charles I of England , Scotland and Ireland and his wife, Henrietta Maria of France . Maria was the first daughter of a British monarch to be called Princess Royal .
She was the wife of Wilhelm II, Prince of Orange and Count of Nassau (1626–1650) and mother of King Wilhelm III. of England .
Youth and marriage
Charles I made Maria Henrietta Princess Royal in 1642 , thus establishing the tradition that the monarch's eldest daughter could bear this title. The reason for the title was the wish of Maria's mother Henrietta Maria, a daughter of Henry IV of France , to imitate the title of the eldest daughter of French kings, " Madame Royale " .
Mary's father wanted her to marry a son of Philip IV of Spain . Her cousin, Elector Karl I Ludwig von der Pfalz, was also a possible candidate for marriage. Both projects failed, however, and she was married to Wilhelm, the son and heir of the governor Friedrich Heinrich von Orange . The marriage was concluded on May 2, 1641 in the Royal Chapel in Whitehall Palace in London, but was not consummated for a few years because of the young age of the bride . In 1642, Maria and her mother crossed over to Holland and from 1644 began to take part in public life as the governor's daughter-in-law .
Next life
In March 1647 her husband Wilhelm II succeeded his father as governor. However, he died in November 1650, shortly after his attempt to bring Amsterdam under his control , to smallpox . The couple's only child, Wilhelm III. , was born eight days after his father's death. The Dowager Princess of Orange had to share the guardianship of her child with his grandmother Amalie and Elector Friedrich Wilhelm von Brandenburg . Because of her closeness to her family, the Stuarts, she was unpopular with the Dutch. After the hospitality she showed her brothers in exile, the titular king Charles II and Jacob, Duke of York , public opinion turned completely against her and she was forbidden to see her relatives. Between 1654 and 1657, the princess spent most of the time outside of Holland. In 1657 she became regent for her son in the Principality of Orange , but the difficulties in her office led her to seek the help of Louis XIV of France , who conquered the Principality.
The restoration of Charles II in England improved the position of Mary and her son in Holland. In September 1660 she returned to England, where she died of smallpox in December in Whitehall Palace . She was buried in Westminster Abbey .
See also
literature
- Uwe Schögl (Red.): Orange. 500 years of portraits of a dynasty from the portrait collection of the Austrian National Library, Vienna and the Dutch Royal Collection The Hague. (Exhibition from February 1 to March 19, 2002, Camineum of the Austrian National Library, Vienna). Austrian National Library et al., Vienna 2002, ISBN 3-01-000028-6 , p. 72.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Stuart, Maria Henrietta |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Orange-Nassau, Maria Henrietta; Orange-Nassau, Mary Henrietta |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Anglo-Scottish princess and daughter of Charles I. |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 4, 1631 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | St James's Palace , London |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 24, 1660 |
| Place of death | Whitehall Palace , London |