Princess Marianne (1810-1883)

**Marengo** · #1 10-10-2006, 05:45 PM

Princess Marianne (1810-1883) 'An impossible and morally inferior creature'

This thread is about Princess Wilhelmina Frederica Louisa Charlotte Marianne of The Netherlands, Princess of Oranje-Nassau, Princess of Prussia (Berlin, May 9, 1810 - Schloss Reinharthausen, Erbach im Rheingau May 23 1883).

Parents: King Willem I of The Netherlands and Queen Wilhelmina of The Netherlands, nee Princess of Prussia.

Husbands: Prince Albrecht of Prussia (divorced) and Johannes van Rossum.

Children: Princess Charlotte, Prince Albrecht jr, Princess Alexandrine of Prussia and Johannes van Reinharthausen.

Siblings: King Willem II, Prince Frederik and Princess Pauline of The Netherlands.

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All pictures that I will post in this thread come from the Alexanderpalace forum and are originally found, posted and scanned by their member Thijs (which must have been a lot of work). I can only assume he scanned them from various books and magazines on Dutch royals and on Princess Marianne specifically. When I have another source for a picture then Thijs, I will write this above that picture.

The information that I use in this thread comes from various sources, but most importantly from a Royalty Digest article by Ricardo Mateos Sainz de Medrano, that Warren was kind enough to send me. Feel free to point out mistakes or to add information, pictures, questions and other comments about Princess Marianne.
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**Marengo** · #2 10-10-2006, 06:05 PM

Childhood

Marianne was born as daughter to Prince Willem (VI) of Orange, Stadholder -de jure- of The United Provinces and his wife princess Frederica Wilhelmina of Prussia. Due to Napoleons armies the Orange-Nassaus had to go in excile in 1795. The family first went to London, later to Berlin, where the Prince and Princess of Orange were living as guests of Princess Wilhelmina's brother, King Friedrich-Wilhelm III of Prussia. It was in Berlin in the 'Palais Holandais' on the Unter den Linden where on May 9 1810 a the couple's second daughter was born: Wilhelmina Frederica Louisa Charlotte Marianne. She quickly became the favourite in the family, and especially of her father who spoiled her terribly and who overloaded his only surviving daughter with gifts and attention.

In 1815 the family's relative royal hardship in Berlin was over. Napoleon was defeated and the Prince of Orange was proclaimed King of the United Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Duke of Limburg (the entire present Benelux). The family moved to The Hague, where Marianne spent most of her childhood. There she grew up as a bright, strong-willed, independant and rather original gil who was used to get things done her way.

Marianne around 1815:

Her father King Willem I:

Her mother Queen Wilhelmina holding Princess Marianne around 1812:

Marianne's governess and first lady-in-waiting, Countess Jacoba Bentinck, nee Countess van Reede-Ginkel:

**Marengo** · #3 10-10-2006, 06:40 PM

Engagements

Around her 18th birthday Marianne started to think of marriage. As daughter of the rich King Willem I she was an attractive party for many European princes. Some even say that the widowed Emperor Pedro I of Brazil was interested in her hand. But Marianne wanted to do things her own way and fell in love with Prince Gustav Wasa, 'Prince of Sweden' (son of the deposed Swedish king Gustaf IV Adolf).
The engagement caused many eyebrows to rise in royal Europe. Not only was Gustav penniless* and without a throne, the Swedish king from the new Bernadotte dynasty had problems with this to advantageous engagement of the rival claimant. Some sources even claim that Karl XIV-Johan threatened with war if the engagement would not be broken of (not very likely, but still). Add to that that there were some doubts about the prince's character, as he seemed to be a mallionet of Prince Metternich, and there were doubts about his mother who lived ith her lover for some years. The general consensus was that Marianne could do a whole lot better, as her sister-in-law, the Princess of Orange explained in a letter to her brother Grand Duke Constantine of Russia:

'To my mind it would be a sad position to have my sister-in-law married in that way; she would have had an establishment in this country and in Vienna, without having a settled position anywhere. And what a source of discord, worry and apprehention in European politics. It is deplorable! '.

In the end King Willem I relented and broke of the engagement. Queen Wilhelmina quickly started looking for other suitable candidates, and where else would her eyes go first then to her native Prussia, where Marianne had been born to? The most suitable candidate there was Marianne's cousin, Prince Albrecht, fourth son of King Friedrich-Willem III, a general and field-marshal in the Prussian army and an attractive & amiable young man. The couple soon got engaged.

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* others however claim that Prince Gustav owned around 10 million florins, which was a huge capital at the time.
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Marianne around 1828:

Marianne and her mother, Queen Wilhelmina, around 1830

**Marengo** · #4 10-10-2006, 06:47 PM

Marriage & children

Albrecht and Marianne married on September 14th 1830 in The Hague at Palace Noordeinde, amidst the Belgian crisis (which eventually caused her fathers Kingdom to split up). The bride received from her father a valuable collection of jewels, most notably the diamond and pearl tiara and brooch* that she is wearing on the picture below in this thread. According to some the King ordered a special (wedding)crown for his daughter, but others doubt if that crown ever existed. There is only one painting of Marianne with the crown (sadly I wasn't able to find it), but the crown can be a sprout of the painters own imagination.

The newlyweds settled in the new Albrechtpalace in berlin but also visited their two castles near Dresden and Berlin (Schloss Albrechtsberg and Schloss Schonhausen) and The Hague frequently. In 1831 the couple's first daughter Friederike Luise Wilhelmina Marianne Charlotte was born. Soon afterwards followed more children. Son Friedrich Wilhelm Nicolaus Albrecht (b. 1837), daughter Friederike Luise Wilhelmine Elisabeth (b. and d. 1840) and daughter Friederike Luise Wilhelmine Elisabeth Alexandrine (b. 1842).

But quickly after settling in Berlin Marianne's eccentric ways started to meet with disaproval from her stiff and less understanding Hohenzollern in-laws.

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* Her sister-in-law received an exact copy of the tiara and brooche, which is now frequently worn by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.
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Her husband, Prince Albrecht of Prussia:

Her children Charlotte, Albrecht jr and Alexandrine:

Her second daughter, Princess Alexandrine of Prussia:

Marianne with the tiara & brooch she received from her father (the portrait can be seen in Palace 't Loo, Apeldoorn):

**Marengo** · #5 10-10-2006, 07:03 PM

'She is a strange being'

It was no surprise that the spoiled and independant Marianne soon became regarded as an eccentricity by the stiff and dutifull Hohenzollerns. Rigid courtlife didn't make her adapt her opinions (or at least to be silent about them) and the in-laws soon regarded her as everything a Prussian royal should not be. The Princess could afford to do things her own way as she was a financially independant woman with a fortune of her own (with which she bought Schloss Kamenz). Dispite her 'non-confirmist way and showy character' Marianne was a very religious woman who went to church three times a day.

An example of this eccentric behavior was recorded by the Duchess of Dino. During a dinner given in the honour of the new French King Louis-Felipe I, from the house of Orleans. Marianne appeared with a garland of lilies in her hair, to show her -not to subtle- support to the disposed house of Bourbon. Her in-laws and the french visitors were of course shocked and appaled by this blunt gesture. Apart from recording this episode the Duchess wrote this discription of Marianne: ' I think that of all the persons I have seen here Princess Albrecht has filled me with the greatest curiosity and interest. At first I thought her face was long and narrow, her mouth large, and the lower part of her face very ugly when she laughs, while the want of eyebrows was remarkable. But by degrees I have grown used to her, and find her actually pleasant. Her teeth are white and she is tall, but it is to obvious that she laces very tightly, which is the more noticable as she never rests; she wrigles, gesticulates, laughs, fidgets, and talks somewhat at random. She never crosses a room except at a run or a skip, and does not shine in point of dignity of bearing. But on the whole I think by no means she is unpleasant, and I think that men may find her somewhat attractive. She was very kind to me, with a frankness and good-nature in putting her questions as if she had always known me and poking fun ledft and right at her family to begin with; she astonished me greatly. The fact is that she is a spoilt child, accustomed to do and say anything she likes, and is regarded here as quite beyond restraint. She goes away to The Hague when her family would like her to stay in Berlin and she comes back when they think she intends to make a long stay in Holland. In short, she is a strange being.'

Her position among the Dutch royals became weaker to. Her father abdicated and settled in Berlin and her brother Willem II and his stern Queen Anna Pavlovna reigned. Anna had never much sympathy for people who did not live up to their duties and disapproved of her behavior. The new Princess of Orange, Sophie of Wurttemberg, for once agreed with her mother-in-law and called Marianne 'a morally inferior creature'.

This picture comes from wikipedia:

Schloss Kamenz:

**Marengo** · #6 10-11-2006, 10:29 AM

Portraits:

Some more portraits of Marianne in her Prussian years:

This portrait now hangs on the wall of the large dining room in Palace Noordeinde, The Hague:

**Marengo** · #7 10-12-2006, 07:00 AM

Affair & divorce

Soon marital problems arose between Albrecht and Marianne. Albrecht had a difficult character and was to open about his infidelities. The couple started living seperately and filed for divorce, an unprecidented scandalous action in both the house of Hohenzollerns and the house of Orange-Nassau (for whch Marianne was blamed, not Albrecht). By now Marianne started taking lovers to, most notably her Dutch coachman, Johannes van Rossum. While the Prussian King first refused to ccept the divorce, the birth of Marianne's illegitemate son (by van Rossum) was the last straw: Albrecht and Marianne were divorced in march 1848. Marianne was forbidden to enter Prussia or The Netherlands and her three children were to be raised by her husband (in fact the childless Queen Elisabeth of Prusssia took care of them). Marianne was dressed in white for several years after the divorce, to show the world her 'innocence' in the matter.

When little Johannes Willem von Reinharthausen was born is not sure. He was however born in Marianne's new castle, Schloss Reinharthausen (Erbach) after which he was named. Marianne probably bought Reinharthausen from Duke Adolf of Nassau, who also allowed her to give her son the last name 'von Reinharthausen'. Against the customs of the time Marianne decide not to place her son with another family but to raise him herself.

Her lover (and coachman), Johannes van Rossum:

Her illegitemate son, Johannes Willem von Reinharthausen:

Photograph of Marianne around 1850:

Schloss Reinharthausen:

**Marengo** · #8 10-12-2006, 07:39 AM

On the move:

In 1849 Marianne started her travels. he first one took her to Sicily and later to lake Como, where she stayed for several years with her son Johannes Willem and her lover Johannes van Rossum. It was around this time that Marianne married Johannes van Rossum, though sources are not clear on the exact year (1852, 1853, 1854 and others claim they were married quickly after the divorce). Marianne always kept a keen interest in her homeland and after her nephew King Willem III became king in 1849 she was alowed back into the country & bought a house in Voorburg, near The Hague.

As Marianne was Willem III's favourite aunt, it is no surprise that his wife, Queen Sophie, would be one of her severest critics (Willem III and Sophie weren't the most harmonious couple). Sophie stated in a letter to Lady Malet that she thought the Princess was leading an adominable pedestrial life and Í had no choise indeed but to refuse her entry to my house'. According to Sohpie she refused Marianne because she was a gossiped and lied. Maybe Sophie was jealous that Marianne got the divorce that she herself was to afraid to ask for? Sophie must have felt more then disapproval of her aunt-in-law anyway, as she owned a miniature of the Princess.

Queen Sophie's miniature of Marianne:

Marianne at Lake Como with Johannes van Rossum and with her daughter Charlotte (on her left) and son-in-law Georg II of Saxe-Meiningen. The painting still hangs at Schloss Reinharthausen :

Marianne in middle age:

Huize Rusthof, Voorburg:

**Marengo** · #9 10-12-2006, 08:00 AM

Old age:

After her travels Marianne settled in Reinharthausen again, where in 1860 her son Johannes-Willem died. The princess lived a quiet life. She still visited church often and was involved in charity. Sometimes she was visited by one of her two remaining children, who were still fond f their mother dispite everything. In 1872 both her husbands died and Marianne lead an even more solitairy life.

In 1874 Empress Frederick met Princess Marianne for the first time. In a letter to her mother she gives a good insight about Marianne's sad life and her ugly appearance. 'It interested me much to see old Princess Marianne of The Netherlands. She looks like an old dutch picture -with a close white cap around her face- and a little snow white hair at the temples and behind the ears. Her face is so covered with wrinkles and her eyesare so sunk in her head that she looks like a study of Rembrandt and might be 80! (...)
She made a most melancholy impression on me -to see an old lady, so high placed- who has so entirely forfeited all respect and yet I felt the profoundest pity for the thing, mixed with all those feelings. (...) For 30 years she lived with him [Johannes van Rossum] almost. This low wretch was often tipsey and of late he used to beat her on the street when they walked or drove! She stooped to his sphere so completely that she ceased to be a lady at all! It is so terribly sad to think of a life so mis-spent, and of the sorrow and suffering she brought on her children and grandchildren. Perhaps a little kondness and wise advice in her youth might have saved her, but her husband was neither wise, nor good then, and many mischivious people contributed to her fall'. Queen Victoria replied 'That old Princess Marianne shoulkd wish to see her children I find quite natural. But I can not understand her not having more pride than to wish to return to be condescendingly receiving family to which the husband belonged who used her so ill and who in fact forced her -unprincipled as she was- into a most immoral life'.

The last time Princess Marianne appeared in public in The Netherlands was in 1880, at the baptism of her great-niece, the future Queen Wilhelmina. She gave the little child a portrait of herself on which she wrote 'Oh there are so many things that I wish for this little girl. I know what it is like to be both Queen and woman. It causes such an internal struggle; many a queen may wish only to be born as a woman'. Wilhelmina kept the small portrait of Marianne in her studyroom untill she died, which must say something as Wilhelmina only surrounded herself there with (deceased) familymembers that she admired.

The grave of Johannes Willem von Reinharthausen:

Marianne:

**Marengo** · #10 10-12-2006, 08:10 AM

Death:

Princess Marianne died on May 29th 1883 in Reinhartshausen, Erbach. The Princess was buried there as well, outside the church where her son Johannes Willem was buried to. In a last attempt to wash away the scandal of divorce from the family history of the Hohenzollerns her grave still calls her 'Princess of Prussia and mentions her marriage to Prince Albrecht (not the divorce). When her great-granddaughter Princess Elisabeth of Prussia, mrs. Mees wanted to be buried in the tomb of Marianne in 1961, they discovered a second coffin with Marianne's, probably the one of Princess Marianne's second husband Johannes van Rossum.

Marianne lying in state:

Marianne's grave:

NB. note 'Elisabeth Mees' on the last picture.

**Marengo** · #11 10-12-2006, 08:13 AM

Charlotte:

Apart from Queen Elisabeth, the future Empress Frederick also took a keen interest in the children of Princess Marianne. Dispite the scandalous dicorce of their parents the children of Albrecht and Marianne were interesting parties on the European 'marriage-market' due to their (Dutch) fortune and their Hohenzollern connections. The Empress Frederick tried to marry Princess Charlotte of to one of her brothers, which failed. Charlotte was to marry Duke Georg II of Saxe-Meiningen in 1850 and sadly died while in labour of her second (and stillborn) child in 1855.

Charlotte:

Charlotte with her sister Alexandrine:

**Marengo** · #12 10-12-2006, 08:14 AM

Albrecht jr:

Prince Albrecht jr (Abbat) grew up somewhat spoiled as well and was called 'the fairy Prince'. As he would once inherit most of his mothers and his fathers fortune he was a very attractive marriage candidate and Crownprincess Victoria-Adelaide tried to marry him off to her sister Helena, so she would have a companion in Berlin and married her favourite Hohenzollern cousin to her sister. The Hohenzollerns considered one English princess in Berlin as more then enough and the engagement never took place. In 1865 Albrecht went to t. Petesburg to get aquinted with Duchess Katharina of Oldenburg, but she sadly died the year afterwards. While he visited Hannover, to get familiar with the daughter of the king and queen of Hannover, he got interested in the Queens niece, Duchess Maria of Saxe-Altenburg. The couple married in 1873 and got 3 sons: Friedrich, Joachim-Albrecht and Friedrich-Wilhelm.

Albrecht jr:

Her daughter-in-law, Maria of Saxe-Altenburg:

**Marengo** · #13 10-12-2006, 08:22 AM

Alexandrine:

Princess Alexandrine (Addy), Marianne's youngest daughter, was described as 'neither clever nor pretty' by Empress Frederick and she had to be protected from her 'horrid uncle' (probably Prince Karl) who tried to 'corrupt her mind'. This did not stop her to have a fondness for Addy to and again she tried to marry one of Marianne's children of to a British relative, this time to the Duke of Cambridge, sadly she failed. In a letter to her mother she told: 'such an excellent girl and much admired here; she had plenty of her own one million dollars of her mother, she would have 100.000 from the King if she married, and the same from her father most likely.

In the end Alexandrine was married to her cousin, Duke Wilhelm of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (Schnapps), who was a son of King Wilhelm I's favourite sister Alexandrine. With this financially advantageous marriage Alexandrine (the elder) probably wanted to give her second some some kind of financial security in the future. The two were most certainly not in love: Alexandrine cried the entire wedding ceremony, she had reason to cry as Wilhelm was discribed as 'a horrid husband'. This is what the always alert Empress Frederick wrote to her mother about the wedding: 'The wedding was celebrated with the greatest pomp, but had something of the solemnity of a funeral about it - nothing gay, festive or bridal. The only thing that made a pleasing impression on me was dear Addy herself, who although she cried the whole time, had such a dignified and touching appearance that I never saw her look so well. She went through it all with the most perfect tenue - though I never saw her smile once. She did not look a bit like a bride but I must say very elegant and distinguee. (...) The bridegroom's tenance looked as evil as possible the whole time. I looked in vain for a trace of softness of feeling.

Alexandrine was far from happy with her husband and she tried to escape several times, only to be forced back again by pressure from the powerfull Dowager Grand Duchess Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Duke Wilhelm died in 1879 after which Alexandrine dedicated her life to her daughter Charlotte and played very little part in public life.

Alexandrine with her aunt, mother-in-law and namesake Grand Duchess Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin:

Alexandrine as teenager:

Alexandrine, who inherited her mothers pearl and diamond tiara & brooch:

**Marengo** · #14 10-12-2006, 08:28 AM

Grandchildren:

Marianne had 5 grandchildren. Duke Berhard III of Saxe-Meiningen (who married Empress Frederick's daughter Charlotte), Princes Friedrich, Joachim-Albrecht and Frierich-Wilhelm of Prussia and Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, who later married one of the many Princes Heinrich Reuss zu Kostriz. Marianne's pearl and diamond tiara must have been passed to this family but the present whereabouts are unknown.

The Prussian grandsons of Marianne were considered as marriage candidates for Queen Wilhelmina of The Netherlands. Wilhelmina even met Prince Friedrich-Wilhelm, but did not see anything in the plan. She considered him to flashy and affected (and 'a typical Prussian').

Charlotte's son, Duke Bernhard III of Saxe-Meiningen:

The three sons of Albrecht jr:

Friedrich:

Joachim-Albrecht:

Joachim-Albrecht and his second wife visiting The Netherlands in 1938:

Friedrich-Wilhelm:

Prince Friedrich-Wilhelm and his wife Agathe: