Queen Emma (1859-1934)

[An Ard Ri]

Queen Emma could very well be the last Dutch Dowager Queen/Queen Mother,God forbid Maxima would be widowed.

[CyrilVladisla]

Queen Emma in a Mercedes-Benz Nuerburg
http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-emm...-48725304.html

[Blog Real]

Queen Emma's voice in a radio speech to combat tuberculosis, March 23, 1933.
Subsequently, the word of thanks from Queen Wilhelmina on the occasion of the death of Queen Emma, ​​​​​​​on March 31, 1934.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5K6Kf_XZkI

[Marengo]

I never heard her voice before. She had less of a German accent then Prince Bernhard and Prince Claus did.

[Lee-Z]

Indeed, it's nice to hear her voice, and she indeed speaks dutch really well

[SLV]

Wow, what a unique recording.

[Prinsara]

Why did she decide to marry a man who was so much older? Sure, fantastic social position, but was that all?

[SLV]

Presure from her family, perhaps. Girls like Emma knew that they would marry who they were told to. I have not read anything to think her sister Helena's wedding to the British RF was a lovematch.

[Prinsara]

Originally Posted by SLV

Presure from her family, perhaps. Girls like Emma knew that they would marry who they were told to. I have not read anything to think her sister Helena's wedding to the British RF was a lovematch.

Actually, I have read the opposite about Helen; the Duke of Albany may have been gravely ill and had been turned down by others to his great unhappiness, but he was also young, handsome, intelligent, obviously extremely well-placed socially, and relatively nice, and Helen said she was not afraid of the hemophilia. If they didn't marry solely for love, they were still noted to be acting like it before and after they got married.

The Waldeck sisters obviously weren't shy of complicated matches, but Emma was also widowed not only relatively quickly, but Willem was an old, difficult, seemingly far-less attractive man. So it fascinates me whether she married him from fondness, or pressure, or something else.

I suppose given that not much is known about Emma, the biggest decision of her life is also something of a mystery.

[Lee-Z]

Originally Posted by Prinsara

Actually, I have read the opposite about Helen; the Duke of Albany may have been gravely ill and had been turned down by others to his great unhappiness, but he was also young, handsome, intelligent, obviously extremely well-placed socially, and relatively nice, and Helen said she was not afraid of the hemophilia. If they didn't marry solely for love, they were still noted to be acting like it before and after they got married.

The Waldeck sisters obviously weren't shy of complicated matches, but Emma was also widowed not only relatively quickly, but Willem was an old, difficult, seemingly far-less attractive man. So it fascinates me whether she married him from fondness, or pressure, or something else.

I suppose given that not much is known about Emma, the biggest decision of her life is also something of a mystery.

From what i read, generally it a attributed to her being brought up with a very strong sense of duty, her family wasn't wealthy, so she very likely knew what was expected of her and went along with it. She knew about big agedifferences in marriage because her own father had, after her mother died, remarried a much younger woman.
And somehow she knew better how to handle K.Willem III than most people and the marriage was quite succesful, the king mellowed down a lot (esp. after their daughter was born).

[Stefan]

I have often read that King Willem III. meet Sophie sister Marie, who was married to the future King Wilhelm II. of Württemberg when visting relatives of his first wife and was very impressed by her