Queen Wilhelmina of The Netherlands and Duke Heinrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin - 1901

[Marengo]

On 7 February 1907 Queen Wilhelmina of The Netherlands married Duke Heinrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in the Grote- or Willems church in The Hague:

right of the groom: his mother, Dowager Grand Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Left to Queen WIlhelmina: Grand Duke Friedrich-Franz IV of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and next to him Queen Emma of The Netherlands. Other guests were Grand Duchess Elisabeth of Oldenburg (sister of Heinrich) and Grand Dchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia and her husban Grand Duke Vladimir. Marie was a half-sister of the groom.
Same picture:

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Note that all copyrights are expired by photos posted by me in this thread.

 

[Marengo]

Two simular pictures of the couple:

 

[Marengo]

The wedding dress of Queen Wilhelmina was displayed at Palace Het Loo:

NB. Pic. free of copyrights

And two more pictures of the dress & shoes as posted by Marianne on the royal weddings message board:

Picture 1
Picture 2

The wedding was celebrated through the entire country and in the colonies. Here a decorated canal mansion from Amsterdam (Keizersgracht 477):

 

[Marengo]

The couple got engaged in 1900 in Germany. This picture was made just after that, the couple flanked by their mothers:

And with various relatives:

 

[Marengo]

Official engagement photo:

 

[Marengo]

Creative postcards were sold to commemorate the wedding:

 

[Marengo]

Though the wedding was notably unhappy, the couple did celebrate their silver wedding in 1926 with frieds and (close) family:

 

[maria-olivia]

Marengo ,
Are this pictures of the royal weddings of the past your Christmas present.?
I appreciate...

 

[Catherine Helvin]

Why was the wedding unhappy, Marengo?

 

[IloveCP]

Her wedding dress looked a lot like Queen Mary's.

 

[Marengo]

Why was the wedding unhappy, Marengo?

My mistake, the wedding was not unhappy but the marriage was. The only anecdote that I know of about the wedding is that Queen Emma did everything she could to keep Kaiser Wilhelm II away, as she said: 'at every wedding he wants to be the bride'.

 

[Jacknch]

Her wedding dress looked a lot like Queen Mary's.

I also think the bodice and sleeves are similar to Lady Helen Taylor's.

 

[NGalitzine]

Creative postcards were sold to commemorate the wedding:

Did they know how to air brush back then, because Wilhemina is noticably slimmer in this picture than she was on her wedding day? She actually looks like she had a nice figure in this pic but her wedding pics she looks rather "stout" to put it kindly.

 

[KittyAtlanta]

In general, well-to-do people back then were not sticks. It was not the fashion. There was no airbrushing available, just corsets.

 

[Marengo]

The wedding was attended by:

- Queen Wilhelmina of The Netherands
- Duke Hendrik of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
- Queen Emma of The Netherlands
- Dowager Grand Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
- The Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
- Prince Heinrich Reuss XVIII and Princess Charlotte, née Duchess of Mecklenburg
- Duke Adolf-Friedrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
- Prince Ulrich of Schönburg-Waldenburg
- The hereditairy Count of Erbach
- Prince Albrecht of Prussia (regent of Brunswick)
- Prince Hermann of Schönburg-Waldenburg
- The Fürst and Fürstin of Bentheim-Steinfurt
- The Fürst and Fürstin of Schwarszburg-Rudolstadt
- Princess Tekla of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Prince and Princess Henri of Schönburg
- The Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
- The Fürst and Fürstin of Wied (née Princess Louise of The Netherlands)
- The hereditairy Prince and hereditairy Princess of Wied
- Duke Paul Friedrich and Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
- The Fürst and Fürstin of Waldeck-Pyrmont
- Grand Duke Vladimir and Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia
- Grand Duchess Helen of Russia
- The Duke-regent of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
- The Duchess of Albany
- Princess Alice of Albany
- Prince Adolf of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Grand Duchess Sophie-Charlotte of Oldenburg

Historische Kranten - actualiteiten uit het verleden

 

[Andolini]

My mistake, the wedding was not unhappy but the marriage was. The only anecdote that I know of about the wedding is that Queen Emma did everything she could to keep Kaiser Wilhelm II away, as she said: 'at every wedding he wants to be the bride'.

Okay, that is hysterical!!!!

 

[An Ard Ri]

Marengo ,the photo's you've posted above are wonderful,I've never seen any of them before!

 

[Noble Consort Ming]

There was no airbrushing available, just corsets.

I have some books about photography from that era and photographers most definitely were able to alter photos. I can't find them online but in one book I have before and after photos where they made women's waists smaller.

 

[Skippy]

The marriage was mostly unhappy due to their different, clashing characters. Queen Wilhelmina was very serious and had a rigid sense of duty, where Duke Heinrich was (much) more free, relaxed and with a boorish sense of humor.
It was not until after his death that she would learn to understand him better. Personally, I have the impression that she would have been perfectly able to handle all on her own, were it not for the obligation to produce an heir and therefore to be married.

 

[Princess Xenia]

Another reason is that he was not satisfied with his roles as the consort of the queen and to produce an heir

 

[Skippy]

Another reason is that he was not satisfied with his roles as the consort of the queen and to produce an heir

True, I had forgotten to mention that. He didn't really know what to do with his role as queen consort and so he largely went his own way (as far as possible). His wife/Queen Wilhelmina practically had no space for him.
Luckily he did have a very good bond with his daughter, then-Princess Juliana.

 

[Marengo]

Indeed, the main problem was that Wilhelmina kept him out of most things related to her work. He never had a clear role, or many things to do. Neither did he have his own appanage (he had to ask money from his wife), which became a bigger problem when the money from the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg also dried up and he had to support some relatives too. After that he always money problems and people actually were afraid to sit next to him with dinners as he would probably ask for a loan. This wasn't helped by his private conduct as he was an easy pray for blackmailers. It has been established that he had several children with Mien Abbo-Wenneker and the story goes that he went to (male) brothels and that the high society of The Hague kept their children home when they knew that Prince Hendrik visited the scouting organisation (of which he was a patron). It is also suspected that ueen Wilhelmina's miscarriages were probably caused by venerial diseases from Hendrik. All in all a sad life, he must have been a very unhappy man. He once commented about himself: 'ich bin nur das gepack', I am only the luggage.

At other courts the life at Dutch court under Wilhelmina was well known, which was one of the reasons why it was difficult to find a husband for Juliana. The Dutch prime minister at the time also saw the problem and didn't want to repeat the Hendrik scenario. Her husband Bernhard immidiately received his own money from the state and got a clear role. Sadly in the process they may have given him too much freedom though.

When he died some joked that the prince was like the colours of the flag. His hair was red, his funeral was white and he was as blue as a rabbit (the latter being an expression to refer to drunkards).

However, Queen Juliana always said that he was a wonderful father, and that they enjoyed being 'naughty' together. And that he and her mother allowed her a lot of things that many other parents would never allow. It is a pity that up to now nobody ever wrote a biography about the prince (or about Queen Emma for that matter).

 

[Princess Xenia]

Truly a very sad life.
But considering that queen Wilhelmina was one of the richest woman of her time couldn't she help him a little without asking the government for it. I mean solve the problem in the family and don't take it to the government, and stopping whatever the prince was desparately doing in order to earn some money.!!!

 

[Marengo]

She could have done that, and did so when a creditor or blackmailer wanted to go public,but she was very, very frugal. The calvinistic/Dutch spirit that it is a sin to spend money was not wasted on her. One of the few times she splashed out was when she bought the aquamarine parure for her daughter. I believe that at one point she ordered cheapest wines from local Amsterdam grocery shops for state dinners, something that Bernhard changed immidiately after Juliana's accession to the throne.
When Juliana married her appanage was lowered to pay for Bernhard, the total amount did not change btw.

 

[Princess Xenia]

Thank you for your explanation Marengo.
I've always admired queen Wilhelmina and I think she was a great monarch for her country based on what I've read. But obviously private life is completely different from social and public life and duties and unfortunately she wasn't good with the first one. Although I was aware of their unhappy marriage, I am truly touched by prince Henrik's struggles in his marriage and life .

 

[Blog Real]

A member of the Portuguese royal family was among the guests?

 

[Marengo]

No there wasn't as in those days they usually only invited related royal houses. In the case of this wedding they decided to stick to that rule more fully to prevent the German emperor from attended, as he hoped. 'At every wedding he wants to be the bride' was supposedly said by Queen Emma.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Which company made the postcards to commemorate the wedding of Wilhelmina and Heinrich?

The route of Wilhelmina's royal procession to the Groote Kerk was decorated with large baskets of green plants, lightened by orange blossoms and white roses, tied in large white knots.

 

[Lee-Z]

Which company made the postcards to commemorate the wedding of Wilhelmina and Heinrich?

If you have a picture of one of these cards maybe it's printed on that?

On this pic the publishing company is mentioned at the left side
http://www.vernoeming.nl/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/huwelijk-prins-hendrik-koningin-wilhelmina.jpg

 

[Blog Real]

A photo from the wedding:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Wilhelmina_of_the_Netherlands.jpg

What tiara did Queen Wilhelmina wear at her wedding?