Dutch Line of Succession

[Duc_et_Pair]

Based on semi-salic primogeniture; why would a younger daughter be ahead of the son of the eldest daughter upon premature death of the elder of the two sisters?!

Yes, in 1963 it is about being the closest related to the deceased King with males have precedence over females in the same degree of consanguity.

Imagine Princess Beatrix only had a daughter and Princess Margriet had sons, still then Princess Beatrix' daughter (the heiress to the heiress) would have precedence.

Before 1963 Princess Margriet's son would have had precedence.

1.
Juliana

1.1.
Beatrix

1.1.1.
Beatrix' daughter (Heiress under the succession of 1963)

1.2.
Margriet

1.2.1.
Margriet's eldest son (Heir under the succession before 1963)

1.2.2.
Margriet's junior son

1.2.3.
Margriet's junior son

1.2.4.
Margriet's junior son

Etc.

With position 1.1.1. Beatrix' daughter is closer to Juliana than Margriet's eldest son on position 1.2.1. Had Beatrix also a junior son, then he would have bypassed his senior sister.

We can say: in 1963 the Dutch were inspired by the new Danish system, with Margrethe and her sisters coming before Knud and his children Ingolf, Christian and Elisabeth.

 

[Tatiana Maria]

Based on semi-salic primogeniture; why would a younger daughter be ahead of the son of the eldest daughter upon premature death of the elder of the two sisters?!

Because that was the law. The constitutional order of succession from 1922 to 1963 was

1. Male successors from the ruling patrilineal dynasty, i.e. the male descendants in male lineage from the most recent female monarch or monarch who succeeded through a female line (Articles 11 and 20)
2. Daughters of the most recent monarch (Article 12)
3. Daughters of sons of the most recent monarch (Article 13)
4. Sons of daughters of the most recent monarch (Article 13)
5. Daughters of daughters of the most recent monarch (Article 13)
6. Other individuals related to the most recent monarch through Queen Wilhelmina's lineage, with a limit of three degrees of consanguinity and nearer relatives taking precedence (Article 14)

11. Erfopvolging

De Kroon gaat bij erfopvolging over op Zijne zonen en verdere mannelijke uit mannen gekomen nakomelingen bij recht van eerstgeboorte, met dien verstande, dat bij vooroverlijden van een rechthebbende diens zonen of verdere mannelijke uit mannen gekomen nakomelingen op gelijke wijze in Zijne plaats treden en de Kroon nooit in eene jongere lijn of een jongeren tak overgaat, zoolang er in de oudere lijn of den ouderen tak zoodanige nakomeling wordt gevonden.

12. Dochters erven Kroon bij ontstentenis mannelijk opvolgers

Bij ontstentenis van opvolgers in het voorgaande artikel aangewezen, gaat de Kroon over op de oudste in leven zijnde dochter van den laatstoverleden Koning.

13. Troonopvolging bij ontstentenis dochters

Bij ontstentenis ook van dochters uit den laatstoverleden Koning gaat de Kroon over op de oudste in leven zijnde dochter van den oudsten zijner vooroverleden zoons, van wie dochters in leven zijn; bij ontstentenis van zoodanige dochters op den oudsten in leven zijnden zoon van de oudste zijner vooroverleden dochters, van wie zoons in leven zijn, en bij ontstentenis ook van zoodanige zoons op de oudste in leven zijnde dochter van de oudste zijner vooroverleden dochters, van wie dochters in leven zijn.

14. Troonopvolging bij ontstentenis kleindochters

Bij ontstentenis van een opvolger, krachtens een der drie voorgaande artikelen tot de Kroon gerechtigd, gaat deze over op den man of de vrouw, die den laatstoverleden Koning, in de lijn der afstamming van Hare Majesteit Koningin WILHELMINA, Prinses van Oranje-Nassau, het naast, doch niet verder dan in den derden graad van bloedverwantschap, bestaat.

Bij gelijken graad van bloedverwantschap hebben mannen boven vrouwen en heeft daarna de eerstgeborene den voorrang.

[...]

20. Bepalingen omtrent erfopvolging

Al de bepalingen omtrent de erfopvolging worden op de nakomelingen van den Koning, op wien krachtens een der artikelen 12, 13, 14, 18 of 19 de Kroon overgaat, van toepassing, in dier voege dat het nieuwe Stamhuis ten opzichte van die opvolging van hem zijn oorsprong neemt op gelijke wijze en met dezelfde gevolgen als het Huis van Oranje-Nassau dit volgens artikel 10 doet uit wijlen Koning WILLEM FREDERIK, Prins van Oranje-Nassau.

Imagine Princess Beatrix only had a daughter and Princess Margriet had sons, still then Princess Beatrix' daughter (the heiress to the heiress) would have precedence.

Before 1963 Princess Margriet's son would have had precedence.

Yes, but only during the reign of Queen Juliana, so that if both Beatrix and Margriet had passed away during their mother's reign, and the 1922 succession laws were unaltered, Juliana would have been succeeded by Margriet's son rather than Beatrix's hypothetical daughter.

However, so long as Beatrix lived to succeed her mother, Beatrix's daughter would have taken precedence over Margriet's son once Beatrix acceded to the throne.

On the other hand, if Beatrix (but not Margriet) were to predecease her mother, Queen Juliana would have been succeeded by Margriet rather than Beatrix's daughter, and Margriet's son would have become the crown prince upon his mother's accession to the throne.

 

[Tatiana Maria]

To show "how close" the Orange-Nassaus are to the "that mad Reuß prince" some media claim that the Reuß family would be on the throne today, was Juliana not born.

That is not true, The Princes Reuß only came after the Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach line would have no male dynasts anymore, descending from Princess Sophie of the Netherlands (aunt of Queen Wilhelmina):

The confusion probably arises because at the time of Princess Juliana's birth in 1909, the Reusses were for all practical purposes first in line to the Dutch throne. Sophie had only one child, Hereditary Grand Duke Carl August of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, who in turn had only one child, Wilhelm Ernst, who was still childless.

As Carl August and Wilhelm Ernst were expected to succeed to the crown of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, they would have effectively been disqualified from the Dutch throne, as the Dutch constitution included a prohibition on a union of crowns.

If Carl August or Wilhelm Ernst had had a daughter, my understanding is that she would have taken precedence over Sophie's daughters and their descendants. But at the time, they had none.

https://www.denederlandsegrondwet.nl/9353000/1/j9vvihlf299q0sr/vi7df7i16bze

1922
Queen Wilhelmina

Successor Nr 1:
Princess Juliana of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Herzogin zu Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Successor Nr 2:
No any successor. The Constitution of 1922 limited the successors to those no furterer related to the Sovereign than three degrees of consanguity.

The constitutional amendment of 1922 imposed the three-degree limit on descendants of princesses. Male-line males retained their succession rights no matter how how distantly they were related. Only in 1963 was the treatment of male and female lines of descent equalized (though brothers still took precedence before sisters).

But if Wilhelmina had remained childless, would Parliament have passed the same constitutional change in 1922? As you stated, that would have left the throne without an heir. Who would have been chosen by Parliament as successor in that case?

ETA: It seems that in 1922, prior to the changes to the law of succession, the person highest in the order of succession to the Dutch throne after Juliana who was neither German nor in direct line to a foreign throne was Prince Knud of Denmark (a descendant of Princess Louise of the Netherlands).

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Unlike the British situation, the Dutch line of succession is limited to those who are related to the Sovereign, but no furtherer than three degrees of consanguity.

Imagine that Willem-Alexander is King now, then 8 people would be in the line of succession:

Related to His Majesty King Willem IV Alexander in 1 degree of consanguity:
1 - Her Royal Highness The Princess of Orange (Catharina-Amalia) child of The King
2 - Her Royal Highness Princess Alexia of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau child of The King
3 - His (Her) Royal Highness the unborn Prince (Princess) of the Netherlands, Prince (Princess) of Orange-Nassau child of The King


Related to His Majesty King Willem IV Alexander in 2 degrees of consanguity:
4 - His Royal Highness Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau, Jonkheer van Amsberg brother to The King

Related to His Majesty King Willem IV Alexander in 3 degrees of consanguity:
5 - the highborn lady Eloïse Countess of Orange-Nassau, Jonkvrouwe van Amsberg niece to The King
6 - the highborn lord Claus-Casimir Count of Orange-Nassau, Jonkheer van Amsberg nephew to The King
7 - the highborn lady Leonore Countess of Orange-Nassau, Jonkvrouwe van Amsberg niece to The King

8 - Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld aunt to The King

When this line of succession was declared in 2006, Willem-Alexander was not yet king.
What I find interesting is that here he is referred to as King Willem IV Alexander.

 

[SLV]

When this line of succession was declared in 2006, Willem-Alexander was not yet king.

What I find interesting is that here he is referred to as King Willem IV Alexander.

Yes, it was expected he would go as Willem IV. Instead he went for his full name, so technically he is King Willem-Alexander I.

 

[Tatiana Maria]

The wish to keep a German off the throne was not due to anti-German sentiments perse. They were not prevalent in that period at all and due to the Boer war the sentiment was perhaps more anti-English to some extend. But the root was a fear that a German prince would be influenced by the German emperor and that would mean that the country would be influenced into giving up neutrality and participate in a European war, which everybody felt was coming somewhere on the horizon.

Interesting. Then how come the constitutional reform to limit the non-agnatic* successors to relatives within three degrees of kinship of the monarch was not brought into effect until December 13, 1922, four years after the German emperor had been removed from power?

*There was no limit on how distantly agnatic heirs could be related until 1963, when the laws of succession to the crown were reformed again. I’ve always found it interesting that the Netherlands monarchy sometimes, including here, equalized gender discriminatory rules by extending the treatment of females to males as well, instead of the other way around.

 

[An Ard Ri]

Yes, it was expected he would go as Willem IV. Instead he went for his full name, so technically he is King Willem-Alexander I.

Its a shame that they no longer use a regal number ,I think the last Dutch Monarch to do so was Willem III.

 

[Somebody]

Its a shame that they no longer use a regal number ,I think the last Dutch Monarch to do so was Willem III.

Willem-Alexander explained his decision by referring to cows not people being numbered (Willem 4 stands next to Bertha 38 in the meadow). In addition, there is little reason to use a regnal if you have a unique name; and the queens all had unique names; and Willem-Alexander created that for himself as well by using his full name.

The full quote taken from an interview short before his ascension to the throne:

"I have said in the past that it would be self-evident that it would be Willem IV, but I only decided quite recently that it would be King Willem-Alexander. Look, I have been Willem-Alexander my whole life, for 46 years. I would find it very strange to have to throw that overboard now because you are becoming king of a country. Besides, you are not a number. Willem 4 is standing next to Bertha 38 in the meadow."

Fun fact: as a result of this interview Bertha 38 got her own Facebook page.

 

[Marengo]

I never liked the reasoning for not using Willem IV Alexander TBH. But whatever works for him. Juan Carlos also chose not to become Juan III.

Interesting. Then how come the constitutional reform to limit the non-agnatic* successors to relatives within three degrees of kinship of the monarch was not brought into effect until December 13, 1922, four years after the German emperor had been removed from power?

*There was no limit on how distantly agnatic heirs could be related until 1963, when the laws of succession to the crown were reformed again. I’ve always found it interesting that the Netherlands monarchy sometimes, including here, equalized gender discriminatory rules by extending the treatment of females to males as well, instead of the other way around.

I quickly went trough Fasseurs biography but I can not find anything on 1922.

Going through the online database of newspapers the explanation is to prevent 'a stranger to our people' to become monarch. Somebody who is completely unfamiliar with the country. The constitution left open the possibility that if there would not be a successor, a candidate could be proposed to parlament by the monarch. If a monarch died without a successor and the throne was vacant, the Counsil of State could select and propose a candidate too.

So in short parlament wanted to have a say in any succession. Not mentioned in the articles but the next in line was former Grand Duke of Weimar, who did not have the best of reputations.

 

[An Ard Ri]

I never liked the reasoning for not using Willem IV Alexander TBH. But whatever works for him. Juan Carlos also chose not to become Juan III.

That was a totally different scenario.
The fact that Juan Carlos father (Don Juan) was still alive at his accession was the main factor there and the thorny issue that the Count was bypassed in favour of his son.
Don Juan, Count of Barcelona was later buried with full honours as Juan III.
Juan Carlos did use the regnal numeral I.

 

[Tatiana Maria]

Going through the online database of newspapers the explanation is to prevent 'a stranger to our people' to become monarch. Somebody who is completely unfamiliar with the country. […] Not mentioned in the articles but the next in line was former Grand Duke of Weimar, who did not have the best of reputations.

Thanks! Perhaps that explains why the reform was not executed until after World War One: The Grand Duke only became the de facto next in line when he was deposed in 1918.

Until 1983 the Constitution forbade the King of the Netherlands from wearing a foreign crown. (Many pointed out that if the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was a sovereign state, as it was meant to be, then the position of Kings Willem I, II and III as Grand Dukes of Luxembourg was unconstitutional.) Assuming that the Grand Dukes of Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach were unwilling to renounce the throne of Weimar, that excluded them from succession to the Netherlands throne.

Had the German monarchies not been deposed, Grand Duke Wilhelm Ernst and Hereditary Grand Duke Carl August would be expected to renounce the Dutch crown, and the effective next in line to the Dutch throne after Princess Juliana in 1922 would have been the Grand Duke of Weimar’s second son Bernhard (born in 1917), who would presumably have been more acceptable to the Dutch public than his father.

But once there ceased to be a crown of Weimar, the titular Grand Duke Wilhelm Ernst became next in line for the Netherlands indeed. By the way, why did he have a flawed reputation in the Netherlands?

 

[Marengo]

Willem Ernst indicated that he preferred to stay in Weimar. Had he renounced, his aunt Marie Alexandrine ('aunt Zitta') would be next. He had no sons yet at that time. Hence the visits to The Hague by her sons, various Princes Heinrich Reuss.

In 1997 in Trouw the following was written by Fred Lammers (translation via Google), a summary of a book on the matter, which I do not own. It gives new meaning to pretty priviledge

The only sister of King William III, and therefore Wilhelmina's aunt, was Grand Duchess Sophie of Saxe-Weimar. The relationship between the two women was very good. Sophie died in March 1897, her only son Carl August had already preceded her in November 1894, so that Sophie's grandson Wilhelm Ernst had the best chance of the Orange throne. However, he was destined to become Grand Duke of Weimar. And according to the Dutch Constitution, that position could not be combined with the kingship.

His nephews, Princes Heinrich XXXII and XXXIII Reuss, thus came to the top of the list. With the birth of Princess Juliana in 1909, their chances of the throne decreased, but until 29 December 1922, when a constitutional amendment made succession by a foreigner impossible, the Princes Reuss remained the most obvious pretenders to the throne. A mist has always hung over those German claimants to the throne.

That aspect fascinated René Cleverens in Middelburg so much that he studied it in depth. The result is a substantial book 'De erfopvolging rond de eeuwwisseling' (The Succession around the Turn of the Century), which will be published next week. Cleverens has previously published something about this under his own management. For him it is always a matter of searching in the margins of history for the petite histoire. His data comes from archives of families that were closely related to the House of Orange. This new book, which will be published in a print run of only a thousand copies, tells, as the author proudly reports, "everything that can be found out about the pretenders to the throne and marriage candidates of Queen Wilhelmina". Even archives of German princely courts were opened for this purpose.

The candidate with the best succession papers was Prince Heinrich XXXII Reuss. Prince Heino was two years older than Wilhelmina. Although the young queen knew Heino from family celebrations in Germany, and occasionally even exchanged a postcard or a short note with him, she was horrified by the idea that this man would become her successor. Apart from the fact that this prince did not have a good appearance - he was ugly, short and fat - he did not excel in intelligence. Queen Wilhelmina and her mother Emma formed a united front against Heino. They found the anti-revolutionary statesman Mr. A. F. de Savornin Lohman in their path. Attempts to persuade him to bring about a constitutional amendment so that Prince Heino would be sidelined, he resolutely rejected. With the statement: 'An unsuitable candidate is always possible, even in the direct line. If one only makes sure that such a person is well supported, then it will all work out', De Savornin Lohman tried to reassure the two princesses.

If it had to happen, preference would have gone to Heino's brother, Prince Heinrich XXXIII Reuss, born in 1879, in the family circle Prince Henry. He was known as 'intelligent, artistic and good looking'. He spent his youth in imperial Vienna, in Germany he obtained his doctorate in philosophy. The Reuss princes both worked quietly on their possible Dutch future. For example, they made a trip together to the Dutch East Indies, where no one from our royal family had set foot before the Second World War, except for Prince Hendrik, the brother of King William III. Attempts to make Queen Wilhelmina face the situation, and to bring cousin Heinrich XXXIII Reuss to the Netherlands for an introduction, failed.

It was not until February 1908 that Wilhelmina gave in. During a packed eight-day programme, Henry visited the port of Rotterdam, Amsterdam, The Hague and Haarlem. Queen Wilhelmina tried to be friendly and personally presented her guest with the Grand Cross of the Order of the House of Orange upon his departure. Prince Heinrich XXXIII Reuss married Princess Victoria Margarete of Prussia in 1913. Queen Wilhelmina became the godmother of their son Heinrich, born on 24 November 1916. The story goes in the Reuss family that Prince Bernhard had romantic feelings for their daughter Maria, born on 9 January 1915, before he became engaged to Princess Juliana.

The Von Wieds, related to the House of Orange through Prince Frederik, the brother of King William II, were also candidates for the Dutch throne in the event that Wilhelmina died childless. The Dutch press was very favourably written about Prince Friedrich (Fritz) von Wied, married to a cousin of Queen Emma, although his accession as king would have to be arranged by amending the Constitution. His brother Wilhelm was also considered for Wilhelmina's succession. Before Wilhelmina's choice fell on Duke Hendrik of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, there were plans to pair her with Wilhelm von Wied. This possibility was abandoned, because the family ties could have a negative effect on 'the fertility of a marriage'.

Voorkeur ging uit naar intelligentere prins Henry Reuss

De Nederlandse troonsopvolging levert, nu de familie Van Oranje zeer talrijk is geworden, geen enkel probleem meer op. In het eerste kwart van deze eeuw lag dat anders. De jonge koningin Wilhelmina kreeg miskraam na miskraam, zodat er ernstig rekening mee werd gehouden dat vrij onbekende Duitse...

www.trouw.nl

Wilhelm Ernst had a bad reputation in Germany and was dubbed the most hated monarch (by a socialist, but still..). He had previously publicly stated his disinterest in the Dutch crown as it would cost him too much work and time. But after he had lost his throne he may have thought differently about the matter of course.

If we combine this article/book with the reasoning of the newspapers, it seems that not only parlament wanted to be involved. Wilhelmina also would have liked to have a say in what candidate would succeed. The constitutional change formalized what had been her wish in the 1900s.

-
Fasseur writes that Wilhelmina didn't dislike Wilhelm Ernst (Welmi was the family nickname) perse. She attended his wedding in 1903 and was shocked when his wife died two years later. After some time she worried and decided to mention names of girls from reigning houses' and if none would accept she also mentioned a Countess Erbach on Emma's instigation, a daughter of her aunt Lily. She didn't dare to raise the topic personally: 'others will already bore him with marital plans, so I won't start with that'.

He says in 1905 already a comittee was formed to change the consitution as a reaction to discussions in the press on who would succeed if the Queen would die childless. Apparently the liberal, socialist etc. press could not agree. The end of 1906 the report was done but no change of the succession rules was proposed. The fear was that the German Emperor -at the height of his power- would take offence when several German princes would be excluded, also because some Hohenzollern princes were in line too (descendants of Pss Marianne and Albrecht of Prussia).

Wilhelmina's suggestion to explicitly mention some names and exclude them was also not followed. She wanted to exclude the eldest prince Reuss, who was even fired by the navy.

 

[Tatiana Maria]

Thank you for the book summaries! It’s interesting that politicians would not allow Queen Wilhelmina to arrange the succession at her whim.

Ironic that it politicians wanted to ban foreign monarchs from ruling over them but were dissuaded by fear of a foreign monarch. Is that 1906 report online anywhere?

Wilhelm Ernst had his first child – a daughter Sophie, so not expected to inherit Weimar - in 1911, which made a Reuss succession less likely. I wonder if that was a relief to Wilhelmina and Emma or if a Weimar heiress was no more acceptable to them.

As for their apparent prejudice against fat and conventionally unattractive people (in addition to their more benign reasons for objecting to Heino), perhaps becoming ancestors to several intelligent, respected, and heavyset monarchs could be regarded as karmic.

If anyone wants to examine the succession law of 1887 to 1922, it can be found here:

Eerste Afdeeling. Van de Troonopvolging. - Nederlandse Grondwet

www.denederlandsegrondwet.nl