Willem V, Prince of Orange

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(b. March 8, 1748, The Hague, The Netherlands – d. April 9, 1806, Brunswick, Lower Saxony, Germany )

Gender: M

Prince Willem V of Orange (1748-1806) was the son of Willem IV, hereditary Stadtholder of the United Provinces, and Anne, eldest daughter of King George II of Great Britain, but his father died when he was three years old and there was a regency that lasted fifteen years. He married Wilhelmina, daughter of Augustus William of Prussia and niece of Frederick the Great; they had five children, three of whom survived infancy. In 1787 a group known as the Patriots attempted to overthrow Willem, but were defeated by a Prussian army sent by Wilhelmina’s brother, Frederick William. When the Netherlands was invaded by French revolutionary forces in 1795, Willem and his wife went into exile in England, and lived at Kew until 1802. After the Peace of Amiens in 1802, Willem insisted that the position of Stadtholder should be restored, but this was rejected by Napoleon. He never returned to the Netherlands, and died in exile at his daughter Louise’s palace in Brunswick. In 1813, his son William I became the first Dutch monarch from the House of Orange.

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