An afternoon with Princess Marianne of the Netherlands




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Statue of Princess Marianne outside the church (Photo by Moniek Bloks)
Princess Marianne Room in the City Museum Voorburg
Princess Marianne Room in the City Museum Voorburg

Last weekend I spent an afternoon with Princess Marianne of the Netherlands, or rather her legacy. This was a day trip organised by Historizon, which is a Dutch travel agency who also arranges longer trips. They have something coming up in October about the wives of William of Orange, so I might go to that as well. But first, Princess Marianne!

Princess Marianne was born on 9 May 1810 in Berlin, while her parents, the future William I of the Netherlands and Wilhelmina of Prussia were in exile. She was much younger than her elder siblings. She was married to Albert of Prussia but the marriage quickly deteriorated. She began a 30-year affair with Johannes van Rossum, her servant. They had an illegitimate son, Johannes Willem who sadly died at 12 years old. You can read more here in an earlier article of mine.

Her travel secretary
Her travel secretary
Items belonging to Princess Marianne
Items belonging to Princess Marianne
Tiara and matching tiepin, which were presents from Princess Marianne
Tiara and matching tiepin, which were presents from Princess Marianne
Ledger kept by Johannes van Rossum
Ledger kept by Johannes van Rossum
Princess Marianne's children by Albert of Prussia
Princess Marianne’s children by Albert of Prussia
Princess Marianne's son by Johannes van Rossum
Princess Marianne’s son by Johannes van Rossum

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Princess Alexandrina of Prussia
Princess Alexandrina of Prussia
Princess Marianne's own seating arrangement in church
Princess Marianne’s own seating arrangement in church
The organ was donated by Princess Marianne
The organ was donated by Princess Marianne

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Statue of Princess Marianne outside the church
Statue of Princess Marianne outside the church
Old city hall, which was partly funded by Princess Marianne
Old city hall, which was partly funded by Princess Marianne
The Orangery, one of the few remaining buildings of Princess Marianne's estate
The Orangery, one of the few remaining buildings of Princess Marianne’s estate

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The other remaining building
The other remaining building

We also had a lecture by Kees van der Leer, who has written three books on Princess Marianne. Unfortunately these are only available in Dutch. It was really a lovely day.






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About Moniek Bloks 2833 Articles
My name is Moniek and I am from the Netherlands. I began this website in 2013 because I wanted to share these women's amazing stories.

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