Alexander, Prince of Orange

{{Infobox royalty

| name = Alexander

| title = Prince of Orange

| image = Alexander, Prince of Orange, Prince of the Netherlands.jpg

| caption =

| full name = Willem Alexander Karel Hendrik Frederik

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1851|8|25|df=y}}

| birth_place = Noordeinde Palace, The Hague, Netherlands

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1884|6|21|1851|8|25|df=y}}

| death_place = The Hague, Netherlands

| burial_date = 17 July 1884

| burial_place = Nieuwe Kerk, Delft, Netherlands

| father = William III of the Netherlands

| mother = Sophie of Württemberg

| house = Orange-Nassau

}}

Alexander, Prince of Orange (Willem Alexander Karel Hendrik Frederik; 25 August 1851 – 21 June 1884), was heir apparent to his father King William III of the Netherlands from 11 June 1879 until his death.

For a span of 116 years, from the birth of Alexander (1851) until the birth of the present king Willem-Alexander (1967), no male heirs were born into the Dutch Royal House.

Life

Prince Alexander of the Netherlands was born in The Hague on 25 August 1851.{{in lang|nl}} [http://www.koninklijkhuis.nl/content.jsp?objectid=24993 Prins Alexander (1851 -1884)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080918064538/http://www.koninklijkhuis.nl/content.jsp?objectid=24993 |date=2008-09-18 }}. Retrieved on 2008-07-28. He was the third child of King William III and Queen Sophie. His second brother, Prince Maurice had died the previous year.{{in lang|nl}} [http://www.koninklijkhuis.nl/stamboom/ Stamboom Koninklijk Huis] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080726165801/http://www.koninklijkhuis.nl/stamboom/ |date=2008-07-26 }}. Retrieved on 2008-07-28. Unlike his brother William, the heir-apparent, he was disciplined, intellectual and well-read. His mother, Queen Sophie died in 1877. After Prince William's death two years later on 11 June 1879, he became heir apparent to the Dutch throne and as such the Prince of Orange.

Alexander held the position of heir apparent until his own death, at age 32, on 21 June 1884 in The Hague from typhus. Although he never married, negotiations were held for him to marry, firstly Princess Thyra of Denmark, and supposedly secondly the Infanta Marie Anne of Portugal.

He was buried in the new royal burial vault in the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft on 17 July 1884.[http://www.nieuwekerk-delft.nl/eng/kerkgebouw/huis_van_oranje/koninklijke_grafkelders.html The royal burial vaults] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213182135/http://www.nieuwekerk-delft.nl/eng/kerkgebouw/huis_van_oranje/koninklijke_grafkelders.html |date=2012-02-13 }}. Retrieved on 2008-07-28. After his death, his half-sister, the future Queen Wilhelmina, became heir presumptive to the Dutch throne.{{cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/henrivanoene/gennetherlands.html |title=Genealogy of the Royal Family of the Netherlands |access-date=2013-05-04 |url-status= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091028120246/http://www.geocities.com/henrivanoene/gennetherlands.html |archive-date=2009-10-28 }} Alexander's death meant that on the death of William III the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg came into the hands of Duke Adolphus from the Walram line of the House of Nassau, as under the terms of the house-treaty a princess could not succeed to that title.

Prince Alexander was Grand Master of the Grand Orient of the Netherlands.

Honours

{{flag|Netherlands}}: Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion, 1861
{{flag|Luxembourg}}: Grand Cross of the Order of the Oak Crown, 1861
{{flag|Württemberg}}: Grand Cross of the Order of the Württemberg Crown, 1869{{cite book|author=Württemberg|title=Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreichs Württemberg: 1869|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=awdTAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA32|year=1869|page=32}}
{{flag|Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach}}: Grand Cross of the Order of the White Falcon, 1873[https://zs.thulb.uni-jena.de/rsc/viewer/jportal_derivate_00183947/Staatshandbuch_Film_Nr_14_0374.tif Staatshandbuch für das Großherzogtum Sachsen / Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach] (1880), "Großherzogliche Hausorden" p. 14
{{flag|Denmark}}: Knight of the Order of the Elephant, 4 July 1874{{cite book|author=Jørgen Pedersen|title=Riddere af Elefantordenen, 1559–2009|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=glw-AQAAIAAJ|year=2009|publisher=Syddansk Universitetsforlag|language=da|isbn=978-87-7674-434-2|page=467}}
{{flagicon|Austrian Empire}} {{flagicon|Kingdom of Hungary|1873}} Austria-Hungary: Grand Cross of the Royal Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen, 1874[http://tornai.com/rendtagok.htm "A Szent István Rend tagjai"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101222022855/http://tornai.com/rendtagok.htm|date=22 December 2010}}
{{flagicon image|Flag of the Kingdom of Prussia (1803-1892).svg}} Kingdom of Prussia: Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle, 4 December 1874{{citation|title=Königlich Preussische Ordensliste|volume=1|chapter-url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049878864&view=1up&seq=5&skin=2021|page=[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049878864&view=1up&seq=18&skin=2021 14]|chapter=Schwarzer Adler-orden|language=German|location=Berlin|year=1877}}
{{flag|Kingdom of Hawaii}}: Grand Cross of the Order of Kamehameha I, 1881{{cite news|title=The King's Tour Round the World: Additional Particulars of the Royal Visit to Spain and Portugal|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82015418/1881-10-15/ed-1/seq-1/|access-date=December 16, 2016|via=Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.|publisher=The Pacific Commercial Advertiser|date=October 15, 1881|location=Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands}}