biography
| name: |
Wilhelmina (of Prussia)
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| |
in full Frederica Sophia Wilhelmina
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pronunciation:
[vilhelmeena]
| sex:
| female
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| lived:
| (1751–1820)
|
| biography:
| Princess of the Netherlands, and Princess of Prussia of the House of Hohenzollern, born in Berlin, Germany. She married Stadtholder William V in 1767, and although endowed with greater talents and vitality than her husband, she was at first prevented from using her influence by her cousin, the Duke of Brunswick Wolfenbüttel, William's former guardian. After his departure she took a greater part in politics, always with advice from her uncle, Frederick the Great, and her brother, Frederick William of Prussia, who had no sympathy with William V. When William was driven out of The Hague to Het Loo in 1785 she ignored advice and stayed with him, but in 1787, persuaded by English envoy Harris and G K Hogendorp, she tried to return to The Hague to rally the Orangeists to act against the patriots' dominance, but was stopped on the R Vlist near Goejanverwellesluis, resulting in a Prussian armed intervention to restore William V and create havoc among the patriot administration; it also caused dissent between the couple. In 1795 Wilhelmina fled to England with her husband and children, and later lived in Nassau and Brunswick. She was widowed in 1806 and returned to The Netherlands in 1814. |
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