Prince Henry, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Prince Henry in 1915.
Prince consort of the Netherlands
Tenure	7 February 1901 – 3 July 1934
Born	(1876-04-19)19 April 1876 Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, German Empire
Died	3 July 1934(1934-07-03) (aged 58) Kneuterdijk Palace, The Hague, Netherlands
Burial	11 July 1934 Nieuwe Kerk, Delft, Netherlands
Spouse	Wilhelmina of the Netherlands (m. 1901)
Issue	Juliana of the Netherlands
Full name Hendrik Wladimir Albrecht Ernst
House	Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Father	Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg
Mother	Princess Marie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
Religion	Lutheranism (until 1901) Reformed (from 1901)
Occupation	Military officer

Prince Henry, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (Heinrich Wladimir Albrecht Ernst; 19 April 1876 – 3 July 1934), later Prince Henry of the Netherlands, was prince consort of the Netherlands as the husband of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. He was the longest serving consort of the Netherlands.

Biography

Heinrich Wladimir Albrecht Ernst of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was born on 19 April 1876 in Schwerin. He was the youngest son of Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and his third wife, Princess Marie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt.

He was created Prince of the Netherlands on 6 February 1901, and married Queen Wilhelmina on 7 February 1901, in The Hague. Although the queen was devoted to her spouse at the time of their marriage, it proved in the long run to be an unhappy one that did little more than meet its obligation by producing an heir. They had one child, Juliana, in whose favor her mother abdicated on 4 September 1948.

He was the 279th Grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and Sword in Portugal and the 1,157th Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece in Spain in 1924.

He died, at the age of 58, on 3 July 1934 in The Hague, Netherlands.

Scouting

He successfully merged the two Dutch Boy Scout organisations Nederlandse Padvinders Organisatie (NPO, Netherlands Pathfinder Organisation) and the Nederlandse Padvinders Bond (NPB, Netherlands Pathfinder Federation) on 11 December 1915 to form De Nederlandse Padvinders (NPV, The Netherlands Pathfinders). He became the Royal Commissioner of that organisation and he asked Jean Jacques Rambonnet to become chairman in 1920 .^[1]

Illegitimate children

During his marriage Henry has fathered illegitimate children. In 1979, first came to the publicity that Henry at Mien Wenneker sired a son who was born in The Hague on July 22, 1918. The existence of this half-brother of Queen Juliana was reported by Loe de Jong in part nine of his The Kingdom of the Netherlands in World War II, but a name was not mentioned. In the same year it was announced that it was Pim Lier. The illegitimate son was recognized in 1919 by paying a monthly allowance by Lieutenant Jan Derk Lier, when he married the mother. Hands of Van 't Sant allowance would be reduced.

In September 1992 announced Edith Sheep-Abbo, a sister Pim Lier, that they too would be raised by Henry. Irrefutable proof she had not. That also Henry would be the biological father of the four other children Mien Wenneker, has never been established.

After his death Wilhelmina paid for his extramarital escapades financial compensation; Julia Cervey in Geneva monthly two hundred guilders to Mien Lier-Wenneker Hague five hundred guilders and the same amount in Wilhelmine Steiner in Zurich.

Titles

Coat of Arms of Prince Henry, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

• 19 April 1876 – 7 February 1901: His Highness Henry, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
• 7 February 1901 – 3 July 1934: His Royal Highness Henry, Prince of the Netherlands, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Ancestry

See also

• Prince Henry of the Netherlands (governor)
• PEC Zwolle, football club named in his honour

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Duke Hendrik of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.