Background
She was the daughter of Prince Augustus William of Prussia and Luise of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.
She was the daughter of Prince Augustus William of Prussia and Luise of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.
Wilhelmina was the longest serving Princess consort of Orange. As a person, she was proud and politically ambitious. As a Princess consort, she dominated her spouse and exerted both overt and covert influence on the politics of state.
She was recognized openly as the true leader of the dynastic Stadtholder party, a role its followers actively encouraged her to take.
She was in heavy correspondence with foreign powers and used foreign supporters to influence Dutch internal policy. In 1785, her spouse was forced to leave Den Haag and put under a demand to abdicate.
Wilhelmina persuaded William not to give in, and subsequently went to Friesland -- officially to visit a jubilee, but in reality she aimed to gain support in the ongoing political conflict. In 1786, the family moved from the capital at the Hague to Nijmegen.
After the revolution proper broke out in 1787 and William had moved his court to Guelders, she attempted to return to the Hague.
On 28 June 1787, she was stopped at Goejanverwellesluis, waiting for permission to continue to her destination. At the end of the day, permission was denied and she was sent back to William. Frederick, despite having been in power for only for a year, attacked the Dutch Republic on 13 September 1787.
Many rebels had to flee to France, and William was restored to power.
With the support of foreign troops, Wilhelmina returned to The Hague and was celebrated by her followers as the true ruler of the Netherlands. During their exile, the couple lived in Kew until 1802, and subsequently went to Germany, where they lived in Nassau and Braunschweig (where William died in 1806).
She received Tsar Alexander I of Russia in Haarlem in 1815.
She was deeply involved in the revolutionary political conflict in the Netherlands from 1781 onwards -- not only a supporter and partner, but as a main driving power behind the party of her spouse.