Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau

Princess Carolina
Princess Carolina
Princess consort of Nassau-Weilburg
Tenure	5 March 1760 - 6 May 1787
Born	28 February 1743
Died	Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist.
Spouse	Charles Christian, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg
Issue	George Wilhelm, Hereditary Prince of Nassau-Weilburg; Wilhelm Ludwig, Hereditary Prince of Nassau-Weilburg; Princess Maria; Luise, Princess Heinrich XIII Reuss of Greiz; Frederick William, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg; Karoline, Princess of Wied; Prince Karl Ludwig; Amalie, Princess of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym; Henriette, Duchess Louis of Württemberg; Prince Karl
House	Orange-Nassau
Father	William IV, Prince of Orange
Mother	Anne, Princess Royal
Religion	Dutch Reformed

Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau, Princess of Nassau-Weilburg (Wilhelmine Carolina; 28 February 1743, Leeuwarden – 6 May 1787, Kirchheimbolanden)^[1] was the daughter of William IV, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder of the Netherlands, and Anne, Princess Royal.

Regent

Princess Carolina was born in Leeuwarden.^[1] In 1747, it was declared that the position of Stadtholder could be inherited by females, thus making the young Princess Carolina the heiress presumptive to the position of Stadtholder. However, in 1748, a male heir, Willem, was born to her parents, thus displacing her and putting her second in line to the position.

Princess Carolina's father died in 1751, making her three-year-old brother Willem V of Orange. At that point, her mother was appointed Princess-Regent. However, in 1759, her mother died, and Willem V was still just ten years old. Then, Princess Carolina's paternal grandmother, Princess Marie-Luise, was made Princess-Regent. Princess Marie-Luise was regent until 1765, when she died. Willem V was now seventeen, but that was still not old enough to rule on his own. So, Princess Carolina was made regent. She ruled until 1766, when Willem V turned eighteen.

Marriage and children

On 5 March 1760 in The Hague, during the regency of her grandmother Princess Marie Luise, Princess Carolina married Karl Christian, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg.^[1] They had fifteen children, seven of whom survived to adulthood:

Georg Wilhelm, Hereditary Prince of Nassau-Weilburg (The Hague, 18 December 1760 - Honselaarsdijk, 27 May 1762)
Wilhelm Ludwig, Hereditary Prince of Nassau-Weilburg (The Hague, 12 December 1761 - Kirchheim, 16 April/26 April 1770)
Augusta Carolina Maria of Nassau-Weilburg (The Hague, 5 February 1764 - Weilburg, 25 January 1802). A nun in Quedlinburg and Herford.
Wilhelmine Luise of Nassau-Weilburg, then of Nassau (The Hague, 28 September 1765 - Greiz, 10 October 1837), married in Kirchheim on 9 January 1786 Heinrich XIII, Prince Reuss of Greiz (Greiz, 16 February 1747 - Greiz, 29 January 1817), and had issue:
- Prince Heinrich XVIII Reuss of Greiz (31 March 1787 – 31 March 1787)
- Heinrich XIX, Prince Reuss of Greiz (1 March 1790 – 31 October 1836), married in 1822 to Princess Gasparine of Rohan-Rochefort, had issue.
- Heinrich XX, Prince Reuss of Greiz (29 June 1794 – 8 November 1859), married firstly in 1834 to Princess Sophie of Löwenstein-Wertheim- Rosenberg, no issue, Princess Sophie died in 1838; Married secondly in 1839 to Landgravine Karoline of Hesse-Homburg, had issue.

Frederick William, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg (25 October 1768, The Hague - 9 January 1816).
Karoline Luise Friederike of Nassau-Weilburg, then of Nassau (Kirchheim, 14 February 1770 - Wiesbaden, 8 July 1828), married in Kirchheim on 4 September 1787 Karl Ludwig Fürst zu Wied (Dierdorf, 9 September 1763 - Dierdorf, 9 March 1824), without issue
Karl Ludwig of Nassau-Weilburg (Kirchheim, 19 July 1772 - Kirchheim, 27 July 1772)
Karl Wilhelm Friedrich of Nassau-Weilburg, then of Nassau (Kirchheim, 1 May 1775 - Weilburg, 11 May 1807), unmarried and without issue
Amalie Charlotte Wilhelmine Louise of Nassau-Weilburg, then of Nassau (Kirchheim, 7 August 1776 - Schaumburg, 19 February 1841), married firstly in Weilburg on 29 October 1793 Victor II, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym, and had issue, and married secondly in Schaumburg on 15 February 1813 Friedrich Freiherr von Stein-Liebenstein zu Barchfeld (14 February 1777 - 4 December 1849), and had issue
Henriette of Nassau-Weilburg, then of Nassau (22 April 1780 - 2 January 1857). Married Duke Louis of Württemberg, second son of Friedrich II Eugen, Duke of Württemberg.
Karl of Nassau-Weilburg (1784 - shortly thereafter)
Four nameless, stillborn, children (1767, 1778, 1779, 1785)