William III of the Netherlands

Overview

William III (Willem III, 1817-1890), King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 1849. His first wife, Queen Sophie, died in June 1877; he then lived openly with the French soprano Émilie Ambre, whom he made "comtesse d'Ambroise" and for whom he kept a house at Meudon near Paris, and announced a morganatic marriage that his ministers made him give up. In 1879 he married Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont. Sources: Wikipedia, "William III of the Netherlands" and "Émilie Ambre".

Relevance to Marie

Marie calls him "le roi de Hollande".

• June 1877: in the prank letters in German that Marie has Marie Leontievna write to Larderel's mother («ma mère de Florence»), a sculptor complains that Alexandre has broken "Psyché, une statue commandée par le roi de Hollande" (072/1877-06-13). The letter is Marie's invention.
• 19 June 1878: "On dit que je suis la fille du roi de Hollande. Ce serait bien." (080.0689). In 1878 the king's Paris liaison was public knowledge, which gives the gossip its point (Marie does not say who spread it).

References in Diary

• First mentioned: 1877-06-13 (072)
• 1878-06-19 (080.0689)