The Crown of the Netherlands is of relatively modern origin. In 1813 the new "Sovereign Prince" of the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, Prince William Frederick, son and heir of the exiled

stadtholder In the Low Countries, a stadtholder ( ) was a steward, first appointed as a medieval official and ultimately functioning as a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and ...

Willem V of Orange, was sworn in as Dutch monarch in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. There was no crown present at the ceremony. When, in 1815, Willem was proclaimed "

King of the Netherlands The monarchy of the Netherlands is governed by the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands, country's charter and Constitution of the Netherlands, constitution, roughly a third of which explains the mechanics of succession, accession, and a ...

" in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

as William I, he was not crowned but there was a crown present during his

inauguration In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inau ...

, a huge and unusable construction of gilded copper, pearls made of pasted fishskin and coloured glass. The four holes in the ring, the peculiar size and the lack of a bill in the accounts that do contain the jeweler's bill for the gilded silver orb and sceptre, suggest that it was the old "funeral crown", used by the stadtholders in the 18th century and then tied to a cushion on top of the coffin when driven to the vault in

Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

. This crown still exists. It may have been used for royal funerals in the 19th century. The Dutch College of Arms (the "Hoge Raad van Adel") approved of a new royal coat of arms with crown on 24 August 1815. From then on, the heraldic crown and the actual crown would differ. The heraldic crown was described as "a bejeweled golden ring with golden fleurons and pearls, eight rising arches studded with pearls and topped with an orb with a cross. The crown is not lined with velvet." In 1840, King William I abdicated and a new crown was made. The renowned Amsterdam jewelry firm As Bonebakker & Son was commissioned to make the crown. The execution were left to master gold- and silversmith Theodorus Gerardus Bentvelt. This small crown contains no real diamonds or pearls. It was made of gilded silver, balls covered with fish skin and glass with coloured foil behind it. The lining was made of red silk. William II and his successors chose not to wear it, but to leave it on a special table during the ceremony when both the King and the States-General take the oath. It is thus one of the few crowns to have never been physically bestowed. The crown was used in royal funerals. In 1898, 24 of the 74 pearls were removed as the crown was prepared for the inauguration of Queen Wilhelmina. The crown has not changed since then. It was the monarch's private property until 1963. It was given to a foundation controlled by the

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

and has never been on display,René Brus. except for the investitures of 1898, 1948, 1980, and 2013, a funeral in 1934 and an exhibition in 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crown Of The Netherlands 1840 works

Monarchy of the Netherlands National symbols of the Netherlands Silver-gilt objects

See also

References