Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1902-05-08
It W!LHEL NINA DIED
NO LACK OF HEIRS TO THE
THRONE.
AND GENERALLY GERMAN
Young Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimer
Closest in Line of Succession and
Princess Marie Reuss Next-Lat-
ter Has Three Sons and One Daugh-
ter.

prevails on both sides OF the Atlantic
than that of the Dutch succession, and
in view Of the dangerous illness of the
young queen of Holland, now pros
trated with typhoid fever, to which
members Of the reigning houses of
Europe appear to be so particularly
prone, it may be timely to offer a
few notes by way of explanation of the
subject-the more so as the name OF
Emperor William, who includes among
mis- other titles that of prince of
Orange. has been put forward by some
German writer's as having rights to the
Dutch crown.
The dutch succession is based upon
the provisions of the constitution of
Aug. "a. 1915, when the Netherlands
were organized by the congress of
Vienna into a kingdom, and the clauses
bearing upon the subject were main
tanned by the subsequent constitution
of Oct. IA, 1S4S. According to the
terms of the two national constitutions
the crown of the Netherlands is vested
in the descendants of that prince of
the house of Orange who in 1916 was
proclaimed first king of the Neither
| lands under the title of William |.
Legitimate descent from him is a
| sine qua non to the succession of the
| Dutch throne, and it is not until all
/ his descendants in the male, as we'll
| as in the female, line have become
| extinct that any question could arise
| about the rights Of Emperor William,
! who, it is perfectly true, represents the
| senior branch of the house Of Orange
by reason of his descent from that
| Frederick William, elector of Branden-
| burg, who married Princess Louise of
! Orange. daughter and sole heiress OF
Henry Frederick of Orange, who died
| in 1647
1t is the cognate or Castillo sys-
! TEN OF succession that prevails in the
! Meth erlands, as it does in Great
! Britain, in Portugal, and in Spain.
! According to it's terms male heirs in
| the same degree of relation to the
sovereign exclude females without
| any regard 10 priority of birth Thus,
| though the son of a sovereign may be
| younger than the daughter, the son
| succeeds. one instance in point being
| that furnished by Spain, where the
young boy king has two sisters older
| than himself, one of them, indeed, haY-
! ing actually reigned as queen during
| the six months that interviewed be-
| tween his fathers death and his own
| birth. And in England it was Edward
| VII. who succeeded to the British
| crown on the death of his mother in
stead of the latters first born child,
the late Empress Frederick But if
the sovereign leaves a daughter and a
| brother or a nephew, then according
to the cOgnate system, it is the daugh-
! ter who succeeds, as being in closer
! degree of relationship.
! The late king Of Holland, William
| Ill, lost both his sons during his life
| time, and accordingly at his death
his crown passed to his only surviving
| child and daughter, Wilhelmina the
| present queen. The late king had
three brothers Alexander Henry and
| Ernest who all died without leaving
| any legitimate issue male or female
| He likewise had a sister Princess
Sophie who married the late grand
| duke of SaXe-Weimar. Both she and
her husband are dead and her rights
to the throne of The Netherlands. are
therefore now vested in her children
and grandchildren first and foremost
of whom is her grandson the now
reigning grand duke Of Saxe-Weimar
an unmarried young prince of &c
years of age. 1t is not known yet
whether he would accept the success
sion to the Dutch throne. For it would
involve his surrender of his grand
ducal throne of Saxe-Weimar, since
article 26 of the national constitution
of the Netherlands explicitly prohibits
the occupancy of any foreign throne
Jointly with that of Holland
Possessed of colossal wealth dis
posed towards Incidence, and accus-
toned to take his duties as sovereign
exceedingly easily, it is regarded as
extremely probable that the fat young
grand duke may prefer the compare
lively facile position of ruler of SAKE
Gus and responsible position of mon
arch of The Netherlands AS the
grand duke has lost his younger
brother the rights of succession to the
Dutch throne in the event of his waiv-
ing them would pass to the elder sis |
ter of his dead father-that is to say, |
to the eldest daughter of that late
of ~
was sister to King William III. of the |
Netherlands This princess, Marie |
by name, is married to Prince Henry |
VII. of Reuss, who was formerly Ger
man ambassador at Vienna and at
Constantinople
1t is therefore this Princess Marie
Reuss who stands second in the line
of succession to the Dutch throne,
and in the event of Queen Wilhel-
mina's death and the grand duke of
Saxe-Weimar declining to accept the
Dutch crown, it is she who will be-
come queen of the Netherlands. Prin-
cess Marie Reuss has four children, of
whom three are sons, the eldest %
years of age and known as Prince
Henry XXXII. of Reuss, being lieu
tenant OF the imperial German navy.
His two younger brothers, respectively
Prince Henry XXXIII. and Prince
Henry HXXV. of Reuss, come next in
he line of succession. After them
heir sister, the now 17-year-oId Prin-
cess Sophie of Reuss, and in the de-
ault OF Princess Marie and of herr
our children inst enuraro+od Tho
lights to the Dutch crown pass to her