Henry
Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Prince consort of the Netherlands
Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (German: Heinrich Wladimir Albrecht Ernst; Dutch: Hendrik Vladimir Albrecht Ernst; 19 April 1876 – 3 July 1934) was Prince Consort of the Netherlands from 7 February 1901 until his death in 1934 as the husband of Queen Wilhelmina. He was the longest-serving Dutch consort. Heinrich was the youngest son from the third marriage of Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II of Mecklenburg in the Mecklenburg-Schwerin region with Princess Marie Caroline of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. His half-siblings included Grand Duke Friedrich Franz III, who died in 1897 and the regent Duke Johann Albrecht of Mecklenburg. He was an uncle of the last reigning Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Friedrich Franz IV, and the last German Crown Princess Cecilie of Prussia. He grew up primarily in the countryside, at Raben Steinfeld Castle. He later attended the Vitzthum-Gymnasium Dresden and then traveled through Asia and America. After attending the military school in Metz, he entered the Prussian military service as a first lieutenant in the Guards Jaeger Battalion. While visiting relatives at Schwarzburg Castle in 1900, he met the then 19-year-old Dutch Queen Wilhelmina, who was also a guest there with her mother Emma. After laborious negotiations, he married Wilhelmina on February 7, 1901. The day before the wedding he received the title of Prince of the Netherlands. At the queen's express request, he had to consider himself “completely Dutch, exclusively
Dutch.” The daughter and later Queen Juliana emerged from the very unhappy marriage. She received her mother's family name and held the titles of Princess of the Netherlands and Princess of Orange-Nassau before the title of Duchess of Mecklenburg.
The Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, its origins date back to 1572, when the Staatse Leger was raised making the Dutch standing army one of the oldest in the world. In 1814, a year after the return of William I of the Netherlands to Scheveningen and the Orangist uprising against Napoleonic rule, an independent Dutch army was reformed by the new Kingdom of the United Netherlands. Several militias of the Dutch States Army were integrated into this newly formed Netherlands Mobile Army, and it became an integral part of the allied army during the Hundred Days campaign that culminated in the Battle of Waterloo. Units such as Baron Chassé's were essential to securing victory for the allied army. The army was involved in various conflicts since 1814, including the Waterloo campaign (1815) and different colonial wars (1825–1925). During the Belgian Revolution, from 1830 to 1832, the army was deployed to restore order in the southern provinces. After initial Dutch military success and widespread Belgian defeat during battles of the Ten Days' Campaign, the Belgian rebels appealed to France for military support. The severely outnumbered Dutch troops were forced to retreat when the French agreed to send reinforcements. The Netherlands continued the policy of neutrality during World War I. This stance arose partly from a strict policy of neutrality in international affairs that started in 1830 with the secession of Belgium. Dutch neutrality was not guaranteed by the major powers in Europe however, nor was it a part of the Dutch constitution. The country's neutrality was based on the belief that its strategic position between the German Empire, German-occupied Belgium, and the British
guaranteed its safety. The Dutch military strategy was aimed exclusively at defence and rested to a large extent on the Dutch Water Line, a defensive ring of rivers and lowland surrounding the core Dutch region of Holland, that could be inundated.
The House of Mecklenburg, also known as Nikloting, is a North German dynasty of Slavic origin that ruled until 1918 in the Mecklenburg region, being among the longest-ruling families of Europe. Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (1909–2004), former Queen of the Netherlands (1948–1980), was an agnatic member of this house. The family was established by Pribislav, an Obotrite (Slavic) prince who converted to Christianity and accepted the suzerainty of Saxon Duke Henry the Lion (r. 1142–1180), his fallen father's enemy, and became the Lord of Mecklenburg (derived from Mikla Burg, "big fortress", their main fortress). The Obotrites were subsequently Germanized. The main branch of the house was elevated in 1347 to ducal rank.
The prince is dressed in the uniform of a staff officer of the Royal Netherlands Army. He wears the collar of the House Order of the Wendish Crown and the sash of the Order of the Griffon. On the duke's chest there are stars of two Mecklenburg highest orders and two Netherlands orders: the Order of the Wendish Crown, Order of the Griffon, Order of the Netherlands Lion and Order of the House of Orange.
