Emma Of Waldeck And Pyrmont

She was born in Bad Arolsen , German Confederation , on 2 August 1858 , a daughter of Georg Viktor, Prince of Waldeck And Pyrmont , and his wife, Princess Helena Wilhelmina Henrietta of Nassau. Her sister, Helena Frederica , would become the wife of Prince Leopold, Duke Of Albany , a son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert .

She married the elderly king William III in 1879 , two years after his first wife, Princess Sophie of Württemberg, had died. The aging, licentious king, once described as "the greatest debauchee of the age", had previously been rejected by her sister, Princess Pauline of Waldeck and Pyrmont, and Princess Thyra Of Denmark . With William, Emma had her only child, the future Queen Wilhelmina , in 1880 . The king also had three sons from his first marriage, Maurice, William, and Alexander, all of whom died before him.

When William died in 1890, Emma became Queen regent for her underaged daughter, Wilhelmina, the late king's only surviving child. She would remain Queen regent until Wilhelmina's eighteenth birthday in 1898 . The Grand Duchy Of Luxembourg , which could not be inherited by a woman at that time, passed to their distant cousin Adolf, Duke Of Nassau .

She died in 1934, of complications from Bronchitis at the age of 75, and was buried in Delft . She was very popular with the Dutch people.

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Emma Of Waldeck And Pyrmont