Correspondence Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange available online
Amsterdam/The Hague, 25 September 2023 – Since Friday 29 September, over 4,000 letters by and to Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange are available online. The edition has been made possible by a collaboration between the Huygens Institute, Royal Collections, NL-Lab and Oxford’s Early Modern Letters Online.
On 29 September, the launch of over 4,000 digitised letters by Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange, was festively celebrated with a symposium at Castle Duivenvoorde in Voorschoten. The symposium was dedicated to Anne, her letters and her musicality. Directors Claudia Hörster of the Royal Collections and Dirk van Miert of the Huygens Institute provided the official opening of the online catalogue of letters of Anna of Hanover.
Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange (1709-1759), married Prince William IV, the later heir stadholder of the Republic, in 1734. She regularly attended his meetings and built a large network of Dutch regents and international politicians. She corresponded frequently with local, national and international statesmen. After the death of her husband in October 1751, Anne was proclaimed ‘Gouvernante and Vooghdesse’ of their minor son Willem V. In this new role, she actively used her network in Dutch politics. Her correspondence, which the Royal Collections have had digitised for this project, shows great involvement.
Thanks to project leader Ineke Huysman and her team, the letters can be searched online on Oxford’s Early Modern Letters Online website by date, correspondent, place of transmission and place of finding. A digital image of the original letter of each letter has been added with links to digitised editions. This project not only unlocks a wealth of historical information, but also sheds new light on the life and times of Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange.
