King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands — king of the netherlands with roots in the Russian Empire
Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand was born in Utrecht on 27 April 1967, the eldest of the three sons of Princess Beatrix, then heir to the throne, and Claus van Amsberg. He became Prince of Orange in 1980, when his mother succeeded his grandmother, Queen Juliana.
His Russian descent runs in an unbroken line through the Dutch crown. In February 1816 Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna, the youngest daughter of Emperor Paul I and a sister of Alexander I and Nicholas I, married the Prince of Orange in the church of the Winter Palace in St Petersburg. She had been born at Gatchina in 1795. Her husband became King William II, and their son King William III was the father of Queen Wilhelmina, whose daughter Juliana was the mother of Beatrix. Anna Pavlovna is thus Willem-Alexander's great-great-great-great-grandmother, and every Dutch monarch since 1849 has been her descendant. In the Netherlands she is remembered as Anna Paulowna, the name of a village in North Holland.
He completed his schooling at Atlantic College in Wales, served in the Royal Netherlands Navy, and studied history at Leiden University, graduating in 1993. Water management became his principal public interest, and he served as chairman of the United Nations Secretary-General's Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation. A qualified pilot, he revealed in 2017 that for some two decades he had flown about twice a month as a co-pilot on KLM's scheduled passenger flights. He was a member of the International Olympic Committee from 1998 until his accession, and in 1986 he completed the Elfstedentocht, the 200-kilometre skating tour through Friesland, under the name W. A. van Buren.
In 2002 he married Máxima Zorreguieta, born in Buenos Aires; they have three daughters, Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange and heir to the throne, Alexia and Ariane.
On 30 April 2013 his mother abdicated, and he was inaugurated in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam as King Willem-Alexander, the first Dutch king since 1890. As king he carries out the constitutional duties of the crown and represents the Netherlands abroad. The descent that came to the House of Orange from St Petersburg two centuries ago remains part of the Dutch monarchy.
Tracing the roots — Gatchina (ancestor)
He descends in the direct line from Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna, daughter of Emperor Paul I, born at Gatchina in 1795, who became Queen of the Netherlands; her son William III was the father of Queen Wilhelmina, his great-grandmother.
Descendant in the direct line of Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna (b. Gatchina 1795), daughter of Paul I and Queen of the Netherlands: Anna Pavlovna → William III → Wilhelmina → Juliana → Beatrix → Willem-Alexander.
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Gatchina (ancestor). At the time, this region lay within the Russian Empire, which spanned from Poland to the Pacific.