Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (; ; 19 April 1876 – 3 July 1934) was Prince 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. Biography Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was born on 19 April 1876 in Schwerin. He was the youngest son of Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and his third wife, Princess Marie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. On 6 February 1901, Henry was created a Prince of the Netherlands and the next day, 7 February, married Queen Wilhelmina in The Hague. Their only child together, Juliana, was born in 1909. On 4 September 1948, Wilhelmina abdicated as queen of the Netherlands and was succeeded by her daughter. Henry also fathered at least one illegitimate child, Pim Lier by his mistress Willemina Martina Wenneker (1887-1973). Born in 1918, Lier eventually rose to prominence in post-war Dutch politics as chairman of the extreme-right Centre Party. The birth of a son out of wedlock was likely to be only symptomatic for the duke's increasingly strained relationship with his wife. That became all the more clear at the time of the opening ceremony of the Amsterdam Summer Olympics in 1928. Henry attended and even presided over the festivities, but Wilhelmina stayed away and stated that she was prevented from attending by her personal religious conviction that the type of event should not take place on a Sunday.