Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

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, Princess Juliana, was born in 1909.

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 symptomatic of 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.

Henry became the 279th Knight Grand Cross of the Portuguese Order of the Tower and Sword, and in 1924, he was appointed as the 1,157th Knight of the Spanish Order of the Golden Fleece.

He died in The Hague, Netherlands, on 3 July 1934, aged 58.

Scouting

Henry successfully merged the two Dutch Boy Scout organisations Nederlandse Padvinders Organisatie (NPO, Netherlands Pathfinder Organisation) and the Nederlandse Padvinders Bond (NPB, Netherlands Pathfinder Federation) on 11 December 1915 to form De Nederlandse Padvinders (NPV, The Netherlands Pathfinders). He became the Royal Commissioner of that organisation and he asked Jean Jacques Rambonnet to become chairman in 1920.

Extramarital relationships

Prince Henry was known to have had numerous extra-marital affairs. It is rumored that he fathered between three and ten illegitimate children; however, firm proof remains elusive, except for Albrecht Willem Lier, known as the above-noted Pim Lier (22 July 1918 – 9 April 2015). During her widowhood, Queen Wilhelmina paid monthly allowances to three known ex-mistresses: Julia Cervey in Geneva (ƒ200 per month), Wilhelmine Steiner in Zurich (ƒ500 per month), and Mien Lier-Wenneker (1887–1973), in The Hague (ƒ500 per month). Mien Abbo-Wenneker (later Lier-Wenneker), gave birth to a total of six children; the older two, sisters Christina Margaretha Abbo and Edith Abbo (later Sheep-Abbo) were ostensibly the daughters of Mien's first husband, Dhr. Abbo, but strongly rumored to have been fathered by Prince Henry. In 1919, Mien married Lieutenant Jan Derk Lier, a former aide-de-camp to Prince Henry. A grant of one hundred thousand guilders was arranged for Lt. Lier from the State by police chief François van 't Sant, whom Queen Wilhelmina engaged to verify the facts of her husband's extramarital relationships and children. This, plus a monthly allowance to the Lt from the state of one thousand guilders, was in return for his commitment to "the three children of HRH".

The male parent of the remaining three children was not verified as being either Prince Henry or Lt. Lier. Subsequent to their birth, no additional allowance was settled on the family; in fact, the monthly allowance of one thousand guilders to Lt. Jan Derk Lier was halved by van't Sant after a short period, although the allowance to his wife continued.

Honours and awards

German decorations

Netherlands:

Grand Cross of the Netherlands Lion

Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau

Knight of the Gold Lion of Nassau

Grand Cross of the House Order of Orange

Grand Master of the Johanniter Order, 30 April 1909

Cross of Merit of the Dutch Red Cross

Wedding Medal of Queen Wilhelmina and Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, 1901

Austria-Hungary: Grand Cross of the Royal Hungarian Order of St. Stephen, 1903

Foreign decorations