The Most Famous

NOBLEMEN from Netherlands

This page contains a list of the greatest Dutch Noblemen. The pantheon dataset contains 1,415 Noblemen, 10 of which were born in Netherlands. This makes Netherlands the birth place of the 15th most number of Noblemen behind Portugal, and Luxembourg.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Dutch Noblemen of all time. This list of famous Dutch Noblemen is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Dutch Noblemen.

1. Sophia of Hanover (1630 - 1714)

With an HPI of 64.91, Sophia of Hanover is the most famous Dutch Nobleman. Her biography has been translated into 45 different languages on wikipedia.

Sophia (born Princess Sophia of the Palatinate; 14 October [O.S. 3 October] 1630 – 8 June [O.S. 28 May] 1714) was Electress of Hanover from 19 December 1692 until 23 January 1698 as the consort of Prince-Elector Ernest Augustus. She was later the heiress presumptive to the thrones of England and Scotland (later Great Britain) and Ireland under the Act of Settlement 1701, as a granddaughter of King James VI and I. Sophia died less than two months before she would have become Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. Consequently, her son George I succeeded her first cousin once removed, Queen Anne, to the British throne. The succession to the throne has since been composed entirely of, and legally defined as Sophia's legitimate and Protestant descendants. Sophia was born in The Hague to Frederick V, formerly Elector Palatine and King of Bohemia, and Elizabeth, daughter of King James VI and I. She grew up in the Dutch Republic, where her family had sought refuge after the sequestration of their Electorate during the Thirty Years' War. Sophia's brother Charles Louis was restored as elector in the Palatinate as part of the Peace of Westphalia. During this time, the English Stuarts also went into exile and Sophia was courted by her cousin, Charles II of England. Sophia instead married Prince Ernest Augustus, her third cousin, in 1658. Despite his temper and frequent absences, Sophia loved him and bore him seven children who survived to adulthood. Born a landless cadet, Ernest Augustus succeeded in having the House of Hanover raised to electoral dignity in 1692. As a result, Princess Sophia became Electress of Hanover, the title by which she is best remembered. A patron of the arts, Sophia commissioned Herrenhausen Palace and its gardens and sponsored philosophers, such as Gottfried Leibniz and John Toland.

2. Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands (b. 1967)

With an HPI of 62.71, Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands is the 2nd most famous Dutch Nobleman. His biography has been translated into 92 different languages.

Willem-Alexander (Dutch: [ˈʋɪləm aːlɛkˈsɑndər]; Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand; born 27 April 1967) is King of the Netherlands. Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht during the reign of his maternal grandmother, Queen Juliana, as the eldest child of Princess Beatrix and Prince Claus. He became Prince of Orange as heir apparent upon his mother's accession on 30 April 1980. He went to public primary and secondary schools in the Netherlands, and an international sixth-form college in Wales. He served in the Royal Netherlands Navy, and studied history at Leiden University. He married Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti in 2002, and they have three daughters: Catharina-Amalia, Alexia, and Ariane. Willem-Alexander succeeded his mother as monarch upon her abdication on 30 April 2013. He is the first man to hold this position since the death of his great-great-grandfather William III in 1890, as the intervening three monarchs—his great-grandmother Wilhelmina, his grandmother Juliana and his mother Beatrix—had all been women. Willem-Alexander is interested in sports and international water management issues. Until his accession to the throne, he was a member of the International Olympic Committee (1998–2013), chairman of the Advisory Committee on Water to the Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and the Environment (2004–2013), and chairman of the Secretary-General of the United Nations' Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation (2006–2013).

3. Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau (1968 - 2013)

With an HPI of 56.99, Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau is the 3rd most famous Dutch Nobleman. His biography has been translated into 35 different languages.

Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau (Dutch: Johan Friso Bernhard Christiaan David van Oranje-Nassau van Amsberg; 25 September 1968 – 12 August 2013) was the second son of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and Claus von Amsberg, and younger brother of King Willem-Alexander. Friso was a member of the Dutch Royal Family, but because of his marriage without an Act of Consent in 2004, he lost his membership of the Dutch Royal House and was no longer in the line of succession to the throne. On 17 February 2012, Prince Friso was buried under an avalanche in Lech, Austria, while skiing off piste. He was taken to a hospital in Innsbruck, where he was in a critical but stable condition. According to his doctor, even though he was trapped for a relatively short time and hopes had originally been higher, subsequent neurological tests showed that after fifty minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in moderate hypothermia, he suffered massive brain damage due to oxygen shortage. His initial coma later progressed to a minimally conscious state, and it was unclear whether he would ever regain full consciousness. On 12 August 2013, one and a half years after the accident, Prince Friso died from complications.

4. Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands (b. 1969)

With an HPI of 55.46, Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands is the 4th most famous Dutch Nobleman. His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands (Constantijn Christof Frederik Aschwin; born 11 October 1969) is the third and youngest son of the former Dutch queen, Beatrix, and her husband, Claus von Amsberg, and is the younger brother of the reigning Dutch king, Willem-Alexander. He is a member of the Dutch Royal House and currently fourth in the line of succession to the Dutch throne behind his nieces.

5. Princess Louise of Orange-Nassau (1770 - 1819)

With an HPI of 51.10, Princess Louise of Orange-Nassau is the 5th most famous Dutch Nobleman. Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Princess Frederica Louise Wilhelmina of Orange-Nassau (28 November 1770 – 15 October 1819) was a Hereditary Princess of Brunswick; married 14 October 1790 to Hereditary Prince Charles George August of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1766 – 20 September 1806), son of Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. She was known in the family as "Loulou".

6. Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands (b. 1966)

With an HPI of 48.68, Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands is the 6th most famous Dutch Nobleman. Her biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands (born Petra Laurentien Brinkhorst, 25 May 1966) is the wife of Prince Constantijn and sister-in-law of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands.

7. William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland (1649 - 1709)

With an HPI of 48.24, William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland is the 7th most famous Dutch Nobleman. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland, (Dutch: Hans Willem Bentinck; 20 July 1649 – 23 November 1709) was a Dutch-born English nobleman who became in an early stage the favourite of William, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder in the Netherlands, and future King of England. He was reportedly steady, sensible, modest and usually moderate. The friendship and cooperation stopped in 1699.

8. Prince Carlos, Duke of Parma (b. 1970)

With an HPI of 46.86, Prince Carlos, Duke of Parma is the 8th most famous Dutch Nobleman. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Prince Carlos, Duke of Parma and Piacenza (Carlos Xavier Bernardo Sixto Marie; born 27 January 1970), is the current (since 2010) Head of the Royal and Ducal House of Bourbon-Parma, who ruled the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza from 1748 to 1802 and from 1847 to 1859 (which includes the Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg). He is a member of the Dutch royal family, and since 1996 he is incorporated into the Dutch nobility (based upon the Dutch Nobility Act of 1994) with the style of "His Royal Highness" and the title of Prince Carlos de Bourbon de Parme. He is also considered as the legitimate King of Spain and Head of the Carlist Royal Family by the Carlists with the name of "Don Carlos Javier, Rey de las Españas", since 2010, succeeding his father. In Spain, he uses also the title of Duke of Madrid (Duque de Madrid). The eldest son of Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma and Princess Irene of the Netherlands, he is also titled as Prince de Bourbon in the French nobility. He is the Grand Master of the Parmesan Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George, the Order of Saint Louis for Civil Merit, the Order of Prohibited Legitimacy and the Order of St. George for Military Merit.

9. Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange (b. 2003)

With an HPI of 40.66, Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange is the 9th most famous Dutch Nobleman. Her biography has been translated into 49 different languages.

Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange (Dutch pronunciation: [kaːtaːˈrinaː ʔaːˈmaːlijaː]; Catharina-Amalia Beatrix Carmen Victoria; born 7 December 2003) is the heir apparent to the throne of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the constituent countries of Aruba, Curaçao, the Netherlands, and Sint Maarten. Catharina-Amalia is the eldest child of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima. She has two younger sisters, Princess Alexia and Princess Ariane. She became heir apparent when her father ascended the throne on 30 April 2013.

10. Princess Ariane of the Netherlands (b. 2007)

With an HPI of 40.22, Princess Ariane of the Netherlands is the 10th most famous Dutch Nobleman. Her biography has been translated into 37 different languages.

Princess Ariane of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau (Ariane Wilhelmina Máxima Inés; born 10 April 2007) is the third and youngest daughter of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima. Princess Ariane is a member of the Dutch Royal House and currently third in the line of succession to the Dutch throne.

People

Pantheon has 14 people classified as Dutch noblemen born between 1630 and 2007. Of these 14, 10 (71.43%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Dutch noblemen include Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands, and Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands. The most famous deceased Dutch noblemen include Sophia of Hanover, Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau, and Princess Louise of Orange-Nassau. As of April 2024, 4 new Dutch noblemen have been added to Pantheon including Princess Louise of Orange-Nassau, William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland, and Count Claus-Casimir of Orange-Nassau.