Princess Amalia of Nassau-Dietz

Life[edit]

Anna Charlotte Amalia was the only daughter of Johan Willem Friso of Nassau-Dietz (after 1702 Prince of Orange) and his wife, Landgravine Marie Louise of Hesse-Kassel. She had a brother, William IV, Prince of Orange (1711-1751).^[2] She grew up in Friesland and spoke West Frisian herself. Amalia was often described as quite introvert and often melancholic.


After her marriage to Friedrich of Baden-Durlach in 1727 she moved to Durlach. During her pregnancies, Amalia tyrannized her servants, and because of the princess's many tantrums,^[2] rumors circulated at the court of Durlach that she was mentally ill. Friedrich died on 26 March 1732, shortly after the birth of their second child.^[2][1] As further evidence of her alleged mental illness, it was charged that she shed no tears at the sight of her husband's corpse.


Her father-in-law, Margrave Karl III Wilhelm, did not want Amalia influencing the new crown prince Karl Friedrich; though mother and son continued to live in Karlsburg Castle in Durlach, Amalia lived the rest of her life in a separate apartment in the castle, shielded from the outside world. The education of her two sons, Karl Friedrich and Wilhelm Ludwig, was taken over by her mother-in-law, Magdalena Wilhelmine of Württemberg.^[2]