Carolina of Orange-Nassau
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Her Serene Highness Fürstin Carolina zu Nassau-Weilburg née Her Serene Highness Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau, Princess-Regent of Republic of the Netherlands (February 28, 1743- May 6, 1787) was the daughter of William IV, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder of the Netherlands, and HRH Anne, the Princess Royal, eldest daughter of King George II of Great Britain.
Princess Carolina was born in Leeuwarden. In 1747, it was declared that the position of Stadtholder could be inherited by females, thus making the young Princess Carolina the heiress presumptive to the position of Stadtholder. However, in 1748, a male heir, Willem, was born to her parents, thus displacing her and putting her second in line to the position.
Princess Carolina's father died in 1751, making her three-year-old brother Willem V of Orange. At that point, her mother was appointed Princess-Regent. However, in 1759, her mother died, and Willem V was still just ten years old. Then, Princess Carolina's paternal grandmother, Princess Marie Luise, was made Princess-Regent. Princess Marie-Luise was regent until 1765, when she died. Willem V was now seventeen, but that was still not old enough to rule on his own. So, Princess Carolina was made Princess-Regent. She ruled until 1766, when Willem V turned eighteen.
During the regency of Princess Marie Luise, Princess Carolina married HSH Duke Karl Christian of Nassau-Weilburg. She died in 1787.
Her son Friedrich Wilhelm von Nassau-Weilburg, Prince of Nassau was father to Georg Wilhelm August Heinrich von Nassau-Weilburg, Duke of Nassau, grandfather to Princess Therese Wilhelmine Friederike Isabelle Charlotte von Nassau-Weilburg, great-grandfather to Alexandra Petrovna of Oldenburg, Grand Duchess of Russia; and thus a fourth-generation ancestor to Grand Duke Nicholas. Georg Wilhelm was also father of Adolf, Duke of Nassau, the first Weilburg-line Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and of Sofia of Nassau, queen consort of Sweden and Norway.
Her granddaughter Henriette of Nassau-Weilburg, daughter of Frederick William of Nassau, married 1815 Archduke Charles of Austria, Duke of Teschen, being a sole Protestant Archduchess of her age. From her, several catholic royal dynasties descend.
