Earliest Years
He was born in 1748, the only son of William IV, who had the year before been restored as stadtholder of the United Provinces. He was only 3 years old when his father died in 1751, and a long regency began. His regents were:
- Dowager Princess Anne, his mother, from 1751 to her death in 1759;
- Dowager Princess Marie Louise, his grandmother, from 1759 to her death in 1765;
- Duke Louis Ernest of Brunswick-Lüneburg, from 1759 to 1766, and kept on as a privy counsellor until October 1784;
- Princess Carolina, his sister (who at the time was an adult aged 22, while he was still a minor at 17), from 1765 to William's majority in 1766.
William was made the 568th Knight of the Order of the Garter in 1752.
Read more about this topic: Government Of The Dutch Republic In Exile
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