Biography

Russian royalty, Queen of the Netherlands. Born Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna Romanova, she was the youngest daughter of Tsar Paul I and Sophia Dorothea of Wurttemberg (Tsarina Maria Feodorovna), and a granddaughter of Catherine the Great. Anna married Prince Willem VII of Orange on February 29, 1816 in St. Petersburg. Due to the Dutch transliteration of her name, she became known as Anna Paulowna. When her father-in-law King Willem I of the Netherlands abdicated in 1840, her husband became Willem II. The couple had five children, including the future King Willem III. Willem II died in 1849, and left the House of Orange in considerable debt. The queen dowager was forced to repay his debts from her own personal fortune. Queen Anna died in The Hague at the age of 70.