The exhibition that is presently on display – from 6 October 2016 to 5 February 2017 – at the Palace Het Loo in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands, is “Anna Pavlovna, colourful queen”. The exhibition was opened by Queen Máxima of the Netherlands on 5 October 2016.
200 years ago, in 1816, Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna of Russia (1795-1865) married the Prince of Orange, the later King Willem II of the Netherlands. The new Princess of Orange remained Russian Orthodox and even brought with her her own cooks, furniture and a Russian Orthodox Church, including priests and cantors. Richly dressed and bejewelled she arrived at the rather sober Protestant Dutch court. The couple liked splendour and organised balls, parties, dinners and musical evenings at their palaces in The Hague and until the separation also in Brussels (now Belgium). In 1840 Anna’s husband became the new King. Anna liked to dress royally, dressed in precious material and lots of jewelry. However he died already in 1849, leaving Anna as a widow. Her daughter-in-law Sophie became the new Queen and the most important person at court. Anna soon started living at the Soestdijk Palace where she remembered her late husband and her son Alexander who died in 1848.
On display in the West Wing of the palace are many objects from the Royal Collections, Het Loo itself and various private collections.
A catalogue, written by museum curator Paul Rem, and several souvenirs are on sale in the palace shop.
