I’ve had an interest in royal history since I was a kid so any book on that subject always peaks my interest. I hadn’t particularly heard of Carolina of Orange-Nassau but once I started reading this book I discovered that her mother was Anne, Princess Royal, daughter of George II and this information reeled me in.

I learnt that Carolina invited Mozart to her court when he was nine years old and that he and his sister became ill with typhoid fever whilst there. As their illness became life threatening Carolina sent her own doctor to attend on them and they made a speedy recovery. Mozart was to visit Carolina’s court again as an adult.

Carolina endured sixteen pregnancies only for over half of her children dying. Her marriage appears to have been a true love match and her husband genuinely mourned her passing.

I did enjoy this book as the subject matter is one of my great interests and I did learn things from it. Thanks go to NetGalley and John Hunt Publishing for providing me with the ebook version for me to review.

This is the biography of a lesser known Dutch royal, and it was really good. It read as if the author had done comprehensive research on Carolina of Orange-Nassau, even if the book itself felt a tad brief. It was a really good book.

Actually, 2.5 stars
Carolina of Orange-Nassau is whom many of today’s European monarchies consider an ancestor. As important as she was, not many historians have given her a detailed study. This is the first biography in English of this important figure. Carolina of Orange-Nassau is portrayed as a devoted mother and a lover of music.

Carolina is the granddaughter of King George II and Caroline of Ansbach. Her parents were William IV, the Prince of Orange, and Anne, the Princess Royal. She married Charles Christian, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg. She would give birth to 16 children. Carolina had a passion for arts and was the patroness of Mozart. Unfortunately, Carolina had an illness and died at the age of 44.

While Carolina’s life was short-lived, it seemed that she was a woman of significance. The author gives us a list of every royal who is descended from her and the list is long. Some of her descendants are King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, King Philippe of Belgium. Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, King Harald V of Norway, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, and King Felipe VI of Spain. Thus, Carolina has made an important contribution to history.

I was a bit disappointed by this book’s length, which is 97 pages. Because there has not been a biography of this fascinating woman, I was sad that this book was not in-depth and only gave me a brief overview about her life. Instead of a detailed story, the author just gives me a list of dates and facts without much of an explanation of who these people were. For example, the author just gives us a list of Carolina’s husband, but gives us no backstory on him or why Carolina chose him as her husband. Instead of fleshing out the facts on her life, the author spends a chapter on all the castles that Carolina has lived in, which I found interesting but completely irrelevant in a biography. I was also a little disappointed that the author was given access to many of her letters, but only included very few snippets into the book.

Overall, this was a short and very easy to read biography of Carolina of Orange-Nassau. However, this book had the makings to be an excellent biography, but it was disorganized and not well-formed. I still recommend this for those who have never heard of Carolina and would like to read a light biography on this forgotten royal. However, for those who would like an in-depth biography on her, will still have to wait a little longer. Carolina of Orange-Nassau does bring a significant woman out from obscurity.

This is a very short biography of Carolina of Orange-Nassau. I've never heard of her before and after reading this, it's easy to understand why. While her descendants sit on various European thrones even today, she herself didn't really lead a remarkable life. Unfortunately, the book even points out that her mother was a much more interesting and powerful woman which I probably would have preferred reading about.

Still, it was interesting to read about the life she led, but I could definitely have done without the last twenty or so pages on the history of the buildings she lived in during her lifetime.

I found this book very well researched and interesting it's very easy to read and follow it was a little hard to keep the names straight and how everyone was related but definitely worth a read

Little has been written about Carolina of Orange-Nassau and the author of this account of her life is to be congratulated in unearthing what exists to compile this short biography. Carolina is often referred to as the Grandmother of Europe as many of her children married into the royal families of the continent. She was regent of the Netherlands for a short time in 1765-1766 until her brother’s majority and very much at the heart of the country’s politics. Much of the information known about her comes from her letters, and many of these are quoted here. However there are things about the book that bothered me. I tried to find out from the publisher whether the version I received from NetGalley was the final version, but have had no reply. Therefore some of my criticisms might be unfounded, and I will be happy to accept corrections. But it seemed to me that the book hadn’t been edited satisfactorily, if at all. There were many errors of vocabulary and syntax, sometimes leading to completely the wrong idea. Auspicious instead of inauspicious, discrete instead of discreet, factious instead of factions, praising someone “to no end”, instead of endlessly. An editor should have picked these up. Then Carolina’s descendants are listed just as lists, rather than family trees, so it’s difficult to work out the lineage. Finally, the last part of the book describes the palaces and other key buildings in Carolina’s life, but without illustrations. All in all I found this a frustrating read, although I was happy to have discovered Carolina of Orange-Nassau and learnt a little more of the history of the Netherlands.

Carolina of Orange-Nassau is a well written and interesting historical account of the woman that became known as the Grandmother of the European Royals. At under 100 pages, it's certainly a concise read, but it is ample enough to contain the most intriguing facts about her life. As a little known Dutch royal, Carolina's biography is formed from letters and factual information that comes directly from royal archives, and although this is quite a dry book, I found myself enjoying it and learning a lot. It's a fascinating introduction to a somewhat neglected royal and chronologically accounts her life from birth right up to her death and all of the time in between. It is clear that the author has undertaken meticulous research to bring this book to fruition.

The first part of the book concentrated on Carolina herself, whereas the second part focused on the links she has to a variety of royal houses in Europe. What I would've liked was some sort of reference or family tree as there are so, so many relatives to keep track of. If you are interested in royal and/or European history then this is a must-read, and the extensive bibliography points to other resources if you wish to carry on learning about this strong, admirable woman.

Many thanks to Chronos Books for an ARC.

Wow! I want to say this author did an excellent job on researching on little known Dutch Royalty. I've heard of her from time to time when I read histories. I had no idea many of the royalties descended from her across the European County.

This book was exciting and quick to read and understand. The only problem I had was to keep the family lineage and names straight. I wish it had a royal lineage tree where I could refer to when in doubt.



I adore history — one of my favorite subjects of all time. I almost didn't read this book because she was a princess. Truthfully, I can't stand a lot of Queens and Kings during those periods because they were selfish and in their worlds while my ancestors were murdered (beheaded and hung) or thrown in prison for their beliefs. A couple of my ancestors were falsely accused of being witches. They did nothing to help them or others.



I understand why people are fascinated by Carolina because She's the "Grandmother of the European Royals (13 lineages). Even though she died at a young age of 43 years, I don't find her that interesting. Sure she was involved in music, children, redecorating, her young brother, etc., but what has she contributed to? What has she done that makes her stand out.

The author was fortunate to examine and study all of her letters, along with her husband and relatives to get a clear picture of her personality and her life. I would so dearly love to read those letters.



This book is an interesting read for a history buff. There are famous figures there. I would recommend to anyone who interested in royal history,



I'd give it a low four stars



I received this new ARC from Job Hunt Publishing, Ltd/ Chronos Books through Net Galley, Thank you. I quite enjoyed this part of history!

I was interested in this book because of my own Dutch heritage and because of my fascination with the history of our royal houses in general.

This is a biography of Carolina of Orange-Nassau, who ended up in the family trees of most of the current Royal Houses in Europe.  The biography is based on facts and letters written by Carolina, her brother William, her husband and others closed to her, many of which are part of the Royal archives in Holland.

This makes it quite a dry, matter-a-fact biography, but it unfolded a bit of history I knew very little about and did that quite well.

Just the fact that she survived sixteen (!) pregnancies make her a remarkable woman and it is a shame that she has kind of been forgotten. I am glad to have read about this strong Dutch woman, who carried the blood of kings and whose lineage endures today.

I found it hard to rate this book. It is only a short biography, but I did find it very informative without unnecessary filler.

I found this biography on Carolina of Orange-Nassau a fascinating account of her life. Being honest I knew nothing about Carolina so found Moniek’s book a great introduction to her life. The title states that Carolina is the ancestress of the royal houses of Europe, this is due to her children marrying well and her descendants sitting upon the royal thrones of Europe, “truly making her a grandmother of Europe”. For a lady with such influence on the royal lines of Europe she is a royal who is not very well known, however I hope this book changes that as having read Moniek’s book I feel Carolina should be better known.
Carolina was the daughter of William IV, Prince of Orange and Anne of Hanover. Carolina’s mother, Anne was the daughter of the Great British King George II and his consort Caroline of Ansbach. Carolina, Moniek tells us was named after Anne, Queen of Great Britain, and the last of the Protestant Stuarts.
Carolina was to marry Charles Christian, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg. They had fifteen children but sadly only seven survived to adulthood. Carolina was very close to her brother Willem V, who she acted as Regent for and ruled from 1765 till 1766 when Willem turned eighteen. She seems to have lived a very active and varied life, which this short biography explores.
Although a short read at only 96 pages Moniek Bloks manages to explore Carolinas life and sets this out in chapters from her birth and youth, through her early years of marriage and multiple pregnancies, to her Regency, then her life as the Princess of Nassau-Weilburg, and her legacy and descendants, to a chapter on the places where Carolina visited and lived. I liked how each chapter looked at a different aspect of her life and that the sections acted as a timeline of events in Carolinas life.
I was intrigued to discover that Carolina was a great fan of Mozart who she first met when he was nine years old and visited the Netherlands. Carolina herself was a talented musician and enjoyed music and sinning. Moniek writes, “The reigning Princess of this house has earned a great reputation as a connoisseur and protector of music and she sang excellently”. Mozart even wrote several arias for Carolina.
This was an extremely well written and obviously extensively researched book by Moniek Bloks. I loved all the details from Carolina’s wedding dress to the heartache of her many miscarriages and stillbirths. It was well laid out in chapters and I found it an easy and interesting read. I liked how Moniek has quoted letters written mainly between Carolina and her brother Willem, these are well referenced in the book and a reference section is also included at the end.
However, as there were a lot of names of royals I thought the book could have been improved upon by having a family tree at the beginning, especially to explain Carolina’s extensive and complicated family tree with all her descendants and who they married.
Moniek ends this fascinating look at a little known royal, Carolina of Orange-Nassau by saying that, “despite her strong links to current royal houses of Europe she has been mostly forgotten”. Moniek summarises that, “this may be due to the fact that she died relatively young”. I definitely learnt a lot from this short, readable biography and recommend it to anyone interested in Royal history.

In less than one hundred pages Moniek Blok depicts the fascinating figure of Carolina of Orange-Nassau, an almost forgotten princess and ancestress of twelve Royal Houses of Europe. Carolina is not only represented as a princess and regent, but also as a devoted wife and sister, a protector of music, a lover of the opera and an accomplished musician. What I really liked about this biography is to read the letters that she wrote and received during her life, something that let us know how she really was and what she really thought. Also very interesting is to see all the portraits included and to read a detailed list of the places that marked Carolina’s life.

Carolina of Orange-Nassau is a little known member of the Dutch royal family that played a key role in Mozart's life and is biologically responsible for a large number of royal houses in Europe through her ancestry. This was a well researched biographical account of this interesting woman. She is portrayed as a patron of the arts, a musician, a doting mother, and a supportive sister. During her life, she gave birth to fifteen children, seven of whom survived to adulthood. The effect of these losses on Carolina are illustrated through personal letters quoted in the book. Towards the end of the book, the author provides a run down of the ancestry for each of the numerous royal houses in Europe that her progeny played a role in. The impact this woman had on European royal history is astounding. A brief history of the buildings/landmarks that played a prominent role in the royal's life is also provided, which lead to me doing quite a bit of research.

Based on the information provided, one could easily make the argument that she is responsible for the gift that is Mozart's music. She met Mozart as a young budding musical prodigy and provided support for his musical talent. Unfortunately, Mozart became quite ill during one of the visits with Carolina. Because Mozart was with Carolina at the time, she was able to provide the resources to aid in his recovery. I found this part of Carolina's story the most intriguing.

I found this book to be a good brief biographical overview of Carolina. It was by no means a complete account of this royal's life. There were acknowledged multi-year holes missing in personal letters used as references in writing this book. Regardless, the author did an admirable job of writing Carolina's story with the information available. I recommend this book for anyone with an interest in the European royals.

I found Carolina of Orange-Nassau: Ancestress of the Royal Houses of Europe to be a fascinating and short read. I liked it and am giving five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest and fair review!

This is a short but fantastic read, and I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in royal history. Carolina of Orange-Nassau is ancestress of 12 different royal houses in Europe, and is related to a 13th, and although she doesn't get much attention as a regent for the Dutch throne, she is a fascinating royal.

Bloks covers Carolina's life, as well as the reigning houses that she is ancestress of, and the different palaces and castles that she would have lived in. As someone who knew nothing about her before starting this book, I loved how straightforward and brief this book is. I learned the "basics" of Carolina without being overwhelmed with detail!

I have often commented less is sometimes more when presented a biography of any individual where the information is few and far between. Well done Moniek!

Despite being a major ancestress for many of the European Royal Houses, Caroline's life was short-lived, dying aged only 43yo (1787). As a woman who ensured 16 pregnancies, seven of which resulted in children surviving to adulthood, she was quite literally worn out.

Moniek does a good job in presenting what little is known of Caroline, and presenting a short, but detailed life of this woman. Caroline's life takes up just over half of this tome, however, that is not the end of her story. Moniek goes on to detail just how many royal houses are descended from her; and also gives us an insight into Caroline's royal residences - thank you for putting this as an appendix and not boring us with details just to fill pages when telling Caroline's story.

As I said - short, concise, interesting. Recommended.

Carolina of Orange-Nassau. Ancestress of the royal houses of Europe by Moniek Bloks from John Hunt Publishing, Ltd. is a fascinating look at a little remembered Euporean royal who like Queen Victoria had children and grandchildren on many of Europe's thrones. Just some of the countries Carolina's ancestors reign over are Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Spain.
This well written well researched book is a winner. It introduced me to an amazing woman history has chosen to put on the back shelf. Carolina had a life worth sharing and this book is an excellent start.
This is a good book that was difficult to put down. Being a history buff I started reading and realized I was going to have to get through the hectic days of the holidays to complete since wouldn't want to put it down. When life finally slowed down for me I read the book in one day. This in a fast and enjoyable read and I highly recommend this book to all, but especially those interested in European history.
Thank you NetGalley, John Hunt Publishing, author Moniek Books and Ben Craib of JHP for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Carolina of Orange- Nassau is a quick read. The first part is about her life, which was brief. She died at the age of 43, her body worn from repititive pregnancies. The poor woman was pregnant 16 times, but only seven of her children survived to maturity. The second part of the book detailed the houses that were associated with Carolina. While interesting, the second part didn't really add that much to her story. Bloks does a nice job of introducing modern readers to a woman who provided integral ancestors for many European royal families,

As an American, we are not really exposed much to royalty. However, they've always fascinated me, and Sweden, Netherlands, and Denmark are personal favorites so when I saw this book, I immediately wanted to know more and it did not disappoint. It read almost like a diary with spots of history intermingled, plus paintings of Carolina with her family. Historical information on the homes she lived in and continuing information on her brother. All in all, considering how little information is likely available on Carolina, this was a fascinating, interesting, albeit, quick read, of this beloved woman.

I found the writing very factual and I didn't finish it, so I think that this book is best for research. I am probably more interested in the British Royal family.

I received this free ebook from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review