Prince Johan Willem Friso (1687-1711)
In 1696 Prince Johan Willem Friso succeeded his father as stadholder of Groningen and Friesland. When Stadholder-King William III died childless in 1702, he had chosen his cousin’s son, Johan Willem Friso, as his universal heir. Johan Willem Friso therefore assumed the title of Prince of Orange.
However, King Frederick I of Prussia, a grandson of Prince Frederik Hendrik, contested William III’s will on the basis of his own grandfather’s will, and he too assumed the title of Prince of Orange. In 1711 Johan Willem Friso drowned in the Hollands Diep on his way to The Hague for negotiations on the disputed inheritance. So no agreement was reached.
His widow, Marie-Louise of Hesse-Kassel (1688-1765), successfully upheld the position of the House of Orange-Nassau. In 1732 she reached an agreement with the Prussians about the inheritance.