Marie Louise of Hesse-Kassel

Marie Louise of Hesse-Kassel
Portrait by Lancelot Volders, c. 1710
Princess consort of Orange
Tenure1709–1711
Regent of the Netherlands
1st Regency1711 - 1730
MonarchWilliam IV
2nd Regency1759 - 1765
MonarchWilliam V
Co-RegentDuke Louis Ernest (1759-1765)
Born(1688-02-07)7 February 1688
Kassel
Died9 April 1765(1765-04-09) (aged 77)
Leeuwarden, The Netherlands
Burial
Spouse
(m. 1709; died 1711)
IssueAmalia, Hereditary Princess of Baden-Durlach
William IV, Prince of Orange
Names
German: Marie Luise
Dutch: Maria Louise
HouseHesse-Kassel
FatherCharles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel
MotherPrincess Maria Amalia of Courland

Marie Louise of Hesse-Kassel (7 February 1688 – 9 April 1765) was a Dutch regent, Princess of Orange by marriage to John William Friso, Prince of Orange, and regent of the Netherlands during the minority of her son and her grandson. She was a daughter of Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, and Maria Amalia of Courland.

From the end of World War II in 1945 until 2022, Marie Louise and her husband were the most recent common ancestors of all reigning hereditary monarchs in Europe.[citation needed]

Marie Louise is notable for having served as regent for two periods in Dutch history: during the reigns of her young son, William IV, Prince of Orange from 1711 and 1730, and of her young grandson, William V, Prince of Orange, from 1759 to 1765. She was often fondly referred to as Marijke Meu (Aunt Mary) by her Dutch subjects.