Royal bedchambers in the Republic

This article takes a fresh look at the royal bedchambers of Stadholder-King William III (1650-1702) in his residences in the Republic. By placing their spatial and functional development in a Dutch-English perspective, it arrives at a new interpretation of these bedchambers. Until 1689, the stadholder residences were predominantly characterized by the French arrangement of antechamber, bedchamber, cabinet and wardrobe. The bedchamber, the only room that contained a bed, was probably also used to receive guests. New analysis of the surviving inventories makes clear that the Stadholder-King’s apartments at Het Loo, Huis te Dieren and Breda Castle contained not one but two bedchambers. In all three cases the second bedchamber dated from the renovations carried out in the wake the Glorious Revolution of 1689, which saw Willem III crowned king of England, Scotland and Ireland. The comparative research that underpins this article shows how, in contrast to the Dutch Republic, where most stadholder apartments had just one bedchamber, English royal apartments after the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 consistently featured two bedchambers. Examples include Whitehall, Winchester and Windsor. Charles II (1660-1685) introduced the French custom of the ‘great bedchamber’ for ceremonial and representational purposes. Charles also laid down the ceremonial use of the bedchamber in dedicated bedchamber court decrees. When Willem III became king of England, he tailored his own court decrees to this ceremonial usage. He also emulated his uncle Charles’s architectural arrangement, by creating a great and a little bedchamber in his royal apartments at Hampton Court and Kensington Palaces. The substantial similarities in spatial organization between Breda Castle and Windsor Castle indicate a shared English royal layout. Following the example of Charles II of England, ‘Sijn Majt’ [His Majesty’s] bedchamber’ in Breda functioned as the ceremonial bedchamber of the Stadholder-King. In the palaces of Huis te Dieren and Het Loo the rooms of the English royal apartment could not be replicated one-on-one. In the inventory for Het Loo, the differentiation between ‘bedcamer’ and ‘slaepcamer’ does however suggest a division between a ceremonial bedchamber and a private bedchamber for sleeping. This article consequently argues that in introducing two bedchambers, Stadholder-King Willem III was modelling himself on his English predecessor Charles II. Although originally based on the ceremonial use of the bedchamber at the French court, when Willem introduced two bedchambers at Breda Castle, Huis te Dieren and Het Loo, he was presenting himself as king of England.