Of all the colourful characters to visit Ireland’s shores throughout history perhaps none are as colourful as William of Orange, the ambitious Dutch prince.
William of Orange rose to become William the Third – the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland in 1689 until his death in 1702. Known in Ireland as King Billy, William of Orange is remembered on this island as a hero to some and a villain to others. In reality, he was both. Even the most begrudging must acknowledge his impact on the modern world. At the time William walked the Earth the world was in religious hysteria. Thousands of people (mostly women) were being burned alive at the stake by religious morons. Popes and kings used the political influence of religion to secure the one thing they prized most – power.
The Royal Orphan: William of Orange’s Dramatic Early Years
It’s 1650 in The Hague, Holland. William of Orange, future King of England, Scotland, and Ireland is born. William’s father, the Dutch ruler William II married Scottish princess Mary from the House of Stuart. Mary Stuart was 9 years old when she was betrothed to William II, but the marriage took place when she was 15 years old in 1641. She was the eldest daughter of England’s King Charles I and sister to not one, but two future English kings, Charles II and James II. A week before little William was born, his father died suddenly of
smallpox in 1650.
Ten years later his mother, Mary also catches smallpox dies leaving young William an orphan, aged just 10. By 1677, William had married his cousin, (another) Mary, daughter of the Duke of York, who was soon to be King James II. This complex family tree placed William at the centre of European politics from birth. His Dutch heritage through his father, combined with his strong ties to the British royal family through his mother, would play a crucial role in shaping his future as a key figure in both Dutch and British history.
William’s parents, William II of Orange and Mary, Princess Royal, 1647 by Gerard van Honthorst
Political and Religious Landscape
During William’s youth, he saw a precarious time in Europe when the continent was riddled with priestcraft and religious hysteria. William opposed the French King Louis the fifteenth – often known as the sun king and the builder of the spectacular palace of Versailles. King Louis had allied with King James of England which enraged a very powerful enemy, the kingmakers of Europe – the Vatican. Amongst other things, Louis the fifteenth wanted to limit the influence of the Vatican over the French church. In a classic case of ‘my enemy’s enemy is my friend’ the Vatican turned to William of Orange as its unlikely saviour. William’s war efforts were bankrolled by Pope Innocent XI and his rich banking family.
William of Orange: The Overthrow of King James
In 1698 at the request of several English nobles who were growing concerned with the leadership of the King James, William of Orange committed treason and overthrew King James. William of Orange was now King William the Third of England. James then fled to France where he was offered sanctuary by Louis the 15th. In the following year, James fought the protestant king William at the battle of the Boyne in Co Meath, Ireland, a battle won by William’s army.
The Vatican’s Surprising Support
Upon hearing news of William’s victory at the battle of the Boyne the Vatican were overjoyed and the Pope offered a mass of Thanksgiving for William of Orange. Why would the Vatican favour the victory of a protestant king over a Catholic one in Ireland? Because they loathed the French king’s expansionist ambitions that were a direct threat to Vatican authority in mainland Europe.
The French sun king fancied himself as the Pope of France and an enraged letter from Pope Innocent to the French king complained that “the Authority of Bishops is trampled upon, the order and discipline of the Church disturbed and overthrown, and new practices contrary to those of the Ancient Church and the Divine Institution, are introduced by the Secular Power, and that not timorously and by stealth, but openly by the Kings Authority”.
William of Orange: The Nine Years War
All of this led to the Nine Years War (1688-97), which some have termed the first true world war. It had King Louis and the deposed King James of England on one side with William of Orange, and the Vatican on the other. The battle of the Boyne was about the Vatican putting the French king back in his box and using William of Orange as a useful puppet. Nevertheless, every July 12th the victory of Protestant King William of Orange over Catholic King James II at the battle of the Boyne is celebrated. However, what is seldom known, or purposely ignored, is the role that the Vatican played in William’s succession and victory at the Battle of the Boyne.
The Vatican Connection
Even though William was a Protestant, there are strong ties between Billy and the Vatican that modern supporters seem happy to ignore. When Catholic James II tried to retake his English throne, he did so without the support of the Vatican. It is widely accepted that Pope Innocent XI and his successor Pope Alexander VIII were at odds with the Catholic King Louis XIV of France. It is also widely known that the Pope ordered the singing of a celebratory Te Deum in Rome when William won the Battle of the Boyne.
Why would the Catholic pope celebrate a Protestant king’s victory? While that may seem bizarre since history has tried to paint it as a war between the Catholics and Protestants, with William of Orange fighting to overthrow Catholic rule, that is not at all the case. It was a strategic political war supported by the Vatican to diminish the power of the Catholic King Louis XIV in France that threatened their supreme power. King Louis XIV wanted to limit the Pope’s control over France, and the Catholic church opposed anyone who threatened their power, regardless of their faith.
The Catholic Church’s Power
Significant evidence shows that the Pope and his rich banking family financed William’s invasion of England and the Battle of the Boyne. It was the Odescalchi family that bankrolled King Billy in his fight against James II. Without that money and support, he would not have been able to go to war against King James II. However, the Odescalchi is not just any Italian banking family. Pope Innocent XI was born Benedetto Odescalchi. Another tie to the Pope was the painting of William of Orange from his time in Ireland. The painting is called William III, the Duke of Schomberg and the Pope by Pieter van der Meulen (b.1638).
The painting shows a triumphant William of Orange on a white horse with an image of Pope Innocent XI resting on a cloud above him and giving him a blessing. There was also a man on foot in front of Billy’s white horse, a Franciscan friar with rosary beads. The painting was purchased by the Stormont parliament near Belfast for a grand unveiling in 1933. Unfortunately, no one actually looked at the painting before the unveiling. When the painting was revealed, the cheers turned to gasps of horror as they realised who was with King Billy in the painting – his old friend the pope! Sometimes fact is stranger than fiction.
William III, the Duke of Schomberg and the Pope by Pieter van der Meulen (b.1638)
Myths and Realities
King Billy is typically portrayed on a white horse when, like most military men, he rode a dark horse so that he would not stand out in battle. So why was he portrayed so often with a white horse? It comes from his initial invasion of Britain. It was a myth fabricated to make him look not as an invader committing treason, but as a Christian saviour. He is depicted as riding a white horse dressed in gleaming armour with a banner that says ‘God and the Protestant religion’. No one would ride into battle on a white horse. That painting was a theatrical device designed to repaint him as a hero.
Historian Lucy Worsley recently debunked several myths about King Billy, saying, “Very often in history, the line between fact and fiction gets blurred.” There is far more truth to that than most people like to admit. Billy came to take the crown from James II, so to not look like a usurper committing treason, he was made look like a saviour. As Lucy says, “A white horse heralded the arrival of a divine conqueror or even Christ himself.” Even his horse seems to be walking on water. This is not at all unexpected. Britain’s founding events have always been carefully-crafted stories made up by the victors, who portrayed themselves as heroes rather than villains.
This is also the tradition of the Vatican and other religions, which went around painting themselves as heroes. They were saviours of “savages”, rather than murderous usurpers who with a Bible in one hand and a sword in the other, left oceans of blood in their wake.
William of Orange: The Slave Trader
In addition to Billy’s strong Vatican ties, he has numerous other scandals that his supporters choose to deny or ignore. One of those is the indisputable evidence that he was also a slave trader. Established in 1660, the Royal African Company (RAC) grew to become the world’s largest slave trading company by the time William of orange ascended to the English throne. In 1689, when King James II was deposed by William, it threatened the Royal African company’s monopoly on the African slave trade.
To protect the lucrative monopoly, Edward Colston, an English slave trader, transferred a large portion of his shares to the new King William III to secure favour with the new regime. Thus, King Billy, King William the third of England, became the world’s largest slave trader. This is not mere speculation. Documents found in the National Archives in Kew by the historian Dr Brooke Newman and published in the Guardian in 2023 clearly show Edward Colston giving £1,000 of shares to William III in 1689. This was considered a small fortune at the time.
William of Orange: Governor of the Royal African Company
William of Orange clearly signed those share transfer documents which state “I do accept of the transfer of Mr Colston of one thousand pounds above said.” At that point, William of Orange, the king of England, became the governor of the Royal African Company – the largest slave traders in the world – and gained a fortune from it. In fact, William of Orange built the spectacular Kensington palace from the proceeds of the transatlantic slave trade. Historian William Pettigrew said the Royal African Company “shipped more enslaved African women, men and children to the Americas than any other single institution during the entire period of the transatlantic slave trade.”
He also stated that the investors in the company werefully aware of its activities and intended to profit from it, including King William the third. Williamof Orange was not only a major shareholder but also the governor of the RAC. Between 1672 and1731, the RAC transported 187,697 enslaved people to English colonies in the Americas, including more than 20,000 children. Records show that 38,497 slaves died en route.
William III (1650-1702) with a page c.1670-1832. Royal Collection Trust /His Majesty King Charles III
Rumours of Homosexuality
Although the slave trader William of Orange is hailed as a Christian hero by many there is very strong suggestion he was gay. At the time, the Catholic church condemned same-sex acts as sinful. Some dispute the allegations of Williams homosexuality as mere rumours made up by William’s enemies. It’s fair to say there is only circumstantial evidence at best. But, his wife Mary wrote about his ‘perversions’. And, there are many records of the rumours about his male lovers with two in particular, Hans Willem Bentinck and Arnold Joost van Keppel, featuring prominently.
William was also said to have been “besotted with” a black African slave, so besotted in fact that even had a statue made of his favourite black slave that still sits in Kensington Palace today. The statue was originally called ‘Bust of a Moor’ and was recently renamed ‘Bust of an Enslaved Man’.
Bust of a Moor / Bust of an African Slave still sits in Kensington Palace, a castle that was funded by profits from the slave trade.
William’s Lasting Legacy: The Bank of England
Perhaps the longest lasting legacy of William of Orange is his founding of the Bank of England. This institution was founded to fund his war effort against Louis 15th in the infamous Nine Year War (William’s Vatican war-chest only went so far). The founding of the Bank of England was ingenious – for the first time a government could borrow money from the public. It became the seed from which the modern financial central banking system emerged. This creation has literally impacted every person on earth today. The money in our pockets today is a timeless testament to his influence.
Conclusion
This article is not meant as a character assassination – it’s a warts-and-all exploration into the lesser known aspects of one the most famous characters in Ireland’s history. There is no argument that William – whether you call him William of Orange, William the Third or King Billy – was one of the most colourful characters in Irish history, so colourful in fact that his beloved orange remains on the flag of a nation – an international legacy few who have ever walked the earth can match.
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