ABSTRACT
Reflecting upon his long career as the favourite of William III, Hans Willem Bentinck impressed upon his son Henry in 1692 the importance of his duty to be loyal to and serve the King faithfully. 1 Such loyalty was due to the man who was both a prince of Orange and a Stuart king, but also to his cause, which was perceived to be the defence of Protestantism and liberty. That Bentinck’s career would be epitomised by warfare in the service of William III was far from obvious when he was born in 1649, during a prolonged period of peace for the United Provinces after the Westphalia settlement, and on the eve of the demise of the Orange family.
