Bourgmeisterin Episode #58: The Russian Queen of the Netherlands, part 1

Ever heard of 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗮 𝗣𝗮𝘃𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗻𝗮 𝗼𝗳 𝗥𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗮? No? Don’t worry – Luxembourg hasn’t either… yet she’s 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘺 part of its story. Picture a Romanov archduchess👑 who said “𝗮𝗯𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗻𝗼𝘁” to 𝗡𝗮𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗼𝗻 𝗕𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲 himself (yes, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 Napoleon was after her hand and heart!🫳❤️) only to end up marrying the man whose rule eventually kick-started the 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀🇳🇱 – the same 𝗱𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗼 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 that set 𝗟𝘂𝘅𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗴🇱🇺 on its path toward freedom and its 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.Her 𝗵𝘂𝘀𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗱? You walk past him all the time: 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗺 𝗜𝗜, the equestrian statue casually dominating 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗲 𝗜𝗜 (aka 𝘒𝘯𝘶𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘳 for those Luxembourgers in the back😉), right opposite Luxembourg City Hall.