6. A Play
Given to: Hanover’s Anne
Prince William of Orange gave the gift.
Estimated Value: N/A
The Royal Family has already received a poem and a dance, but what about a whole opera? Prince William of Orange, the future William IV, married Anne of Hanover in 1974. He enlisted the assistance of renowned composer George Frederic Handel to commemorate the event.
A Play Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain.
Handel wrote Parnasso in festa, an Italian serenata in three parts.Handel composed a wedding anthem for Anne of Hanover and for Prince William as well. Despite supposedly detesting his job as a music instructor, the composer had a personal connection to Anne since she was the one pupil he liked. She was a “flower of princesses,” in his words.
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