It has long been a legend. And many did not believe that it could ever have been envisaged that a king would be at the head of the United States. Until the discovery, during the 20th century, of a letter signed by Prince Henry of Prussia who refused this throne.
Proof was made that in the second half of the 18th century, the brand new United States of America – born from the former 13 British colonies – had sought a monarch among the European royal families. A little-known episode in American history, which “Time” recalled in 2018.
The media reported that the years following the victory of American insurgents over the British at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781, which marked the end of the War of Independence, “were bordering on anarchy, in the words of General George Washington.”
The project of a constitutional monarchy modeled on that of the United Kingdom
“According to the Articles of Confederation, the extremely weak Continental Congress was so dysfunctional that it almost lost the war itself. The leadership chaos was too great and became a crisis when the veterans – unpaid because the government had no funds to give them – rebelled under the leadership of Daniel Shays,” it was recounted.
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Faced with this situation, these new leaders were keen to strengthen executive power. And they then thought that, to achieve this, the solution was to put a king at the head of the country, as was the case in many European states. Their idea was to opt for a “constitutional monarchy modeled on the same English system that the colonies had fought desperately to overthrow,” noted “Time.”
One of the brothers of the King of Prussia requested
Also, in 1786, the president of the Continental Congress, Nathaniel Gorham, took up his finest pen to write to the prince who seemed best suited to reign across the Atlantic. And this was none other than Henry of Prussia, the thirteenth child and sixth son of the former king Frederick Willem I and brother of King Frederick II, at the origin of the superb summer palace of Sanssouci at the gates from Berlin.
Portrait of Prince Henry of Prussia, 1760-1770 (State Open-air Museum Palace Gatchina, Saint Petersburg)
© Leemage via AFP
“Time” noted that, appointed colonel at the age of 14, Prince Henry had proven “to be an extremely talented commander as well as an enlightened leader like his older brother, a learned gentleman interested in art and ideas.” He added that the Americans “had a positive opinion of Prussia in general and of Henry in particular”.
A royal destiny that Henry of Prussia actually declined
Although this missive has never been found, the response given by its recipient has survived the centuries, preserved in his papers. And clearly showed that Henry of Prussia, who was then 60 years old, had indeed been requested and had declined this royal destiny that was offered to him.
The American magazine specified that, according to New York senator Rufus King who spoke about it later, the prince would have told Freidrich von Steuben – a Prussian soldier who had fought during the War of Independence alongside George Washington – that the Americans had shown so much determination against their former British king – in this case George III – that they would not easily submit to a new one. Enough to make him give up trying this experiment.
The Constitution of the United States of America, signed in 1787
© Leemage via AFP
Faced with this refusal, the Founding Fathers of the United States did not seek another candidate for the throne. And decided for a different political regime, as stipulated in the Constitution of September 17, 1787 which created a federal state with a president at its head.
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