Dear Mr Cornwell,
I’ve just started reading “Waterloo”. I immediately liked the more or less derogatory way you write about the later William II of the Netherlands, in 1814 still just an heir presumptive. BUT: you are wrong in speaking about a newly created Kingdom of the Netherlands. At the time (1814) it was a souvereign-principality (just like Liechtenstein and Monaco are still nowadays) with a “souverein-vorst” (souvereign-prince) of the United Netherlands at the head. He, William Frederick, proclaimed himself king on 16 March 1815 when threatened by the return of Napoleon.
Kind regards,
Alex Spijkerman