only reached his parents a month later, reportedly while King William II was posing for a portrait. Alexander's sister-in-law Sophie wrote to Lady Malet on 24 March: "Our poor prince Alexander died like he lived; until the last moment his thoughts were filled with horses and sports. He had no idea of the nearing end. The autopsy showed his lungs were perfectly healthy, the stomach destroyed, there was not a drop of blood in his body." The death of their favorite son hit the King, who was in the middle of a political crisis, particularly hard. He lamented: "We walk as if on graves. The earth is nothing but a big grave, that devours all greatness, honour and glory". The Queen wrote to her brother Nicholas on 30 March: "Only today I feel strong enough to write some lines to tell you about the terrible disaster that has befallen us. Our Sasja is dead! and we have survived that blow.... He is at peace now, but we have to go on in this world, where he had no enemies, he who for me was the most loving of sons and the most loyal of companions." The Queen later had many of her son's possession brought to Soestdijk, including his two hunting dogs, Charon and Ditch, whom she visited on his birthday and the anniversary of his death. Prince Alexander was buried in the royal crypt at Nieuwe Kerk in Delft on Good Friday 21 April 1848 in a peculiar turtle-shaped coffin. His brothers Henry and William, Prince of Orange were the only members of the royal family to attend the funeral. The future King William III until 1859 moved the celebrations of his birthday to that of his wife (17 June) because his own birthday (19 February) was too close to the date of his brother's death. Honours Kingdom of Prussia: Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle, 4 December 1834 : Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order, 1836 Military ranks Royal Netherlands Army Colonel (2 August 1828 until death) Commander, Grenadiers' Guard Regiment Royal Netherlands Cavalry Major-General (2 August 1839 until 1840) Lieutenant-General (1840 until death) Inspector-General (1840 until death) Imperial Russian Cavalry Chief, Novorossiysk Dragoon Regiment (26 August 1839 – 19 March 1848) Ancestry References Sources In naam van Oranje, 30. Vijf eeuwen de Oranjes en hun sport en jacht (1994) Nationaal Museum Paleis Het Loo.