Leopold Karel, Count of Limburg Stirum

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Leopold Count van Limburg Stirum (March 12, 1758, Hoogeveen – June 25, 1840, The Hague) was a Dutch nobleman and politician. He served as a captain in the 2nd Regiment Orange-Nassau and, during the French occupation, was governor of The Hague.

In 1813, after the French troops fled, he joined Gijsbert Karel van Hogendorp and Frans Adam van der Duyn van Maasdam to form the Triumvirate of 1813, a temporary government to restore the monarchy. Leopold was Minister of War, responsible for keeping order and preventing annexation by Prussia or England.

The three invited William VI of Orange, who would become King William I, to The Hague to restore the monarchy. On November 30, 1813, Limburg Stirum welcomed the prince on Scheveningen beach, and on December 6 the provisional government offered him the throne. William initially refused to be called king, calling himself sovereign prince and asking for a constitution to protect the people’s rights. He became king William I in 1815.

William I confirmed Leopold as governor of The Hague and made him lieutenant general. On July 8, 1815, Leopold was named Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion. In 1828 he became general of the infantry, and from 1833 until his death he served in the Senate. He married Theodora van der Does, Lady of Noordwijk, in 1782; she lived 1758–1793. They had four children.