Johan Willem Friso of Orange-Nassau was stadholder of Friesland until his untimely death by drowning in the Hollands Diep in 1711. After the death of William III of Orange the direct line of the House of Orange was extinct and Johan Willem Friso claimed the succession as stadtholder in all provinces. This was denied to him by the republican faction in the Netherlands. His son, however, later became William IV of Orange stadtholder of all seven provinces.
Because William III was related in the female line to the Prussian king, the latter also claimed part of the inheritance (for example Lingen).
