<Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The monarchy of the Netherlands is constitutional and as such, the role and position of the monarch are defined and limited by the Constitution of the Netherlands . Consequently, a fairly large portion of the Dutch Constitution is devoted to the monarch; roughly a third of the document describes the succession, mechanisms of accession and abdication to the throne, the roles and responsibilities of the monarch and the formalities of communication between the States - General of the Netherlands and the role of the monarch in the creation of laws . </P> <P> The Kingdom of the Netherlands has been an independent monarchy since 16 March 1815, but its one - time sovereign provinces have intermittently been "governed" by members of the House of Orange - Nassau and the House of Nassau from 1559 to 1747, since Philip II of Spain appointed William of Orange as stadtholder . William became the leader of the Dutch Revolt and the independent Dutch Republic . As stadtholder, he was followed by several of his descendants . In 1747, the function of stadtholder became a hereditary position in all Provinces of the thus "crowned" Dutch Republic . The last stadtholder was William V. His son became the first king as William I . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section about the constitutional role of the Dutch monarchy relies too much on references to primary sources . Please improve this section about the constitutional role of the Dutch monarchy by adding secondary or tertiary sources . (November 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table>

When did the netherlands became a constitutional monarchy