Émilie Gabrielle Adèle Ambre (née Ambroise; was a French opera singer who performed leading soprano roles in Europe and North America and later became a singing teacher. Born in French Algeria and trained at the Marseilles Conservatory, she was for several years the mistress of William III of the Netherlands. She had a son Robert by her next lover Gaston de Beauplan, but the relationship eventually foundered after their return from the financially disastrous 1880–1881 American tour de Beauplan had organized to showcase her talents. Following her retirement from the stage in 1890, Ambre opened a singing school in Paris with the composer Emile Bouichère and married him in 1894. As a singer, she was particularly known for her performances as Violetta, Manon, and Aida, but is primarily remembered today as the subject of Édouard Manet's portrait of her as Carmen.
Émilie Ambre
Ambre as Aida, Paris 1878
The river Seine at Meudon in a painting by Albert Lebourg
Manet's Emilie Ambre as Carmen
William III of the Netherlands
William III was King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 1849 until his death in 1890. He was also the Duke of Limburg from 1849 until the abolition of the duchy in 1866.
Photograph by Maria Hille, c. 1887
King William II and his family (1832) by Jan Baptist van der Hulst with William III on the far left
William III depicted on a 20 gulden proof gold coin (1850)
King William III of the Netherlands