Arnoud Joost van Keppel, Earl of Albemarle • Friend and Favourite of William III
Keppel is generally known as being a close friend of William III while he was King of England until his death. Keppel began as a page boy in the Orange household, following his master to England in 1688.
The common legend of when the favouritism began is in the early 1690s, when Keppel fell off his horse and broke his leg during a hunting party, showing stoicism the whole time in front of the equally stoic King. Unquestionably, by 1694 Keppel was a close friend, and at the Queen’s death became closer by helping the bereaved William with his grief.
Keppel was a firm favourite until William’s death, but unfortunately his story is always made to end at his master’s death, as though he somehow died along with him. True, he grieved for several weeks, but he then fell in great friendship with the Duke of Marlborough.
Keppel went on to have a successful military career, proving his skill and steadfastness. He left England shortly after William’s death, returning home to the Netherlands, where he advanced through the ranks. He even became CIC of the Dutch Forces under Marlborough in the War of Spanish Succession. Much of Marlborough’s correspondence concerning him during the time period survives in Fifty Years of My Life by George Thomas Keppel.
Generally, when Keppel is remembered, it is in biographies of William as a playboy favourite, seen as more liberal than the other favourite the Earl of Portland. His career after William is never discussed, and he is thus written off.
