Recipients of the Order of the Netherlands Lion

Wilhelm, German Crown Prince, Crown Prince of Prussia (Friedrich Wilhelm Victor August Ernst; 6 May 1882 – 20 July 1951) was the eldest child of the last Kaiser, Wilhelm II, German Emperor, and his consort Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, and thus a great-grandson of Queen Victoria, and distant cousin to many British Royals, such as Queen Elizabeth II. As Emperor Wilhelm's heir, he was the last Crown Prince of the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia, until the abolition of the monarchy.
Wilhelm became crown prince at the age of six in 1888, when his grandfather Frederick III died and his father became emperor. He was crown prince for 30 years until the fall of the empire on 9 November 1918. During World War I, he commanded the 5th Army from 1914 to 1916 and was commander of the Army Group German Crown Prince for the remainder of the war. After his return to Germany in 1923, he fought the Weimar Republic and campaigned for the reintroduction of the monarchy in Germany. After his plans to become president had been blocked by his father, Wilhelm supported Adolf Hitler's rise to power, but when Wilhelm realised that Hitler had no intention of restoring the monarchy, their relationship cooled. Wilhelm became head of the House of Hohenzollern on 4 June 1941 following the death of his father and held the position until his own death on 20 July 1951.

Yoshihito (Japanese: 嘉仁, 31 August 1879 – 25 December 1926), posthumously honored as Emperor Taishō (大正天皇, Taishō-tennō), was the 123rd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 1912 until his death in 1926. The era he presided over is known as the Taishō era.
Born to Emperor Meiji and his concubine Yanagiwara Naruko, Yoshihito was proclaimed crown prince in 1888, his two older siblings having died in infancy. In 1900, he married Kujō Sadako, a member of the Kujō family of the Fujiwara clan. The couple had four children: Hirohito, Yasuhito, Nobuhito and Takahito. Upon the death of his father in 1912, Yoshihito ascended the Chrysanthemum Throne. Suffering from neurological issues for the better part of his life, he played only a limited role in politics and from 1919 on undertook no official duties. His reign was characterized by a liberal and democratic shift in political power known as Taishō Democracy. It also saw Japan's entrance in the First World War and the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923.
Yoshihito's declining health led to the appointment of Crown Prince Hirohito as prince regent in 1921. He spent the rest of his life as a recluse. In 1926, Yoshihito died of a heart attack at the age of 47 following a bout of pneumonia. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Hirohito, as Emperor of Japan.

Louis Joseph Maria Beel (12 April 1902 – 11 February 1977) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Roman Catholic State Party (RKSP) and later co-founder of the Catholic People's Party (KVP) now the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 3 July 1946 until 7 August 1948 and from 22 December 1958 until 19 May 1959.Beel studied Law at the Radboud University Nijmegen obtaining a Master of Laws degree and worked as a civil servant in Eindhoven and for the Provincial-Executive of Overijssel from July 1929 until May 1942 and as a researcher at his alma mater before finishing his thesis and graduating as a Doctor of Law in Administrative law and during World War II worked as a lawyer in Eindhoven from May 1942 until January 1945. Shortly before the end of the War Beel was appointed as Minister of the Interior in the Cabinet Gerbrandy III, the last government-in-exile taking office on 23 February 1945. After a cabinet formation Beel retained his position in the national unity Cabinet Schermerhorn–Drees. After the election of 1946 Beel was asked to lead a new cabinet and following a successful cabinet formation with Labour Leader Willem Drees formed the Cabinet Beel I and became Prime Minister of the Netherlands and dual served as Minister of the Interior taking office on 3 July 1946.
After the election of 1948 Beel failed to achieve a new coalition following a difficult cabinet formation and was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives on 27 July 1948. Beel left office following the installation of the Cabinet Drees–Van Schaik on 7 August 1948 and continued to serve in the House of Representatives as a backbencher. In September 1948 Beel was nominated as the next High Commissioner of the Dutch East Indies serving from 29 October 1948 until 2 June 1949 and worked as a professor of Administrative law and Public administration at his alma mater and the Catholic Economic University from October 1949 until December 1951. Following a cabinet reshuffle he was again appointed as Minister of the Interior in the Cabinet Drees I taking office on 6 December 1951. After the election of 1952 Beel continued his office in the Cabinet Drees II and also became Deputy Prime Minister taking office on 2 September 1952. On 7 July 1956 Beel resigned after his appointment to lead a special commission investigating a political crisis concerning the royal family. In February 1958 Beel was nominated as a Member of the Council of State taking office on 1 April 1958. After the fall of the Cabinet Drees III Beel was asked to lead an interim cabinet until the next election and following a successful cabinet formation formed the caretaker Cabinet Beel II and again became Prime Minister of the Netherlands and dual served as Minister of Social Affairs and Health taking office on 22 December 1958.
Before the election of 1959 Beel indicated that he wouldn't serve another term as Prime Minister or not stand for the election. Beel left office a second time following the installation of the Cabinet De Quay on 19 May 1959. Beel continued to be active in politics and in July 1959 was nominated as the next Vice-President of the Council of State serving from 1 August 1959 until 1 July 1972.
Beel retired from active politics at 70 and became active in the public sector as a non-profit director and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government. Beel was known for his abilities as efficient manager and effective consensus builder. Beel was granted the honorary title of Minister of State on 21 November 1956 and continued to comment on political affairs as a statesman until he was diagnosed with leukemia in August 1976 and dying six months later at the age of 74. He holds the distinction as the only Prime Minister to have served two non-consecutive terms after World War II and because of his short terms in office his premiership is therefore usually omitted both by scholars and the public in rankings but his legacy as a Minister in the 1940s and 50s and later as Vice-President of the Council of State Bank continue to this-day.

Oscar II (Oscar Fredrik; 21 January 1829 – 8 December 1907) was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death in 1907 and King of Norway from 1872 to 1905.
Oscar was the son of King Oscar I and Queen Josephine. He inherited the Swedish and Norwegian thrones when his brother died in 1872. Oscar II ruled during a time when both countries were undergoing a period of industrialization and rapid technological progress. His reign also saw the gradual decline of the Union of Sweden and Norway, which culminated in its dissolution in 1905. In 1905, the throne of Norway was transferred to his grandnephew Prince Carl of Denmark under the regnal name Haakon VII. When Oscar died in 1907, he was succeeded in Sweden by his eldest son, Gustaf V.
Oscar II is the paternal great-great-grandfather of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. King Frederik X of Denmark is Oscar II's descendant through his son Gustaf V. King Harald V of Norway; King Philippe of the Belgians; and Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg are also descendants of Oscar II, all through his third son Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland.

Willem-Alexander (Dutch: [ˈʋɪləm aːlɛkˈsɑndər]; Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand; born 27 April 1967) is King of the Netherlands.
Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht during the reign of his maternal grandmother, Queen Juliana, as the eldest child of Princess Beatrix and Prince Claus. He became Prince of Orange as heir apparent upon his mother's accession on 30 April 1980. He went to public primary and secondary schools in the Netherlands, an international sixth-form college in Wales, served in the Royal Netherlands Navy, and studied history at Leiden University. He married Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti in 2002, and they have three daughters: Catharina-Amalia, Alexia, and Ariane. Willem-Alexander succeeded his mother as monarch upon her abdication in 2013.
Willem-Alexander is interested in sports and international water management issues. Until his accession to the throne, he was a member of the International Olympic Committee (1998–2013), chairman of the Advisory Committee on Water to the Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and the Environment (2004–2013), and chairman of the Secretary-General of the United Nations' Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation (2006–2013).