The English, in an affair that is…
August 1666 CE
The English, in an affair that is to become known as the "Buat Conspiracy," conspire in August 1666 to bring about an Orangist coup d'état, to overthrow the de Witt regime, end the war, and restore the stadtholderate.
The English have engaged, at a low level, Henri Buat, a French officer in the Dutch States Army and part of the retinue of the young Prince of Orange, the "Child of State".
However, in a moment of confusion, Buat, who handles English diplomatic correspondence with the knowledge and consent of de Witt, hands over the wrong letter to the Dutch pensionary, inadvertently exposing the plot and the main plotters.
One of them is Johan Kievit, the corrupt Rotterdam regent who is to play an ignominious role in in 1672 the murder of the de Witt brothers.
The affair, though farcical, serves to strengthen de Witt's hand appreciably against his Orangist opponents, enabling him to tighten his hold on the prince, among others, by removing from the Prince's entourage his beloved governor, his illegitimate uncle, Frederick Nassau de Zuylestein.
This apparently earns de Witt the enduring enmity of the impressionable boy.
The episode also for the moment put paid to attempts to appoint the Prince to the Raad van State.