Having already compared the King of Spain and his advisers to an impressive array of villains both biblical and classical, the author of Orange's Apology probably did not expect this denunciation to hold much shock value for his readers. Once invoked, the Italian is not mentioned again, and the reference to him is easy to miss. But its mere presence has tantalized later readers for the possibilities it suggests. How much did the prince of Orange know of Machiavelli's creation? What did it mean to him? How might it have influenced his own political assumptions and techniques? Alas, four centuries later we cannot even be sure that Orange knew any more about The Prince than the reference above. Although released in William's name and with his approval, the Apology was the work of other hands. For the rest, William the Silent is true to his sobriquet regarding his views, if he had any, on the ideas of the Florentine republican.

Still, the relationship between the prince and The Prince has long fascinated and bedeviled historians of the Netherlands revolt.