text: The last descendant of the original princes , RenÃ of Nassau , left the principality to his cousin William the Silent , who was not a descendant of the original Orange family but the legal heir to the principality of Orange .
simplified: The last of the original princes , RenÃ of Nassau , left the principality to his cousin William the Silent after he died . William the Silent was not related to the original house of Orange , but was the legal heir .