Monthly Archives: November 2013

Crown Prince Akishino of Japan

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Crown Prince Akishino with his wife; Credit – Zimbio

Crown Prince Akishino (given name: Fumihito) was born November 30, 1965, at the Aoyama Detached Palace in Toyko, Japan, the second son of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko. Until his marriage, he was known as The Prince Aya. After his early education, he attended Gakushuin University, studying law and biology. He later studied at St John’s College, Oxford, and received a Ph.D. in ornithology from the Graduate University for Advanced Studies in Japan in 1996.

Crown Prince Akishino has an elder brother and a younger sister:

The Crown Prince is very interested and involved in organizations focused on nature and agriculture, and teaches as a visiting professor at the Tokyo University of Agriculture. An avid tennis player who once ranked among the top doubles players in Japan, he serves as honorary president of the Japan Tennis Association.

In June 1990, he married Kiko Kawashima, was given the title Prince Akishino and formed a new branch of the Imperial Family. The couple had three children:

The Crown Prince and Crown Princess carry out many public duties representing Japan, and on behalf of the Emperor. The couple and their family live in a home on the Akasaka Estate, the vast park surrounding Akasaka Palace (now used as an official guest house for visiting dignitaries), along with many other members of the Imperial Family.

Crown Prince Akishino (left) with his brother Emperor Naruhito and his sister-in-law Empress Masako; Credit – By 江戸村のとくぞう – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78703618

On December 1, 2017, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced that Emperor Akihito would abdicate on April 30, 2019, and that his elder son Crown Prince Naruhito would become Emperor. As his elder brother Emperor Naruhito has no sons, Crown Prince Akishino became the heir presumptive to the Chrysanthemum Throne upon Naruhito’s accession on May 1, 2019. Crown Prince Akishino is followed in the line of succession by his son Prince Hisahito.  Unless Emperor Naruhito has a son or the laws of succession are changed, it is very likely that Prince Hisahito will one day inherit the throne. On April 19, 2020, Akishino was to be formally invested as Crown Prince of Japan. However, the ceremony was postponed to November 8, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Eleanor of Castile, Queen of England

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2013

Eleanor of Castile, Queen of England; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Born in 1241, Eleanor of Castile, first wife of King Edward I of England, was the daughter of (Saint) King Ferdinand III of Castile and his second wife Jeanne de Dammartin, Countess of Ponthieu in her own right.  She was the second child of her parents’ five children.

Eleanor’s siblings:

  • Ferdinand II, Count of Aumale (1239–ca 1265), married Laure de Montfort, Lady of Espernon, had issue
  • Louis (1243–ca 1275), who married Juana de Manzanedo, Lady of Gaton, had issue
  • Simon (born and died 1244)
  • John (born and died 1246)

Eleanor also had ten half-siblings from her father’s first marriage to Elisabeth of Swabia:

13-year old Eleanor married 15-year old Edward of Westminster, the future King Edward I of England and the son of King Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence on November 1, 1254, at the Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas in the Kingdom of Castile, now in Spain. Edward and Eleanor had a loving marriage and were inseparable throughout their married life.  Edward is one of the few English kings of the time period to apparently be faithful to his wife.  Eleanor accompanied her husband on Crusade and on other military campaigns.  In 1272, Edward succeeded his father King Henry III.  Edward and Eleanor were crowned in Westminster Abbey on August 19, 1274, the first king and queen to take part in a coronation together since the Norman Conquest.  The couple had 14-16 children, but only six survived childhood.

  • Daughter (stillborn in May 1255)
  • Katherine of England (before 1264 – 1264)
  • Joan of England (born and died 1265)
  • John of England (1266 – 1271)
  • Henry of England (1268 – 1274)
  • Eleanor of England (1269 – 1298), married Henri III, Count of Bar, had issue
  • Daughter (born and died 1271)
  • Joan of Acre (1272 – 1307), married (1) in 1290 Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, had issue  (2) in 1297 Ralph de Monthermer, 1st Baron Monthermer, had issue
  • Alfonso, Earl of Chester (1273 – 1284)
  • Margaret of England (1275 – after 1333), married John II of Brabant, had issue
  • Berengaria of England (1276 – 1278)
  • Daughter (born and died 1278)
  • Mary of Woodstock (1279 – 1332), a Benedictine nun in Amesbury, Wiltshire
  • Son (born in 1280 or 1281 who died very shortly after birth)
  • Elizabeth of Rhuddlan (1282 – 1316), married (1) in 1297 John I, Count of Holland, no issue (2) in 1302 Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford, 3rd Earl of Essex, had issue
  • King Edward II of England (1284 – 1327), married Isabella of France, had issue

In the autumn of 1290, King Edward I of England heard of the death of Margaret, the Maid of Norway, the seven-year-old heir to the Scots throne, who died while she was traveling from Norway to Scotland.  Edward had been attending a session of Parliament in Nottinghamshire and decided to stay in the north of England, most likely to hear news of what would happen in Scotland.  His queen, Eleanor of Castile, was following him north at a leisurely pace.  On her way to Lincoln, Eleanor became ill and as she reached the village of Harby in Nottinghamshire, 22 miles from Lincoln, she could go no further, so she sought lodging at the house of Richard de Weston in Harby.  Eleanor’s condition worsened and messengers were sent to summon the king to her bedside.  King Edward arrived in Harby before Eleanor died in the evening of November 28, 1290.  Eleanor was 49 years old, had been married to Edward for 36 years, and had given birth to 14-16 children.

King Edward I was devastated when Eleanor died.  Eleanor’s body was taken to the Gilbertine Priory of St. Catherine in Lincoln, where she was embalmed. Her viscera were buried at Lincoln Cathedral and her body was then taken to London, where Eleanor was to be interred at Westminster Abbey.  It took 12 days to reach London and twelve crosses, known as Eleanor Crosses, were erected at the places where her funeral procession stopped overnight.  Charing Cross in London is perhaps the most famous, but the cross there is a reconstruction.  Only three original crosses survive although they have had some reconstruction: Geddington Cross, Hardingstone Cross, and Waltham Cross.

Original Eleanor Cross, in Geddington, England; Credit – Wikipedia

London V&A Eleanor of Castile 2

Statue of Eleanor of Castile which was part of the Eleanor Cross at Waltham, Hertfordshire, England; Victoria and Albert Museum in London; Photo Credit – Susan Flantzer 2015

On December 17, 1290, Eleanor’s funeral was held at Westminster Abbey.  Temporarily, she was buried in a grave near the high altar that had originally contained the coffin of Edward the Confessor and that of her father-in-law King Henry III until their remains were placed in their tombs.  Eleanor’s body remained in this grave until the completion of her own tomb.  The tomb is a marble chest with carved moldings and shields of the arms of England, Castile, and Ponthieu which were originally painted.  On top of the tomb is Eleanor’s beautiful bronze effigy.

Effigy of Eleanor of Castile; Credit – www.findagrave.com

England: House of Plantagenet Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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Willem III, King of the Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxembourg

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Willem III, King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg;  Photo: Wikipedia

Willem III, King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg was born on February 19, 1817, in the Palace of the Nation (now the building that houses the Belgian legislature) in Brussels, which was then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.  He was the eldest of the five children of King Willem II of the Netherlands and Anna Pavlovna of Russia, daughter of Paul I, Emperor of All Russia.

Willem had four siblings:

Willem II and Anna Pavlovna with their family. From left to right: the future Willem III, Alexander, Willem II, Anna Pavlovna, Sophie, and Hendrik; Credit – Wikipedia

On June 18, 1839, in Stuttgart, Kingdom of  Württemberg, now in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, Willem married his first cousin Princess Sophie of Württemberg, the daughter of King Wilhelm I of Württemberg and Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna of Russia.  King Otto I of Greece had been an early candidate for a husband for Sophie. However, Sophie’s father had no confidence in the newly established Greek monarchy and Willem was chosen. Sophie met Willem for the first time in 1838 after both fathers had already agreed upon the marriage. Willem fell in love with Sophie, but she saw nothing in him. She tried to resist the marriage, but it was in vain. Sophie’s father thought Willem was an excellent match for his daughter and Willem’s father did not want to abandon the commitment to the marriage.

Willem and Sophie had three sons, but they all predeceased their father:

Prince Maurits (left) with his brother Prince Wilhelm;  Credit – Wikipedia

Prince Alexander; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

The marriage of Sophie and Willem was ultimately unsuccessful. Willem had numerous extramarital affairs and had numerous illegitimate children. Sophie let him know that she thought him inferior to her and unfit to serve as king. She was convinced that she could do better ruling the country as a regent. Sophie tried to divorce her husband, but because of national interests, this was impossible. In 1855, an agreement was made that Sophie would have her own quarters at Noordeinde Palace and that she would spend the summers at Huis ten Bosch Palace without her husband.

Queen Sophie; Credit – Wikipedia

On June 3, 1877, Queen Sophie died at the age of 58. Willem was eager to marry again to ensure the future of the House of Orange. One of his three children (all sons), Prince Maurits, had died in 1850 and neither of the other two sons was married.  At the suggestion of his only sister, he got in touch with George Victor, Sovereign Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont and Princess Helena of Nassau, who had several marriageable daughters. In July 1878, Willem visited the family at their summer home where he met 23-year-old Princess Pauline and 20-year-old Princess Emma. His eyes first fell on Pauline, but soon he chose Emma and proposed to her. Willem was 61 years old, 41 years older than Emma. Emma had lessons in the Dutch language and Dutch history before her marriage because she wanted to come to her new country as a Dutch woman. The couple was married on January 7, 1879, in Emma’s birthplace Arolsen, Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont, now in Hesse, Germany. Emma had a positive influence on Willem and the marriage was extremely happy. The last decade of Willem’s life was the best years of his reign.

Queen Emma and King Willem III; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Willem and Emma had one daughter:

Queen Emma with her daughter Wilhelmina; Credit – Wikipedia

The Netherlands followed the Sem-Salic Law which allowed for female succession only if there were no male dynasts alive. In September of 1879, Willem’s eldest son Prince Willem died, leaving only one son.  At the time of Wilhelmina’s birth, her half-brother Prince Alexander and the King’s uncle Prince Frederik were alive, so Wilhelmina was third in the line of succession. Prince Frederik died in 1881 and upon the death of Prince Alexander in 1884, Wilhelmina became the heir presumptive to the Dutch throne, and Emma was appointed to be Regent if Wilhelmina came to the throne before her majority.

Funeral of King Willem III; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1888, King Willem III’s health began to decline. When it became apparent that Willem could no longer reign, Emma was sworn in as Regent on November 20, 1890. On November 23, 1890, 73-year-old King Willem III died at Het Loo Palace in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands. He was buried at Nieuwe Kerk in Delft, the Netherlands.

Ten-year-old Wilhelmina became Queen. Emma took over as Regent for her daughter until Wilhelmina’s eighteenth birthday in 1898. The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg could not be inherited by a woman at that time and it passed to a distant cousin Adolphe, Duke of Nassau who was also Queen Emma’s maternal uncle.

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Kingdom of the Netherlands Resources at Unofficial Royalty

November 20, 1992 – Fire seriously damages Windsor Castle

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Aerial view of Windsor Castle, Photo Credit – Wikipedia

On November 24, 1992, in a speech at the Guildhall in London marking the 40th anniversary of her accession, Queen Elizabeth II said “1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure. In the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an ‘Annus Horribilis‘.”   Indeed it was a horrible year for the Queen.  In March 1992, it was announced that the Duke and Duchess of York would separate.  In April, the Princess Royal divorced her husband, Captain Mark Phillips.  In June, the Princess of Wales’ tell-all book, Diana, Her True Story by Andrew Morton, was published.  Just two weeks after the Guildhall speech, on December 9, Prime Minister John Major announced to Parliament that the Prince and Princess of Wales would separate, something the Queen must have known about at the time of her speech.  And on November 20, just four days before the Guildhall speech, a fire seriously damaged Windsor Castle, the Queen’s oldest home with the most history.

Windsor Castle, an official residence of the British monarch, has been a royal residence for over 900 years and has the distinction of being the world’s longest-occupied castle and the world’s largest occupied castle.  William the Conqueror chose the site, high above the River Thames, because it was a day’s march from London and therefore could guard the western approaches to London.  The outer walls of today’s castle are in the same place as those of the original castle, as is the central mound supporting the Round Tower and the Upper Ward, where monarchs have had their private apartments since the fourteenth century.  Originally built out of wood, much of Windsor Castle was rebuilt in stone in the 1170s by Henry II. In the 1360s, Edward III built St. George’s Hall for the use of the knights of his newly founded Order of the Garter.  St.  George’s Chapel, dedicated to the patron saint of the Order of the Garter, was begun by Edward IV in 1475 and completed by Henry VIII.  Eleven British monarchs and other members of the British Royal Family are buried in St. George’s Chapel.

Plan of Windsor Castle, Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Key to Plan
A: The Round Tower
B: The Upper Ward, The Quadrangle
C: The State Apartments
D: Private Apartments, overlooking the East Terrace
E: South Wing, overlooking The Long Walk
F: Lower Ward
G: St. George’s Chapel
H: Horseshoe Cloister
L: The Long Walk
K: King Henry VIII Gate (principal entrance)
M: Norman Gate
N: North Terrace
O: Edward IV Tower
T: The Curfew Tower

Windsor Castle on fire, Photo Credit – www.windsorexpress.co.uk

On November 20, 1992, at 11:33 AM, a fire began in the Private Chapel when a spotlight left too close to curtains by a painter, started the fire.  The location of the fire was shown on a map of the castle by an indicator light and the chief officer of the castle’s fire brigade immediately sounded the public fire alarm.  The fire was initially in the Brunswick Tower, but soon many other indicator bulbs lit up, as the fire spread to neighboring rooms, including the State Apartments which are the rooms the public is allowed to visit.  Prince Andrew was the only member of the Royal Family at the castle and advised the Queen of the fire via mobile phone and then helped in the removal of valuable items.  By 12:20 PM, the fire had spread to St. George’s Hall, built in the 1360s and the largest of the State Apartments, and the roof of St. George’s Hall would later collapse.  The Queen arrived at 3 PM and stayed at the castle for an hour, returning again the following morning.  Prince Charles visited in the evening and Prince Andrew briefed the press at 3 PM.

Queen Elizabeth II looks shocked as she views the fire damage, Credit – www.huffingtonpost.co.uk

It took 15 hours and one-and-a-half million gallons of water to put out the fire. Nine principal rooms and over 100 other rooms over an area of 9,000 square meters were damaged or destroyed by the fire, approximately 20% of the area of the castle.  There were no deaths or serious injuries, but Christopher Lloyd, the Surveyor of The Queen’s Pictures, suffered a suspected heart attack, five firefighters were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, and a decorator in the Private Chapel suffered minor burns while rescuing paintings.  Firefighters, castle staff, and some local people were able to save many valuable items including furniture and works of art from the endangered apartments, including a 150-foot long table, a 120-foot long carpet from the Waterloo Chamber, 300 clocks, a collection of miniatures, many thousands of valuable books and manuscripts, and old Master drawings from the Royal Library.

The restoration of the damaged areas took five years and was completed six months ahead of schedule on 20 November 1997 at a cost of £37 million (US $59.2 million), £3 million below budget.  70% of the cost of restoration was to be met by charging the public entry fees to the Windsor Castle precincts, and to Buckingham Palace. Queen Elizabeth II contributed £2 million.

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November 16, 1937 – Deaths of the Grand Ducal Family of Hesse and by Rhine

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Hesse-family

The Hereditary Grand Duke and Grand Duchess with their sons. Photo: personal collection

On November 16, 1937, a scheduled flight left Germany, bound for London. It was scheduled to stop in Brussels, however, the weather did not allow for a safe landing and the pilot continued on to Ostend with the intent of landing there. Unfortunately, the weather was just as bad, with almost no visibility. While attempting to land, the plane clipped a chimney on a factory near the airport. The plane was torn apart and crashed. The seven passengers, the pilot, and three crew members were all killed.

Onboard the plane were most of the members of the Grand Ducal Family of Hesse and by Rhine –  Hereditary Grand Duke Georg Donatus, his wife the former Princess Cecilie of Greece, their two elder children, Ludwig and Alexander, and Georg Donatus’ widowed mother, the Dowager Grand Duchess Eleonore. They were heading to London for the wedding of Georg Donatus’ younger brother, Prince Ludwig, to Margaret Geddes scheduled for November 20, 1937. Traveling with the family were Lina Hahn, the children’s nurse, and Baron Joachim Riedesel zu Eisenbach, the intended best man at Ludwig’s wedding. The couple’s youngest child Johanna had remained in Darmstadt. The Hereditary Grand Duchess Cecilie was heavily pregnant with her fourth child at the time and the remains of her unborn son were found amongst the wreckage. This has led to speculation that she may have gone into labor while in flight, which would explain the pilot’s attempt to land in Ostend despite the weather conditions. It is also possible that the distress and trauma of the crash caused her to give birth to the stillborn child.

Once news of the plane crash reached London, a wedding was quickly arranged for Prince Ludwig and Margaret on the 17th, after which the couple flew to Belgium to visit the crash site and make arrangements to bring the remains home to Darmstadt. The wedding was already overshadowed by grief. Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig, the father of Ludwig and Georg Donatus had just died a few weeks earlier. Despite this, it was decided that the wedding would go on as scheduled.

The funeral was held several days later, attended by Prince Ludwig and his new wife, and most of Cecilie’s family. These included her parents, Prince Andrew of Greece and Princess Alice of Battenberg; her three sisters with their husbands – Margarita, The Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Theodora, The Margravine of Baden, and Sophie, Princess Christoph of Hesse; her brother Philip, the future Duke of Edinburgh; her maternal uncle, Lord Louis Mountbatten (later Earl Mountbatten of Burma), and her maternal grandmother, The Dowager Marchioness of Milford Haven. The family was all buried in the burial ground next to the New Mausoleum in the Rosenhöhe, Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany.

The Grand Ducal couple’s young daughter Johanna was adopted by her uncle Ludwig and his wife Margaret. However, less than two years later, she contracted meningitis and died. She is buried with the rest of the family.

Princess Johanna with her aunt and uncle Prince Ludwig and Princess Margaret; Photo: The Esoteric Curiosa

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Saint Margaret of Scotland, Queen of Scotland

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2013

Saint Margaret of Scotland, stained glass window at St. Margaret’s Chapel at Edinburgh Castle; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Despite being called Saint Margaret of Scotland, Margaret was born an Anglo-Saxon princess around 1045 in Hungary.  Her father was Edward the Exile (also called Edward Ætheling), the son of King Edmund Ironside (King Edmund II).  Edmund Ironside had succeeded his father Æthelred II the Unready as King of England on April 23, 1016. Edmund’s reign was short-lived.  During his seven-month reign, Edmund battled against the Danish Cnut the Great for control of England.  After a victory for the Danes at the Battle of Assandun on October 18, 1016, Edmund was forced to sign a treaty with Cnut which stated that all of England except Wessex would be controlled by Cnut.  When one of the kings died, the other would take all of England, that king’s son being the heir to the throne.  Edmund Ironside died on November 30, 1016, and Cnut became king of all England.

Edmund Ironside had two very young children, Edward and Edmund. According to the English monk and chronicler John of Worcester, King Cnut sent the two children to King Olaf Skötkonung of Sweden to be murdered, but instead, the king sent them to Kiev where his daughter was the queen.  Sometime in the 1040s, Edward and Edmund, now adults, both traveled to Hungary and helped the exiled Andrew of Hungary become King of Hungary. Edmund died in Hungary before 1054.  Edward the Exile married Agatha,  whose background is uncertain.  Edward and Agatha had three children who were all born in Hungary:  Margaret (born circa 1045), Edgar the Ætheling (born circa 1051), and Cristina (born in the 1040s).

In 1057, Edward the Confessor, the childless King of England, discovered that his nephew Edward the Exile was still alive and summoned him to England in 1057 as a potential successor.  However, Edward died within two days of his arrival in England and the cause of his death has never been determined.  Murder is a possibility, as he had many powerful enemies.  His three children were then raised in the court of Edward the Confessor, who died in January 1066.  At that time Edgar was considered too young to be king and the Witenagemot elected Harold Godwinson king mainly because it was thought he could defend England against foreign claimants to the English throne.  In October 1066, William of Normandy (the Conqueror) invaded England and defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings.  Following Harold’s death in battle, the Witenagemot elected Edgar the Ætheling, who was the last of the House of Wessex, King of England.  As William of Normandy’s position grew stronger, it became evident to those in power that King Edgar should be abandoned and that they should submit to William.

In 1068, Edgar, along with his mother Agatha and sisters Margaret and Cristina, fled to Northumbria.  Supposedly, Agatha wanted to return to Hungary, but their ship was blown off course by a storm and they sought refuge from King Malcolm III of Scotland, who is the Malcolm in the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare.  Malcolm’s first wife Ingebjorg Finnsdotter died around 1069, and shortly thereafter he married Margaret.  Margaret and Malcolm had eight children, six sons and two daughters.  Bearing in mind that William the Conqueror’s new dynasty in England was not secure, Margaret and Malcolm gave Anglo-Saxon royal names to four of their sons and named the other two sons after Alexander the Great and the biblical  King David.  Their daughter Edith married King Henry I of England and is the ancestor of the British and other European royal families.

Margaret introduced continental fashions, manners, and ceremonies to the Scottish court, thereby increasing economic ties and communication between Scotland and the European continent.   Malcolm sought Margaret’s advice on matters of state, and with other English exiles, Margaret was influential in introducing English-style feudalism and parliament to Scotland.

Margaret had been religious since her childhood and her strong faith had an influence on her husband.  Margaret taught Malcolm how to control his temper and encouraged his religious faith by reading him Bible stories. She and the king prayed together and fed the hungry, serving as role models to the people of Scotland.  Margaret personally supervised the religious studies and education of her children.

In her private life, Margaret exhibited great piety.  She had certain times of the day for prayer and reading the Bible. She ate sparingly and slept little in order to have time for prayers. During Lent and Advent, Margaret always awakened at midnight for Mass.  After Mass, she would wash the feet of six poor people and give them alms. Beggars always surrounded her in public and she never refused them. Her biographer Turgot, Bishop of St. Andrews recorded that she never sat down to eat without first feeding nine orphans and 24 adults.

On November 13, 1093, Margaret’s husband Malcolm and her eldest son Edward were killed at the Battle of Alnwick.  Malcolm was succeeded by his eldest son from his first marriage King Donald II of Scotland who was killed in battle in 1094.  Thereafter, three sons of Margaret and Malcolm succeeded to the Scottish throne.

Weakened from her constant fasting and austere life, Margaret was already ill when her husband and eldest son went off to battle.  She died at Dunfermline just three days after her husband and son’s death and was buried in Dunfermline Abbey which she and her husband had founded.  Margaret was canonized as a saint in 1250 by Pope Innocent IV.  On June 19, 1250, following her canonization, Margaret’s remains were disinterred and placed in a reliquary at the high altar of Dunfermline Abbey.  Her husband Malcolm’s remains were also disinterred, and buried next to Margaret.  During the Scottish Reformation in 1560, Dunfermline Abbey was sacked and fell into disrepair.  St. Margaret’s remains, along with those of her husband, were transferred to a chapel in El Escorial, near Madrid, Spain but the location of the remains is now unknown.  Upon the orders of Queen Victoria, the tomb of Saint Margaret and King Malcolm III was restored during the 19th century.

Original burial place of St. Margaret of Scotland, Photo Credit – Wikipedia

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Abdication of Grand Duchess Charlotte; Accession of Grand Duke Jean

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

“I feel I have reached the age to retire, and I think that Jean is the age to take over.
After all, I am 68 now.”

– Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg

 

On November 12, 1964, in the presence of her family and members of the government, Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg signed the declaration of abdication after a reign that lasted nearly 46 years. Her eldest son Jean became the new reigning Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Nearly 36 years, Jean himself would abdicate in favor of his eldest son Grand Duke Henri. (You can read more about that here)

Charlotte was never expected to become Grand Duchess. She was the second of six daughters of Grand Duke Guillaume IV and his wife, Infanta Marie Anne of Portugal. At the time, only male descendants could succeed to the throne. However, having only daughters, Grand Duke Guillaume IV made a change to the house laws allowing his daughters to succeed him should there be no male heir. Upon his death in 1912, his eldest daughter, Marie-Adelaide, became Grand Duchess of Luxembourg. This change applied only to the daughters of Guillaume. It would not be until 2011 that Luxembourg adopted absolute primogeniture, allowing all children, in order of birth, to succeed to the throne.

Marie-Adelaide’s reign lasted only until 1919. During World War I, she was perceived as being too “friendly” with the Germans who had occupied Luxembourg. While remaining with her constitutional role, her actions, or perceived actions, led to many in the government to call for her abdication. Ceding to this pressure, she abdicated on January 14, 1919, and her younger sister Charlotte became the new Grand Duchess.

Charlotte’s reign saw her become a much-loved leader in the country and a voice of strength and unity during World War II. When the Germans occupied Luxembourg, Charlotte, having learned from her sister’s experience during the First World War, chose not to remain in the country and with her family, fled the country. She established her government-in-exile in London where she continued to give radio broadcasts to the people of Luxembourg. She and her family returned in 1945, where she worked effortlessly to rebuild and restore Luxembourg and propel the small Grand Duchy onto the world’s stage.

After nearly 20 more years, Charlotte decided that it was time to pass the torch to her son Jean. While remaining the head of state, in 1961 Charlotte handed over much of her constitutional duties to Jean, who served as Lieutenant Representative. Finally, in 1964, she formally abdicated in his favor.

Following the brief ceremony at the Grand-Ducal Palace, at which Charlotte signed the declaration of abdication, her son Jean was formally enthroned at a ceremony in the Hall of the Chamber of Deputies, where he swore allegiance to the Constitution of Luxembourg. A Te Deum was then held at the Cathedral Notre Dame de Luxembourg, and the family appeared several times on the balcony of the Grand-Ducal Palace.

Grand Duchess Charlotte passed away at her home, Fischbach Castle, in July 1985. She was 89.

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Death of Princess Charlotte of Wales in childbirth and its impact on the British succession

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Princess Charlotte of Wales; Credit – Wikipedia

Not many people remember Princess Charlotte of Wales, but I think it is important that she be remembered and that it is understood how her death affected the British succession.

Princess Charlotte of Wales was the only child of George, Prince of Wales, the future King George IV, and the only legitimate grandchild of King George III. She married Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saafeld, the future uncle of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and the future Leopold I, King of the Belgians. Charlotte suffered two miscarriages in the early months of her first two pregnancies, but the third pregnancy in 1817 gave Charlotte and Leopold hope. After a labor of over 50 hours, Charlotte delivered a stillborn son. Several hours later, twenty-one-year-old Princess Charlotte died of postpartum hemorrhage on November 6, 1817. Had Charlotte lived, she would have succeeded her father as Queen of the United Kingdom. Charlotte was mourned by the British people in a manner similar to the mourning of Diana, Princess of Wales. Her pregnancy and delivery were grossly mismanaged and the doctor in charge, Sir Richard Croft, later died by suicide.

Memorial to Charlotte at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor; Photo Credit – http://www.stgeorges-windsor.org/

At the time of her death, Charlotte, who was second in line to the throne, was the only legitimate grandchild of King George III, despite the fact that eleven of his fifteen children were still living. Charlotte’s death left no legitimate heir in the second generation and prompted the aging sons of King George III to begin a frantic search for brides to provide for the succession.

King George III’s eldest son (Charlotte’s father) and his second son Frederick, Duke of York, were in loveless marriages, and their wives, both in their late forties, were not expected to produce heirs. The third son William, Duke of Clarence, age 53, married 26-year-old Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen. 50-year-old Edward, Duke of Kent, the fourth son, married 32-year-old widow Victoire of Saxe-Coburg-Saafeld. Victoire was the sister of Leopold, Princess Charlotte’s widower. 21-year-old Augusta of Hesse-Kassel was married to 44-year-old Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, the seventh son. It was then the scramble to produce an heir began.

Within a short time, the three new Duchesses, along with Frederica, wife of the fifth son Ernest, Duke of Cumberland, became pregnant. Augusta gave birth to a son on March 26, 1819; Adelaide had a daughter the following day. Victoire produced a daughter on May 24, 1819, and three days later Frederica had a boy. Adelaide’s daughter would have been the heir but the little princess died in infancy. The child of the next Royal Duke in seniority stood to inherit the throne. This was Alexandrina Victoria, daughter of Edward, Duke of Kent and Victoire of Saxe-Coburg-Saafeld. The baby stood fifth in line to the throne after her uncles George, Frederick and William, and her father Edward.

The baby’s father Edward died on January 23, 1820, eight months after her birth. Six days later, King George III’s death brought his eldest son to the throne as King George IV. Frederick, Duke of York, died in 1827, bringing the young princess a step closer to the throne. King George IV died in 1830 and his brother William (IV) succeeded him. During King William IV’s reign little Drina, as she was called, was the heiress presumptive. There was always the possibility that King William IV and Queen Adelaide would still produce an heir but it was not to be. William died on June 20, 1837, and left the throne to his 18-year-old niece, who is known to history as Queen Victoria.

Read more about Queen Victoria and her family at House of Hanover: Queen Victoria Index.

Queen Victoria’s coronation portrait, Credit – Wikipedia

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