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King William IV of the United Kingdom; Credit – Wikipedia
August 21, 1643 – Birth of King Afonso VI of Portugal at Ribeira Palace in Lisbon, Portugal
13-year-old Afonso succeeded his father João IV, King of Portugal died in 1656. Afonso’s sister Catherine of Braganza was the wife of King Charles II of England. Afonso was debilitated mentally and physically due to the effects of a disease he contracted in childhood, controlled by a favorite early in his reign, relieved of his sovereign power by his brother who married his wife after their marriage was annulled, and confined under guard for the last fifteen years of his life,
Unofficial Royalty: Afonso VI, King of Portugal
August 21, 1765 – Birth of King William IV of the United Kingdom at Buckingham House (now Buckingham Palace) in London, England
Full name: William Henry
William was the third son of King George III and was not expected to become king. He had a naval career, was nicknamed Sailor Bill, and served on a number of ships and in a number of places. William had a long-term affair with actress Dorothea Jordan that produced ten children who married into the British nobility. In 1817, Princess Charlotte of Wales died in childbirth along with her son. 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. Her death left no legitimate heir in the second generation and prompted the aging, unmarried sons of King George III to begin a frantic search for brides to provide for the succession. William, along with his unmarried brothers Edward, Duke of Kent and Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, all married. Sadly, William and his wife Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen had no surviving children. William’s brother King George IV died on June 26, 1830, and William succeeded to the throne. William’s heiress presumptive was his niece Princess Victoria of Kent, the only child of his brother Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, who succeeded to the throne upon William’s death.
Unofficial Royalty: King William IV of the United Kingdom
August 21, 1813 – Death of Queen Sofia Magdalena of Sweden, born Sofia Magdalena of Denmark and Norway, wife of King Gustav III of Sweden, at Ulriksdal Palace in Sweden; buried at Riddarholmen Church in Stockholm, Sweden
In 1766, Sofia Magdalena married the future Gustav III, King of Sweden. The marriage was not a happy one. Sophia Magdalena was quiet and serious and found it difficult to adapt to her husband’s pleasure-loving court. The interference of Gustav’s jealous mother, Queen Louisa Ulrika, did not help the situation. On March 16, 1792, King Gustav III was shot by Jacob Johan Anckarström during a masquerade at the Royal Opera House in Stockholm, Sweden, and died of his wounds two weeks later. Sophia Magdalena was horrified by the murder of her husband, but it was a relief that as Queen Dowager, she could retreat from public life. She lived in the Royal Palace in Stockholm during the winter, and at Ulriksdal Palace during the summer where she died from a stroke at the age of 67.
Unofficial Royalty: Sofia Magdalena of Denmark and Norway, Queen of Sweden
August 21, 1843 – Birth of Maria Ana of Portugal, Princess Georg of Saxony, wife of the future King Georg of Saxony, in Lisbon, Portugal
Full name: Maria Ana Fernanda Leopoldina Micaela Rafaela Gabriela Carlota Antónia Júlia Vitória Praxedes Francisca de Assis Gonzaga
In 1859, Maria Ana married Prince Georg of Saxony, who was second in the line to the Saxony throne, behind his older brother Albert. The couple had eight children but despite their large family, the marriage proved to be an unhappy one. Georg made little effort to support his wife in her new country and failed to live up to her expectations. Very pious and preferring private life to that of the court, Maria Ana’s primary focus was raising her family, and supporting several religious and social organizations. Maria Ana died at the age of 41 after several months of caring for her youngest son who had been in very ill health for some time.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Ana of Portugal, Princess Georg of Saxony
August 21, 1858 – Birth of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, the only son of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, at Schloss Laxenburg in Laxenburg, Austria
Full name: Rudolf Franz Karl Joseph
Known for ending his life in a suicide pact with his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera at the Mayerling hunting lodge, Crown Prince Rudolf was the only son of Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria and his wife Elisabeth of Bavaria (Sisi). Rudolf married Princess Stéphanie of Belgium, daughter of King Leopold II of the Belgians, and they had one daughter. The marriage was happy at first, but shortly after the birth of their daughter, the relationship between Stéphanie and Rudolf began to deteriorate. It is likely that Rudolf infected Stéphanie with a sexually transmitted disease, causing her to be infertile and unable to provide a male heir for the Austrian throne. Both Stéphanie and Rudolf began affairs with other people in the following years and intermittently spoke of divorce.
Unofficial Royalty: Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria
August 21, 1934 – Birth of The Honourable Gerald David Lascelles, younger son of Mary, Princess Royal and first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, at Goldsborough Hall, near Knaresborough in North Yorkshire, England
Gerald was the younger son of Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood and Mary, Princess Royal, the only daughter of King George V of the United Kingdom. Gerald married twice. He first married actress Angela Dowding in 1952. The couple had one son and divorced in 1978. Their marriage collapsed when Gerald left Angela to live with another former actress, Elizabeth Collingwood, whom he had known for 20 years and with whom he already had a son. Gerald was a race car driver, a director of the Silverstone Circuit, a car race track in Northamptonshire, England, and served as president of the British Racing Drivers’ Club from 1964 to 1991. He died on February 27, 1998, in Bergerac, France at the age of 73.
Unofficial Royalty: The Honourable Gerald David Lascelles
August 21, 1930 – Birth of Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom, daughter of King George VI of the United Kingdom, at Glamis Castle in Glamis, Angus, Scotland
Full name: Margaret Rose
Princess Margaret was the second daughter of King George VI of the United Kingdom and the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II. Margaret fell in love with Group Captain Peter Townsend, Comptroller of her mother’s household Townsend, a former equerry to the late King George VI, and a former Deputy Master of the Household. Townsend proposed and Margaret accepted. At the time, the Church of England would not sanction the marriage of a divorced person. Eventually, Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, advised Queen Elizabeth II that Parliament would not approve the marriage unless Margaret was to relinquish her rights to the throne and her royal position. On October 31, 1955, Margaret issued a statement in which she announced that she would not be marrying Group Captain Townsend. She chose to put her royal role and duties ahead of her personal happiness. In 1960, Margaret married photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones who was created Earl of Snowdon and Viscount Linley the following year. The couple had two children and divorced in 1978.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom
August 21, 1963 – Birth of King Mohammed VI of Morocco in Rabat, Morocco
King Mohammed VI is the current King of Morocco, having succeeded his father King Hassan II upon his death in 1999.
Unofficial Royalty: King Mohammed VI of Morocco
August 21, 1982 – Death of King Sobhuza II of Swaziland (now called Eswatini) at the Embo State House in Mbabane, Swaziland; entombed in the mountain cave burial grounds, the Royal Burial Ground in Nhlangano, Shiselweni, Eswatini
King Sobhuza II of Swaziland was the Paramount Chief and King of Swaziland from 1899 – 1982, for 82 years and 254 days. Because Swaziland was a British protectorate from 1906–1968 and not a sovereign state, he is not on the list of longest-reigning sovereign monarchs. However, he is number one on the list of longest reigning monarchs of dependent or constituent states. Despite being an absolute monarch, Sobhuza was able to blend traditional tribal customs with strategies to manage economic and social change in Swaziland. In 1978, a new constitution was adopted which provided for a tribal mode of rule involving an electoral college of eighty members chosen by forty local tribal councils. Much of Swaziland’s and natural resources were originally owned by non-Swazi interests were brought under Swazi control during Sobhuza’s reign.
Unofficial Royalty: King Sobhuza II of Swaziland
August 21, 1990 – Birth of Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said, Crown Prince of Oman, son of Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, Sultan of Oman, in Muscat, Oman
Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said is the first Crown Prince of Oman. Before January 11, 2021, the day Theyazin became Crown Prince, the succession to the throne was handled in a somewhat unusual way. Upon the death of the Sultan, the royal family council was charged with naming his successor within three days. If they were unable to agree upon a new Sultan, there was a sealed envelope from the late Sultan naming his personal choice to succeed him. Theyazin bin Haitham, the eldest son of Sultan Haitham, became the Sultanate’s first Crown Prince following constitutional amendments approved by Sultan Haitham.
Unofficial Royalty: Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said, Crown Prince of Oman
August 21, 2019 – Death of Princess Dina Abdul-Hamid of Jordan, the former Queen Dina of Jordan, born Dina bint Abdul-Hamid, in Amman, Jordan; buried at the Royal Cemetery, near Raghadan Palace within the Royal Compound (Al-Marquar) in Amman, Jordan
Dina was the first of four wives of the late King Hussein I of Jordan. The couple had one daughter but divorced in 1957, at which time Dina lost her title of Queen. She became HRH Princess Dina Abdul-Hamid of Jordan. Dina later returned to her birthplace Egypt, and in 1970, she married Asad Sulayman Abd al-Qadir, a high-ranking official in the Palestine Liberation Organization. In 1983, a year after al-Qadir was imprisoned by the Israelis, Dina negotiated his release, along with 8,000 other prisoners.
Unofficial Royalty: Queen Dina of Jordan
August 21, 2021 – Death of Princess Marie of Liechtenstein, born Countess Marie Aglaë Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau, wife of Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein; buried in the Princely Crypt at Vaduz Cathedral in Vaduz, Liechtenstein
In 1967, Marie married her second cousin, once removed, Hereditary Prince Hans-Adam of Liechtenstein and they had four children. In November 1989, Hans-Adam succeeded his father as the reigning Prince of Liechtenstein. Princess Marie was involved in many organizations within Liechtenstein, with her focus being on education, culture, and the arts. After suffering a stroke three days earlier, Princess Marie of Liechtenstein died at a hospital in Grabs, Switzerland on August 21, 2021, at the age of 81.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Marie of Liechtenstein
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