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Sophia Alekseyevna, Regent of Russia; Credit – Wikipedia
July 14, 1486 – Death of Margaret of Denmark, Queen of Scots, daughter of King Christian I of Denmark and wife of James III, King of Scots, buried at Cambuskenneth Abbey in Scotland
Margaret was a popular queen and was described as beautiful, gentle, and reasonable. Many later historians called her far better qualified to rule than her husband. During the crisis of 1482, when her husband was deprived of power for several months, Margaret showed a greater interest in the welfare of her children than that of her husband, and this apparently led to the couple’s alienation. When Margaret died at the age of 30, there were suspicions that she had been poisoned by John Ramsay, 1st Lord Bothwell, a confidant of James III, although no evidence was found to support the charge. At the request of James III, Pope Innocent VIII commissioned an investigation of Margaret’s virtues and alleged miracles for possible canonization, but without result.
Unofficial Royalty: Margaret of Denmark, Queen of Scots
July 14, 1602 – Birth of Cardinal Jules Mazarin, favorite of King Louis XIV of France, born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino in Pescina, Abruzzo Ultra, Kingdom of Naples, now in Italy
Cardinal Mazarin was a favorite of King Louis XIV of France, and perhaps the most influential person in the French court at the time. Having served prominently in the court for several years during the reign of King Louis XIII, he was formally appointed Chief Minister by Queen Anne when she assumed the regency for her young son King Louis XIV, and Mazarin remained in that position until his own death in 1661.
Unofficial Royalty: Cardinal Jules Mazarin, favorite of King Louis XIV of France
July 14, 1704 – Death of Sophia Alexeievna, Regent of Russia during the minority of her brothers Peter I and Ivan V, at Novodevichy Convent in Moscow, Russia; buried at the Smolensk Cathedral at the Novodevichy Convent
Regent of Russia for seven years during the early co-reign of her brother Ivan V and her half-brother Peter I (the Great), Tsarevna Sophia Alexeievna was the daughter of Alexei I, Tsar of All Russia and his first wife Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya. Because of her plotting against her half-brother Peter, Sophie was arrested, forced to give up her position as a member of the royal family, and forced to withdraw to the Novodevichy Convent under guard. Sophia was forced to become a nun under the name of Susanna. She remained in the strictest seclusion with the other nuns allowed to see her only on Easter.
Unofficial Royalty: Sophia Alekseyevna, Regent of Russia
July 14, 1711 – Death by drowning of Johan Willem Friso, Prince of Orange while crossing the Hollands Diep, a wide river in the Netherlands; buried at the Grote of Jacobijnerkerk in Leeuwarden, Friesland now in the Netherlands
Johan Willem Friso, Prince of Orange and his wife Princess Marie Luise of Hesse-Kassel are the most recent common ancestors of all currently reigning European monarchs. At the time of Johan Willem Friso’s birth, his first cousin once removed Willem III was Prince of Orange and Stadtholder (Governor) of five of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic. Willem III had married his English first cousin Mary Stuart, the elder surviving child of King James II of England. After the Glorious Revolution of 1688 which deposed King James II, Willem and Mary jointly ruled England as King William III and Queen Mary II, but the couple had no children. After Willem’s death, Johan Willem Friso claimed succession in the five provinces of the Dutch Republic that William (Willem) III had held as well as to the title Prince of Orange. However, the five provinces over which Willem III had ruled as Stadtholder all suspended the office of Stadtholder after his death. A dispute arose between Johan Willem Friso and Friedrich I, King in Prussia, also a grandson of Frederik Hendrik, Prince of Orange, over the Principality of Orange which was located in France. Friedrich I eventually inherited the land and ceded the land to France in 1713. However, the title Prince of Orange continued to be used in the Dutch Republic. In July to The Hague to meet with King Friedrich I of Prussia about their succession dispute. To cross the Hollands Diep, a wide river in the Netherlands, Johan Willem Friso and his carriage traveled on a ferry. The captain had trouble with the sails and suddenly a great gust of wind filled the sails, the ferry capsized and Johan Willem Friso drowned at the age of 23 on July 14, 1711. His body was found floating in the river eight days later.
Unofficial Royalty: Johan Willem Friso, Prince of Orange
July 14, 1824 – Death of Kamehameha II, King of the Hawaiian Islands, in London, England; buried at Mauna ʻAla (Fragrant Hills), the Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii in Honolulu, Hawaii
While on a visit to London, England, Kamehameha II and the favorite of his five wives, Queen Kamāmalu, caught measles and died. They had no natural immunity because the people of the Hawaiian Islands had lived in isolation until their contact with Europeans.
Unofficial Royalty: Kamehameha II, King of the Hawaiian Islands
July 14, 1884 – Birth of Prince Adalbert of Prussia, son of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia, at Marmorpalais in Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany
Full name: Adalbert Ferdinand Berengar Viktor
During World War I, Adalbert served in the Prussian Navy, eventually taking command of the SMS Dresden in 1917 until the end of the war. During this time, his family lived in Kiel, the home of the Prussian Navy. Following the end of the monarchy in November 1918, Adalbert left his family in Kiel and initially took refuge on his yacht. He soon moved to Bad Homburg, Germany where he purchased Villa Adelheidswert and was joined by his wife and children. However, they often traveled to Switzerland due to his wife’s health and eventually settled there permanently in 1928. They lived under the names Count and Countess von Lingen, keeping themselves out of the public and political realms and living a very quiet and private life.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Adalbert of Prussia
July 14, 1933 – Birth of Franz, Duke of Bavaria, the current Head of the House of Wittelsbach, pretender to the former throne of Bavaria, and the current heir to the Jacobite Succession, in Munich, Germany
Full name: Franz Bonaventura Adalbert Maria
Unofficial Royalty: Franz, Duke of Bavaria
Unofficial Royalty: The Jacobite Succession – Pretenders to the British Throne
July 14, 1958 – Assassination of King Faisal II of Iraq in Baghdad, Iraq; Army of Iraq overthrows the monarchy; buried at the Royal Mausoleum in Adhamiyah, Iraq
Faisal was only 23 when he was killed along with the Crown Prince ‘Abd al-Ilah, Princess Hiyam (‘Abd al-Ilah’s wife), Princess Nafeesa (‘Abd al-Ilah’s mother), Princess Abadiya (Faisal’s aunt), and several servants.
Unofficial Royalty: Assassination of Faisal II, King of Iraq (article coming soon)
Wikipedia: King Faisal II of Iraq
July 14, 1977 – Birth of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden at Karolinska University Hospital in Solna, Sweden
Full name: Victoria Ingrid Alice Désirée
In 1979, the Riksdag, the Swedish legislature, introduced an Act of Succession that changed the succession to absolute primogeniture, meaning that the eldest child of the monarch, regardless of gender, is first in the line of succession. This Act of Succession became law on January 1, 1980, making Sweden the first country to adopt absolute primogeniture. The previous 1810 Act of Succession allowed for only males to inherit the throne. Victoria’s brother Carl Philip had been born Crown Prince in May 1979 and retained his title and first place in the succession for seven months until January 1, 1980, when his elder sister became Crown Princess and heir apparent.
Unofficial Royalty: Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden
July 14, 1994 – Wedding of Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones, daughter of Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom, and Daniel Chatto, at St. Stephen Walbrook Church in London, England
The bride and groom met on a movie set. He was an actor and she was a wardrobe assistant. He was the son of an actor and a theatrical agent. She was the daughter of a princess and the granddaughter of a king. He played a prince (one of her cousins) in a film.
Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones and Daniel Chatto
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