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Louise, Princess Royal and Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife; Credit – Wikipedia
July 27, 1765 – Birth of Friederike of Württemberg, Princess of Holstein-Gottorp, wife of the future Peter I, Grand Duke of Oldenburg, in Treptow an der Rega, Pomerania, now Trzebiatów, Poland
Full name: Friederike Elisabeth Amalie Auguste
At just 15 years old, Friederike married Prince Peter of Holstein-Gottorp (later Duke Peter I of Oldenburg) on June 6, 1781. The marriage was promoted by her sister Sophie, who was married to the future Paul I, Emperor of All Russia, and was intended to help strengthen the relationship between Württemberg and Russia. Friederike and Peter had two surviving children. Several weeks after having given birth to a stillborn son, Friederike died at the age of 20.
Unofficial Royalty: Friederike of Württemberg, Princess of Holstein-Gottorp
July 27, 1773 – Birth of Luisa of Naples and Sicily, first wife of Ferdinando III, Grand Duke of Tuscany at the Royal Palace in Naples, Kingdom of Naples and Sicily, now in Italy
Full name: Luisa Maria Amalia Teresa
Luisa was the daughter of King Ferdinando IV of Naples and III of Sicily, later Ferdinando I, King of the Two Sicilies, and his first wife Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria. In 1790, Luisa married Ferdinando III, Grand Duke of Tuscany. At the Tuscan court, there was gossip about Luisa’s lack of attractiveness. However, many considered the gossip about her looks to be superficial and saw Luisa as a person who showed great kindness to everyone. Luisa and her husband had five children. Sadly, she died in childbirth delivering a stillborn son in 1802.
Unofficial Royalty: Luisa of Naples and Sicily, Grand Duchess of Tuscany
July 27, 1888 – Birth of Prince Oskar of Prussia, son of Wilhelm II, German Emperor, at Marmorpalais in Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany
Full name: Oskar Karl Gustav Adolf
In 1914, Oskar married Countess Ina-Marie von Bassewitz. As the marriage was considered morganatic, the bride could not take her husband’s style and title. Instead, four days prior to the wedding, Ina-Marie was created Countess von Ruppin. The couple had four children. Several years later, in November 1919, the marriage was decreed dynastic, and Ina-Marie and her children were elevated to HRH Prince/Princess of Prussia as of June 1920.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Oskar of Prussia
July 27, 1889 – Wedding of Princess Louise, Princess Royal, daughter of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, and Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife, at the Private Chapel in Buckingham Palace, London, England
Despite the possessiveness of her mother and the matchmaking of her grandmother, Louise decided that she wanted to marry for love. She preferred to marry a British subject rather than a European prince that would take her away from home and so, like her aunt Princess Louise who had married the future 9th Duke of Argyll, she chose a husband from the British aristocracy, Alexander Duff, then the 6th Earl Fife. When Louise’s grandmother Queen Victoria arrived at Sandringham to discuss a potential engagement with Louise’s parents, she was met by Louise who tearfully explained that if she was not allowed to marry Alexander, she would die an old maid. Queen Victoria, who had known Alexander since his childhood, explained to her that as her grandmother and sovereign, she had to spend some time with her potential groom before she could make a decision about the marriage. Queen Victoria was partial to Scotsmen and when she spent some time with Alexander, she approved of the marriage.
Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of Louise, Princess Royal and Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife
July 27, 1900 – Birth of Prince Knud of Denmark, later Hereditary Prince of Denmark, son of King Christian X of Denmark. at Sorgenfri Palace in Lyngby-Taarbæk, Denmark
Full name: Knud Christian Frederik Michael
In 1947 when King Christian X died and his elder son became King Frederik IX, Knud was the heir presumptive. Danish succession law did not allow for female succession, so King Frederik IX’s three daughters, including the current monarch Queen Margrethe II, were not in the line of succession. It was expected that Knud and then his elder son Ingolf would become king. However, the 1953 Danish Act of Succession allowed for a female to become queen if she did not have any brothers. With the passage of that act, Knud and his son Prince Ingolf went from being first and second in the line of succession to being fourth and fifth after the three daughters of King Frederik IX. The 2009 Act of Succession now allows for the eldest child to become monarch regardless of gender. To compensate for the change in the succession, Knud was given the title Hereditary Prince of Denmark, and both Knud and his elder son Ingolf were granted fixed annuities and additional flexible annuities for life.
Unofficial Royalty: Hereditary Prince Knud of Denmark
July 27, 1932 – Death of Archduchess Gisela of Austria, daughter of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, in Munich, Germany; buried at St. Michael’s Church in Munich, Germany
Gisela married her second cousin Prince Leopold of Bavaria. The couple had a long and happy marriage and lived in the Palais Leopold in the Schwabing section of Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria. Leopold died in 1930, at the age of 84. Two years later, Gisela died aged 76. She was buried with her husband in the Wittelsbach crypt at St. Michael’s Church in Munich, Germany.
Unofficial Royalty: Archduchess Gisela of Austria
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