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King Henry VI of England; Credit – Wikipedia
May 21, 1471 – Death (murder? starvation?) of King Henry VI of England in the Tower of London in London, England; buried at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle in Windsor, England
After the final decisive Yorkist victory at the Battle of Tewkesbury on May 4, 1471, where King Henry VI’s son Edward, Prince of Wales was killed, Henry IV was taken to the Tower of London and died on May 21, 1471, probably murdered on orders from King Edward IV.
Unofficial Royalty: Assassination of Henry VI, King of England
Unofficial Royalty: King Henry VI of England
May 21, 1481 – Death of King Christian I of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden at Copenhagen Castle in Copenhagen, Denmark; buried at Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark
Christian I, the first Danish monarch of the House of Oldenburg, that would reign in Denmark for over 400 years, was buried in the Chapel of the Magi, which he had built as a family burial chapel for the House of Oldenburg, at Roskilde Cathedral, the traditional burial site for the Danish royal family in Roskilde, Denmark. While the tombs of King Christian III, King Frederik II, and their queen consorts are in the Chapel of the Magi, the graves of King Christian I and his wife Queen Dorothea are marked with simple stones because the chapel itself was to be considered their memorial monument.
Unofficial Royalty: King Christian I of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden
May 21, 1527 – Birth of King Felipe II of Spain at Palacio de Pimentel in Valladolid, Spain
Besides being King of Spain, Philp (Felipe in Spanish) was also King of Portugal, King of Naples and Sicily, Duke of Milan, Lord of the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands, and jure uxoris (by right of his wife) King of England and Ireland during his marriage to Queen Mary I of England (the second of his four wives) from 1554 until Mary’s death in 1558. Philip married four times, was a widower four times, and had children with three of his wives. He built The Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial (known as El Escorial) near Madrid, which served as a monastery, basilica, royal palace, burial pantheon, library, museum, university, school, and hospital. Today, it is still the traditional burial site of the Spanish royal family.
Unofficial Royalty: King Felipe II of Spain
May 21, 1662 – Wedding of King Charles II of England and Catherine of Braganza at St. Thomas à Becket Church in Portsmouth, England
Catherine of Braganza, the daughter of King João IV of Portugal, had first been suggested as a bride for Charles in 1645 during the reign of Charles’ father and again in 1660 when the monarchy was restored in England. Already there were rumors of Catherine’s inability to have children, but the newly restored King Charles II was eager to have the £300,000 dowry. Catherine’s Roman Catholicism made her an unpopular queen. Despite fathering at least 16 illegitimate children with his mistresses, Charles had no children with Catherine. It is thought that Catherine did have at least three miscarriages. Despite having many mistresses, Charles insisted that Catherine be treated with respect, and sided with her over his mistresses when he felt she was not receiving the respect she was due.
Unofficial Royalty: King Charles II of England
Unofficial Royalty: Catherine of Braganza, Queen of England
May 21, 1801 – Birth of Sofia of Sweden, Grand Duchess of Baden, daughter of King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden and wife of Karl Friedrich, Grand Duke of Baden, in Stockholm, Sweden
Full name: Sofia Vilhelmina Katarina Maria Lovisa Charlotta Anna
Sofia married Leopold of Baden, her grandfather’s half-brother. The marriage had been arranged by her great-grandfather, Karl Friedrich, Grand Duke of Baden, to help strengthen Leopold’s right to the throne of Baden. Leopold had been born of Karl Friedrich’s second, and morganatic marriage, and had only recently been elevated to Prince and Margrave of Baden, and formally acknowledged as having succession rights. Sofia and Leopold had eight children, including two Grand Dukes of Baden.
Unofficial Royalty: Sofia of Sweden, Grand Duchess of Baden
May 21, 1806 – Birth of Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland, Queen Victoria’s Mistress of the Robes 1837–1841, 1846–1852, 1853–1858, and 1859–1861
Born The Honourable Harriet Howard, daughter of George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle, Harriet did not have an affair with Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as depicted in the television series Victoria. The real Harriet was twelve years older than Ernst and her husband George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland did not die until 1861. Harriet and her husband had a successful, loving marriage and had eleven children.
Unofficial Royalty: Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland
May 21, 1806 – Death of Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily, Princess of Asturias, first of the four wives of King Ferdinand VII of Spain at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez; buried at the Monastery of San Lorenzo El Real in El Escorial, Spain
Maria Antonia married her first cousin Ferdinand, Prince of Asturias, heir to the Spanish throne. Her two pregnancies in 1804 and 1805 ended in miscarriages. After four years of marriage, Maria Antonia, aged 21, died from tuberculosis.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily, Princess of Asturias
May 21, 1829 – Death of Peter I, Grand Duke of Oldenburg in Wiesbaden, Duchy of Nassau, now in Hesse, Germany; buried in the Ducal Mausoleum in St. Gertrude’s Cemetery in Oldenburg, Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, now in Lower Saxony, Germany
The Duchy of Oldenburg was elevated to a Grand Duchy at the Congress of Vienna. Peter established a new government for the Grand Duchy, introduced general conscription, and established the Oldenburg Infantry Regiment. Just short of six years after assuming the throne, Peter suffered a stroke and died
Unofficial Royalty: Peter I, Grand Duke of Oldenburg
May 21, 1864 – Birth of Stéphanie of Belgium, Crown Princess of Austria, wife of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, at the Royal Palace of Laeken in Brussels, Belgium
Full name: Stéphanie Clotilde Louise Herminie Marie Charlotte
The wife of the heir to the Austrian throne who died in a suicide pact with his mistress, Stéphanie of Belgium was the daughter of Leopold II, King of the Belgians and Archduchess Marie-Henriette of Austria. Stéphanie’s marriage with Crown Prince Rudolf was happy at first, but shortly after the birth of their only child, a daughter, the relationship 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: Stéphanie of Belgium, Crown Princess of Austria
May 21, 1873 – Birth of Bathildis of Schaumburg-Lippe, Princess of Waldeck and Pyrmont, wife of Friedrich, the last reigning Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont, in Ratibořice, then in the Kingdom of Bohemia, now in the Czech Republic
Unofficial Royalty: Bathildis of Schaumburg-Lippe, Princess of Waldeck and Pyrmont
May 21, 1889 – Birth of Prince Leopold of Battenberg, after 1917 Lord Leopold Mountbatten, grandson of Queen Victoria, at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England
Full name: Leopold Arthur Louis
Leopold was the son of Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom and Prince Henry of Battenberg. His mother was a hemophilia carrier and he inherited the disease from her. Leopold never married and died following emergency surgery.
Unofficial Royalty: Lord Leopold Mountbatten
Unofficial Royalty: Hemophilia in Queen Victoria’s Family
May 21, 2013 – Death of Count Christian of Rosenborg, grandson of King Christian X of Denmark and first cousin of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, at Gentofte Hospital in Gentofte, Denmark; buried at Lyngby Church in Lyngby, Denmark
Christian was born Prince Christian of Denmark, the younger son of Hereditary Prince Knud. He lost his royal title and style upon marriage to a commoner in 1971.
Unofficial Royalty: Count Christian of Rosenborg
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