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Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine; Credit – Wikipedia
November 25, 1120 – Death of William the Ætheling, Duke of Normandy, son and heir of King Henry I of England, on the White Ship
King Henry I of England had two children who survived childhood, a daughter Matilda, sometimes called Maud, who was born in 1102, and a son William Ætheling, born in 1103. On November 25, 1120, Henry I and his son boarded separate ships in Normandy to return to England. William sailed aboard the White Ship along with his illegtimate half-brother Richard of Lincoln, his illegitimate half-sister Matilda, Countess of Perche, Richard d’Avranches, 2nd Earl of Chester and many of the heirs of the great estates of England and Normandy.By the time the White Ship was ready to set sail, there were about 300 people on board. William ordered the captain of the White Ship to overtake the ship of King Henry I so that the White Ship would be the first ship to return to England. Unfortunately, the White Ship hit a submerged rock and capsized. William’s bodyguard quickly got the heir to the throne into the safety of a dinghy. However, William Ætheling heard the screams of his half-sister Matilda FitzRoy, Countess of Perche and ordered the dinghy to turn back to rescue her. At this point, the White Ship began to sink and the many people in the water desperately sought the safety of William’s dinghy. The chaos and the weight were too much causing William Ætheling’s dinghy to capsize and sink without a trace. The chronicler Orderic Vitalis claimed that only two people survived the shipwreck by clinging to a rock all night. Eventually, Henry I’s lack of a male heir caused an eighteen-year-long civil war called The Anarchy between his daughter Matilda and his nephew King Stephen who more or less seized the English throne after Henry I’s death.
Unofficial Royalty: William the Ætheling, Duke of Normandy
Unofficial Royalty: The Sinking of the White Ship and How It Affected the English Succession
November 25, 1120 – Death of Matilda FitzRoy, Countess of Perche, illegitimate daughter of King Henry I of England, on the White Ship
See the entry of William the Ætheling, Duke of Normandy above.
Unofficial Royalty: Matilda FitzRoy, Countess of Perche
Unofficial Royalty: The Sinking of the White Ship and How It Affected the English Succession
November 25, 1120 – Death of Richard of Lincoln, illegitimate son of King Henry I of England, on the White Ship
See the entry of William the Ætheling, Duke of Normandy above.
Unofficial Royalty: Ricahrd of Lincoln
Unofficial Royalty: The Sinking of the White Ship and How It Affected the English Succession
November 25, 1253 – Birth of Katherine of England, daughter of King Henry III of England, at the Palace of Westminster in London, England
The description by 13th-century chronicler Matthew Paris that Katherine was “‘mute and useless
though with a most beautiful face” has often been interpreted that she had some kind of intellectual disability or degenerative disease. However, it may indicate that Katherine merely had a stammer or some other speech impediment. Katherine did have some kind of illness during the spring of 1257, that resulted in her death on May 3, 1257, when she was three and a half years old. Her parents King Henry III and Queen Eleanor deeply mourned her death and were emotionally distraught.
Unofficial Royalty: Katherine of England
November 25, 1609 – Birth of Henrietta Maria of France, Queen of England, daughter of King Henri IV of France, wife of King Charles I of England, at Hotel du Louvre in Paris, France
When Henrietta Maria was six months old, her father was assassinated while driving in his carriage through the streets of Paris. Her nine-year-old eldest brother then became King Louis XIII. In 1625, Henrietta Maria married King Charles I of England. The couple had nine children including King Charles II, King James II, Mary, Princess Royal who married Willem II, Prince of Orange (parents of King William III of England), and Princess Henrietta who married her first cousin Philippe, Duke of Orléans, the brother of King Louis XIV of France. To the English people, Henrietta Maria’s Catholic beliefs made her different and dangerous at a time when Catholic plots and subversion were feared. She did not speak English before she married and always had difficulties with speaking and writing English. When the English Civil War started, which eventually led to the execution of King Charles I, Henrietta Maria escaped to France where she settled in Paris with the support of her nephew King Louis XIV. She lived in her native France for the rest of her life.
Unofficial Royalty: Henrietta Maria of France, Queen of England
November 25, 1638 – Birth of Catherine of Braganza, Queen of England, daughter of King João IV of Portugal, wife of King Charles II of England, at the Ducal Palace in Vila Viçosa, Portugal
Full name: Catarina Henriqueta
In 1662, Catherine married King Charles II of England in two ceremonies, a private Catholic one, and a public Anglican one. 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: Catherine of Braganza, Queen of England
November 25, 1743 – Birth of Prince William Henry of Wales, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, at Leicester House in London, England
William Henry was one of the two brothers of King George III whose marriages caused the passing of the Royal Marriages Act in 1772. The act stipulated that no descendant of King George II under the age of 25, with the exception of descendants of princesses who married into foreign families, could marry without obtaining the consent of the sovereign. Over the age of 25, those wishing to marry without obtaining consent needed to inform the Privy Council of their intention. They would then be free to marry in a year if no objection had been raised by Parliament. In 1766, William Henry married Maria Waldegrave, Countess Waldegrave, née Walpole. William Henry and Maria’s marriage was held in secret as William Henry’s marriage to a widow of non-royal rank and illegitimate birth would not have been acceptable. King George III was unaware of this marriage until 1772. The Royal Marriages Act was repealed on March 26, 2015, as a result of the 2011 Perth Agreement. The Royal Marriages Act’s provisions were replaced by less limited restrictions that apply only to the first six people in the line of succession to the British throne.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince William Henry of Wales, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh
November 25, 1868 – Death of Joseph, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg in Altenburg, Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg, now in Thuringia, Germany; buried in the Ducal Mausoleum in Altenburg Cemetery, in 1974, all of the remains in the mausoleum were removed and buried in an unmarked grave elsewhere in the cemetery
Joseph became Duke of Saxe-Altenburg upon his father’s death in 1834. As a ruler, Joseph was very conservative and was against any sort of reform. With unrest spreading through Europe in 1848, Joseph quickly brought in troops to squash the growing demands for a free state in Altenburg. Despite his attempts, the people refused to back him and Joseph was forced to abdicate on November 30, 1848, just two days after the death of his wife. As he had no male heirs, he was succeeded by his younger brother Georg. After his abdication, Joseph moved to Schloss Fröhliche Wiederkunft, his castle in Wolfersdorf, where he spent the next fifteen years restoring and expanding the estate. He lived for nearly 20 years after his abdication, dying at the age of 79.
Unofficial Royalty: Joseph, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg
November 25, 1868 – Birth of Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, grandson of Queen Victoria, at Neues Palais in Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine, now in Hesse, Germany
Full name: Ernst Ludwig Karl Albert Wilhelm
Ernst Ludwig was the son of Queen Victoria’s daughter Princess Alice and Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine. He made an unsuccessful marriage to his first cousin Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The couple had one daughter who died in childhood. They waited until after Queen Victoria’s death to divorce. In 1905, Ernst Ludwig married Princess Eleonore of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich and they had two sons. He lost his throne after World War I, however, he was allowed to remain in Hesse and retained several of the family’s properties including Schloss Wolfsgarten and the New Palace in Darmstadt.
Unofficial Royalty: Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine
November 25, 1876 – Birth of Victoria Melita of Edinburgh, granddaughter of Queen Victoria, at San Antonio Palace in Malta
Victoria Melita was the daughter of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia. She married her first cousin Grand Ernst Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine, but they divorced after seven years of marriage. After the divorce, she married her Romanov first cousin Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich. The couple had three children. Victoria Melita and Kirill escaped Russia soon after the abdication of their first cousin Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia. They lived out their lives at Villa Edinburg, which later became known as the Kirill Palace, in Coburg, now in Bavaria, Germany, and at a villa in Saint-Briac, France.
Unofficial Royalty: Victoria Melita of Edinburgh
November 25, 1879 – Death of Maria Caroline Gibert de Lametz, Princess of Monaco, wife of Florestan, Prince of Monaco, in Monaco; buried at the Cathedral of Monaco in Monaco-Ville, Monaco
Prince Florestan of Monaco attended his half-sister’s wedding celebrations and met Maria Caroline Gibert de Lametz, the half-sister of the groom. Because Florestan’s family did not approve of the marriage, the wedding was quiet and modest. Florestan and Maria Caroline had two children including Charles III, Prince of Monaco. Florestan succeeded his brother Honoré V, who had never married. During Florestan’s reign, the real power lay in the hands of his wife Maria Caroline. She took over the finances of Monaco and ruled Monaco with an iron fist because her indecisive and politically disinclined husband left all affairs of state to her. When Marie Caroline’s son Charles III succeeded his father, she continued to have a role in governing as she was alive for twenty-three years of his thirty-three-year-long reign. The idea of opening a gambling casino in Monaco and developing Monaco into a seaside resort was Maria Caroline’s idea. The Casino de Monte-Carlo, named after Charles III as Carlo is the Italian for Charles (Monte-Carlo = Mount Charles in English), opened in 1865 and saved Monaco from bankruptcy. Fearing that the citizens of Monaco would squander their money on gambling, Maria Carolina had the idea to ban all citizens of Monaco from gambling at the casino. That rule is still in effect.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Caroline Gibert de Lametz, Princess of Monaco
November 25, 1885 – Death of King Alfonso XII of Spain at Palacio Real de El Pardo in Madrid, Spain; buried at the Monastery of San Lorenzo El Real in El Escorial, Spain
17-year-old Alfonso became King of Spain in 1874. During Alfonso XII’s reign, the monarchy was consolidated and government institutions were stabilized, repairing the damage that the recent internal struggles had left. For this Alfonso earned the nickname “The Peacemaker.” In 1878, Alfonso married his first cousin Princess Maria de las Mercedes of Orléans and had three children. On November 25, 1885, three days before his 28th birthday, King Alfonso XII died from tuberculosis, leaving two daughters and his queen pregnant with her third child. It was decided that Alfonso’s widow Maria Christina would rule as regent until the child was born. If the child were a male, he would become king and if the child were a female, Alfonso and Maria Christina’s elder daughter María Mercedes would become queen. On May 17, 1886, a son was born who immediately became King Alfonso XIII.
Unofficial Royalty: King Alfonso XII of Spain
November 25, 1888 – Death of Anne Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland, Queen Victoria’s Mistress of the Robes 1870–1874, at Stafford House in London, England; buried at Babbacombe Cemetery in Torquay, Devon, England
Born Anne Hay-Mackenzie, the only child of John Hay-Mackenzie of Newhall and Cromarty, she married George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 3rd Duke of Sutherland. In 1870, she succeeded her sister-in-law, Elizabeth Campbell, Duchess of Argyll, as Mistress of the Robes, and served until 1874. The position had also previously been held by her mother-in-law Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland four different times between 1837 and 1861.
Unofficial Royalty: Anne Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland
November 25, 1957 – Death of Prince George of Greece, son of King George I of Greece, in Saint-Cloud, Île-de-France, France; buried at Royal Cemetery, Tatoi Palace, Greece
In 1907, George married Princess Marie Bonaparte, daughter of Prince Roland Bonaparte, a grandson of Lucien Bonaparte, Emperor Napoleon I’s brother. Marie was quite wealthy in her own right, having been left a vast fortune by her mother Marie-Félix Blanc, the daughter of François Blanc who was the principal developer of Monte Carlo and the Monte Carlo Casino. The couple had two children. Following World War II, George often represented his nephew King Paul of Greece on official visits and functions throughout Europe. In 1947, he attended the funeral of King Christian X of Denmark and the wedding of his nephew, Philip Mountbatten (formerly Prince Philippos of Greece) to the future Queen Elizabeth II. In September 1948, he attended the enthronement ceremony of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, and in December 1948, he was named as one of the godparents of Prince Charles, his great-nephew. George and his wife represented the Greek Royal Family at the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. In his late 80’s, George’s health began to deteriorate. He underwent surgery for a strangulated hernia and later developed hematuria. George died, just four days after he and Marie celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince George of Greece
November 25, 1974 – Death of Prince Roberto Hugo of Parma, Duke of Parma in Vienna, Austria
Roberto Hugo was the head of the house of Bourbon-Parma and pretender to the former throne of the Duchy of Parma from 1959 until 1974.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Roberto Hugo of Parma, Duke of Parma
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