November 29: Today in Royal History

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Wedding of Prince George, Duke of Kent and Princess Marina of Greece; Photo Credit – http://www.npg.org.uk/ by Bassano Ltd

November 29, 1338 – Birth of Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence, son of King Edward III of England, at Antwerp, Duchy of Brabant, now in Belgium
The third, but the second surviving son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault, Lionel of Antwerp, was one of the two people on whom the House of York would base its claim to the English throne during the Wars of the Roses. Lionel married the wealthy heiress Elizabeth de Burgh, 4th Countess of Ulster in her own right. Lionel and Elizabeth had one child, a daughter Philippa, who married Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March. It is through Philippa and Edmund’s eldest son Roger Mortimer that the House of York is derived. During the reign of the childless King Richard II, the only surviving child of Edward, Prince of Wales (the Black Prince) who predeceased his father King Edward III, Lionel’s daughter Philippa was the heir presumptive to the English throne and then after her death in 1382, her eldest son Roger was the heir presumptive. In 1400, King Richard II was deposed by his first cousin Henry of Bolingbroke (King Henry IV), the eldest son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, King Edward III’s third surviving son. Thus the beginnings of the Wars of the Roses between the Lancasters and the Yorks.
Unofficial Royalty: Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence

November 29, 1489 – Birth of Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, 2nd husband of Margaret Tudor  in Douglasdale, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, a Scottish nobleman active during the reigns of James V, King of Scots and Mary, Queen of Scots, was a leader of the Anglophile faction in Scotland in the early decades of the 16th century, seizing power several times. However, by the later part of his life, Archibald was once again a Scottish patriot. Through their daughter Margaret Douglas, Archibald and Margaret Tudor are the grandparents of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, the first cousin and second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, the great-grandparents of James VI, King of Scots, later also James I, King of England, and the ancestors of the British royal family and most other European royal families.
Unofficial Royalty: Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus

November 29, 1780 – Death of Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria and Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, died at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria; buried at the Imperial Crypt in Vienna, Austria
Maria Theresa’s only brother died several weeks before she was born and her two younger siblings were sisters.  Throughout his reign, her father Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI expected to have a male heir and never really prepared Maria Theresa for her future role as sovereign. Upon her father’s death, Maria Theresa became Queen of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia in her own right. She was unable to become the sovereign of the Holy Roman Empire because she was female. Via a treaty, Maria Theresa arranged for her husband Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine to be elected Holy Roman Emperor. Despite the snub, Maria Theresa wielded the real power. Maria Theresa and her husband had had sixteen children but eight of them died in childhood. Two of their sons were Holy Roman Emperors and their daughter Maria Antonia married King Louis XVI of France and became Queen Marie Antoinette. In 1767, Maria Theresa had smallpox and after that, her health deteriorated. She died surrounded by her surviving children at the age of 67 after a reign of 40 years.
Unofficial Royalty:  Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria and Queen of Hungary and Bohemia

November 29, 1794 – Death of Sophia Friederike of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Hereditary Princess of Denmark and Norway, at Sorgenfri Palace in Kongens Lyngby, Denmark, north of Copenhagen; buried at Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark
Unofficial Royalty: Sophia Friederike of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Hereditary Princess of Denmark and Norway
Sophia Friederike married Hereditary Prince Frederik of Denmark and Norway, the only child of King Frederik V of Denmark and Norway and his second wife Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. They were the parents of King Christian VIII of Denmark. Through their daughter Louise Charlotte, they are the ancestors of the Belgian, British, Danish, Luxembourg, Norwegian, and Spanish royal families and the former royal families of Greece and Romania.

November 29, 1918 – Birth of Prince Friedrich Josias  of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, son of Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, at Callenberg Castle in Coburg, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, now in Bavaria, Germany
Full name: Friedrich Josias Carl Eduard Ernst Kyrill Harald
The Head of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 1954 until his death in 1998, Friedrich Josias was born just three weeks after his father Charles Edward was deposed as Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Through his father, Friedrich Josias was a great-grandson of Queen Victoria. In 1942, Friedrich Josias married his first cousin Countess Viktoria-Luise of Solms-Baruth The couple divorced in 1946 but they had one son who succeeded his father as the Head of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. During World War II, Friedrich Josias was an adjutant to Field Marshal Erwin Rommel who was in charge of the German campaign in North Africa and on the staff of General Hermann von Hanneken, the supreme commander of the German forces in Denmark. In May 1945, Friedrich Josias was captured by British forces in Denmark and remained in captivity until he was released that autumn when he returned to Coburg. In 1948, Friedrich Josias married  Denyse Henriette de Muralt  The couple divorced in 1964 and had three children. He made a third marriage in 1964 to Katrin Bremme but they had no children.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Friedrich Josias  of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

November 29, 1934 – Wedding of Prince George, Duke of Kent, son of King George V of the United Kingdom, and Princess Marina of Greece at Westminster Abbey in London, England
In September 1933, Marina made a trip to London with her sister Olga and Olga’s husband Prince Paul of Yugoslavia. Both Marina and George attended a luncheon at Claridge’s Hotel. The two were second cousins as they were both great-grandchildren of King Christian IX of Denmark. They had met many times before but at the luncheon, they each paid more attention to the other. George’s eldest brother encouraged him to court Marina. The next summer, Marina’s mother and other members of the Greek royal family came to London and George and Marina began a serious courtship. On the evening of August 20, 1934, after a game of backgammon, Marina’s family left her alone with George and it was then that George proposed. On August 28, 1934, Buckingham Palace announced the engagement of Prince George, Duke of Kent to Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark.
Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of Prince George, Duke of Kent and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark

November 29, 1939 – Death of Marie of Baden, Duchess of Anhalt died in Baden-Baden, Baden-Württemberg, Germany; buried in the Dessau Mausoleum in Dessau, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, in 1958, all of the remains were removed from the mausoleum and buried in a mass grave in the Ziebigk Cemetery in Dessau
In 1889, Marie married the future Friedrich II, Duke of Anhalt. Her husband became the reigning Duke of Anhalt upon his father’s death in 1904. Although the couple did not have any children, their marriage was a happy one. Marie quickly became involved in charity after her marriage, supporting organizations that promoted education and care for the underprivileged. In 1892, along with her mother-in-law, she helped found the Anhalt Deaconess Institution, which educated women in caring for the sick and the poor. During World War I, Marie continued working to establish better medical and care facilities for wounded soldiers. When her husband died in April 1918, the throne of Anhalt passed to his younger brother Eduard. After World War I, Marie returned to Baden-Baden, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, where she died at the age of 74, having survived her husband by over 21 years.
Unofficial Royalty: Marie of Baden, Duchess of Anhalt

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