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Ernst Ludwig I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen; Credit – Wikipedia

October 7, 1471 – Birth of King Frederik I of Denmark and Norway at Haderslevhus in Haderslev, Denmark
Frederik I, King of Denmark and Norway was the youngest of the four sons and the youngest of the five children of Christian I, King of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Frederik’s nephew Christian II, King of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden had been deposed in Sweden in 1521 and replaced by Gustav Vasa, the first monarch of the Swedish House of Vasa. By 1523, the Danes also had enough of Christian II and a rebellion started. Christian II was forced to abdicate by the Danish nobles and Frederik, his paternal uncle, was offered the crown. Frederik was the last Roman Catholic Danish monarch. All subsequent Danish monarchs have been Lutheran. Although Frederik remained Catholic, he was somewhat tolerant of the new Protestant Lutheran religion. He ordered that Lutherans and Roman Catholics share the same churches and encouraged the first publication of the Bible in the Danish language. Frederik’s attitude toward religion postponed the all-out warfare between Protestants and Roman Catholics that occurred during the reign of his son King Christian III that ultimately turned Denmark into a Protestant nation.
Unofficial Royalty: King Frederik I of Denmark and Norway

October 7, 1515 – Birth of Lady Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox, daughter of Margaret Tudor and mother of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, at Harbottle Castle in Harbottle, Northumberland, England
Lady Margaret Douglas was the only child of Margaret Tudor, Dowager Queen of Scots and the second of her third husbands, Scottish noble Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus. She was third in the line of succession to the English throne at the time of her birth. Her elder son was Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley who married his first cousin Mary, Queen of Scots, the daughter and successor of Lady Margaret’s half-brother James V, King of Scots. Darnley and Mary’s son James VI, King of Scots succeeded as King James I of England upon the death of Queen Elizabeth I of England. Margaret and her family suffered the dangerous misfortune of being a threat to the English throne. All British monarchs from King James I onward, and many European royals are the descendants of Lady Margaret Douglas.
Unofficial Royalty: Lady Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox

October 7, 1672 – Birth of Ernst Ludwig I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen at Friedenstein Palace in Gotha, Duchy of Saxe-Gotha, now in Thuringia, Germany
Ernst Ludwig succeeded his father, Bernhard I, as Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. Unlike his own father who had divided his territories among his sons, Bernhard stipulated in his will that the duchy should remain united. However, he also wanted his sons to rule jointly, which none of them really wanted to do. Ernst Ludwig, as the eldest son, felt that the throne should go solely to him and his heirs, which caused a rift between him and his brothers. Eventually, he reached an agreement with them which gave him sole reign. His two remaining brothers later ruled after his death, in the guardianship of Ernst Ludwig’s sons.
Unofficial Royalty: Ernst Ludwig I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen

October 7, 1737 – Birth of Maria Caterina Brignole, Princess of Monaco, wife of Prince Honoré III of Monaco, at the Palazzo Rosso in the Republic of Genoa, now in Italy
In 1757, Maria Caterina married Honoré III, Prince of Monaco, who was eager to marry to provide Monaco with an heir and to obtain Maria Caterina’s large dowry. The couple had two sons including Honoré IV, Prince of Monaco. Maria Caterina and Honoré III lived mostly in Paris where Maria Caterina spent a lot of time with Louis Joseph de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, a great-grandson of Louis XIV, King of France and his mistress Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart, Marquise de Montespan. Louis Joseph used his influence to obtain a legal separation for Maria Caterina from Honoré and the right to manage her own finances. Honoré finally realized his relationship with Maria Caterina was over and eventually accepted Maria Caterina’s relationship with Louis Joseph. There was never a divorce or annulment. Honoré continued with his mistresses and he allowed Maria Caterina to see her two sons.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Caterina Brignole, Princess of Monaco

October 7, 1748 – Birth of King Carl XIII of Sweden at the Wrangel Palace on Riddarholmen islet in Gamla Stan, the old town of Stockholm, Sweden
Carl was not destined to be king, but at the age of 60, he became King of Sweden and reigned for nine years. He would be the last Swedish monarch of the House of Holstein-Gottorp. On March 16, 1792, Carl’s elder brother King Gustav III was shot by Jacob Johan Anckarström during a masked ball at the Royal Opera House in Stockholm. Thirteen days later, King Gustav III died of his wounds at the age of 46. His 13-year-old son succeeded him as King Gustav IV Adolf. Due to some questionable, and then some failed military decisions, Gustav IV Adolf was imprisoned in 1809. Carl agreed to form a provisional government and the Swedish parliament, the Riksdag, gave their approval for the coup. Gustav Adolf abdicated, thinking if he did so, his son would become king. However, the Riksdag proclaimed that all members of Gustav Adolf’s family had forfeited their rights to the throne. After accepting a new liberal constitution, Prince Carl was proclaimed King Carl XIII of Sweden. King Gustav IV Adolf and his family were sent into exile.
Unofficial Royalty: King Carl XIII of Sweden

October 7, 1870 – Birth of Prince Friedrich 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: Friedrich Wilhelm August Viktor Leopold Ludwig
Prince Friedrich, known as Frittie in the family, was the son of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom and Grand Duke Ludwig IV of Hesse and by Rhine. Following a cut to his ear in February 1873, it was discovered that Frittie suffered from hemophilia when the wound took days to stop bleeding. In May 1873, Frittie and his brother Ernst Ludwig were playing in their mother’s bedroom at the Neues Palais. Ernst went into another room to look through the window (which was at an angle to the window in Alice’s bedroom). While Alice was out of the room to get Ernst, Frittie climbed up to the window in the bedroom to try and see Ernst. From all accounts, the chair he had climbed on tipped over and Frittie fell from the window to the ground below. Due to his hemophilia, Prince Friedrich died from a brain hemorrhage.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Friedrich of Hesse and by Rhine
Unofficial Royalty: Hemophilia in Queen Victoria’s Descendants

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