Royal News Recap for Wednesday, March 6, 2024

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March 7: Today in Royal History

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Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox; Credit – Wikipedia

March 7, 1226 – Death of William Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, illegitimate son of King Henry II of England, at his home, Salisbury Castle in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England; buried at Salisbury Cathedral in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England

Unofficial Royalty: William Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, Illegitimate Son of King Henry II of England

March 7, 1578 – Death of Lady Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox, daughter of Margaret Tudor and mother of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, in Hackney, London, England; buried in the Henry VII Chapel at Westminster Abbey in London, 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

March 7, 1802 – Death of Marie Clotilde of France, Queen of Sardinia in Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, now in Italy; buried at the Church of Santa Caterina a Chiaia in Naples
Marie Clotilde was the daughter of Louis, Dauphin of France who predeceased his father Louis XV, King of France. Three of Marie Clotilde’s brothers were Kings of France: the ill-fated Louis XVI, and two kings of the Bourbon Restoration: Louis XVIII and Charles X. For political reasons, her brother Louis XVI arranged for her to marry the future Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia. Their marriage was childless. Marie Clotilde died from typhoid fever on March 7, 1802, aged 42. Pope Pius VII, who had personally known Marie Clotilde, declared her The Venerable Marie Clotilde of France in 1808. In the Catholic Church, after a deceased Catholic has been declared a Servant of God by a bishop and proposed for beatification by the Pope, they may next be declared Venerable (“heroic in virtue”) during the investigation and process leading to possible canonization as a saint.
Unofficial Royalty: Marie Clotilde of France, Queen of Sardinia

March 7, 1842 – Death of Paul Friedrich, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in Schwerin, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, now in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany; buried in Schwerin Cathedral
In 1822, Paul Friedrich married Alexandrine of Prussia, the daughter of King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia and the couple had six children. Paul Friedrich became Grand Duke upon his grandfather’s death on February 1, 1837. He moved the official Grand Ducal residence from Ludwigslust to Schwerin and worked to improve the judicial system and the infrastructure of the Grand Duchy. Using his experience with the Prussian military, the Grand Duke made efforts to modernize the Mecklenburg-Schwerin military, basing many of his reforms on the Prussian forces. As his reign continued, he became more reclusive, often shunning his family and spending time quietly with his mistress. Paul Friedrich died on March 7, 1842, aged 41. Several weeks earlier, he had contracted a cold while helping to battle a great fire in Schwerin and never recovered.
Unofficial Royalty: Paul Friedrich, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

March 7, 1930 – Birth of Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, husband of Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom (divorced 1978), in London, England
Full name: Antony Charles Robert
Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon was a gifted artist and photographer. In 1960, he married Princess Margaret, the younger daughter of King George VI and the sister of Queen Elizabeth II. The couple had two children. The marriage, while happy at the beginning, quickly turned sour. Both were rumored to have had affairs, and often battled publicly. After the couple’s divorce in 1978, Lord Snowdon remained close to the British Royal Family. Lord Snowdon married Lucy Mary Lindsay-Hogg (née Davies) and they had one daughter. This marriage would also end in divorce after it was revealed that Snowdon had fathered a son with another woman. At Princess Margaret’s funeral in 2002, he was among the leading mourners, alongside the couple’s children, Queen Elizabeth II, and Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. When Lord Snowdow died at the age of 86, his son David succeeded him as 2nd Earl of Snowdon.  His former sister-in-law Queen Elizabeth II and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh along with their sons the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex and their grandson the Duke of Cambridge attended the memorial service for Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon on April 7, 2017, at the Church of St Margaret in Westminster, London, England on the grounds of Westminster Abbey.
Unofficial Royalty: Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon

March 7, 1965 – Death of Queen Louise of Sweden, second wife of King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, born Princess Louise of Battenberg, from 1917 Lady Louise Mountbatten, at Saint Göran Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden; buried at the Royal Burial Ground in Haga, Sweden
Louise was the daughter of Prince Louis of Battenberg and Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine, the granddaughter of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, the great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, and the maternal aunt of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. In 1923, Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden visited London and met Louise at a party. Gustaf Adolf had been a widower for three years following the death of his wife Margaret of Connaught, who was Louise’s first cousin once removed. They were married on November 3, 1923, in the Chapel Royal at St. James’s Palace in London. The marriage was a happy one, but unfortunately, they had a stillborn daughter in 1925 and no more children after that. In 1950, Louise’s husband became King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden upon the death of his father, and she became queen. During the 1950s, Louise’s health began to suffer and she developed cardiac issues. Soon after she attended the Nobel Prize banquet in December 1964, which was her last public appearance, her health deteriorated. On March 4, 1965, Louise had a six-hour surgery to correct a severe circulatory disorder in the right leg as a result of changes in her aorta. Although the surgery went well, complications developed and the 75-year-old Louise died three days later.
Unofficial Royalty: Queen Louise of Sweden (Lady Louise Mountbatten)

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Royal News Recap for Tuesday, March 5, 2024

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Royal News Recaps are published Mondays-Fridays and on Sundays, except for Thanksgiving in the United States, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. The Royal News Recap for Sundays will be a weekend recap. If there is any breaking or major news, we will add an update as necessary.

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March 6: Today in Royal History

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John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster; Credit – Wikipedia

March 6, 1052 – Death of Emma of Normandy, Queen of England, Norway, and Denmark at St. Mary’s Abbey in Winchester, England; first buried at the Old Minster in Winchester, England, in 1093 Emma’s remains were moved to Winchester Cathedral when the Old Minster was demolished
The eldest daughter of Richard I, Duke of Normandy, Emma was successively the wife of Æthelred II the Unready of England and Cnut the Great, King of Denmark, Norway, and England. She was the mother of English kings Harthacnut and Edward the Confessor.  In 1042, Emma’s son Edward the Confessor became King of England upon the death of his half-brother Harthacnut. Emma was present at Edward’s coronation on Easter, April 3, 1043, at the Old Minster in Winchester, England. Emma died on March 6, 1052, and was buried at the Old Minster in Winchester beside her second husband Cnut and their son Harthacnut. When the Old Minster was demolished in 1093, Emma’s remains were moved to Winchester Cathedral. They were among the remains in the labeled mortuary chests that rest on top of the choir screen. During the English Civil War, Winchester Cathedral was ransacked and the remains were scattered. The remains were returned to the mortuary chests but were mixed up. In 2012, an examination of the remains in the chests began. The examination included DNA testing, reassembly of the skeletons, and analysis to determine the sex, age, and other characteristics of the remains. In May 2019, it was announced that Emma’s remains were found in several chests.
Unofficial Royalty: Emma of Normandy, Queen of England, Norway, and Denmark

March 6, 1340 – Birth of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, son of King Edward III of England, at the Abbey of St. Bavon in Ghent, County of Flanders, now in Belgium
A younger son of King Edward III of England, John of Gaunt was a military leader and statesman and the father of King Henry IV of England. Due to his royal birth and marriages, he was one of the richest men of his time and was very influential during the reigns of his father King Edward III and his nephew King Richard II. As Duke of Lancaster, he was the founder of the House of Lancaster, whose members would become Kings of England after his death. All British monarchs since King Henry IV are descended from John of Gaunt, and most European monarchies are also descended from John. The Houses of Lancaster, York, and Tudor were all descended from John of Gaunt’s children.
Unofficial Royalty: John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster

March 6, 1725 – Birth of Cardinal Henry Benedict Stuart, younger of the two sons of James Francis Edward Stuart, The Old Pretender who was the son of the exiled King James II of England/VII of Scotland, at the Palazzo Muti in Rome, Italy
Full name: Henry Benedict Thomas Edward Maria Clement Francis Xavier
Cardinal Henry Benedict Stuart was the younger of the two sons of James Francis Edward Stuart, The Old Pretender, who was the son of the exiled King James II of England/VII of Scotland.  In 1748, Henry was ordained a priest and then made a Cardinal-Priest.  He was created Cardinal-Bishop of the Diocese of Frascati near Rome in 1761. Henry became Dean of the College of Cardinals, who is often, but not necessarily, the longest-serving member of the whole College of Cardinals in 1803. Henry was a Cardinal for fifty-six years and is the longest-serving Cardinal in Roman Catholic Church history.  However, in modern times it is virtually impossible to become a Cardinal at the age of 22 as Henry did. With Henry’s death, the male line of the Royal House of Stuart was extinct. The Jacobite line of succession passed to King Carlo Emanuele IV of Sardinia through the line of Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans, the youngest child of King Charles I of England. The Jacobite line of succession has proceeded over the years to the House of Savoy, the House of Austria-Este, and the House of Wittelsbach. It appears in the future, that it will proceed to the House of Liechtenstein.
Unofficial Royalty: Cardinal Henry Benedict Stuart
Unofficial Royalty: The Jacobite Succession – Pretenders to the British Throne

March 6, 1823 – Birth of King Karl I of Württemberg in Stuttgart, Kingdom of Württemberg, now in Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Full name: Karl Friedrich Alexander
In 1846, Karl married Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia, the daughter of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia. The marriage appeared to be a happy one, although it is possible it was never consummated. By most accounts, Karl was homosexual and enjoyed very close relationships with several men through the years. Karl and Olga adopted Olga’s niece, Grand Duchess Vera Konstantinovna. Karl became King of  Württemberg upon his father’s death in 1864. He was far more liberal than his father, and this was reflected in his actions. He restored the freedom of the press and universal suffrage. Although he sided with Austria during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, he soon entered into a treaty with Prussia, and would later fight alongside them in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870.
Unofficial Royalty: King Karl I of Württemberg

March 6, 1876 – Death of Louise Rasmussen, Countess Danner, former mistress and morganatic third wife of King Frederik VII of Denmark, in Genoa, Italy; buried at Jægerspris Castle in Jægerspris, Denmark
Louise, a dancer with the Danish Royal Ballet, became acquainted with the son of King Christian VIII, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, who had already divorced two wives. Louise and Frederik had a relationship during the 1840s. In 1848, Frederik’s father died and he succeeded to the Danish throne as King Frederik VII. Upon becoming king, Frederik wished to marry Louise but the government was not in favor of the marriage. In 1849, King Frederik VII signed a new constitution, changing the monarchy from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy. The signing of the new constitution made Frederik so popular that the government permitted him to morganatically marry Louise Rasmussen. Louise was not queen consort and was officially styled as Countess Danner. The marriage appears to have been a happy one but had much opposition and Louise was treated poorly in social circles. Frederik and Louise did not have any children. Frederik died in 1863 and Louise survived him by eleven years, dying in Genoa, Italy on March 6, 1874, at the age of 58. While King Frederik VII was buried at Roskilde Cathedral, the traditional burial place of the Danish Royal Family, Louise was not accorded a resting place near her husband. She was buried in a burial mound in the castle garden of her home Jægerspris Castle.
Unofficial Royalty: Louise Rasmussen, Countess Danner

March 6, 1896 – Birth of King Norodom Suramarit of Cambodia in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, then in the French Protectorate of Cambodia
Norodom Suramarit was the son of half-siblings, Prince Norodom Sutharot of Cambodia (1872–1945) and Princess Norodom Phangangam of Cambodia (1874–1944), both children of King Norodom Prohmbarirak of Cambodia but by different mothers. Norodom Suramarit, the father of King Norodom Sihanouk, reigned as King of Cambodia from 1955 -1960. His son King Norodom Sihanouk had been chosen over him to be king in 1941 but abdicated in 1955 so he could directly participate in politics. The reign of King Suramarit was a peaceful one due to the powerful political leadership and strict neutral policy of his son Prime Minister Norodom Sihanouk. King Norodom Suramarit, aged 64, died in 1960 after a long illness.
Unofficial Royalty: King Norodom Suramarit of Cambodia

March 6, 1903 – Birth of Empress Kōjun of Japan, wife of Emperor Shōwa of Japan, born Princess Nagako Kuni at her family’s home in Tokyo, Japan
Born Princess Nagako Kuni, she was the eldest daughter of Prince Kuniyoshi Kuni, a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army and a member from one of the branch houses of the imperial dynasty entitled to provide a successor to the throne of Japan by adoption. In 1924, she married the future Emperor Hirohito of Japan, now known by his posthumous name Emperor Shōwa. The couple had five daughters and two sons including Emperor Akihito. In 1926, when Hirohito’s father Emperor Taishō died of a heart attack at the age of 47, Hirohito began his 62-year-reign as Emperor of Japan and Nagako became Empress of Japan. Empress Nagako performed her duties according to tradition. After her husband’s death in 1989, Nagako assumed the title of Empress Dowager and she remained in seclusion for the rest of her life due to her ill health. In 1995, she became the longest-living Dowager Empress of Japan, breaking the record of Empress Kanshi, who died in 1102. On June 16, 2000, at her home, the Fukiage Ōmiya Palace in Tokyo, Japan, Dowager Empress Nagako died at the age of 97. She is now known by her posthumous name Empress Kōjun.
Unofficial Royalty: Empress Kōjun of Japan

March 6, 1939 – Birth of Infanta Margarita of Spain, Duchess of Soria, daughter of Infante Juan of Spain, Count of Barcelona, sister of King Juan Carlos of Spain, in Rome, Italy
Full name: Margarita María de la Victoria Esperanza Jacoba Felicidad Perpetua y Todos los Santos
Margarita is the third of the four children of Infante Juan of Spain, Count of Barcelona (son of King Alfonso III of Spain and Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg)  and Princess María Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Margarita has been blind since her birth. In 1972, Margarita married Carlos Zurita y Delgado, a medical doctor, and renounced her succession rights. The couple had two children. In 1989, with her husband, Margarita created the Fundación Cultural Duques de Soria (The Duke and Duchess of Soria Cultural Foundation) based in the former Convent of Mercy in Soria, Spain. Margarita is also the honorary president of the Spanish delegation of UNICEF, the Fundación ONCE, the Spanish Heart Foundation, and the Spanish Federation of Hemophilia.
Unofficial Royalty: Infanta Margarita of Spain, Duchess of Soria

March 6, 1954 – Death of Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, grandson of Queen Victoria, in Coburg, Bavaria, Germany; buried in the family cemetery in the forest of Schloss Callenberg in Coburg, Bavaria, Germany
Charles Edward’s father Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany died three months before he was born. Prince Leopold, who inherited hemophilia from his mother Queen Victoria, had died at age 30 from a fall that caused a cerebral hemorrhage, the injuries having been exacerbated by his hemophilia. At his birth, Charles Edward inherited his father’s title Duke of Albany. In 1900, he became Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha upon the death of his uncle Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke of Edinburgh. In 1905, Charles Edward married Princess Viktoria Adelheid of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. The couple had five children including Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha who married Prince Gustav Adolf of Sweden, Duke of Västerbotten, and is the mother of  Carl XVI Gustaf, the current King of Sweden. At the end of World War I, Charles Edward was deposed and signed a declaration relinquishing his rights to the throne. In 1933, he joined the Nazi Party. After the end of World War II, Charles Edward was placed under house arrest because of his Nazi sympathies. Several times Charles Edward faced trial for his alleged Nazi activities. In 1949, a denazification appeals court classified Charles Edward as a Nazi Follower, Category IV. He was heavily fined and almost bankrupted. Some of the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha properties that were now in East Germany were seized. The family was left with Schloss Callenberg in Coburg, Bavaria, Germany and Schloss Greinburg an der Donau in Grein, Austria. Charles Edward spent the last years of his life in seclusion. He died of cancer at the age of 69 in his apartment on Elsässer Straße (Street) in Coburg, Bavaria, Germany.
Unofficial Royalty: Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

March 6, 1964 – Death of King Paul I of Greece at Tatoi Palace near Athens, Greece; buried at the Tatoi Royal Cemetery
A Greek great-grandson of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, Paul was born on December 14, 1901, 11 months after Queen Victoria’s death and on the 40th anniversary of Prince Albert’s death. The future King Paul I of Greece was the son of King Constantine I of Greece and Princess Sophie of Prussia, the daughter of Queen Victoria’s eldest child Victoria, Princess Royal. Paul married Princess Frederica of Hanover, who was also a great-grandchild of Queen Victoria through Victoria, Princess Royal. They were the parents of Queen Sofia of Spain, the wife of King Juan Carlos of Spain, and Constantine II, the last King of Greece. In 1946, Paul ascended the Greek throne following the sudden death of his brother King George II.  After a state visit to the United Kingdom in July 1963, King Paul fell ill. He was later diagnosed with stomach cancer and died on March 6, 1964.
Unofficial Royalty: King Paul of Greece

March 6, 1999 – Death of Sheikh Isa II bin Salman Al Khalifa, Emir of Bahrain at the al-Sakhir Palace in Sakhir, Bahrain; buried at the Al-Rifa’a Cemetery in Bahrain
Isa became Hakim of Bahrain upon the death of his father in 1961. In 1971, Bahrain declared its independence from the United Kingdom and signed a new treaty of friendship with the United Kingdom. Isa changed the title of the ruler of Bahrain to the Emir of Bahrain and appointed his brother Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa as the first Prime Minister of the newly sovereign country, the Emirate of Bahrain. Despite the fact he had dissolved Parliament in 1975 and took on absolute power, during Isa’s 38 years as Emir, Bahrain was transformed into a modern nation and became an important financial center in the Persian Gulf area. On March 6, 1999, 65-year-old Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa died of a heart attack just minutes after concluding a meeting with the United States Secretary of Defense William Cohen.
Unofficial Royalty: Sheikh Isa II bin Salman Al Khalifa, Emir of Bahrain

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Royal News Recap for Monday, March 4, 2024

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Royal News Recaps are published Mondays-Fridays and on Sundays, except for Thanksgiving in the United States, Christmas Eve, and New Year’s Eve. The Royal News Recap for Sundays will be a weekend recap. If there is any breaking or major news, we will add an update as necessary.

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This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

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Disclaimer: Please be advised that any media article titles or content that appear in the Royal News that identify members of royal families with their maiden names, nicknames, incorrect style or title, etc., come directly from the media source and not from Unofficial Royalty. We encourage you to contact the media sources to express your concern about their use of the incorrect name, style, title, etc. Contact information can usually be found at the bottom of each media source’s main page.

Kalama, Queen Consort of the Hawaiian Islands, wife of King Kamehameha III

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2024

The Hawaiian Islands, located in the Pacific Ocean, were originally divided into several independent chiefdoms. The Kingdom of Hawaii was formed in 1795, when the warrior chief Kamehameha the Great of the independent island of Hawaii, conquered the independent islands of Oahu, Maui, Molokai, and Lanai, and unified them under one government and ruled as Kamehameha I, King of the Hawaiian Islands. In 1810, the whole Hawaiian archipelago became unified when Kauai and Niihau voluntarily joined the Kingdom of Hawaii. Two major dynastic families ruled the kingdom: the House of Kamehameha and the House of Kalākaua.

In 1778, British explorer James Cook visited the islands. This led to increased trade and the introduction of new technologies and ideas. In the mid-19th century, American influence in Hawaii dramatically increased when American merchants, missionaries, and settlers arrived on the islands. Protestant missionaries converted most of the native people to Christianity. Merchants set up sugar plantations and the United States Navy established a base at Pearl Harbor. The newcomers brought diseases that were new to the indigenous people including influenza, measles, smallpox, syphilis, tuberculosis, and whooping cough. At the time of James Cook’s arrival in 1778, the indigenous Hawaiian population is estimated to have been between 250,000 and 800,000. By 1890, the indigenous Hawaiian population declined had to less than 40,000.

In 1893, a group of local businessmen and politicians composed of six non-native Hawaiian Kingdom subjects, five American nationals, one British national, and one German national overthrew Queen Liliʻuokalani, her cabinet, and her marshal, and took over the government of the Kingdom of Hawaii. This led to the 1898 annexation of Hawaii as a United States territory. On August 21, 1959, Hawaii became the 50th state of the United States.

In 1993, one hundred years after the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown, the United States Congress passed, and President Bill Clinton signed the Apology Resolution which “acknowledges that the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii occurred with the active participation of agents and citizens of the United States and further acknowledges that the Native Hawaiian people never directly relinquished to the United States their claims to their inherent sovereignty as a people over their national lands, either through the Kingdom of Hawaii or through a plebiscite or referendum”. As a result, the Hawaiian sovereignty movement, a grassroots political and cultural campaign to reestablish an autonomous or independent nation or kingdom in Hawaii, was established along with ongoing efforts to redress the indigenous Hawaiian population.

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Queen Kalama; Credit – Wikipedia

Kalama Hakaleleponi Kapakuhaili was the only wife of King Kamehameha III of the Hawaiian Islands, son of King Kamehameha I and brother of King Kamehameha II. King Kamehameha III was the first Hawaiian king not to practice polygamy. Born March 17, 1817, in Kailua, on the island of Oahu, Kalama was the only child of Naihe Kukui Kapihe and Chiefess Iʻahuʻula, the younger sister of Charles Kanaʻina, who served on both the Privy Counsel as an advisor to the Kings of the Hawaiian Islands and in the House of Nobles. Kalama’s father was the Honolulu harbor master and admiral of the Hawaiian royal fleet. He accompanied King Kamehameha II on his trip to London, where Kamehameha II and his favorite wife Kamāmalu both died from measles. Kalama’s father Naihe Kukui Kapihe did not return to Hawaii either. He accompanied the coffins of the late King and Queen as they traveled back to Hawaii on the British Royal Navy frigate HMS Blonde but he died on the voyage and was buried at sea.

King Kamehameha III reigned during the transition of the traditional Hawaiian practices to Christianity. He had a partial Christian upbringing and was torn between Christian guidelines and his desire to honor the old traditions. His brother Kamehameha II and his favorite wife Kamāmalu were half-siblings and Kamehameha II was also closely related to his four other wives. Kamehameha III and many of the traditional chiefs wanted a marriage between the king and his sister Princess Nāhienaena but the marriage was opposed by the missionaries because they considered it incest. Kamanele, the daughter of John Adams Kuakini, the Royal Governor of Hawaii Island and Oahu, was proposed because of her suitability in age, rank, and education and because the family had converted to Christianity. However, Kamanele died in 1834 before the wedding took place. Kamehameha III then chose to marry Kalama. On February 14, 1837, in a Christian ceremony, Kamehameha III and Kalama were married.

King Kamehameha III and his wife Queen Kalama; Credit – Wikipedia

Kamehameha III and Kalama had two sons, but they both died in infancy and both were given the same name:

  • Keaweaweʻulaokalani I (born and died 1839)
  • Keaweaweʻulaokalani II (born and died 1842)

King Kamehameha III and Queen Kalama with Albert Kūnuiākea; Credit – Wikipedia

Kamehameha III and Kalama adopted Albert Kūnuiākea, the son of Kamehameha III and his mistress Jane Lahilahi, a Hawaiian high chiefess. They also adopted Alexander Liholiho, later King Kamehameha IV, whose mother Princess Kīnaʻu, also known as also known as Elizabeth Kīnaʻu, was a daughter of Kamehameha I and a half-sister of Kamehameha III. Therefore, Alexander Liholiho was Kamehameha III’s nephew.

Hawaiian Royal Family: King Kamehameha III (center) and his wife, Queen Kalama (left); the future King Kamehameha IV (left rear), the future King Kamehameha V (right rear) and their sister Victoria Kamāmalu (right), circa 1853; Credit – Wikipedia

On December 15, 1854, at the ʻIolani Palace in Honolulu, Kamehameha III, King of the Hawaiian Islands suddenly died, aged 40, after a brief illness, possibly related to a stroke. He was succeeded by his nephew and adopted son Alexander Liholiho, who was styled as King Kamehameha IV.

Portrait of Queen Kalama by John Mix Stanley which hangs in the Grand Hall of Iolani Palace; Credit – Wikipedia

Kalama outlived both her husband Kamehameha III and his nephew Kamehameha IV, and was known as the Queen Dowager. In 1869, during the reign of Kamehameha V, she welcomed Queen Victoria’s son Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh on his visit to the Kingdom of the Hawaiian Islands. Meeting the prince as he disembarked his ship, she accompanied him in her state carriage with the drivers wearing royal feather shoulder capes, and the footmen dressed in royal fashion. Kalama skillfully managed her property and, at the time of her death, she owned more than 22,000 acres on the island of Oahu. In her will, her maternal uncle Charles Kanaʻina was declared the heir to her vast properties.

In the background, the Royal Mausoleum, Mauna ʻAla, now a chapel; Credit – Wikipedia

Kamala, aged 53, died during the reign of Kamehameha V, on September 20, 1870, in Honolulu, on the island of Oahu. She was buried at Mauna ʻAla (Fragrant Hills), the Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii in Honolulu, Oahu.

Kamehameha Dynasty Tomb – Royal Mausoleum, Honolulu, Hawai; Credit – By Daderot. Self-photographed, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1101293

On November 9, 1887, after the Royal Mausoleum became too crowded, the caskets of the members of the House of Kamehameha were moved to the newly built Kamehameha Tomb, an underground vault, under the Kamehameha Dynasty Tomb. Two additional underground vaults were built over the years. In 1922, the Royal Mausoleum, Mauna ʻAla was converted to a chapel after the last royal remains were moved to tombs constructed on the grounds.

Inscriptions of Queen Consorts of Hawaii on the Kamehameha Dynasty Tomb; Credit – www.findagrave.com

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Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2024). Kamehameha III, King of the Hawaiian Islands. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/kamehameha-iii-king-of-the-hawaiian-islands/
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Kalama. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalama
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2024). Kalama. Wikipedia (Spanish). https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalama
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2022). Naihekukui. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naihekukui
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Royal Mausoleum (Mauna ʻAla). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Mausoleum_(Mauna_%CA%BBAla)
  • Wikimedia Foundation. (2023). Hawaiian Kingdom. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaiian_Kingdom

March 5: Today in Royal History

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King Henry II of England; Credit – Wikipedia

March 5, 1133 – Birth of King Henry II of England in Le Mans, the capital of the County of Maine, now in France
Henry II was the eldest of the three sons of Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou, Touraine, and Maine, and Empress Matilda, the only surviving, legitimate child of King Henry I of England and Duke of Normandy. On Christmas Day 1126, King Henry I of England had gathered his nobles at Westminster where they swore to recognize Matilda and any future legitimate heir she might have as his successors. However, when Henry I died in 1135, his nephew Stephen of Blois quickly crossed from Boulogne (France) to England, seized power in England, and was crowned King Stephen of England on December 22, 1135. Empress Matilda did not give up her claim to England and Normandy, leading to the long civil war known as The Anarchy between 1135 and 1153. Eventually, Stephen and Matilda’s son Henry agreed upon a negotiated peace, the Treaty of Winchester, in which Stephen recognized Henry as his heir. Stephen died in 1154, and Henry ascended the throne as King Henry II, the first Angevin King of England.
Unofficial Royalty: King Henry II of England

March 5, 1723 – Birth of Princess Mary of Great Britain, daughter of King George II of Great Britain, at Leicester House in London, England
In 1740, Mary married Friedrich II, the future Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel. As Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, Friedrich became famous during the American Revolution as a supplier of thousands of Hessian soldiers who fought on behalf of the British. Mary and Friedrich had four sons and they are the ancestors of six of the ten current European monarchs. The marriage was unhappy, and Friedrich reportedly abused Mary to spousal abuse. The couple separated in 1754 on Friedrich’s conversion to Roman Catholicism. Mary was supported by her father-in-law as she did not wish to return to Great Britain because she believed it was her duty to remain in the place that God had placed her and that she would ensure her sons would be brought up Protestant. In 1756, Mary moved to Denmark, to take care of the children of her sister Louisa of Great Britain (wife of King Frederik V above), who had died in 1751. She took her children with her, and they were raised at the Danish court, and her sons were married to Danish princesses. Her husband succeeded his father as Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel in 1760, and so Mary was technically Landgravine consort for the last twelve years of her life, despite her estrangement from her husband. Mary died on January 14, 1772, in Hanau, Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, now in Hesse, Germany, at the age of 48.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Mary of Great Britain, Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel

March 5, 1942 – Death of Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia, son of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia and Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark, at the Schatzalp Sanatorium in Davos, Switzerland; initially buried at Waldfriedhof in Davos, Switzerland, his remains were transferred to the Mainau Palace Church, on Mainau Island in Lake Constance, Germany, on the estate of his nephew Count Lennart Bernadotte of Wisborg
Dmitri was one of the conspirators in the murder of Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin and was exiled to Persia (now Iran), a move that most likely saved his life during the Russian Revolution. Dmitri’s half-brother Prince Vladimir Paley, his father Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich, and Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, Dmitri’s aunt by marriage and his former guardian, were murdered by the Bolsheviks. In addition, amazingly, Dmitri was a first cousin of both Nicholas II, the last Emperor of All Russia and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Dmitri participated in the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm in the Equestrian Individual and Team Jumping events, placing ninth in Individual Jumping and fifth in Team Jumping. In 1926, Dmitri married the rich American heiress Audrey Emery. The couple had one son and divorced in 1937. It is believed that Dmitri’s ill health was caused by tuberculosis which he probably contracted around 1929. In 1939, Dmitri entered Schatzalp Sanatorium in Davos, Switzerland and he died there on March 5, 1942, at the age of 50. Because the sanatorium’s medical records were destroyed when the sanatorium was converted into a hotel in the 1950s, there is no definite cause for Dmitri’s death. Both tuberculosis and uremia have been cited.
Unofficial Royalty: Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia

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Royal News Recap for Saturday, March 2 and Sunday March 3, 2024

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Royal News Recaps are published Mondays-Fridays and on Sundays, except for Thanksgiving in the United States, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. The Royal News Recap for Sundays will be a weekend recap. If there is any breaking or major news, we will add an update as necessary.

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March 4: Today in Royal History

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David II, King of Scots; Credit – Wikipedia

March 4, 1238 – Death of Joan of England, Queen of Scots, wife of Alexander II, King of Scots, daughter of King John of England, at Havering-atte-Bower in Essex, England; buried at Tarrant Crawford Abbey in Dorset, England
Joan was the eldest of the three daughters and the third of the five children of King John of England and Isabella of Angoulême.  Joan’s father died when she was six years old, leaving his eldest son King Henry III, a nine-year-old, to inherit his throne. Five years later, marriage negotiations were occurring for Joan. Twelve years older than Joan, Alexander II, King of Scots was the only son of William I, King of Scots (the Lion), and had become King of Scots in 1214 when he was sixteen years old. On June 21, 1221, at York Minster in York, England, eleven-year-old Joan married 23-year-old Alexander. Alexander’s court was dominated by his mother Dowager Queen Ermengarde and therefore, Joan’s position was not strong. Joan and Alexander never had any children, which left Alexander without an heir, a major issue for any king. An annulment of the marriage was risky as it could provoke a war with England. While visiting England, Joan became ill and died in the arms of her brothers King Henry III and Richard, Earl of Cornwall on March 4, 1238, at the age of 27.
Unofficial Royalty: Joan of England, Queen of Scots

March 4, 1324 – Birth of David II, King of Scots at Dunfermline Palace in Fife, Scotland
The second and last monarch of the House of Bruce, David II, King of Scots is one of the longest-reigning monarchs of Scotland, having reigned for 41 years, 260 days. He was the only surviving son of Robert I, King of Scots (also known as Robert the Bruce) and his second wife Elizabeth de Brugh. In 1328, four-year-old David married seven-year-old Joan of the Tower, the youngest daughter of King Edward II of England and Isabella of France. David’s mother had died in 1327 and upon the death of his father on June 7, 1329, five-year-old David succeeded to the Scottish throne. Joan died in 1362, at the age of 41, without giving her husband an heir. David married his mistress Margaret Drummond in 1364. He divorced her in 1370 on the grounds of infertility. However, Margaret successfully petitioned Pope Urban V to reverse the divorce because it seemed likely that David was infertile as his 34-year marriage to his first wife produced no issue. In the later years of his reign, David continued to pursue peace with England and worked to make Scotland a stronger kingdom with a more prosperous economy. David, aged 46, died unexpectedly in 1371. Because both his marriages were childless, David was succeeded by his nephew, the son of his half-sister Marjorie Bruce, who became Robert II, King of Scots, the first monarch of the House of Stewart.
Unofficial Royalty: David II, King of Scots

March 4, 1665 – Birth of Count Philip Christoph von Königsmarck, lover of Sophia Dorothea of Celle, Electoral Princess of Hanover, wife of the future King George I of Great Britain, in Stade, then part of the Swedish province of Bremen-Verden-Wildeshausen, now in Lower Saxony, Germany
The marriage of first cousins Sophia Dorothea of Celle and George, Electoral Prince of Hanover, the future King George I of Great Britain, was happy at first, but soon both George and Sophia Dorothea found affection elsewhere. George fell in love with one of his mother’s ladies-in-waiting Melusine von der Schulenburg, and Sophia Dorothea fell in love with her childhood friend Philip Christoph von Königsmarck. In 1694, Sophia Dorothea’s affair was revealed to her father-in-law and uncle Ernst August, Elector of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. On the morning of July 2, 1694, after a meeting with Sophia Dorothea, 29-year-old Philip Christoph von Königsmarck disappeared from the Leineschloss in Hanover and was never seen again. It was widely believed he was secretly murdered that same day. Officially, Philip Christoph von Königsmarck is still a missing person.
Unofficial Royalty: Philip Christoph von Königsmarck, Lover of Sophia Dorothea of Celle, Electoral Princess of Hanover

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March 3: Today in Royal History

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Princess Maria of Greece; Credit – Wikipedia

March 3, 1542 – Death of Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle, illegitimate son of King Edward IV of England, at the Tower of London in London, England; buried at the Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula at the Tower of London

Unofficial Royalty: Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle, Illegitimate Son of King Edward IV of England

March 3, 1778 – Birth of Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, wife of Ernst August, King of Hanover, Duke of Cumberland at the Altes Palais in Hanover, Kingdom of Hanover, now in Lower Saxony, Germany
Full name: Friederike Luise Caroline Sophie Alexandrine
In 1815, Frederica married her first cousin Prince Ernest Augustus of the United Kingdom, Duke of Cumberland, the son of King George III of the United Kingdom. Upon the death of Frederica’s husband’s brother King William IV of the United Kingdom, his niece succeeded to the throne as Queen Victoria. However, because the Kingdom of Hanover did not allow for female succession, Frederica’s husband succeeded him as King Ernst August I of Hanover, and she became Queen of Hanover. Frederica was only Queen of Hanover for a little less than three years. In April 1841, she fell ill and died two months later.
Unofficial Royalty: Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen of Hanover, Duchess of Cumberland

March 3, 1862 – Death of Augusta Reuss of Köstritz, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in Schwerin, first wife of Friedrich Franz II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, in Schwerin, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin now in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany; buried in the Schwerin Cathedral
In 1849, Auguste married Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II, and the couple had six children including Friedrich Franz III, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Marie who married Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia. Three years after giving birth to her youngest child, Auguste, aged 39, died on March 3, 1862. The cause of Auguste’s death is unclear. At that time, there were mentions of “heart disease associated with a bronchial ailment” and “fever.” It is quite possible that she died from tuberculosis which was widespread at the time.
Unofficial Royalty: Augusta Reuss of Köstritz, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

March 3, 1876 – Birth of Princess Maria of Greece, daughter of King George I of Greece, at the Royal Palace in Athens, Greece
In 1900, Maria married a maternal cousin Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia, the son of Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich of Russia and the grandson of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia. The couple had two daughters. The marriage was never particularly happy. Maria was not in love with her husband, despite his apparent devotion to her. She soon found excuses to leave Russia and spent more time in Greece and elsewhere in Europe. When World War I began, Maria was living in Harrogate, England with her two daughters and chose to remain there and not return to Russia. Her husband, like many in the Russian Imperial Family, was murdered by the Bolsheviks with three other Grand Dukes of Russia in January 1919, leaving Maria a widow. In 1920, Maria was able to return to Greece when her brother King Constantine I was brought back to power. She traveled aboard a Greek destroyer commanded by Admiral Pericles Ioannidis, and a romance developed. The couple married two years later in 1922. Maria, aged 64, died of a heart attack in 1940.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Maria of Greece, Grand Duchess Maria Georgievna of Russia

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