Monthly Archives: November 2019

First Cousins: King George III of the United Kingdom

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

King George III of the United Kingdom (1738 – 1820)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

King George III, the eldest son and the second child of Frederick, Prince of Wales and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, was born June 4, 1738, at Norfolk House in St. James’s Square in London, England. His paternal grandparents were King George II of Great Britain and Princess Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach, generally known as Caroline of Ansbach. His maternal grandparents were Friedrich II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and Princess Magdalena Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst.

When George III was thirteen-years-old, his father died at the age of 44. George became heir to the throne and was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester. Nine years later, King George II died and his grandson succeeded him as King George III.  George III married Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.  Their marriage was a very happy one and George remained faithful to Charlotte. Between 1762 – 1783, Charlotte gave birth to fifteen children, all of whom survived childbirth. Only two of the children did not survive childhood. The only disruption in the family’s domestic lives were George’s attacks of illness. There has been speculation that King George suffered from porphyria.

King George III is the longest-reigning British king, having reigned for 59 years, 96 days. His length of reign is surpassed only by two queens, his granddaughter Queen Victoria and his great-great-great-great-granddaughter Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning British monarch.

King George III shared his 29 first cousins with his eight siblings: Princess Augusta, Duchess of Brunswick; Prince Edward, Duke of York; Princess Elizabeth; Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester; Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland; Princess Louisa; Prince Frederick; and Princess Caroline Matilda, Queen of Denmark and Norway.

*********************

Paternal Aunts and Uncles Of King George III: Children of King George II of Great Britain and Princess Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach

*********************

Maternal Aunts and Uncles of King George III: Children of Friedrich II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and Princess Magdalena Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst

  • Sophie of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1697 – 1703), died in childhood of smallpox
  • Friedrich III, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1699 – 1772), married Luise Dorothea of Saxe-Meiningen, had four sons and two daughters
  • Wilhelm of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1701 – 1771), married Anna of Holstein-Gottorp, no children
  • Karl Friedrich of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1702 – 1703), died in infancy of smallpox
  • Johann August of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1704 – 1767), married Louise Reuss of Schleiz, the widow of his brother Christian Wilhelm, had two daughters
  • Christian of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (born and died 1705), died in early infancy of smallpox
  • Christian Wilhelm of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1706 – 1748), married Luise Reuss of Schleiz, no children
  • Ludwig Ernst of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1707 – 1763), unmarried, military career
  • Emanuel of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1709 – 1710), died in infancy
  • Moritz of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1711 – 1777), unmarried, military career
  • Sophie of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (born and died 1712), died in infancy
  • Karl of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1714 – 1715), died in infancy
  • Friederike of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Duchess of Saxe-Weissenfels  (1715 – 1775), married Johann Adolf II, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels, had four sons and one daughter
  • Magdalena Sibylle of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (born and died 1718), died in infancy
  • Johann Adolf of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1721 – 1799), married morganatically Marie Maximiliane Elisabeth Schauer, had two sons and one daughter

*********************

PATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Paternal First Cousins: Children of Anne, Princess Royal and Willem IV, Prince of Orange

Carolina of Orange-Nassau, Princess of Nassau-Weilburg (1743 – 1787)

Carolina married Karl Christian, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg and had six sons and five daughters. Her father had died when she was eight-years-old and her three-year-old brother succeeded as Willem V, Prince of Orange. Willem would not reach his majority for fifteen years and until then he had a series of four regents. Carolina served as the last regent.

*********************

Anna of Orange-Nassau (born and died 1746)

*********************

Willem V, Prince of Orange (1748 – 1806)

Willem was the only son of Anne, Princess Royal and Willem IV, Prince of Orange. His father died when he was three-years-old Willem IV. Willem would not reach his majority for fifteen years and until then he had a series of four regents. Willem married Princess Wilhelmina of Prussia, daughter of Prince Augustus William of Prussia and Luise of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Wilhelmina was the favorite niece of King Friedrich II of Prussia (Frederick the Great) and was the sister of his successor King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia. The couple had three children who survived infancy including Willem I, the first King of the Netherlands.

When the Dutch Republic which Willem ruled was replaced by the Batavian Republic, Willem and his family fled to England where they lived in exile in the part of Kew Palace known as the Dutch House with the permission of Willem’s first cousin King George III. The family later went to Germany where they lived in Nassau and Brunswick. Willem spent the rest of his life in exile and was viewed quite negatively both in England and the Netherlands.

*********************

Paternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Mary of Great Britain and Friedrich II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel

Prince Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel (1741 – 1742), died in infancy

*********************

Wilhelm I, Prince-Elector of Hesse (1743 – 1821)

When Wilhelm was four-years-old, his father Friedrich II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel deserted his family and converted to Roman Catholicism.  Along with his mother Mary of Great Britain and his two younger brothers, Wilhelm moved to Denmark where they lived with Mary’s sister, Louise of Great Britain who was Queen Consort of Denmark. Wilhelm married his first cousin Princess Caroline of Denmark, daughter of his maternal aunt Louise and her husband King Frederik V of Denmark, and had two daughters and two sons. Upon the death of his father, Wilhelm became Wilhelm IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel. Later he was created Prince-Elector of Hesse.

*********************

Prince Karl of Hesse-Kassel (1744 – 1836)

A younger brother of Wilhelm I, Prince-Elector of Hesse, Karl was brought up with relatives at the Danish court and spent most of his life in Denmark. Like his elder brother, he married also married a Danish first cousin, Princess Louise of Denmark, the youngest daughter of his maternal aunt, Princess Louise of Great Britain, and King Frederik V of Denmark. Karl and Louise had three sons and three daughters including Marie Sophie, who became Queen of Denmark by marrying her first cousin the future King Frederik VI of Denmark. Karl had a military career in the Danish Army and served as Governor-General of Norway and Royal Governor of Schleswig-Holstein.

*********************

Prince Friedrich of Hesse-Kassel (1747 – 1837)

The youngest son of Princess Mary of Great Britain and Friedrich II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, Friedrich was raised in Denmark and spent most of his life there. Like his brother Karl, Friedrich had a career in the Danish Army. He married Princess Caroline of Nassau-Usingen and had five sons and three daughters, including Wilhelm who married Princess Louise Charlotte of Denmark and was the father of Louise of Hesse-Kassel, wife of King Christian IX of Denmark. Friedrich bought Rumpenheim Castle, now in Offenbach, Germany, from his brother Karl, and it became his family’s seat. The large extended family of Friedrich’s granddaughter Louise of Hesse-Kassel and her husband King Christian IX of Denmark had many family get-togethers at Rumpenheim Castle.

*********************

Paternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Louise of Great Britain and Frederik V, King of Denmark and Norway

Crown Prince Christian of Denmark (1745 – 1747), died in early childhood

*********************

Princess Sophia Magdalena of Denmark, Queen of Sweden (1746 – 1813)

Princess Sophia Magdalena was the eldest daughter and the eldest surviving child of the four children of King Frederik V of Denmark and his first wife Princess Louisa of Great Britain. She married King Gustav III of Sweden and had two sons including King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden. On March 16, 1792, Sophia Magdalena’s husband King Gustav III was shot by Jacob Johan Anckarström during a masquerade at the Royal Opera House. King Gustav III died of his wounds at the Stockholm Royal Palace two weeks later. The event is the subject of Giuseppe Verdi’s 1859 opera Un Ballo in Maschera (The Masked Ball).

*********************

Princess Caroline of Denmark, Princess-Electress of Hesse (1747 – 1820)

Caroline of Denmark married her maternal first cousin Wilhelm I, Prince-Elector of Hesse and had two sons and two daughters. As explained above, Wilhelm grew up at the Danish court and it was decided during their childhood that they would marry each other. Shortly after their marriage, Caroline and Wilhelm left Denmark to live in Hanau, the capital of the County of Hanau-Münzenberg, which had been separated from Hesse-Kassel and given to Wilhelm. Upon the death of his father, Wilhelm became Wilhelm IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel. Later he was created Prince-Elector of Hesse.

*********************

King Christian VII of Denmark (1749 – 1808)

King Christian VII married his maternal first cousin Princess Caroline Matilda of Wales, the youngest sibling of King George III of the United Kingdom. They had one son, King Frederik VI of Denmark, and one daughter. King Christian VII’s reign was marked by mental illness. He publicly declared that he could not love Caroline Matilda because it was “unfashionable to love one’s wife”. Caroline Matilda’s daughter Louise Augusta’s father may have been Christian’s physician Johann Friedrich Struensee. Struensee gained political power and also gained powerful enemies, including Christian VII’s stepmother Queen Dowager Juliana Maria and her son Hereditary Prince Frederik. Juliana Maria directed a plot to overthrow the lovers, which ended with the brutal execution of Struensee and Caroline Matilda’s divorce and banishment. Not quite 20-years-old, Caroline Matilda lost her title of Queen and was forcibly separated from her children whom she never saw again. She died of “a putrid fever and sore throat,” probably scarlet fever, at the age of 23. Because of his mental illness, Christian was only nominally king from 1772 onward and regents ruled for him. Christian lived in isolation with a caretaker. His only involvement with the government was when he had to sign “Christian Rex” on formal papers.

*********************

Princess Louise of Denmark, Princess of Hesse-Kassel (1750 – 1831)

Princess Louise married her maternal first cousin Prince Karl of Hesse-Kassel (see above) who had grown up with her at the Danish court. The couple had three daughters and three sons daughters including Marie Sophie, who became Queen of Denmark by marrying her first cousin the future King Frederik VI of Denmark.

*********************

MATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Maternal First Cousins: Children of Friedrich III, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and Luise Dorothea of Saxe-Meiningen

Hereditary Prince Friedrich Ludwig on the right and his tutor Baron Ulrich von Thun

Friedrich Ludwig, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1735 – 1756)

Friedrich Ludwig was very well-educated. Along with his tutor Baron Ulrich von Thun, he took a lengthy multi-year educational journey through Europe where he became acquainted with proponents of French Enlightenment such as Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Denis Diderot. Friedrich Ludwig was often sick as a child and he died at the age of 21 after suffering from a fever and severe gouty pains. Friedrich Ludwig’s younger brother Ernst became Hereditary Prince and later Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.

*********************

Ludwig of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (born and died 1735)

*********************

Friederike Luise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1741 – 1776)

*********************

Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1745 – 1804)

After the death of her eldest son, Ernst’s mother Luise Dorothea of Saxe-Meiningen was intent that her two surviving sons be well educated. They were carefully educated by select tutors and went on an educational trip to the Netherlands, England, and France where they met important people in politics, science and the arts. When he became Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Ernst continued his interest in the arts and science in his duchy. Ernst married Princess Charlotte of Saxe-Meiningen and had four sons, two of them became Dukes of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. Their son August, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg married his first cousin Luise Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and their daughter Louise was the mother of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the husband of Queen Victoria and the ancestor of all British monarchs beginning with Edward VII, and of numerous other European monarchs.

*********************

Sophie of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (born and died 1746)

*********************

August of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1747 – 1806)

August was carefully educated with his brother Ernst as explained above. He was to have a career in the military but that did not last long. August never married and was considered a prince of the Enlightenment. He was an important translator of French literature and corresponded with several important German writers including Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

*********************

Maternal First Cousins: Children of Johann August of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and Louise Reuss of Schleiz, co-Countess of Limpurg-Gaildorf

Augusta Luise Friederike of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, co-Countess of Limpurg-Gaildorf, Princess of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1752 – 1805)

Upon the death of her mother, Augusta and her sister Luise inherited the title of Co-Countess of Limpurg-Gaildorf. Later the sisters sold their shares of Limpurg-Gaildorf to Carl Eugen, Duke of Württemberg. Augusta became the second wife of Friedrich Karl, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt but the marriage was childless.

*********************

Luise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Co-Countess of Limpurg-Gaildorf, Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1756 – 1808)

As explained above, Luise became co-Countess of Limpurg-Gaildorf with her sister Augusta upon the death of their mother and the sisters later sold their portion of the County of Limpurg-Gaildorf. Luise married Friedrich Franz I, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, who became the first Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin after Luise’s death. Luise and Friedrich Franz had four sons and two daughters. Their daughter Charlotte Frederica was the first wife of the future King Christian VIII of Denmark and the mother of King Frederik VII of Denmark. Charlotte Frederica’s marriage was unhappy and she and her husband eventually divorced.

Luise Charlotte, another daughter of Luise and Friedrich Franz, married August, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and their daughter Luise was the mother of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the husband of Queen Victoria and the ancestor of all British monarchs beginning with King Edward VII and of numerous other European monarchs.

*********************

Maternal First Cousins: Children of Friederike of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and Johann Adolf II, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels

All their children died in childhood.

  • Karl Frederick Adolf, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Weissenfels (1736 – 1737)
  • Johann Adolf, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Weissenfels (born and died 1738)
  • August Adolf, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Weissenfels (1739 – 1740)
  • Johann Georg Adolf, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Weissenfels (born and died 1740)
  • Friederike Adolfine of Saxe-Weissenfels (1741 – 1751)

*********************

Maternal First Cousins: Children of Johann Adolf of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and his morganatic wife Marie Maximiliane Elisabeth Schauer

Marie Maximiliane Elisabeth Schauer and her two surviving children were ennobled by Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor and given permission to discard the surname Schauer and instead use the surname von Gothart

  • Friedrich Adolph (born and died 1760)
  • Adolph Christian Carl von Gothart (1761 – 1835)
  • Johanna Adolfine Friederike von Gothart (1767 – 1804)

*********************

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.

Works Cited

  • Lundy, D. (2019). Main Page. [online] Thepeerage.com. Available at: http://www.thepeerage.com/. (for genealogy information)
  • Unofficial Royalty. (2019). Unofficial Royalty. [online] Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com. (for biographical and genealogy information)
  • Wikipedia. (2019). Main Page. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/.  (for biographical and genealogy information)

Draga Mašin, Queen of Serbia

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Credit – Wikipedia

Draga Mašin was the wife of King Alexander I of Serbia, the last ruler of Serbia from the House of Obrenović. Alexander’s reign ended with his and Draga’s brutal assassinations. Born Draga Lunjevica on September 23, 1864, in Gornji Milanovac, Serbia, she was the fourth of the five daughters and the sixth of the seven children of Panta Lunjevica and Anđelija Koljević. Panta Lunjevica was a supporter of the House of Obrenović and served as a high government administrative official. Draga had two brothers: Nikola and Nikodije and four sisters: Hristina, Đina, Ana, and Vojka.

At the age of nine, Draga was sent to Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, to attend school. There she completed her elementary and secondary education and then attended the Women’s Institute. She learned several foreign languages including Russian, French, and German. While in Belgrade, Draga began writing novels and short stories. Even though her father was wealthy enough to support her, Draga started to earn her own money. She translated books for money and had stories published in foreign magazines.

A younger Draga; Credit – Wikipedia

After Draga completed her education, her parents began to prepare for her marriage. Their choice of a husband for Draga was Svetozar Mašin, a close friend of Draga’s father and a well-known mining engineer who was thirteen years older than his intended bride. Svetozar’s father was a respected physician and had served in the court of two Obrenović rulers Prince Mihailo Obrenović III and King Milan I of Serbia, the current ruler. Draga and Svetozar Mašin were married on August 28, 1883, at the Parliamentary Church in Belgrade.

Because Draga’s husband was a friend of King Milan I of Serbia, Draga was often at court and became acquainted with many people including Queen Natalija, King Milan’s wife. Draga and Svetozar’s marriage lasted only three years. On May 21, 1886, 35-year-old Svetozar Mašin died from a heart attack, according to a doctor’s report. Draga inherited Svetozar’s pension and his name. Svetozar’s brother Alexander Mašin, an army officer, was so opposed to this that he later accused Draga of killing his brother and became one of the conspirators in the plot that assassinated Draga and her second husband King Alexander I of Serbia.

After her husband’s death, Draga continued to write novels and short stories and do translations. She was an editor of the magazine “Housewife” and a member of the Serbian Journalist Society. Draga lived in her husband’s state-owned apartment until she was forced to move out. Both her parents died, making Draga’s financial situation difficult. She tried to arrange a marriage for herself but to no avail.

Queen Natalija; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1888, King Milan I of Serbia and his wife Queen Natalija divorced. Queen Natalija bought the Villa Sasino in Biarritz, France. Since Queen Natalija was acquainted with Draga, she invited Draga to join her and become her lady-in-waiting. They traveled together by train to Russia, visited Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia and his family, and finally arrived at the spa resort on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast of France. In Biarritz, Draga accompanied Queen Natalija to various social events and took care of her wardrobe, jewelry, and cosmetics.

King Alexander I of Serbia, 1894; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1889, King Milan I suddenly abdicated the throne without any apparent reason and his twelve-year-old son Alexander became king. Several years later, in March 1895, Queen Natalija’s 18-year-old King Alexander I of Serbia arrived in Biarritz for a visit. Apparently, Draga saved King Alexander from drowning, and then Draga and Alexander began to see each other and to go out together. Queen Natalija did not object to Alexander having an affair with Draga, who was twelve years older than Alexander, because she wanted her son ready for a marriage to a high-ranking princess. However, the love that developed between Alexander and Draga was much stronger than Alexander’s parents thought. Alexander asked his mother to return to Belgrade and leave him alone with Draga. Queen Natalija did so, thinking it was just a passing adventure. Alexander tried to persuade Draga to leave his mother’s service, saying that he would take care of her and her family. However, Draga remained in the service of Queen Natalija until 1897 when she returned to Belgrade.

In Belgrade, everyone knew about the affair of Alexander and Draga. Draga appeared at every important court function and was praised for her tact, elegance, beauty, wit, and restraint. However, everyone also thought that it was just an affair. On July 8, 1900, 24-year-old King Alexander suddenly announced his engagement to 36-year-old Draga. The proposed marriage was met with shock and great opposition. Draga was of unequal birth but more importantly, since Alexander was an only child, it was necessary for him to have a child to secure the succession and there were doubts that Draga could provide an heir.

Alexander and Draga; Credit – Wikipedia

Alexander’s father Milan was out of the country and making arrangements for the marriage of Alexander to Princess Alexandra of Schaumburg-Lippe. Prime Minister Vladan Đorđević was visiting the Paris Universal Exhibition at the time of the announcement. Both Milan and Đorđević immediately resigned from their positions and Alexander had difficulty in forming a new cabinet. Alexander’s mother also opposed the marriage and subsequently was banished from the kingdom along with Alexander’s father who died the following year from pneumonia in Vienna.

On August 5, 1900, King Alexander married Draga at St. Michael’s Cathedral in Belgrade, Serbia. On the morning of the wedding, thousands of people appeared at Draga’s house, calling out to her. King Alexander wore a military uniform with epaulets and decorations and Draga wore a white lace wedding dress with a brilliant diadem on her head. Two metropolitans, several bishops, and twenty-six archimandrites performed the Serbian Orthodox wedding ceremony. After the wedding, upon leaving the church, the people shouted, “Long live the King! Long live the Queen!”

On May 8, 1901, King Alexander announced that Queen Draga was pregnant and that Serbia would soon have an heir to the throne. However, it soon became apparent that Queen Draga was not pregnant. Whether Draga deliberately told a lie about being pregnant or whether she was the victim of a delusion by a doctor is not known. The incident completely undermined the reputation of King Alexander and Queen Draga.

Queen Draga; Credit – Wikipedia

On March 25, 1903, irritated by the independence of the senate and the council of state, King Alexander suspended the constitution for thirty minutes which was enough time enough to publish decrees dismissing and replacing the members of the senate and councilors of state. This act greatly increased dissatisfaction in the country. In addition, the Serbian Government had decided to proclaim Prince Mirko of Montenegro, who was married to Natalija Konstantinovic, the granddaughter of Princess Anka Obrenović, an aunt of King Milan, as heir-presumptive to the Serbian throne, but King Alexander had his own ideas. Rumors began to circulate that Nikodije Lunjevica, one of the two unpopular brothers of Queen Draga, was to be proclaimed heir-presumptive to the throne.

The army had had enough. A conspiracy was organized by the military to replace King Alexander I of the House of Obrenović with Prince Peter Karađorđević of the rival House of Karađorđević, called the May Coup. Serbia still used the Julian Calendar (Old Style) at that time which was behind the Gregorian Calendar (New Style) that most other countries were using. The coup occurred on the night of May 28-29 Old Style (hence the May Coup) but on the night of June 10-11 New Style.

Illustration of the assassination from an Italian newspaper; Credit – Wikipedia

King Alexander, aged 26, and Queen Draga, aged 38, were brutally shot, mutilated, and thrown out a window at the Stari Dvor (Old Palace), the royal residence of the House of Obrenović which now houses the City Assembly of Belgrade, Serbia. Queen Draga’s two brothers, Nikodije and Nikola Lunjevica, were executed by a firing squad on the same day. Draga and her husband were secretly buried at St. Mark’s Church in Belgrade, Serbia. The assassination resulted in the extinction of the House of Obrenović. Prince Peter Karađorđević was then proclaimed as the new King of Serbia and the House of Karađorđević reigned until the monarchy was abolished in 1945.

Embed from Getty Images 
The graves of King Alexander I of Serbia and his wife Queen Draga at St. Mark’s Church in Belgrade, Serbia

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.

Serbia/Yugoslavia Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Draga Mašin. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draga_Ma%C5%A1in [Accessed 10 Nov. 2019].
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2019). King Alexander I of Serbia. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-alexander-i-of-serbia/ [Accessed 10 Nov. 2019].
  • Ru.wikipedia.org. (2019). Драга Обренович. [online] Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%94%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B3%D0%B0_%D0%9E%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87 [Accessed 10 Nov. 2019].
  • Sr.wikipedia.org. (2019). Драга Обреновић. [online] Available at: https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%94%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B3%D0%B0_%D0%9E%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%9B [Accessed 10 Nov. 2019].

King Alexander I of Serbia

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Credit – Wikipedia

King Alexander I of Serbia was the last ruler of Serbia from the House of Obrenović. His reign ended with his and his wife’s brutal assassinations. The only surviving child of King Milan I of Serbia and his wife Natalija Keschko, Alexander was born on August 14, 1876, in a special maternity ward personally financed by his father. A brother, Sergei, was born in 1878 but he died soon after his birth.

Alexander with his parents in 1880; Credit – Wikipedia

Alexander’s parents had an unsuccessful marriage. His father had affairs and the couple had political differences. King Milan favored alliances with Austria-Hungary which the Russophile Queen Natalija could not tolerate. Young Alexander became a weapon that his parents used in their personal vendetta against each other.

Alexander with his father King Milan in 1888; Credit – Wikipedia

In May 1887, King Milan I and Queen Natalija, after years of personal and political conflicts, decided to separate. Queen Natalija took Alexander with her to a voluntary exile in the Crimea. Two months later, they returned to Serbia only to leave again for the Austrian-Hungarian Empire in August 1887. King Milan wanted to reconcile with his wife so that his son and heir would return to Serbia. He traveled to Budapest for a meeting with Queen Natalija and thought he had made the proper arrangements. However, instead of returning with her son to Serbia, Queen Natalija traveled to Wiesbaden in the Duchy of Nassau, now Hesse, Germany. At the request of King Milan, local police had to intervene and took Alexander away from his mother and returned him to Serbia, under the control of his father. In 1888, Alexander’s parents divorced but the couple reconciled in 1893, and the divorce was overturned.

The Boy King, King Alexander I, 1889; Credit – Wikipedia

On March 6, 1889, the seventh anniversary of the elevation of the Principality of Serbia to the Kingdom of Serbia, King Milan unexpectedly abdicated in favor of his twelve-year-old son who became King Alexander I of Serbia. Because Alexander was a minor, a regency council would be in place until his eighteenth birthday. On June 15, 1889, the young King Alexander I of Serbia was anointed by Metropolitan Mihailo Jovanović, a political enemy of Alexander’s father who had exiled him, at the 13th-century Žiča Monastery near Kraljevo, Serbia, the traditional coronation site of Serbian rulers. Both Milan and Natalija were forced into exile. Natalija lived mostly in Biarritz, France and Milan lived in Paris, France.

In 1893, 17-year-old King Alexander proclaimed himself of age and dismissed the regency council in order to take royal authority for himself. The following year, King Alexander abolished the 1889 liberal constitution and restored the former conservative 1869 constitution. Alexander’s mother returned to Serbia in 1895 and then in 1897 on a permanent basis. In 1897, Milan returned to Serbia and Alexander appointed him Commander-in-Chief of the Army, which he completely reformed and modernized.

King Alexander and Draga Mašin; Credit – Wikipedia

On July 8, 1900, 24-year-old King Alexander suddenly announced his engagement to 36-year-old Draga Mašin, a widow and a former a lady-in-waiting to his mother. The proposed marriage was met with great opposition. Draga was of unequal birth but more importantly, since Alexander was an only child, it was necessary for him to have a child to secure the succession and there were doubts that Draga could provide an heir. Milan was out of the country and making arrangements for the marriage of Alexander to Princess Alexandra of Schaumburg-Lippe. Prime Minister Vladan Đorđević was visiting the Paris Universal Exhibition at the time of the announcement. Both Milan and Đorđević immediately resigned from their positions and Alexander had difficulty in forming a new cabinet. Alexander’s mother also opposed the marriage and subsequently was banished from the kingdom along with Alexander’s father who died the following year from pneumonia in Vienna. On August 5, 1900, King Alexander married Draga Mašin at St. Michael’s Cathedral in Belgrade, Serbia.

King Alexander attempted to reconcile the political forces in Serbia by granting a new liberal constitution that introduced into Serbia for the first time a two-chamber national legislature system. On May 8, 1901, King Alexander announced that Queen Draga was pregnant and that Serbia would soon have an heir to the throne. However, it soon became apparent that Queen Draga was not pregnant. Whether Draga deliberately told a lie about being pregnant or whether she was the victim of a delusion by a doctor is not known. The incident completely undermined the reputation of King Alexander and Queen Draga.

Queen Draga in the Serbian national costume; Credit – Wikipedia

On March 25, 1903, annoyed by the independence of the senate and the council of state, King Alexander suspended the constitution for thirty minutes which was enough time enough to publish decrees dismissing and replacing the members of the senate and councilors of state. This act greatly increased dissatisfaction in the country. In addition, the Serbian Government had decided to proclaim Prince Mirko of Montenegro, who was married to Natalija Konstantinovic, the granddaughter of Princess Anka Obrenović, an aunt of King Milan, as heir-presumptive to the Serbian throne, but King Alexander had his own ideas. Rumors began to circulate that Nikodije Lunjevica, one of the two unpopular brothers of Queen Draga, was to be proclaimed heir-presumptive to the throne.

The army had had enough.  A conspiracy was organized by the military called the May Coup to replace King Alexander I of the House of Obrenović with Prince Peter Karađorđević of the rival House of Karađorđević.  Serbia still used the Julian Calendar (Old Style) at that time which was behind the Gregorian Calendar (New Style) that most other countries were using. The coup occurred on the night of May 28-29 Old Style (hence the May Coup) but on the night of June 10-11 New Style.

The Stari Dvor (Old Palace) where Alexander and Draga were assassinated. They were thrown out the open window after being shot and mutilated; Credit – Wikipedia

King Alexander, aged 26, and Queen Draga, age 38, were brutally shot, mutilated, and thrown out a window at the Stari Dvor (Old Palace), the royal residence of the House of Obrenović which now houses the City Assembly of Belgrade, Serbia. Queen Draga’s two brothers, Nikodije and Nikola Lunjevica, were executed by a firing squad on the same day. Draga and her husband were secretly buried at St. Mark’s Church in Belgrade, Serbia. The assassination resulted in the extinction of the House of Obrenović. Prince Peter Karađorđević was then proclaimed as the new King of Serbia and the House of Karađorđević reigned until the monarchy was abolished in 1945.

Embed from Getty Images 
The graves of King Alexander I of Serbia and his wife Queen Draga at St. Mark’s Church in Belgrade, Serbia

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.

Serbia/Yugoslavia Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Alexander I of Serbia. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_I_of_Serbia [Accessed 9 Nov. 2019].
  • Pt.wikipedia.org. (2019). Alexandre I da Sérvia. [online] Available at: https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandre_I_da_S%C3%A9rvia [Accessed 9 Nov. 2019].
  • Ru.wikipedia.org. (2019). Александр Обренович. [online] Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%80_%D0%9E%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87 [Accessed 9 Nov. 2019].
  • Sr.wikipedia.org. (2019). Александар Обреновић. [online] Available at: https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D0%B0%D1%80_%D0%9E%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%9B [Accessed 9 Nov. 2019].

Natalija Keschko, Queen of Serbia

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Credit – Wikipedia

Natalija Keschko, Queen of Serbia, the wife of the first King of Serbia, Milan I was born on May 14, 1859, in Florence, then in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, now in Italy. She was the eldest of the four children of Petre Ivanovich Keschko, a Russian Imperial Army colonel, originally from Bessarabia, and Princess Pulcheria Sturdza from a Moldavian noble family.

Natalija had two sisters and one brother:

  • Maria Keschko (1861 – 1935), married Prince Grigore Ghica-Brigadier
  • Ekaterina Keschko married Prince Eugen Ghica-Comănești
  • Ioniță Keschko

Because Natalija’s mother suffered from tuberculosis, the family spent much time abroad, especially in Florence, where the climate was milder. After her father died in 1865 and her mother died in 1874, Natalijia and her three younger siblings were raised by their maternal aunt Princess Ekaterina Moruzi and her husband Prince Constantin Moruzi. Natalija graduated from a boarding school for the daughters of aristocratic families in Paris, France.

Milan Obrenović; Credit – Wikipedia

On October 17, 1875, at St. Michael’s Cathedral in Belgrade, Serbia, 16-year-old Natalija married her second cousin, 21-year-old Milan Obrenović IV, Prince of Serbia. In 1882, the Principality of Serbia was elevated to the Kingdom of Serbia and so Milan and Natalija became the first King and Queen of Serbia. Natalija and Milan had two sons but only the eldest survived:

Milan, Natalija and their son Alexander, circa 1880; Credit – Wikipedia

The marriage was unsuccessful. Milan had affairs and the couple had political differences. Milan favored alliances with Austria-Hungary which the Russophile Natalija could not tolerate. The couple separated in 1886 and divorced in 1888. Natalija publically rejected the divorce and declared that she considered herself still the wife of the king. Natalija left Serbia taking son Alexander with her. Eventually, Milan succeeded in obtaining the custody of his son and Alexander returned to Serbia. The couple reconciled in 1893 and the divorce was overturned.

In 1889, Milan suddenly abdicated the throne without any apparent reason and his twelve-year-old son Alexander became king under a regency council. Natalija was forced into exile and lived mostly in Biarritz, France. She did return to Serbia in 1895 and then in 1897 on a permanent basis. Milan lived in Paris, France until 1897 when he returned to Serbia. He became Commander-in-Chief of the Army, which he completely reformed and modernized.

King Alexander I of Serbia and his wife Queen Draga; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1900, 24-year-old King Alexander suddenly announced his engagement to 36-year-old Draga Mašin, a widow and a former a lady-in-waiting to his mother. There was much opposition to the marriage, including from both of his parents who were ultimately banished from Serbia by their son. Natalija returned to France and Milan eventually settled in Vienna, Austria where he died the next year on February 11, 1901, at the age of 46 from pneumonia.

On the night of June 10-11, 1903, a group of army officers who supported the rival House of Karađorđević led a coup d’état in which King Alexander and Queen Draga were brutally assassinated at the Stari Dvor (Old Palace), the royal residence of the House of Obrenović which now houses the City Assembly of Belgrade, Serbia. The assassination resulted in the extinction of the House of Obrenović. Prince Peter Karađorđević was then proclaimed as the new King of Serbia. The House of Karađorđević reigned until the monarchy was abolished in 1945.

After the horrible events of 1903, Natalija found some comfort in the Roman Catholic faith, to which she had converted in 1902.  After the assassination of her son and his wife, Natalija was the only member of the Obrenović dynasty. She donated the Obrenović inheritance to the University of Belgrade and churches and monasteries in Serbia. Natalija became a nun and died on May 8, 1941, at the age of 81 at the Monastery of Saint-Denis near Paris, France, and was buried at the Cemetery of Lardy in Seine et Oise, France.

Grave of Natalija Keschko, Queen of Serbia; Credit- By krischnig – Own workOriginal text: selbst fotografiert, Copyrighted free use, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48472059

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.

Serbia/Yugoslavia Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Natalie of Serbia. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalie_of_Serbia [Accessed 8 Nov. 2019].
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2019). King Milan I of Serbia. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-milan-i-of-serbia/ [Accessed 8 Nov. 2019].
  • Sr.wikipedia.org. (2019) Наталија Обреновић. [online] Available at: https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%98%D0%B0_%D0%9E%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%9B [Accessed 8 Nov. 2019].

King Milan I of Serbia

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Credit – Wikipedia

The first King of Serbia, Milan Obrenović was born on August 22, 1854, in Mărășești, then in Moldavia, Ottoman Empire, now in Romania. He was the only surviving child of Miloš Obrenović and Marija Obrenović, born Elena Maria Catargiu. Milan’s father was a member of the House of Obrenović which vied for control of Serbia, often violently, with the House of Karađorđević. His mother was from a noble family with Moldavian and Romanian roots. Milan’s family had lived in exile in Moldavia since 1842 when his uncle Mihailo Obrenović III, reigning Prince of Serbia was deposed by the rival House of Karađorđević.

Milan’s parents divorced a year after his birth. His mother became the mistress of Alexandru Ioan Cuza, Prince of Moldavia, Prince of Wallachia, and later the first Sovereign Prince of Romania, and the couple had two sons, Milan’s half-brothers. They were adopted by their biological father and his wife Elena Rosetti because they could not have children. In 1861, when Milan was seven years old, his father died fighting the Turks as a foreign mercenary in the Romanian Army.

Milan’s half-brothers:

  • Alexandru Ioan Cuza (1862 or 1864 – 1889), married Maria Moruzi, no children
  • Dimitrie Cuza (1865–1888), unmarried, died by suicide

Milan’s uncle Mihailo Obrenović III, Sovereign Prince of Serbia; Credit – Wikipedia

The House of Obrenović was restored to the Serbian throne in 1858. When he was six-years-old, Milan’s care and education had been taken over by his paternal uncle Mihailo Obrenović III, once again the Sovereign Prince of Serbia. After receiving his early education from a governess, Milan was sent to the prestigious Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris, France.

In 1868, Milan’s childless uncle Mihailo Obrenović III, Sovereign Prince of Serbia was assassinated. The plot behind the assassination has never been proven conclusively but the sympathizers of the House of Karađorđević were suspected of being behind the assassination. Fourteen-year-old Milan became the Sovereign Prince of Serbia but because he was a minor there was a regency until his eighteenth birthday in 1872.

Natalija in 1875; Credit – Wikipedia

On October 17, 1875, at the St. Michael’s Cathedral in Belgrade, Serbia, 21-year-old Milan married his 16-year-old second cousin Natalija Keschko, the eldest of the four children of Petre Ivanovich Keschko, an Imperial Russian Army colonel, originally from Bessarabia, and Princess Pulcheria Sturdza from a Moldavian noble family.

Milan and Natalija had two sons but only the eldest survived:

The marriage was unsuccessful and the couple separated in 1886 and divorced in 1888. Natalija publically rejected the divorce and declared that she considered herself still the wife of the king. Natalija left Serbia taking her son Alexander with her. Eventually, Milan succeeded in obtaining the custody of his son and Alexander returned to Serbia. The couple reconciled in 1893 and the divorce was overturned.

Milan, Natalija, and their son Alexander circa 1880; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1882, the Principality of Serbia was elevated to the Kingdom of Serbia and so Milan became the first King of Serbia. Milan devoted his energy to improvements in Serbia particularly in communications and the development of natural resources. However, this led to heavy taxation, which coupled with increased military service, made Milan unpopular.

In 1889, Milan suddenly abdicated the throne without any apparent reason and his twelve-year-old son Alexander became king. Milan lived in Paris, France until 1897 when he returned to Serbia. He became Commander-in-Chief of the Army, which he completely reformed and modernized.

Milan in his later years; Credit – Wikipedia

However, in 1900, any positive relations between Milan and his son King Alexander ended. Milan and his wife strongly opposed his son’s marriage to Draga Mašin, a widow and a former lady-in-waiting to his mother, who was twelve years older than Alexander. Milan resigned his post as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and subsequently, King Alexander banished both his parents from Serbia. Milan eventually settled in Vienna, Austria where he died the next year on February 11, 1901, at the age of 46 from pneumonia. He was buried at the Krušedol Monastery in Vojvodina, Serbia. His son King Alexander I of Serbia and his wife Queen Draga were brutally assassinated in 1903 resulting in the extinction of the House of Obrenović.

Milan’s wife Natalija survived him by forty years. She converted to Roman Catholicism and became a nun. Natalija died on May 8, 1941, at the age of 81 at the Monastery of Saint-Denis near Paris, France, and was buried at the Cemetery of Lardy in Seine et Oise, France.

Tomb of King Milan I of Serbia; Credit – Wikipedia

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.

Serbia/Yugoslavia Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Milan I of Serbia. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milan_I_of_Serbia [Accessed 8 Nov. 2019].
  • Sr.wikipedia.org. (2019). Милан Обреновић. [online] Available at: https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%BD_%D0%9E%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%9B [Accessed 8 Nov. 2019].

First Cousins: King George IV and King William IV of the United Kingdom

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

King George IV of the United Kingdom (1762 – 1830)

King Willian IV of the United Kingdom (1765 – 1837)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

King George IV, born at St. James’ Palace in London, England on August 12, 1762, was the eldest of the fifteen children and the eldest of the nine sons of King George III of the United Kingdom and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. His marriage to his first cousin Princess Caroline of Brunswick was one of the worst ever royal marriages. It is doubtful that the couple spent more than a few nights together as husband and wife. They did manage to have one daughter Princess Charlotte of Wales who would have succeeded her father as queen if she had not died at the age of 21 in childbirth along with her son. From 1811 until his accession, George served as Prince Regent during his father’s final mental illness. George was succeeded by his parents’ third son William. George had no surviving children and the second son Prince Frederick, Duke of York had died childless.

King William IV was the third of his parents’ fifteen children and the third of their nine sons. He was born at Buckingham House (now Buckingham Palace) in London, England on August 21, 1765. William had a happy relationship with actress Dorothea Jordan that lasted over twenty years and produced ten illegitimate children. William and Dorothea’s children married into the British aristocracy and their many descendants include a number of notable people. William’s niece Princess Charlotte of Wales was second in line to the throne and was the only legitimate grandchild of King George III, despite the fact that eleven of his fifteen children were still living. Her death left no legitimate heir in the second generation and prompted the aging sons of King George III to begin a frantic search for brides to provide for the succession.

William, along with his unmarried brothers Edward, Duke of Kent and Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, all married. 52-year-old William married 25-year-old Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen. A child of William and Adelaide would have succeeded to the throne as William’s two elder brothers (George IV and Frederick, Duke of York) had no surviving children. Adelaide suffered a miscarriage, gave birth to two princesses who both died in infancy and gave birth to stillborn twin boys. William’s niece Victoria, the daughter of his parents’ fourth son, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, became his heir.

George and William’s paternal grandparents were Frederick, Prince of Wales and Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. Frederick was the eldest child of King George II of Great Britain and Caroline of Ansbach. However, Frederick predeceased his father and upon the death of George II, Frederick’s eldest son became King George III. George and William’s maternal grandparents were Duke Carl Ludwig Friedrich of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Princess Elisabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen.

George IV and William had 12 paternal first cousins and 11 maternal cousins. They share their first cousins with their siblings Prince Frederick, Duke of York; Charlotte, Princess Royal, Queen of Württemberg; Prince Edward, Duke of Kent; Princess Augusta; Princess Elizabeth, Landgravine of Hesse-Homburg; King Ernest Augustus I of Hanover, Duke of Cumberland; Prince Augustus, Duke of Sussex; Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge; Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester; Princess Sophia; Prince Octavius; Prince Alfred; and Princess Amelia.

********************

Paternal Aunts and Uncles of King George IV and King William IV: Children of Frederick, Prince of Wales and Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg

Family of Frederick, Prince of Wales painted in 1751 after his death; Front row: Henry, William, Frederick; Back row: Edward, George, Augusta, Dowager Princess of Wales holding Caroline Matilda, Elizabeth, Louisa

********************

Maternal Aunts and Uncles of King George IV and King William IV: Children of Duke Carl Ludwig Friedrich of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Princess Elisabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen

********************

PATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Paternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Augusta of Wales and Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick

Augusta of Brunswick, Princess Friedrich of Württemberg ( 1764 – 1788)

Augusta of Brunswick was the eldest of her parents’ seven children. She was the first wife of Prince Friedrich of Württemberg (later Duke of Württemberg 1797 -1803, Elector of Württemberg 1803 – 1806, King of Württemberg 1806 – 1816). Despite having a very unhappy marriage, Augusta and Friedrich had two sons and two daughters including King Wilhelm I of Württemberg.

Friedrich had impressed Empress Catherine II (the Great) while visiting Russia, and she made him Governor-General of Eastern Finland. Four years later, while they were visiting the Empress in St. Petersburg, Augusta asked Catherine for protection from her husband. She claimed that Friedrich was abusive to her, and was having affairs with several men. The Empress took Augusta in and told Friedrich to leave the country. Augusta hoped to obtain a divorce but her father would not permit it. Empress Catherine provided Augusta with a home at Koluvere Castle in Estonia, along with a custodian, Wilhelm von Pohlmann. Soon, Augusta and von Pohlmann began an affair and she became pregnant. Sadly, she went into premature labor and died of blood loss.

Unofficial Royalty: Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Princess Friedrich of Württemberg

********************

Karl, Hereditary Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1766 – 1806)

Karl was the eldest son and the heir to the Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. However, he had been born blind and mentally disabled. A marriage was arranged for him with Princess Louise of Orange-Nassau but the marriage was childless and Louise was more of a nurse to him than a wife. Karl was eventually forced to renounce his position as heir to his younger brother.

********************

Caroline of Brunswick, Queen of the United Kingdom (1768 – 1821)

Caroline married her first cousin, the future King George IV of the United Kingdom. Despite being first cousins, they had never met. The marriage was very unsuccessful and they separated shortly after the birth of their only child Princess Charlotte of Wales who died at the age of 21 in childbirth.

When George became king, he insisted Caroline would never be queen and wanted a divorce. However, Caroline was popular with the British people who sympathized with her and despised the new king for his immoral behavior. The government introduced a bill in Parliament, the Pains and Penalties Bill 1820, to strip Caroline of the title of queen consort and dissolve her marriage. The reading of the bill in Parliament was effectively a trial of Caroline. The bill passed by 108–99. Prime Minister Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool then declared that since the vote was so close, and public tensions so high, the government was withdrawing the bill.

George had made no plans for Caroline to participate in his coronation. On the day of the coronation, Caroline went to Westminster Abbey but was barred at every entrance and finally left. She died three weeks later and had requested that she be buried in her native Brunswick. The official route of Caroline’s cortege through London was to avoid major streets. However, members of the public blocked those streets and forced a new route through the major streets. Caroline was buried at Brunswick Cathedral in Germany alongside her father. Her casket bears the inscription, “Here lies Caroline, the Injured Queen of England.”

Unofficial Royalty: Caroline of Brunswick, Queen of the United Kingdom

********************

Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1771 – 1815)

The fourth son of his parents, Friedrich Wilhelm succeeded his father as Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel because of the disabilities of his three elder brothers. He had an army career and participated in the Napoleonic Wars. Friedrich Wilhelm married Princess Marie of Baden and had two sons. His wife died of childbed fever (puerperal fever) four days after giving birth to a stillborn daughter. Friedrich Wilhelm was killed in action at the Battle of Quatre Bras, two days before the Battle of Waterloo where Napoleon was defeated once and for all.

********************

  • Georg of Brunswick (1769 – 1811), unmarried, mentally disabled, excluded from the line of succession of the Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
  • August of Brunswick (1770 – 1822), unmarried, blind, excluded from the line of succession of the Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
  • Amelie of Brunswick ( 1772 – 1773), died in childhood

********************

Paternal First Cousins: Children of Prince William Henry of Wales, 1st Duke of Gloucester and Maria, Countess Waldegrave

Background on this side of the family: Prince William Henry of Wales, 1st Duke of Gloucester, a younger brother of King George III of the United Kingdom, secretly married Maria Walpole, the illegitimate daughter of Sir Edward Walpole and his mistress Dorothy Clement. Her grandfather Robert Walpole served as Prime Minister from 1721 – 1741. At the time of the marriage, Maria was the widow of James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave.

King George III’s brothers were a constant headache for him but he was especially annoyed with Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland. Prince Henry had married a commoner Anne Horton. George III considered Anne Horton inappropriate as a royal bride because she was from a lower social class and German law barred any children of the couple from the succession. George insisted on a new law that would forbid members of the royal family from legally marrying without the consent of the monarch. Although it was unpopular with both George III’s ministers and members of Parliament, the Royal Marriages Act 1772 was passed.

However, King George III did not know that his brother Prince William Henry, 1st Duke of Gloucester had secretly married Maria Walpole in 1766. For six years, King George III believed that his brother William Henry was a bachelor and that Maria was his mistress. In September 1772, five months after the Royal Marriages Act was passed, William Henry found out Maria was pregnant and confessed to his brother that he was married. King George III was quite upset not only by the marriage but also by William Henry’s deception. Because the provisions of the Royal Marriages Act could not be applied retroactively, William Henry and Maria’s marriage was considered valid. Their children were styled His/Her Highness Prince/Princess and used the territorial designation of Gloucester as great-grandchildren in the male line of King George II. However, due to the anger of King George III, Maria, now Duchess of Gloucester, was never received at court.

Princess Sophia of Gloucester (1773–1844)

Sophia was the eldest child of Prince William Henry and Maria Walpole. Her uncle King George III refused to be her godparent because of the deception of her parents’ marriage. She never married. When her brother His Highness Prince William Frederick married their first cousin Princess Mary, daughter of King George III, the king granted him the style His Royal Highness. Sophia was granted the same style the next day.

********************

Princess Caroline of Gloucester (1774–1775)

Princess Caroline’s father Prince William Henry of Wales, Duke of Gloucester became ill with smallpox in March 1775. He immediately ordered that his two daughters (his son had not yet been born) be inoculated against smallpox. At that time, 3% of those receiving the smallpox inoculation died after receiving the inoculation. Sadly, eight-month-old Princess Caroline was one of them. A few years later, Caroline’s first cousins, the two youngest sons of King George III, Prince Octavius and Prince Alfred, also died after receiving the smallpox inoculation.

Wikipedia: Princess Caroline of Gloucester
Unofficial Royalty: Smallpox knew no class boundaries

********************

Prince William Frederick, 2nd Duke of Gloucester (1776–1834)

William Frederick was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge and like his father, had a career in the British Army, attaining the rank of Field Marshal. He was an advocate for the abolition of slavery, served as President of the African Institution and was Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. William Frederick had been encouraged to remain unmarried so that there might be a suitable husband for his first cousin once removed, Princess Charlotte of Wales, the heir to the throne after her father the future King George IV, if no foreign prince proved a suitable match. Charlotte married Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld but within twenty months, Charlotte had died in childbirth along with her son. After Charlotte’s marriage, 40-year-old William Frederick married his first cousin 40-year-old Princess Mary, daughter of King George III of the United Kingdom. The couple had no children.

********************

Paternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Caroline Matilda of Wales and King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway

Background on Caroline Matilda and Christian VII: Princess Caroline Matilda and King Christian VII were first cousins – both were grandchildren of King George II of Great Britain. Christian VII’s reign was marked by mental illness and for most of his reign, he was only nominally king. He publicly declared that he could not love Caroline Matilda because it was “unfashionable to love one’s wife”. Caroline Matilda’s daughter Louise Augusta’s father may have been Christian’s physician Johann Friedrich Struensee. Struensee gained political power and also gained powerful enemies, including Christian VII’s stepmother Queen Dowager Juliana Maria and her son Hereditary Prince Frederik. Juliana Maria directed a plot to overthrow the lovers, which ended with the brutal execution of Struensee and Caroline Matilda’s divorce and banishment. Not quite 20-years-old, Caroline Matilda lost her title of Queen and was forcibly separated from her children whom she never saw again. She died of “a putrid fever and sore throat,” probably scarlet fever, at the age of 23. She was buried at the Stadtkirche St. Marien in Celle next to his great-grandmother Sophie Dorothea of Celle who suffered a similar fate.

King Frederik VI of Denmark (1768 – 1839)

When Frederik came of age, he had to wrest the power from Queen Dowager Juliana Maria and her son Hereditary Prince Frederik, who was ruling as Regent for the mentally disabled King Christian VII. Frederik then ruled permanently as Crown Prince Regent until the death of his father. He married his cousin Princess Marie of Hesse-Kassel, daughter of Prince Carl of Hesse-Kassel and Princess Louise of Denmark. Frederik was a great-grandchild of King George II of Great Britain and Marie was a double great-grandchild of George II. Both of Marie’s parents were children of a daughter of King George II of Great Britain. Frederik and Marie had eight children but unfortunately, six of them, including two boys, died in infancy. Only two daughters survived and both daughters had childless marriages. As he had no sons, Frederik was succeeded by King Christian VIII who was the son of King Frederik’s half-uncle Hereditary Prince Frederik.

********************

Princess Louise Augusta of Denmark, Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg  (1771 – 1843)

Louise Augusta was officially the daughter of King Christian VII of Denmark but most likely her biological father was Johann Friedrich Struensee, Christian VII’s physician. When she was only 14-years-old, Louise Augusta married Frederik Christian II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg and had two sons and one daughter. Their daughter Caroline Amalie became Queen of Denmark by marrying the future King Christian VIII of Denmark, son of Hereditary Prince Frederik of Denmark. Louise Auguste’s son Christian August II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg was the father of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein who married Queen Victoria’s daughter Princess Helena. Another of Christian August II’s sons, Frederick VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, was the father of Princess Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein, the wife of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia.

********************

MATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Maternal First Cousins: Children of Carl II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and his first wife Princess Friederike of Hesse-Darmstadt who died in childbirth giving birth to her tenth child who lived only one day

Duchess Charlotte Georgine of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Duchess of Saxe-Hildburghausen (1769–1818)

Charlotte and her siblings grew up in Hanover, where their father served as governor, on behalf of his brother-in-law King George III of the United Kingdom, who was also King of Hanover. She married Friedrich, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen (later Duke of Saxe-Altenburg) and had seven sons and five daughters, including Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen who became Queen of Bavaria by marrying King Ludwig I of Bavaria.

********************

Duchess Therese of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Princess of Thurn and Taxis (1773–1839)

Therese married Karl Alexander, 5th Prince of Thurn and Taxis and had three daughters and four sons. Karl Alexander was Roman Catholic. Therese’s aunt Queen Charlotte of the United Kingdom and her husband King George III helped to broker the marriage and were responsible for ensuring that Therese could remain Protestant. Therese also had an illegitimate son and daughter with Maximilian, Graf von und zu Lerchenfeld auf Köfering und Schönberg. She Therese took an active role in the administration of the Princely House of Thurn and Taxis and was also devoted to art and literature.

********************

Duchess Luise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen of Prussia (1776–1810)

Following her mother’s death in childbirth in 1782, Luise and her siblings were raised mostly by their maternal grandmother, Marie Louise Albertine of Leiningen-Falkenburg-Dagsburg. Luise and her sister Friederike attracted the attention of two Prussian princes. Luise married the future King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia, while Friederike married his brother Ludwig Karl. Luise and Friedrich Wilhelm III had five sons and four daughters including Friedrich Wilhelm IV, King of Prussia; Wilhelm I, King of Prussia, German Emperor; and Charlotte who married Nicholas I, Emperor of Russia. Luise took it upon herself to stay well-versed in the affairs of the country, earning her the respect of her husband’s advisers. While visiting her father in Strelitz, 34-year-old Luise died in her husband’s arms from an unidentified illness.

********************

Duchess Friederike of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen of Hanover (1778–1841)

Friederike married three times and had a total of ten children. When her sister Luise married the future King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia, Friederike married his brother Ludwig Karl and had two sons and one daughter. The marriage between Friederike and Ludwig was not very happy, with both of them allegedly having affairs. Prince Ludwig died of diphtheria just two days after their third wedding anniversary, leaving Friederike an 18-year-old widow with three children. Two years later, Friederike accepted a proposal from Prince Adolphus of the United Kingdom, Duke of Cambridge, her first cousin. Apparently, Friederike had not very lonely. Despite her unofficial engagement to Adolphus, she soon found herself pregnant with the child of Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Solms-Braunfels. The couple married and had five sons and one daughter. Within a few years of the marriage, the couple had drifted very far apart and were given permission to divorce but remained married.

Friederike fell in love with another first cousin, Prince Ernest August of the United Kingdom, Duke of Cumberland, a son of King George III of the United Kingdom and Friederike’s aunt Charlotte. Divorce proceedings were started but Friederike’s second husband Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Solms-Braunfels suddenly died and Friederike soon married Ernest August. After two stillborn daughters, the couple had one son. When Ernest Augustus’ brother King William IV died, he was succeeded by his niece, Victoria, as Queen of the United Kingdom but because Hanover did not allow for female succession, Friederike’s husband succeeded him as King Ernst August I of Hanover, and Friederike became Queen.

********************

Georg, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1779–1860)

Georg married Princess Marie of Hesse-Kassel, the daughter of Landgrave Freidrich of Hesse-Kassel and Princess Caroline of Nassau-Usingen and had four children including Friedrich Wilhelm, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz who married his first cousin Princess Augusta of Cambridge and Princess Caroline Mariane who married the future King Frederik VII of Denmark. When Georg succeeded his father as Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, he found the grand duchy in great debt and in need of much rebuilding. He abolished serfdom and throughout his reign worked to raise the standards of education, building schools and instituting compulsory education. He made vast improvements to the infrastructure which would help to energize the grand duchy’s economy.

********************

  • Duchess Caroline Auguste of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1771–1773), died in childhood
  • Duke Georg Carl of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1772–1773), died in childhood
  • Duke Friedrich Georg of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (born and died 1774), died in infancy
  • Duke Friedrich Karl of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1781–1783), died in childhood
  • Duchess Augusta Albertine of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (born and died 1782), died in infancy along with her mother

********************

Maternal First Cousins: Children of Carl II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and his second wife Princess Charlotte of Hesse-Darmstadt who was the sister of Carl’s first wife. Like her sister, Charlotte died in childbirth.

Duke Karl of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1785–1837)

Karl’s mother died as a result of his birth. He had a career in the Prussian Army and never married. He fought in the Napoleonic Wars and attained the rank of a Lieutenant General. For the last ten years of his life, Karl was President of the Prussian State Council, an advisory body in the Kingdom of Prussia.

********************

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.

Works Cited

  • Lundy, D. (2019). Main Page. [online] Thepeerage.com. Available at: http://www.thepeerage.com/. (for genealogy information)
  • Unofficial Royalty. (2019). Unofficial Royalty. [online] Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com. (for biographical and genealogy information)
  • Wikipedia. (2019). Main Page. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/.  (for biographical and genealogy information)

Admiral Perikles Ioannidis, second husband of Princess Maria of Greece and Denmark

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

Perikles Ioannidis with his wife Princess Maria of Greece (on the left) and his mother-in-law Dowager Queen Olga of Greece (on the right); Credit – Wikipedia

The second husband of Princess Maria of Greece and Denmark, Perikles Ioannidis was born on November 1, 1881, in Corinth, Greece. He attended school in his hometown and then entered the Hellenic Naval Academy, graduating with the rank of Ensign.

Perikles was a fervent monarchist and supported King Constantine I of Greece in his disagreements with Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos called the National Schism.  Eventually, their disagreement over how Greece should participate in World War I led to Venizelos forcing King Constantine I from the Greek throne and into exile. Perikles was sentenced to three years in prison because of his support of the king. After the November 1920 parliamentary elections were won by the monarchist People’s Party, Perikles was released from prison and recalled to the navy where he attained the rank of admiral.

Princess Maria of Greece and Denmark was the daughter of King George I of Greece (born Prince Vilhelm I of Denmark) and Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna of Russia. Maria had married Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia in 1900. George and Maria’s marriage was never particularly happy. Maria was not in love with her husband, despite his apparent devotion to her. She had never wanted to leave Greece and soon found excuses to leave Russia and her husband. She spent more time in Greece and elsewhere in Europe, often using her daughters’ health as the reason for her travels. Maria and her two daughters were in England when World War I broke out and chose not to return to Russia. They never saw George again. On January 28, 1919, George was killed by a firing squad with three other Grand Dukes of Russia at the Fortress of Peter and Paul in St. Petersburg, Russia.

In 1920, Maria was able to return to Greece when her eldest brother King Constantine I was brought back to power. She traveled aboard a Greek destroyer commanded by Perikles. Maria was determined to marry a Greek and a romance developed. Perikles and Maria married two years later, on December 16, 1922, in Wiesbaden, Germany. They had no children.

Maria with her daughters, circa 1918; Credit – Wikipedia

Upon his marriage, Perikles acquired two stepdaughters, the daughters of Maria and her first husband:

The couple settled in Athens but In 1924, the Second Hellenic Republic was declared and the monarchy was abolished. They lived many years in exile, first in the United Kingdom until 1925, and then in Italy until 1935. In 1935, Perikles and Maria were able to return to Greece when the monarchy was restored with Maria’s nephew King George II upon the throne. Perikles and Maria’s marriage did have its issues. Perikles had mistresses and often gave his mistresses jewelry stolen from his wife. Maria lost money playing backgammon and Perikles was forced to carefully monitor their expenses. Maria died of a heart attack at the age of 64 in Athens, Greece on December 14, 1940. She was buried at the Royal Cemetery at Tatoi Palace near Athens.

Statue of Admiral Perikles Ioannidis in Rhodes one of the islands of the Dodecanese; Credit – By Thanasis Christodoulou – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46619481

In 1947, upon the return to Greece of the Dodecanese, a group of Greek islands that had been occupied during World War II, Perikles was named military governor until the establishment of a civilian government in 1951. Perikles then returned to Athens where he spent the remainder of his life devoted to philanthropy and public service. He was president of the Piraeus Yacht Club and a benefactor of the Historical and Ethnological Society of Greece. He bequeathed his collection of photographs and historical items to the Historical and Ethnological Society of Greece and the society’s collection is now housed at the National Historical Museum in Athens.

Admiral Perikles Ioannidis survived his wife by twenty-five years, dying in Athens, Greece on February 7, 1965, at the age of 83. He was buried with his wife Princess Maria of Greece and Denmark in the Royal Cemetery at Tatoi Palace.

Grave of Perikles Ioannidis and Princess Maria in the Royal Cemetery at Tatoi Palace Credit – Par Kostisl — Travail personnel, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25382837

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.

Works Cited

  • Fr.wikipedia.org. (2019). Periklís Ioannídis. [online] Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perikl%C3%ADs_Ioann%C3%ADdis [Accessed 7 Nov. 2019].
  • Mehl, Scott. (2019). Princess Maria of Greece. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/princess-maria-of-greece/ [Accessed 7 Nov. 2019].
  • Pt.wikipedia.org. (2019). Perikles Ioannidis. [online] Available at: https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perikles_Ioannidis [Accessed 7 Nov. 2019].
  • Ru.wikipedia.org. (2019). Иоаннидис, Периклис. [online] Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%98%D0%BE%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%81,_%D0%9F%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%81 [Accessed 7 Nov. 2019].

First Cousins: Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (1819 – 1901)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

Queen Victoria was born at Kensington Palace in London, England on May 24, 1819. She was the only child of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. Victoria’s father died when she was eight months old. Her paternal grandparents were King George III of the United Kingdom and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Her maternal grandparents were Franz Friedrich Anton, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Augusta Reuss of Erbesdorf.

Eighteen months before Victoria’s birth, her first cousin Princess Charlotte of Wales died in childbirth along with her son. At the time of her death, Charlotte, who was second in line to the throne, was the only legitimate grandchild of King George III, despite the fact that twelve of his fifteen children were still alive. If Charlotte had survived her grandfather King George III and her father, the future King George IV, she would have become Queen. Her death left no legitimate heir in the second generation and prompted the aging sons of King George III to begin a frantic search for brides to provide for the succession. Victoria’s father was the fourth son of King George III but the eldest son who had a surviving child and so Victoria became the heir to the throne during the reign of George III’s third son King William IV and succeeded to the throne upon his death.

Victoria married her maternal first cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and had nine children. She was the longest-reigning British sovereign until her great-great-great-granddaughter Queen Elizabeth II surpassed the length of her reign in 2015.

Victoria had seven paternal first cousins and 21 maternal first cousins. She shared her maternal first cousins with her half-siblings Carl, 3rd Prince of Leiningen and Princess Feodora of Leiningen, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

********************

Paternal Aunts and Uncles of Queen Victoria: Children of King George III of the United Kingdom and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

********************

Maternal Aunts and Uncles of Queen Victoria: Children of Franz Friedrich Anton, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Augusta Reuss of Erbesdorf

********************

PATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Paternal First Cousins: Child of King George IV of the United Kingdom and Caroline of Brunswick

Princess Charlotte of Wales (1796 – 1817)

Had Princess Charlotte of Wales survived her grandfather King George III and her father King George IV, she would have become Queen of the United Kingdom. During her lifetime, Charlotte was second in the line of succession to the British throne after her father. Charlotte married Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and died in childbirth at the age of 21 along with her son eighteen months later. Charlotte’s pregnancy and delivery had been grossly mismanaged and the doctor in charge later committed suicide. She was mourned by the British people in a manner similar to the mourning of Diana, Princess of Wales. There is a very moving memorial to Charlotte in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.  Charlotte’s body is draped as she ascends to heaven along with angels, one of which carries her stillborn son.

Memorial to Charlotte; Credit – http://www.stgeorges-windsor.org/

Charlotte’s widower Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld greatly mourned Charlotte but his connection with the British Royal Family continued.  He was the uncle of both Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.  Leopold went on to become the first King of the Belgians, having been elected King by the Belgian National Congress in 1831.

********************

Paternal First Cousins: Child of King Ernest Augustus I of Hanover, Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale and Friederike of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

George V, King of Hanover, Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale (1819 – 1878)

Prince George of Cumberland, the last King of Hanover, was the only child of King George III’s fifth son Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale. George was born three days after his first cousin Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent (later Queen Victoria), who was ahead of her cousin in the succession by being the child of King George III’s fourth son. In 1828, an accident with a swinging set of keys resulted in George losing some vision. By 1835, George was completely blind. George married Princess Marie of Saxe-Altenburg and had one son and two daughters.

In 1837, upon the accession of Queen Victoria, George’s father became King of Hanover. Up until the point, Hanoverian kings of the United Kingdom were also Electors or Kings of Hanover. However, Hanover followed the Salic Law which did not allow female succession. Ernest Augustus, as the eldest surviving son of King George III, became King of Hanover and his son George became the Crown Prince. George succeeded his father as King of Hanover and Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, as well as Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale, in the Peerage of Great Britain, and Earl of Armagh, in the Peerage of Ireland. Fifteen years later, the monarchy was abolished when Hanover was annexed by Prussia.

********************

Paternal First Cousins: Children of Prince Augustus, Duke of Sussex and Lady Augusta Murray

The sixth son and the ninth of the fifteen children of King George III of the United Kingdom and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Prince Augustus, Duke of Sussex is infamously known for making two marriages in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act 1772. The first marriage to Lady Augusta Murray resulted in the birth of two children. The marriage was null and void because it violated the Royal Marriages Act and the children were considered illegitimate and did not have succession rights. Nevertheless, they were first cousins of Queen Victoria.

Augustus Frederick d’Este (1794 – 1848)

Augustus Frederick D’Este was an active member of the Aborigines Protection Society and was particularly interested in Native Americans. He was also the earliest recorded person for whom a definite diagnosis of multiple sclerosis can be made. The diagnosis was made in 1948 after the discovery of the diaries he kept for 22 years detailing his symptoms. He never married, probably due to his illness.

********************

Augusta Emma d’Este, Baroness Truro (1801-1866)

Augusta Emma D’Este married Thomas Wilde, 1st Baron Truro, but their marriage was childless. Like her father, she suffered from asthma and spent time in the warmer climates of Europe to ease her symptoms. Augusta kept in touch with her father and spent time at court attending Queen Adelaide, the wife of her uncle King William IV.

********************

Paternal First Cousins: Children of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge and Augusta of Hesse-Kassel

Prince George, 2nd Duke of Cambridge (1819 – 1904)

A maternal uncle of Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, the wife of King George V, Prince George was the son of King George III’s seventh son. He was born two months before his first cousin Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent (Queen Victoria), who was ahead of her cousin in the line of succession by being the child of King George III’s fourth son. George married actress Sarah Louisa Fairbrother and had three sons but the marriage was in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act so it was not legal and children of the marriage were illegitimate.

Because George’s sons were illegitimate, his title Duke of Cambridge became extinct upon his death. 107 years later, the title Duke of Cambridge was created for Prince William, his father’s great-great-great-great-grandson and the grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, on the occasion of William’s wedding.

********************

Princess Augusta of Cambridge, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1822 – 1916)

Princess Augusta of Cambridge married her maternal first cousin Friedrich Wilhelm, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and had two sons, but only one survived to adulthood. Because she had no daughter of her own, Augusta became very close with her niece Mary (May) of Teck, later the wife of King George V of the United Kingdom, and the two corresponded regularly until Augusta’s death.

Prior to the coronation of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom and his wife Queen Alexandra in 1902, which Augusta attended, she was consulted on matters of ceremony and attire as she was almost the only person alive who could remember the coronation of King William IV and Queen Adelaide. Her recollection of Queen Victoria’s coronation also proved invaluable. Unfortunately, due to old age, Augusta was not able to attend the coronation of her niece May (Queen Mary) and her husband King George V of the United Kingdom in 1911.

At the time of her death, Augusta was 94 years, 4 months and 16 days old which made her, at that time, the longest-lived British Princess of the Blood Royal. Princess Alice of Albany, Countess of Athlone, the daughter of Queen Victoria’s son Prince Leopold, became the longest-lived British Princess of the Blood Royal in 1977 and died four years later at the age of at age 97 years and 313 days.

********************

Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, Duchess of Teck (1833 – 1897)

Princess Mary Adelaide was a granddaughter of King George III, the mother of King George V’s wife Queen Mary, the grandmother of King Edward VIII and King George VI, and the great-grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II. Mary Adelaide weighed approximately 250 pounds and was affectionately known as “Fat Mary.” Her first cousin Queen Victoria wrote of her, “Her size is fearful. It is really a misfortune.” Because of her large size, many members of her family considered her unmarriageable. Mary Adelaide, however, was high-spirited and full of life and was adored by the Victorian public who called her “The People’s Princess.”

However, she married Francis, Duke of Teck and had two sons in addition to her already-mentioned daughter. Mary Adelaide devoted her life to charity, serving as the first royal patron of Barnardo’s, a charity still in existence, founded by Thomas Barnardo in 1866 to care for vulnerable children and young people. Barnardo’s has a long history of royal patrons and presidents including Queen Alexandra, Queen Mary (Mary Adelaide’s daughter), Queen Elizabeth II, Diana, Princess of Wales, and Queen Consort Camilla.

********************

MATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Maternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Sophie of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Emmanuel, Count of Mensdorff-Pouilly

Alexander von Mensdorff-Pouilly (1813 – 1871)

Alexander had a career in the Austrian Army and attained the rank of Lieutenant Field Marshal. He was the Austrian ambassador to Russia, Governor of Austrian Galicia, and Foreign Minister of the Austrian Empire. Alexander married Alexandrine von Dietrichstein, the heiress of Prince Joseph von Dietrichstein, and had two sons.

Other First Cousins: Children of Sophie of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Emmanuel, Count og Mensdorff-Pouilly

  • Hugo of Mensdorff-Pouilly (1806 – 1847), unmarried
  • Alphons of Mensdorff-Pouilly (1810 – 1894), married (1) Countess Therese von Dietrichstein-Proskau-Leslie, had two daughters (2) Countess Maria Therese von Lamberg, had one son
  • Alfred of Mensdorff-Pouilly (1812 – 1814), died in early childhood
  • Leopold of Mensdorff-Pouilly (1815 – 1821), died in childhood
  • Arthur of Mensdorff-Pouilly (1817 – 1904), married (1) Magdalene Kremzow, no children (2) Bianca von Wickenburg, no children

********************

Maternal First Cousins: Children of Antoinette of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Alexander of Württemberg

Duchess Marie of Württemberg, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha  (1799 – 1860)

When she was 33-years-old, Marie became the second wife of her 48-year-old maternal uncle Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. After her marriage, Marie was not only the first cousin but also the stepmother of her husband’s sons from his first marriage, Ernst (later Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) and Albert (later husband of Queen Victoria). Marie and Ernst had no children, but Marie had a good relationship with her stepsons and maintained a correspondence with Albert throughout their lives.

********************

Duke Alexander of Württemberg (1804 – 1881)

Alexander’s branch of the Württemberg was not considered very prestigious but he did have some impressive royal connections. He was the nephew both of King Friedrich I of Württemberg (via his father) and of Leopold I of the Belgians (via his mother), a first cousin of both Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her husband Prince Albert as well the first cousins of King Ferdinand II of Portugal (via his mother) and Alexander I and Nicholas I, Emperors of All Russia (via his father.) Alexander married Princess Marie of Orléans, daughter of Louis-Philippe, King of the French and had one son.

********************

  • Duke Paul of Württemberg (1800 – 1801), died in infancy
  • Duke Ernst of Württemberg (1807 – 1868), married Natalie Eischborn, had one daughter
  • Duke Friedrich Wilhelm Ferdinand of Württemberg (1810 – 1815), died in childhood

********************

Maternal First Cousins: Children of Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and his first wife Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg

Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1818 – 1893)

Ernst II was the reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 1844 – 1893. He grew up and was educated with his brother Albert who was just a year younger. At the urging of Albert, who had married Queen Victoria in 1840, Ernst began his search for a bride. Ernst was suffering from a venereal disease as a result of his many affairs and had been warned that continued promiscuity could leave him unable to father children. He married Princess Alexandrine of Baden, the daughter of Leopold I, Grand Duke of Baden and Princess Sophie of Sweden. Their marriage was childless, perhaps due to Ernst passing the venereal disease to Alexandrine causing her to become infertile. Alexandrine was loyal and devoted to her husband despite his infidelities, and believed that their lack of children was her fault. Upon Ernst’s death, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, his brother Albert’s second son, succeeded him as Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

********************

Albert with his wife and first cousin Queen Victoria

Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819 – 1861)

Albert was not only Queen Victoria’s husband but also her first cousin. Albert’s father and Victoria’s mother were siblings. Victoria and Albert had nine children. Their children and grandchildren married into other European royal families and their grandchildren sat upon the thrones of Germany/Prussia, Greece, Norway, Romania, Russia, Spain, and the United Kingdom as monarchs or consorts. Through these marriages, Victoria and Albert’s daughters and granddaughters transmitted the genetic disease hemophilia into other royal families. Albert’s early death at the age of 42 left Victoria in a perpetual state of widowhood that lasted the rest of her life. Victoria and Albert’s descendants currently sit upon the thrones of Denmark, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

********************

Maternal First Cousins: Children of Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Princess Maria Antonia Koháry

When Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld married Princess Maria Antonia Koháry, daughter and heiress of Ferenc József, Prince of Koháry de Csábrág et Szitnya, he remained Lutheran but agreed that their children would be raised Roman Catholic, thereby establishing the Catholic branch of the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha family. When Antonia’s father died, she inherited his estates in Hungary and Ferdinand took the title of Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry.

Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, King Consort of Portugal (1816 – 1885)

Ferdinand’s marriage to Queen Maria II of Portugal was orchestrated by his paternal uncle Leopold I, King of the Belgians. At the time of the marriage, Ferdinand was created Prince Consort of Portugal. The couple had eleven children and following tradition, Ferdinand was elevated to King Consort following the birth of their eldest son, the future King Pedro V. Ferdinand preferred to stay out of politics and left the affairs of state to his wife but like his cousin Prince Albert who married their cousin Queen Victoria, Ferdinand often stood in for his wife during her numerous pregnancies. When Queen Maria II died after giving birth to their last child, Ferdinand served as Regent for his eldest son, the new King Pedro V, until he became of age. Ferdinand married again to Elise Hensler who was a Swiss-born American actress and opera singer but the couple had no children.

********************

Prince August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1818 – 1881)

August married Princess Clémentine of Orléans, daughter of Louis Philippe, King of the French and had five children including Ferdinand, reigning Prince of Bulgaria and later Tsar of Bulgaria. August and his family lived in Palais Coburg in Vienna, Austria and the Bürglaß Castle in Coburg. When his mother died, August inherited her extensive land in Hungary and became one of Hungary’s largest landowners.

********************

 

Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duchess of Nemours  (1822 – 1857)

Victoria married Louis of Orléans, Duke of Nemours, the second son of Louis Philippe, King of the French and had four children. She died ten days after giving birth to her last child.

********************

Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1824 – 1884)

Leopold had a career in the Austrian Army. He had a son born out of wedlock with Constanze Geiger. The couple married six months after their son’s birth. Because the marriage was unequal, Leopold’s wife and son could not share his title and they were created Freihfrau (Countess) and Freiherr (Count) von Ruttenstein.

********************

Maternal First Cousins: Children of Leopold I, King of the Belgians and his second wife Princess Louise-Marie of Orléans

Louis Philippe, Crown Prince of Belgium (1833 – 1834)

Little Louis-Philippe did not fulfill his destiny to be the second King of the Belgians. He died two months short of his first birthday. His father Leopold I, King of the Belgians, recalling the death of his first wife Princess Charlotte of Wales and their son in childbirth, grieved deeply and feared he would never have an heir and this would compromise his position as king of the new Kingdom of the Belgians.

********************

Leopold II, King of the Belgians (1835 – 1909)

Leopold II was the second monarch of Belgium and is known for his exploitation of the Congo Free State in Africa for his personal gain and the atrocities committed against the Congolese people. He married Archduchess Marie Henriette of Austria, daughter of Archduke Joseph of Austria and his third wife Maria Dorothea of Württemberg. The couple had three daughters and one son who died at age 10 after falling into a pond and catching pneumonia. At the time of his death, Leopold II was extremely unpopular and his funeral procession was booed. He was succeeded by his nephew King Albert I, the son of his brother Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders.

********************

Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders (1837 – 1905)

Prince Philippe is the ancestor of the current Belgian royal family as his son succeeded to the Belgian throne as Albert I, King of the Belgians. Philippe refused the offer of the throne of Romania which was later accepted by his future brother-in-law Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen who reigned as King Carol I of Romania. He married Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and had three daughters and two sons.

********************

Princess Charlotte of Belgium, Empress Carlotta of Mexico (1840 – 1927)

Princess Charlotte was the only daughter and the youngest of the four children of Leopold I, King of Belgians and his second wife Princess Louise-Marie of Orléans. Her father named her after his first wife Princess Charlotte of Wales who died in childbirth along with their son. Charlotte married Archduke Maximilian of Austria, a younger brother of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, but the couple had no children. After a French-staged referendum in Mexico that supposedly confirmed the will of the people that they wanted an empire, Maximilian agreed to become the Emperor of Mexico. Charlotte was then known as Empress Carlotta of Mexico. Maximilian’s reign of Mexico was short-lived. Many Mexicans wanted a republic instead of an empire and this led to continuous warfare. Three years after he became Emperor of Mexico, Maximilian was condemned to death by a court of war and executed by a firing squad. After the death of her husband, Charlotte apparently developed some kind of mental illness. She spent the rest of her life at Bouchout Castle in Meise, Belgium where her brother King Leopold II oversaw her care.

********************

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.

Works Cited

  • Lundy, D. (2019). Main Page. [online] Thepeerage.com. Available at: http://www.thepeerage.com/. (for genealogy information)
  • Unofficial Royalty. (2019). Unofficial Royalty. [online] Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com. (for biographical and genealogy information)
  • Wikipedia. (2019). Main Page. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/.  (for biographical and genealogy information)

Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

Credit – Wikipedia

The first husband of Princess Maria of Greece who was the daughter of King George I of Greece, Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia was executed by the Bolsheviks along with his brother Nicholas and two other Russian Grand Dukes. George was born on August 23, 1863, in Bielyi-Kliutsch, in the Tiflis Governorate of the Russian Empire, now in the country of Georgia. He was the third of the six sons and the fourth of the seven children of Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia and his wife Grand Duchess Olga Feodorovna, born Princess Cecilie of Baden. George’s paternal grandparents were Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia and his wife Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, born Princess Charlotte of Prussia, daughter of King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia. His maternal grandparents were Grand Duke Leopold of Baden and Princess Sofia of Sweden, daughter of King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden.

George had five brothers and one sister:

Grand Duke George; Credit – Wikipedia

George grew up in present-day Georgia where his father was the Governor-General of the Russian provinces of Transcaucasia. Educated by private tutors, George had a Spartan upbringing that included sleeping on army cots and taking cold baths.

While George did have a military career and served as a General in the Russian Army, he was a passionate coin collector. His collections of Russian coins and medals included practically every coin ever used in the Russian Empire and he wrote ten books on coins. One of them, Catalogue of Imperial Russian Coins 1725–1891, was reprinted in the United States in 1976 and is still an important reference on the subject. In 1895, George was appointed the curator of the Alexander III Museum, today the Russian Museum in St Petersburg. His knowledge of coins was invaluable in increasing the museum’s coin collection. In 1909, George donated his own collection to the museum.

Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia and Princess Maria of Greece, circa1900; Credit – Royal Collection Trust RCIN 2927293

On April 30, 1900, in Corfu, Greece, George married Princess Maria of Greece, the daughter of his first cousin Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna of Russia and her husband King George I of Greece, born Prince Vilhelm of Denmark. The couple had two daughters. George’s daughter Princess Xenia married millionaire William Leeds and lived in an estate on Long Island in New York State for years. For a few months in 1927, Xenia took in a woman claiming to be Grand Duchess Anastasia, the youngest daughter of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia, later found to be Anna Anderson, an impostor.

George, Maria, and their two daughters; Credit – Wikipedia

George and Maria’s marriage was never particularly happy. Maria was not in love with her husband, despite his apparent devotion to her. She had never wanted to leave Greece and soon found excuses to leave Russia and her husband. She spent more time in Greece and elsewhere in Europe, often using her daughters’ health as the reason for her travels. Maria and her two daughters were in England when World War I broke out and chose not to return to Russia. They never saw George again.

In March 1918, all the male members of the Romanov family were ordered to register at Cheka (Soviet secret police) headquarters, and then they were sent into exile in internal areas of Russia. George was sent to Vologda, a town north of Moscow, with his brother Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich, and their first cousin Grand Duke Dmitri Konstantinovich. They could move freely around town and visit each other.

Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich; Credit – Wikipedia

George’s brother Nicholas, known in the family as Bimbo, was the eldest child in the family.  Although he had a career in the Russian army, his passion, even in childhood, was Russian history. In 1905, Nicholas left the military and pursued his interest in history full-time. Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia granted him unlimited access to the Romanov Family Archives and Library. Grand Duke Nicholas was the author of many historical books about Alexander I, Emperor of All Russia and the Napoleonic Wars. He was chairman of the Russian Historical Society and also headed the Russian Geographical Society and the Society for the Protection and Preservation of Art and Antiquities. In 1915, Moscow University awarded Nicholas an honorary doctorate in Russian history.

However, an incident on June 13, 1918, during the execution of Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich, the brother of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia, changed the way the remaining Romanovs were treated. It appeared to his executioners that Michael had been trying to escape after the gun that was intended for him misfired. The incident was used to justify the necessity of keeping all exiled Romanovs under a strict regime of imprisonment.

On July 1, 1918, George, his brother Nicholas and their cousin Dmitri were arrested in Vologda where they had been exiled. They were sent back to St. Petersburg to the Shpalernaia Prison where would remain for most of their incarceration. On August 13, 1918, Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich, the youngest of the eight children of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia and the uncle of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia, was arrested and joined the three other Grand Dukes at Shpalernaia Prison in St. Petersburg. The four Grand Dukes were all first cousins as their fathers were all sons of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia. Each Grand Duke was held in a cell, only seven feet by three feet. Each day, they were all allowed to gather in the courtyard for exercise which allowed the Grand Dukes to exchange a few words.

Grand Duke George somehow managed to smuggle letters to his wife Maria in England. The last letter was dated November 27, 1918. Maria unsuccessfully tried to buy her husband’s freedom and that of the other three Grand Dukes for fifty thousand pounds through the Danish ambassador in St. Petersburg. Queen Alexandrine of Denmark, a niece of Nicholas and George, tried unsuccessfully to obtain the release of the four Grand Dukes also through the intervention of the Danish ambassador. On December 6, 1918, Grand Duke Paul’s health, which was already bad, declined sharply, and he was transferred to a prison hospital.

The writer Maxim Gorky had been a supporter of Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks but after seeing the terror of the new regime, he was changing his mind. Princess Paley, Grand Duke Paul’s wife, asked Gorky to intercede on behalf of the four Grand Dukes. In January 1919, Gorky went to Lenin to plead the case of the four Grand Dukes. Gorky pleaded the merits of each Grand Duke. When Gorky came to Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich, he said, “Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich is a historian.” Lenin replied, “The Revolution does not need historians.” Gorky did not give up and eventually, Lenin promised to release the four Grand Dukes. Gorky, with the release document signed by Lenin, rushed to the station in Moscow to catch the train to St. Petersburg. When he reached St. Petersburg, Gorky saw the headline in the newspaper, “Four Grand Dukes Shot” and he nearly fainted.

Unlike the execution of Nicholas II and his family and the execution of Elizabeth Feodorovna and the five other Romanovs, there are no written eyewitness accounts of the execution of the four Grand Dukes. What is known is based on versions of second-hand information.

Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg; The Peter and Paul Cathedral with its golden spire can be seen in the middle; Photo Credit – By Andrew Shiva / Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51488758

On January 27, 1919, Grand Duke Paul was transferred from the prison hospital to another prison and was kept there until 10 pm, when he was driven to the Peter and Paul Fortress, originally built by Peter the Great to protect his new city of St. Petersburg and the site of the Peter and Paul Cathedral, the burial place of the Romanovs. At 11:30 pm on January 27, 1919, Grand Dukes Dmitri, Nicholas, and George were awakened in their cells at Shpalernaya Prison and were driven to the Peter and Paul Fortress. When Dmitri, Nicholas, and George arrived at the Fortress, they were roughly pushed from the truck into the Trubetskoy Bastion where prisoners arrested by the Bolsheviks were held. The Grand Dukes were told to remove their shirts and coats, despite the frigid January temperature.

The Trubetskoy Bastion in the late 1920s; Photo Credit – Автор: Анонимный автор – http://encspb.ru/object/2804023013, Общественное достояние, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26266039

Grand Duke Dmitri Konstantinovich, Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich, and Grand Duke George Mikhailovich were escorted toward a ditch that had been dug in the courtyard. As they passed the Peter and Paul Cathedral where their ancestors were buried, they each made the sign of the cross. Guards appeared carrying Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich on a stretcher. The three Grand Dukes were lined up before the ditch, in which there were already bodies. Nicholas Mikhailovich, who had been carrying his cat, handed it to a soldier, asking him to look after it. Grand Duke Paul was shot on his stretcher. Grand Dukes Nicholas, George, and Dmitri were all killed by the same blast, causing them to fall into the ditch.  The four Grand Dukes were the last of the eighteen Romanovs killed as a result of the Russian Revolution.

Most likely, the ditch is the burial place of the four Grand Dukes. In 2004, in the Grand Ducal Burial Mausoleum adjoining the Peter and Paul Cathedral, a commemorative plaque was placed with the names of four Grand Dukes shot nearby in the Peter and Paul Fortress. In 2009, during the construction of a road to a parking lot at the Peter and Paul Fortress, nine unmarked mass graves were discovered and a total of 112 remains were unearthed.  Perhaps eventually the remains of the four Grand Dukes will be identified.

In 1981, Grand Duke Paul, Grand Duke Dmitri, and Grand Duke George were canonized as New-Martyrs of Russia by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. Grand Duke Nicholas was the only Romanov who had been executed by the Bolsheviks not to be canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.

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.

Works Cited

  • Angelfire.com. (2018). ROYAL RUSSIA NEWS. THE ROMANOV DYNASTY & THEIR LEGACY, MONARCHY, HISTORY OF IMPERIAL & HOLY RUSSIA. [online] Available at: http://www.angelfire.com/pa/ImperialRussian/blog/index.blog/1450058/excavations-for-grand-dukes-remains-to-resume-at-peter-and-paul-fortress/.
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia (1863–1919). [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Duke_George_Mikhailovich_of_Russia_(1863%E2%80%931919).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2019). January 28, 1919 – Execution of Four Russian Grand Dukes. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/execution-of-four-grand-dukes/.
  • https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/princess-maria-of-greece/
  • Perry, J. and Pleshakov, K. (2008). The flight of the Romanovs. New York: Basic Books.
  • Ru.wikipedia.org. (2018). Расстрел великих князей в Петропавловской крепости. [online] Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%81%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BB_%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B8%D1%85_%D0%BA%D0%BD%D1%8F%D0%B7%D0%B5%D0%B9_%D0%B2_%D0%9F%D0%B5%D1%82%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B9_%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BF%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8.

First Cousins: King Edward VII of the United Kingdom

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

 

King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (1841 – 1910)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

King Edward VII was born on November 9, 1841, at Buckingham Palace in London, England. He was the eldest son and the second of the nine children of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her first cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. His maternal grandparents were Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, fourth son of King George III of the United Kingdom and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. His paternal grandparents were Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and his first wife Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. Edward VII married Princess Alexandra of Denmark and had three sons and three daughters.

King Edward VII’s one paternal uncle had no children and his mother had no full siblings but did have two half-siblings. Edward VII has no paternal cousins and eight maternal half-first cousins. He shares his half-first cousins with his siblings Victoria, Princess Royal, German Empress, Queen of Prussia; Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine; Prince Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Edinburgh; Princess Helena, Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein; Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll; Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught; Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany; and Princess Beatrice, Princess Henry of Battenberg.

********************

Paternal Uncle of King Edward VII: Child of Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg

********************

Maternal Half-Aunt and Half-Uncle of King Edward VII: Children of Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and her first husband Emich Carl, 2nd Prince of Leiningen

********************

Maternal Half First Cousins: Children of Carl, 3rd Prince of Leiningen and Countess Maria Klebelsberg

Ernst Leopold, 4th Prince of Leiningen (1830 – 1904)

Ernst Leopold spent his childhood in England and had a career in the British Royal Navy. He attained the rank of Admiral and retired from the Royal Navy after a forty-six-year career. Upon the death of his father in 1856, Ernst Leopold became the 4th Prince of Leiningen but he was not a reigning prince. His great-grandfather Carl Friedrich Wilhelm, Count of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Hardenburg had received the Principality of Leiningen as a compensation for the lost Hardenburg estates in the Palatinate occupied by French revolutionary troops. Three years later, the territory encompassing the Principality of Leiningen became part of the newly established Grand Duchy of Baden, the Kingdom of Bavaria, and the Grand Duchy of Hesse. Ernst Leopold married Princess Marie of Baden, daughter of Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden and Sophie of Sweden. The couple had two sons, both born at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight in England, one of the two private homes of Queen Victoria, Ernst Leopold’s aunt.

********************

Prince Eduard Friedrich of Leiningen (1833 – 1914), unmarried

********************

Maternal Half First Cousins: Children of Princess Feodora of Leiningen and Ernst I, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

Carl Ludwig II, 5th Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1829 – 1907)

Carl Ludwig succeeded as 5th Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg after his father’s death. Nine days later, he renounced his rights as the reigning prince in favor of his brother Hermann because he intended to make a morganatic (unequal) marriage. However, he was able to keep his birth title. Carl Ludwig married Maria Grathwohl and had one son and two daughters.

********************

Credit – https://www.rct.uk/collection/420419/princess-elise-of-hohenlohe-langenberg-1830-1851

Princess Elise of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1830 – 1851)

Princess Elise died in Venice, Italy from tuberculosis. After her death, Queen Victoria sent her grieving half-sister Feodora a bracelet containing a copy of the above portrait. Feodora responded, “I think the miniature very good, and the setting so beautiful, the idea so beautiful … Only with tears I can thank you!”

********************

Hermann and his wife Leopoldine of Baden

Hermann, 6th Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1832 – 1913)

Hermann became the 6th Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg when his elder brother Carl Ludwig renounced his rights after a reign of nine days. He had a military career in the Prussian Army and was a member of the Reichstag, the parliament of the German Empire. Hermann married Princess Leopoldine of Baden and had one son and one daughter. His son and successor Ernst II, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg married Queen Victoria’s granddaughter Princess Alexandra of Edinburg and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the daughter of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

********************

Prince Victor of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1833 – 1891)

Victor was a British admiral, sculptor, artist, and watercolor painter and lived in the United Kingdom from the time he was 18-years old when he entered the Royal Navy. He served on active duty in the Royal Navy for 18 years. After his retirement, he was promoted to the rank of Retired Rear Admiral, Retired Vice Admiral and finally to Retired Admiral. He became quite famous as an artist and was particularly noted for his sculptures, including the huge statue of Alfred the Great in his traditional birthplace Wantage, Oxfordshire, England. (List of Victor’s sculptures)

Statue of Alfred the Great sculpted by Prince Victor of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

Victor married Laura Seymour, daughter of Admiral Sir George Seymour, and the couple had three daughters and one son. Because this marriage was considered an unequal marriage, Laura could not use Victor’s title. Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Queen Victoria’s brother-in-law and first cousin, created her Countess Gleichen. Eventually, Queen Victoria allowed Laura to use her husband’s title within the British Empire.

Wikipedia: Prince Victor of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

********************

Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein  (1835 – 1900)

Napoléon III, Emperor of France offered a proposal of marriage to Adelheid’s parents. Adelheid’s aunt Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert were dead-set against the marriage and the negotiations were eventually halted. Instead, Adelheid married Frederick VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and had seven children including Princess Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg who married Queen Victoria’s grandson, the future Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia.

********************

Princess Feodora of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen (1839 – 1872)

Feodora was the second wife of Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. The marriage was primarily intended to find a mother for his children and was not a love match. Georg never got over the death of his first wife, with whom he shared many common interests. The same could not be said for his relationship with Feodora. His attempts to foster in her a love of the arts and theater proved unsuccessful, and he quickly realized that Feodora would never compare to his beloved first wife. Despite their differences, Feodora and Georg had three sons. Feodora died from scarlet fever at the age of 32.

Unofficial Royalty: Feodora of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen

********************

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.

Works Cited

  • Lundy, D. (2019). Main Page. [online] Thepeerage.com. Available at: http://www.thepeerage.com/. (for genealogy information)
  • Unofficial Royalty. (2019). Unofficial Royalty. [online] Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com. (for biographical and genealogy information)
  • Wikipedia. (2019). Main Page. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/.  (for biographical and genealogy information)