Author Archives: Susan

Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2014

Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence; Credit – Wikipedia

Prince Albert Victor Christian Edward was born on January 8, 1864, at Frogmore House near Windsor Castle in Windsor, England. the eldest child of the then Prince and Princess of Wales, the future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom and Queen Alexandra, born Princess Alexandra of Denmark. His mother, who had been participating in indoor and outdoor winter festivities, did not even realize she was in labor, and disregarded the twinges of pain she had been feeling. However, her lady-in-waiting, Lady Macclesfield, who had given birth to thirteen children, realized what was happening. She sent for the Windsor town doctor because the royal doctors would have arrived in time. Because the baby was two months premature, nothing was ready for the birth. Despite last-minute preparations, the 3 3/4 pound prince was born strong and healthy, with only the Prince of Wales, Lady Macclesfield, and the doctor in attendance.

Following the wishes of his grandmother Queen Victoria, the baby was named Albert Victor, after the Queen and her late husband Prince Albert. He was given the additional names of Christian, after his maternal grandfather King Christian IX of Denmark, and Edward, one of his father’s names. The prince was always known as Eddy in the family and later as Prince Eddy in the press.

The infant prince was christened in the Private Chapel of Buckingham Palace on March 10, 1864. His godparents were:

Prince Eddy with his mother and father; Credit – Wikipedia

When Eddy was seventeen months old, his brother George, the future King George V, was born. Because of their closeness in age, the two brothers were brought up and educated together.  Eddy had a total of five siblings:

Prince Eddy and his siblings; Credit – Wikipedia

Eddy, who was inattentive and lazy, never excelled in his studies. Perhaps this was due to his premature birth which can be associated with learning disabilities. When separating the brothers for the remainder of their education was considered, Eddy and George’s tutor John Neale Dalton recommended keeping them together because “Prince Albert Victor requires the stimulus of Prince George’s company to induce him to work at all.”

In 1877, Eddy and George joined the Royal Navy’s training ship, HMS Britannia.  The brothers remained aboard the Britannia for nearly two years before embarking on a three-year cruise on the HMS Bacchante.  Always accompanied by their tutor Mr. Dalton, the brothers visited the Mediterranean, the West Indies, South America, South Africa, Australia, China, and Japan.

In 1883, the brothers were separated and Eddy spent a short time at Trinity College, Cambridge. Eddy showed little interest in the intellectual atmosphere. His second tutor John Kenneth Stephens said, ” He hardly knows the meaning of the words to read.” Nevertheless, Prince Eddy received an honorary degree. Prince Eddy’s apathetic attitude and his lack of interest in anything serious caused great anxiety to his family especially since in the line of succession, he would inherit the throne after his father.

Prince Eddy and his brother Prince George; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Eddy’s family decided that finding a suitable wife might help correct his attitude and behavior. Eddy proposed to his cousin Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine (later Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia) but was rejected by her. Eddy then fell head over heels for French Catholic Princess Hélène of Orléans, who returned his love. However, Hélène’s father, the Comte de Paris, refused to allow his daughter to convert to Anglicanism and forbade the marriage.

It was at this time that, unbeknownst to her, Princess Mary of Teck was considered the most suitable bride for Eddy. Mary’s mother was a first cousin of Queen Victoria, Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, the youngest child of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (the seventh son and tenth child of King George III and Queen Charlotte). Eddy offered no resistance to this suggestion. Mary had been brought up to revere the British monarchy and to be proud that she was a member of the British Royal Family. The fact that Mary’s father was a product of a morganatic marriage could have presented difficulties for her in the marriage market. Despite Eddy’s shortcomings, Mary felt it was her duty to marry him.

Eddy proposed to Mary during a ball on December 3, 1891. The engagement was announced three days later and the wedding was set for February 27, 1892. The engagement was met with disdain by some German relatives who felt that dignified, well-educated Mary was unequal in rank due to her grandfather’s morganatic marriage. However, Queen Victoria approved wholeheartedly of the marriage.

eddy and mary

Prince Eddy & Princess Mary of Teck; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Amid the wedding preparations, Eddy developed a high fever on January 7, 1892, at Sandringham in Norfolk, England. His sister Victoria and other household members already had been ill with influenza, which Eddy also developed. Two days later, his lungs became inflamed and pneumonia was diagnosed. In his delirium, Eddy frequently shouted the name “Hélène”, the name of the woman he originally wanted to marry.

In the early morning of January 14, 1892, a chaplain was summoned to Eddy’s bedroom at Sandringham. There, surrounded by his parents, the Prince and Princess of Wales, his brother George, his sisters Louise, Victoria, and Maud, his fiancée Mary, and her mother the Duchess of Teck, Eddy died at 9:35 a.m. Eddy’s funeral was held at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor and he was buried in the Albert Memorial Chapel in St. George’s Chapel in Windsor, England. Mary’s wedding bouquet of orange blossoms lay on his coffin.

eddy_tomb

Tomb of Prince Albert Victor (Eddy); Credit – www.findagrave.com

After the death of Prince Eddy, Mary and Eddy’s brother George, now second in the line of succession, spent much time together. As time passed and their common grief eased, there was hope that a marriage might take place between them. George proposed to Mary beside a pond in the garden at his sister Louise’s home, East Sheen Lodge, on April 29, 1893. The engagement was announced on May 3, 1893, with the blessing of Queen Victoria. The couple married on July 6, 1893, and eventually became the beloved King George V and Queen Mary.

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.

Recommended Book

  • Prince Eddy: The King Britain Never Had – Andrew Cook

Alexandra of Denmark, Queen of the United Kingdom

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2014

Alexandra of Denmark, Queen of the United Kingdom; Credit – Wikipedia

Queen Alexandra, the wife of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, was born Princess Alexandra of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (full name Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia) on December 1, 1844, at the Yellow Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark. She was the eldest daughter and the second of the six children of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel and was known in the family as Alix. In 1853, Alix’s father was confirmed as the successor of the childless King Frederik VII of Denmark and she was then Princess Alexandra of Denmark. Upon the death of King Frederik VII of Denmark in 1863, Alix’s father became King Christian IX of Denmark. Three of Alix’s five siblings became a monarch or a consort of a monarch.

King Christian IX of Denmark and his family (Front Row: Dagmar, Valdemar, Queen Louise, Thyra, Alexandra; Back Row: Frederik, King Christian, Vilhelm); Credit – Wikipedia

Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her husband Prince Albert were seeking a bride for their eldest son Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, known in the family as Bertie. Victoria and Albert’s eldest daughter Victoria, Princess Royal, Crown Princess of Prussia, known as Vicky in the family, was enlisted to help with the search. Princess Alexandra had originally been fifth on the list of potential brides. Vicky thought Alix would be the perfect match for Bertie and she sent back glowing reports of her to Victoria and Albert. Prince Albert concluded that Alix was “the only one to be chosen. Vicky then arranged the first meeting between Alix and Bertie in Speyer Cathedral on September 24, 1861. On September 9, 1862, after the death of his father in December 1861, Bertie proposed to Alix at the Royal Palace of Laeken, the home of his great-uncle King Leopold I of the Belgians.  The couple was married at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on March 10, 1863. Queen Victoria, in perpetual mourning for Prince Albert, watched the ceremony from Catherine of Aragon’s Closet overlooking the left side of the altar.

Bertie and Alix on their wedding day; Credit – Wikipedia

Within seven years, Alix had given birth to six children. All of Alix’s children were born prematurely. Late in her third pregnancy (with Louise), Alix became ill with rheumatic fever.  She safely gave birth without the use of the painkiller chloroform which her doctors thought would worsen her condition.  The bout of rheumatic fever continued after the baby’s birth and Alix was in such pain that she had to be constantly comforted by her lady-in-waiting, Lady Macclesfield. The rheumatic  fever threatened her life and left her with a permanent limp

 

As the Prince and Princess of Wales, Bertie and Alix lived at Marlborough House near Buckingham Palace in London and Sandringham House in Norfolk, England.  Sandringham House, purchased by Queen Victoria for Bertie and Alix, is still a privately owned residence of the British monarch.

Sandringham House; Credit – Wikipedia

Alix was a popular Princess of Wales and undertook many duties in support of her mother-in-law Queen Victoria, in the words of the Queen, “spare me the strain and fatigue of functions.” Queen Victoria further said of Alix, “She opens bazaars, attends concerts, visits hospitals in my place … she not only never complains, but endeavours to prove that she has enjoyed what to another would be a tiresome duty.” However, Alix’s increasing deafness caused by hereditary otosclerosis led to social isolation and she spent more time at home with her children and pets.

As a mother, Alix was extremely possessive, demanded complete devotion from her children, and insisted that they call her “Motherdear.”  Her three daughters were much plainer than their beautiful mother and very shy. Family members referred to them as “the whispering Walses.” Princess Victoria was never allowed to marry as her parents considered all her suitors unsuitable. She was destined to spend her life attending her mother who would ring a bell at all hours of the day and night to summon Victoria to her side. Princess Victoria’s cousin, Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia, described her as little more than “a glorified maid.”

On January 22, 1901, Queen Victoria died and Bertie, at the age of 59, finally became King. The coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra was held at Westminster Abbey on August 9, 1902.  Originally scheduled for June 26, it had to be postponed because the new king developed appendicitis.  Bertie and Alix began the idea of the royal family’s public appearances as we now know them during Queen Victoria’s withdrawal after her husband’s death, and they continued this during Bertie’s reign.

Queen Alexandra and King Edward VII on their coronation day; Credit – Wikipedia

During his marriage, Bertie had many mistresses. Alix knew about many of them and accepted them. Among the women, Bertie socialized with were: the actress Lillie Langtry; Lady Randolph Churchill (born Jennie Jerome in the USA, was the mother of Winston Churchill); Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick; actress Sarah Bernhardt; and Alice Keppel who was his last mistress.  Alice Keppel is the great-grandmother of Queen Camilla. When Bertie was on his deathbed, Alix sent for Alice Keppel and arranged for her to see the king during one of his periods of consciousness. When Bertie died on May 6, 1910, Alix quipped, “Now at least I know where he is.”

Toward the end of her life, Alix became almost completely deaf and suffered from mild senile dementia. She died of a heart attack at her beloved Sandringham House on November 20, 1925, just eleven days short of her 81st birthday. She was the longest-lived queen consort since Eleanor of Aquitaine and held that record until the death of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother who died at the age of 101. Alix’s remains were brought to London and the cortege proceeded through the streets in a snowstorm. Queen Alexandra was buried with her husband in a tomb on the south side of the sanctuary of St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.

 

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.

House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Princess Michael of Kent

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2014

 

Baroness Marie-Christine Anna Agnes Hedwig Ida von Reibnitz was born on January 15, 1945, in Carlsbad, then in the German-controlled Sudetenland, now known as Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. Her father was Baron Günther von Reibnitz and her mother was Countess Maria Anna Szapáry von Muraszombath, a descendant of the House of Windisch-Grätz. Marie-Christine has an older half-sister Margarita from her father’s first marriage and an older brother Friedrich. In 1985, Princess Michael acknowledged that her father had been a member of the Nazi party and held the rank of Major in the SS (Schutzstaffel).

After her parents divorced, her father moved to Mozambique where he became a farmer and big game hunter, and her mother took Marie-Christine and her older brother to Sydney, Australia where she ran a hair salon. In 1968, Marie-Christine settled in London, England where she worked in architecture, carpentry, and advertising. She studied the history of fine and decorative art at the Victoria and Albert Museum and then had her own successful interior design company, Szapar Designs.

On September 14, 1971, Marie-Christine married English banker Thomas Troubridge, the younger brother of Sir Peter Troubridge, 6th Baronet. The couple separated in 1973 and divorced in 1977. The Roman Catholic Church formally annulled the marriage in May 1978. On June 30, 1978, Marie-Christine married Prince Michael of Kent, a grandson of King George V and a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, in a civil ceremony at the Rathaus (City Hall) in Vienna, Austria. On June 29, 1983, the couple married in a Roman Catholic ceremony, at the Archbishop’s House in London after receiving the permission of Pope John Paul II.

 

Because his wife was Roman Catholic, Prince Michael forfeited his place in the line of succession under the terms of the Act of Settlement 1701. When the Succession to The Crown Act 2013 went into effect, eliminating the exclusion of anyone who marries a Roman Catholic, Prince Michael was returned to his place in the line of succession.

Upon her marriage, Marie-Christine’s style and title became Her Royal Highness Princess Michael of Kent. Traditionally, all wives of male members of the British Royal Family take the style and title of their husbands. Princess Michael could not be called Princess Marie-Christine, as she is not a princess in her own right. See Unofficial Royalty: Their Royal Highness Prince and Princess

The couple had two children, who were raised in the Church of England, and therefore retain their place in the line of succession to the British throne:

 

Neither Princess Michael nor her husband have official royal duties or receive public funds. However, they occasionally represented Queen Elizabeth II at events abroad. Princess Michael works as a writer, historian, lecturer, interior designer, and art consultant. She has authored three non-fiction books: Crowned in a Far Country: Eight Royal Brides, Cupid and the King – Five Royal Paramours, and The Serpent and The Moon – Two Rivals for the Love of a Renaissance King and two novels: The Queen Of Four Kingdoms and Agnès Sorel: Mistress of Beauty.

 

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.

Prince Michael of Kent

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2014

Prince Michael of Kent; Credit – Wikipedia

Prince Michael of Kent was born on July 4, 1942, at Coppins, his family’s country house in Iver, Buckinghamshire, England. He is the youngest of the three children of Prince George, Duke of Kent and Princess Marina of Greece, and one of the nine grandchildren of King George V. Because Prince Michael was born on American Independence Day, the Duke of Kent asked President Franklin Roosevelt to be one of his son’s godparents. President Roosevelt accepted and the baby prince was named Michael George Charles Franklin. See Unofficial Royalty: Born on the Fourth of July.

Michael was christened on August 4, 1942, at the Private Chapel in Windsor Castle. His godparents were:

 

Michael has two elder siblings:

Sadly, six weeks after his son’s birth, on August 25, 1942, the Duke of Kent died in a Royal Air Force plane crash in the service of his country. In 1947, Prince Michael served as a page boy at the wedding of his cousins, Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten.

Prince Michael was educated at Sunningdale School in Sunningdale, Berkshire, England and Eton College in Eton, Berkshire, England. He attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and was commissioned into the 11th Hussars (Prince Albert’s Own).  Prince Michael served in Germany and Hong Kong and was part of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Cyprus in 1971. He had a twenty-year career in the military which included serving on the Defense Intelligence Staff.

Prince Michael does not carry out any official duties, although he occasionally represented Queen Elizabeth II, his first cousin, at events abroad.   Because he receives no public funds, Prince Michael had the permission of the Queen to earn a living and has his own consulting company.

Prince Michael attends the reburial ceremony for Empress Maria Feodorovna at the Cathedral of the Peter and Paul in St. Petersburg, 2006

Prince Michael had a strong interest in Russia and was the first member of the British Royal Family to learn Russian. Three of his grandparents were first cousins of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia and it has been said that Michael bears some resemblance to Nicholas. Prince Michael has qualified as a Russian interpreter and has traveled frequently to Russia. He has represented his cousin, Queen Elizabeth II, at Romanov-related events including the 1998 burial of Nicholas II and his family and the 2006 reburial of Empress Maria Feodorovna.

On June 30, 1978, Prince Michael married Baroness Marie-Christine von Reibnitz, now known as Princess Michael of Kent, in a civil ceremony at the Rathaus (City Hall) in Vienna, Austria. Because his wife was Roman Catholic, Prince Michael forfeited his place in the line of succession under the terms of the Act of Settlement 1701.  When the Succession to The Crown Act 2013 went into effect, eliminating the exclusion of anyone who marries a Roman Catholic, Prince Michael was returned to his place in the line of succession.

 

Prince and Princess Michael of Kent have two children who were raised in the Church of England and are in the line of succession:

 

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New study on Richard III’s DNA published

Memorial to King Richard III in the choir of Leicester Cathedral; Credit – Wikipedia

A study with more details about the DNA testing on King Richard III’s remains was published on December 2, 2014. The study concluded that the remains found under the parking lot are undoubtedly those of Richard III, he apparently had blond hair and blue eyes, and there appears to be some infidelity somewhere in Richard’s maternal line.

Exercise Daily Regular exercise not only restores one’s stamina, but it also adds to the sex life of appalachianmagazine.com generic cialis australia males. Lack of sexual potency and samples viagra cialis poor erection lessens happiness in a relationship, which turns into the acidic state, the quantity of the aggressive, precipitated bile acids in it is increased. This get cialis http://appalachianmagazine.com/category/featured/page/15/?filter_by=random_posts tablet provides a prolonged effect compared to the standard available tablets in the market. In a study, it cheapest viagra tabs has been proven again and again to bring relief to many patients. Here is a link to the actual study published on December 2, 2014, so you can read the information yourself instead of relying on the media reports: Nature Communications: Identification of the remains of King Richard III

Richard III’s remains will be interred on March 26, 2015 at Leicester Cathedral.
BBC, August 7, 2014 : Richard III reinterment date announced

December 1914: Royalty and World War I

by Susan Flantzer

Maximilian, Graf von Spee, Vice Admiral of the Imperial German Navy
Timeline: December 1, 1914 – December 31, 1914
A Note About German Titles
December 1914 – Royals Who Died In Action


Maximilian, Graf von Spee, Vice Admiral of the Imperial German Navy

Maximilian, Graf von Spee; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

On December 8, 1914, the British Royal Navy won a decisive victory over the Imperial German Navy in the Battle of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. The British lost only ten men, but the Germans lost 1,871 men when four of their ships were sunk. Among those killed was the commander of the Imperial German Navy during the battle, Maximilian, Graf von Spee and his two sons Otto and Heinrich.

The Spee family was an old noble family from the German Rhineland, sometimes called Rhenish. Maximilian, Graf von Spee was born in Copenhagen, Denmark on July 22, 1861. He joined the Imperial German Navy when he was 17 years old. By the time he was 26 years old, he was commanding ports in the German Cameron, a German colony in West Africa. In 1899, while serving as first officer on the battleship SMS Brandenburg, von Spee participated in the Boxer Rebellion in China.  In 1912, he became the commander of the German East Asia Squadron operating out of Tsingtao, China and was given the rank of Vice Admiral.

Early in World War I, Graf von Spee was the commander in German victories in the Battle of Papeete in French Polynesia and the Battle of Coronel in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Coronel, Chile. During the Battle of the Falkland Islands, von Spee’s flagship the SMS Scharnhorst, together with the SMS Gneisenau, the SMS Nürnberg, and the SMS Leipzig were all sunk. 1,871 men died including von Spee and his two sons, Lt. Otto von Spee, who served aboard the Nürnberg, and Lt. Heinrich von Spee who served on the Gneisenau.

Memorial for Vice Admiral Maximilian, Graf von Spee and his sons in Kiel, Germany; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

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Timeline: December 1, 1914 – December 31, 1914

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A Note About German Titles

Most of the royals who died in action during World War I were German. The German Empire consisted of 27 constituent states, most of them ruled by royal families. Scroll down to German Empire here to see what constituent states made up the German Empire.  The constituent states retained their own governments, but had limited sovereignty. Some had their own armies, but the military forces of the smaller ones were put under Prussian control. In wartime, armies of all the constituent states would be controlled by the Prussian Army and the combined forces were known as the Imperial German Army.  German titles may be used in Royals Who Died In Action below. Refer to Unofficial Royalty: Glossary of German Noble and Royal Titles.

24 British peers were also killed in World War I and they will be included in the list of those who died in action. In addition, more than 100 sons of peers also lost their lives, and those that can be verified will also be included.

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December 1914 – Royals Who Died In Action

The list is in chronological order and does contain some who would be considered noble instead of royal. The links in the last bullet for each person is that person’s genealogical information from Leo’s Genealogics Website or from The Peerage.  If a person has a Wikipedia page, their name will be linked to that page.

Otto Aribert, Graf von Westarp

Maximilian, Graf von Spee

  • son of Rudolf, Graf von Spee and Fernanda Tutein
  • born June 22, 1861 in Copenhagen, Denmark
  • married Margareta, Freiin von der Osten-Sacken, had issue (two sons, below, who died with him and one daughter)
  • killed in action aboard the SMS Scharnhorst in the South Atlantic Ocean near the Falkland Islands, age 53

Otto, Graf von Spee

Heinrich, Graf von Spee

Wilhelm, Graf von Redern

Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2014

Credit – By The National Churches Trust – Luke March, HRH The Duke of Gloucester, Pippa Jacob, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78033822

Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester was born at Hadley Common in Hertfordshire, England on August 26, 1944.  He was the second of the two sons of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester and his wife Lady Alice Montagu Douglas Scott, daughter of John Montagu Douglas Scott, 7th Duke of Buccleuch,  and one of the nine grandchildren of King George V of the United Kingdom.

The prince’s christening took place at the Private Chapel at Windsor Castle on October 20, 1944. The location of the christening was not announced at the time due to security concerns because of World War II. The names given to the royal baby were Richard Alexander Walter George, three of the names after his three godfathers, and his godparents were:

Prince Richard had one elder brother, Prince William of Gloucester who was killed in an airplane accident at an airshow in 1972 (scroll down).  At that time, Prince Richard became the heir to his father’s titles.

Richard started his education at home. He then attended Wellesley House School in Broadstairs, Kent, England, and Eton College in Eton, Berkshire, England. In 1963, Richard began studying architecture at Magdalene College, Cambridge University where he received a Diploma of Architecture. He was a partner in a London architecture firm and planned to make it his career. However, upon his brother’s death in 1972, when Richard became his father’s heir, he took on increased royal duties and the responsibility for the family estate, so he resigned from his partnership.

First row, seated: Princess Alice of Albany; Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester; The Queen Mother; Vivian van Deurs Second row, standing: Prince Michael of Kent; Princess Margaret; The Prince of Wales; Prince Richard of Gloucester; Birgitte van Deurs; Prince William of Gloucester; two members of Birgitte’s family; Asger Henriksen; Photo Credit – orderofsplendor.blogspot.com

While studying at Cambridge University, Richard met his future wife, the Danish-born Birgitte Eva Henriksen, who was attending the Bell School of Languages in Cambridge, England. Birgitte and Prince Richard became engaged in February 1972 and were married on July 8, 1972, at St. Andrew’s Church in Barnwell, Northamptonshire, England nearby the Gloucester family home Barnwell Manor.  Prince Richard’s father was unable to attend the wedding. Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester had suffered his first stroke in 1965 and subsequent strokes required him to use a wheelchair and rendered him unable to speak for his remaining years.

The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester had three children, all married with their own children:

 

On June 10, 1974, Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester died and Prince Richard succeeded his father as Duke of Gloucester. The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester’s official residence is at Kensington Palace in London. In 2019, they moved from the large Apartment 1 to the Old Stables, a smaller residence that is also located within the Kensington Palace grounds. They have leased out their private home Barnwell Manor in Northamptonshire, England since 1994.

The Duke of Gloucester in his robes as the Grand Prior of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem; Credit – Wikipedia

In support of his cousin Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Gloucester carried out a significant number of public duties and official engagements in the United Kingdom and overseas, and will continue to do so for his first cousin once removed King Charles III. He is associated with over 150 charities and organizations.  Some of the charities and organizations the Duke of Gloucester is associated with include:

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.

David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2014

David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon; Credit – Wikipedia

David Albert Charles Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon was born on November 3, 1961, at Clarence House in London, England. He was the first child and only son of Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom and Antony Armstrong-Jones, and one of the six grandchildren of King George VI of the United Kingdom.

 

The month before David was born, his father was created Earl of Snowdon and Viscount Linley due to concerns that a British princess would give birth to a child without a title. The heir of a British peer is allowed to use the second title of the noble parent as a courtesy title, so David was styled Viscount Linley and became the 2nd Earl of Snowdon upon his father’s death on January 13, 2017. Professionally, he is known as David Linley. On December 19, 1961, David was christened in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Michael Ramsey. His godparents were Lady Bruce Dundas, Nigel Harvey, Nick Powell, Orlando Rock, Lucinda Cecil, and Rita Konig.

 

David has one sibling:

When he was five years old, David began his education in the schoolroom at Buckingham Palace with his first cousin Prince Andrew.  David then attended the Gibbs School in Kensington, London, England, and the Ashdown House School in East Sussex, England. Next, he attended the now-closed Millbrook House School, near Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England. David finished his secondary education at Bedales School in Steep, Hampshire, England where he developed an interest in arts and crafts.

From 1980-1982, David studied the craft of woodworking at Parnham College in Beaminster, Dorset, England. In 1976, furniture maker John Makepeace bought Parnham House and founded the Parnham Trust and the School for Craftsmen in Wood. It later became Parnham College with the goal “to provide integrated courses in design, making and management for aspiring furniture makers, alongside but separately from his own furniture workshops.” In 2000, the school moved to a new campus in Hooke Park, England, and is now known as the Architectural Association School of Architecture.

LINLEY store on Pimlico Road in London

David Linley has had a career as a furniture designer and maker and set up his own company LINLEY in 1985. From his company’s website: “I was lucky enough to grow up surrounded by beautiful things. Instead of taking these for granted, I wanted to find out more about the making process, whether a vase, a car, a sculpture or indeed a piece of furniture. When I was a small boy, my grandmother challenged me to find a secret drawer in a bureau that she treasured. I still remember the exhilaration when I eventually found it. I couldn’t understand how it was possible to conceal something so cleverly, so resolved to find out how. This was really when my interest in woodworking began.”

David does not have an official role, but he does take part in Royal Family events, such as Trooping the Color. In 2002, while his grandmother Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother was lying in state at Westminster Hall, David, along with his first cousins The Prince of Wales, The Duke of York, and The Earl of Wessex, stood guard around their grandmother’s coffin.

 

David married The Honorable Serena Stanhope, a daughter of Viscount Petersham (now the 12th Earl of Harrington) at St. Margaret’s Church in Westminster, London, England on October 8, 1993. On February 17, 2020, David and Serena announced that they intend to divorce. A spokesperson for the couple said: “The Earl and Countess of Snowdon have amicably agreed that their marriage has come to an end and that they shall be divorced. They ask that the press respect their privacy and that of their family.”

The couple has two children:

In 2012, David’s son Charles was appointed to be the First Page of Honor of his great-aunt, Queen Elizabeth II. This is a ceremonial position granted to teenage sons of the nobility and requires attendance on state occasions when the pages usually carry the long train of the Sovereign’s attire.

Charles Armstrong Jones_Page

The Honorable Charles Patrick Armstrong-Jones (back right) at the State Opening of Parliament in 2013; Photo Credit – www.dailymail.co.uk. (PA)

David’s daughter Lady Margarita Elizabeth Rose Alleyne Armstrong-Jones was born shortly after the deaths of her grandmother Princess Margaret (whose middle name was Rose) and her great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and was named after them. She was also a bridesmaid at the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.

Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones on the right

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.

Prince Sverre Magnus of Norway

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2014

 

Prince Sverre Magnus was born on December 3, 2005, at Rikshospitalet University Hospital in Oslo, Norway.  He is the youngest of the two children of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and his wife Crown Princess Mette-Marit (née Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby), and one of the five grandchildren of King Harald V of Norway.  The prince is third in the line of succession to the Norwegian throne, behind his father and sister.

Prince Sverre Magnus’s family, 2022: Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Prince Sverre Magnus, Crown Prince Haakon, Princess Ingrid Alexandra

Prince Sverre Magnus has an older sister:

He also has an older half-brother, the son of his mother and Morten Borg:

  • Marius Borg Høiby (born 1997)
Sverre Magnus_norway_christening

Christening of Prince Sverre Magnus; Photo Credit – http://www.royalcourt.no, photographer: Tor Richardsen / Scanpix

Prince Sverre Magnus was christened on March 6, 2006, at the chapel in the Royal Palace in Oslo. His godparents were:

In the autumn of 2007, Sverre Magnus began attending preschool in Asker, Norway, where he lives with his family at Skaugum, the official residence of his parents, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Norway. In 2011 he began attending Jansløkka Elementary School, a local state school attended by his sister and half-brother. From 2014 to 2021, Sverre attended Oslo Montessori School. He began attending the Elvebakken Upper Secondary School in Oslo in 2021 and graduated in 2024.

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Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2014

 

Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway was born at the Rikshospitalet University Hospital in Oslo, Norway on January 21, 2004. She is the elder of the two children of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and his wife Crown Princess Mette-Marit (née Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby), and one of the five grandchildren of King Harald V of Norway.

Credit – http://www.royalcourt.no

Ingrid Alexandra was christened on April 17, 2004, in the Royal Chapel at the Royal Palace in Oslo, Norway. Her godparents were:

Princess Ingrid Alexandra’s family, 2022: Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Prince Sverre Magnus, Crown Prince Haakon, Princess Ingrid Alexandra

Princess Ingrid Alexandra has a younger brother:

She also has an older half-brother, the son of her mother and Morten Borg:

  • Marius Borg Høiby (born 1997)

In 1990, Norway adopted absolute primogeniture whereby the crown goes to the eldest child regardless of gender. This means that Princess Ingrid Alexandra is second in the line of succession to the throne of Norway behind her father and is expected to become the reigning Queen of Norway.

Ingrid Alexandra_Norway_first day of school

Princess Ingrid Alexandra arrives at Jansløkka School, accompanied by her parents and grandparents, Photo Credit – http://www.royalcourt.no, photographer Stian Lysberg Solum / Scanpix

In January of 2006, Ingrid Alexandra began attending a daycare center in Asker, Norway,  where she lives with her family at Skaugum, the official residence of her parents, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Norway. Four years later, she began attending (link translated by Google Translator), a public school, also in Asker. In 2014, Princess Ingrid Alexandra transferred to the Oslo International School, a private English language school. On August 19, 2019,  the Princess started at Uranienborg School in Oslo to complete her lower secondary education. In the fall of 2020, Ingrid Alexandra began her studies at Elvebakken High School in Oslo. Her grandmother Queen Sonja of Norway also attended Elvebakken High School (link in Norwegian). She graduated in April 2023.  In January 2024, Ingrid Alexandra began twelve months of military training with the Combat Engineer Battalion of the Brigade Nord, the major combat formation and only brigade of the Norwegian Army.

 

On June 10, 2010, Princess Ingrid Alexandra was a bridesmaid at the wedding of her godmother, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden. She is the shortest bridesmaid standing on the left of the photo below. Two other royal godchildren of Crown Princess Victoria were also in the wedding party. Princess Catharina Amalia of the Netherlands (Princess of Orange) is sitting to the left of Ingrid Alexandra, and Prince Christian of Denmark is on the far right.

Princess Ingrid Alexandra’s confirmation

The confirmation service of Princess Ingrid Alexandra was held on August 31, 2019, in the Royal Chapel in the Royal Palace in Oslo, Norway. The confirmation service was conducted by Oslo’s Bishop Kari Veiteberg and presided over by Bishop Helga Haugland Byfuglien.

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.