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Caroline of Brunswick, wife of King George IV of the United Kingdom

by Susan Flantzer

Caroline of Brunswick, Photo Credit – Wikipedia

August 7, 1821 – Death of Caroline of Brunswick, estranged wife of King George IV of the United Kingdom, at Brandenburg House in Hammersmith, London, England; buried at the Cathedral of St. Blasius in Brunswick, Germany

The marriage of Princess Caroline of Brunswick and the future King George IV, then Prince of Wales, was not one made in heaven.  The two did not meet until three days before their wedding.  The princess had just arrived in London and was staying in apartments at St. James’ Palace prior to her marriage and it was there on April 5, 1795 that Caroline and George first met.  The Prince of Wales came into the apartments to greet Caroline.  There was no one else there except James Harris, 1st Earl of Malmesbury, who had escorted Caroline to London from her native Brunswick, and he described the meeting in his diary:

“She very properly, in consequence of my saying to her it was the right mode of proceeding, attempted to kneel to him.  He raised her (gracefully enough), and embraced her, said barely one word, turned round, retired to a distant part of the apartment, and calling me over to him said, ‘Harris, I am not well; pray get me a glass of brandy.'”

Lord Malmesbury suggested a glass of water.  “Upon which he, out of humour, said, with an oath, ‘No, I will go directly to the Queen,’ and away he went.  The Princess, left during this short moment alone, was in a state of astonishment; and, on my joining her, said [in French], ‘ My God! Is that the Prince? I find him very fat, and not as handsome as his portrait.'”

And so started one of the most disastrous royal marriages.

Caroline Amalie Elisabeth was born on May 17, 1768 in Brunswick, Germany.  Her parents were Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and Princess Augusta, elder sister of King George III of the United Kingdom.  Caroline was not well-educated although she could understand French and English.  In 1794, Caroline became engaged to her first cousin George, the Prince of Wales.  Despite being first cousins, the two had never met.  George, who was in debt, had been promised a raise in his allowance if he married an acceptable princess. In 1785, George had married Maria Fitzherbert, but the marriage was invalid because it was against the Royal Marriages Act of 1772.

James Harris, 1st Earl of Malmesbury, who escorted Caroline to England had doubts about her appropriateness when he first met her in Brunswick.  He thought Caroline spoke her mind too readily, acted indiscreetly, and often neglected to wash, or change her dirty clothes.  He went on to say that she had “some natural but no acquired morality, and no strong innate notions of its value and necessity.”  On April 8, 1795, three days after their ill-fated first meeting, Caroline and George married at the Chapel Royal of St. James’s Palace in London.  On the day of his wedding, George told his brother William, Duke of Clarence to tell Mrs. Fitzherbert she was the only woman he would ever love.

William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (Lord Melbourne) said about George as he walked down the aisle, “…the Prince was like a man doing  a thing in desperation, it was like Macheath [character from The Beggar’s Opera] going to execution; and he was quite drunk.”  Lord Malmesbury agreed in his diary that George literally had to be supported by the Duke of Bedford and the Duke of Roxburghe.  On the other hand, Caroline appeared joyful and chattered with George’s brother William, Duke of Clarence as she waited at the altar.  The wedding night was a disaster.  Caroline confided to Lady Charlotte Campbell, “Judge what it was to have a drunken husband on one’s wedding day, and one who passed the greatest part of his bridal night under the grate, where he fell and where I left him.”  Evidently George and Caroline performed their marital duty at least once because nine months later, on January 7, 1796, their only child Charlotte was born.  A little more than a year after the marriage, George and Caroline were living separately.
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George did not allow Caroline to have any part in their daughter Charlotte’s upbringing and ordered that Caroline’s visits to Charlotte had to be supervised by a governess.  However, some sympathetic staff did allow Caroline to be alone with Charlotte.  Princess Charlotte married Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, the uncle of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.  Unfortunately, Charlotte died at age 21 of childbirth complications along with her baby.

Since Caroline was living in a household separate from her husband, she entertained whomever she pleased and there were rumors of affairs.  In 1802, Caroline adopted a three month old boy named William Austin and raised him in her home.  There were accusations that the boy was Caroline’s illegitimate son and a special commission was established called the Delicate Investigation to look into the matter.  The commission found that there was no evidence that the allegations were true.

After George became Prince Regent in 1811 upon the worsening of King George III’s illness, Caroline’s visits to Charlotte were cut off and she was further socially isolated.  Caroline was very unhappy with her situation and treatment and after Napoleon’s defeat in 1814, when she would be able to travel, she  negotiated a deal with the Foreign Secretary to leave the United Kingdom in exchange for an annual allowance of £35,000.  Caroline spent several years traveling through Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Tunisia, Malta, Greece, and Palestine.  She established a household in Milan, Italy and hired Bartolomeo Pergami and his sister as servants.  Pergami rose to become the head of Caroline’s household and rumors swirled that they were having an affair.

King George III died on January 29, 1820 and Caroline’s husband became king and she became, at least in name, queen.  Caroline decided to return to the United Kingdom to assert her rights as queen.  As she was traveling back to London, she received a proposition from her husband offering her £50,000 per year if she would continue to live abroad which she refused.  Caroline arrived back in London on June 5, 1820 where she was greeted by a stage-managed enthusiastic greeting.  King George IV wished to divorce Caroline and on July 5, 1820 the Pains and Penalties Bill was introduced into Parliament which would dissolve the marriage of George and  Caroline and deprive her of the title Queen of the United Kingdom.  During the reading of the bill, witnesses were called and there was effectively a public trial of Caroline.  The bill passed the House of Lords, but never made it to the House of Commons as there was little chance it would pass there.  Caroline joked with her friends that she had committed adultery only once, with the king, the husband of Mrs. Fitzherbert.

The Trial of Queen Caroline (she can be seen in the middle of the painting sitting in a chair), Photo Credit – Wikipedia

King George IV’s coronation was to take place on July 19, 1821, but no plans had made for Caroline’s participation.  Nevertheless, on the day of the coronation Caroline went to Westminster Abbey and demanded entrance, but was barred at every door.  When she demanded entrance to Westminster Hall where processions were being formed, the door was slammed in her face.  Finally, she left to the sound of jeering crowds.

On the evening of the coronation day, Caroline went to the Drury Lane Theatre and felt unwell.  She had suffered on and off from bowel problems and took a large amount of milk of magnesia and some laudanum.  When she did not feel better in two days, she sent for her doctor who diagnosed “acute inflammation of the bowels,” bled her, and gave her a large amount of calomel and castor oil.  Over the next three weeks, her condition worsened and it became apparent that she would die.  Caroline died on August 7, 1821 after a long night of pain.   The cause of her death is unknown.  Possibly there was a bowel obstruction or cancer, and there were rumors that Caroline had been poisoned.

Caroline had requested to be buried in her native Brunswick in a tomb bearing the inscription “Here lies Caroline, the Injured Queen of England.”  On August 14, 1821, her casket was to leave London and start its journey back to Brunswick.  It was decided that the funeral procession would avoid central London, but the crowd accompanying the procession blocked the planned route and forced the procession to go through London.  On August 25, 1821, Caroline’s casket was placed in the vault at the Cathedral of St. Blasius.  The reigning duke, Caroline’s nephew, ordered that a hundred young girls holding flowers and candles line the aisles as Caroline’s casket was brought into the cathedral.  In the vault, a prayer was said as the young girls encircled the casket and then extinguished the flames of their candles.

Coffin of Caroline of Brunswick, Photo Credit – http://www.findagrave.com

Wikipedia: Caroline of Brunswick

Recommended biography: The Unruly Queen: The Life of Queen Caroline by Flora Fraser

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Wedding of Lady Davina Windsor and Gary Lewis

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Lady Davina Windsor and Gary Lewis, Photo Credit – www.smh.com.au

July 31, 2004 – Wedding of Lady Davina Windsor, daughter of HRH The Duke of Gloucester, and Gary Lewis, at Kensington Palace in London, England, divorced in 2018

In 2000 in Bali, Indonesia, a young British woman on vacation from her university studies met a man from New Zealand on a surfing vacation.  The two fell in love and on July 31, 2004, Lady Davina Windsor, daughter of HRH The Duke of Gloucester, married Gary Lewis, a Maori builder and former sheep shearer.

The Lady Davina Elizabeth Alice Benedikte Windsor was born on November 19, 1977, at St. Mary’s Hospital in London, the same hospital where Prince William, Prince Harry, Prince George of Cambridge, and Princess Charlotte of Cambridge were born.  Lady Davina’s father Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester is a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II and a grandson of King George V. Her mother was born Birgitte Eva Henriksen in Odense, Denmark, and took her mother’s name, van Deurs, when her parents separated.  Lady Davina has two siblings: an older brother Alexander Windsor, Earl of Ulster, and a younger sister Lady Rose (Windsor) Gilman.  She attended Kensington Preparatory School in the Notting Hill section of London and then St. George’s School in Ascot near Windsor Castle.  Lady Davina graduated from the University of the West of England with a degree in media studies.

Gary Christie Lewis was born on August 15, 1970, in Gisborne, New Zealand.  He is the son of Larry Lewis, a champion sheep shearer in the 1980s, and Vikki Smiler who worked as a maid.  Gary is a Maori, the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand.  His uncle is the prominent Maori author Witi Ihimaera who wrote The Whale Rider which became a film of the same name.  Gary grew up on the East Cape of New Zealand, one of New Zealand’s poorest areas where Maoris make up 70% of the population and high unemployment.  He attended the village school in the Maori settlement of Te Wharau before attending Lytton High School in Gisbourne.  He is a carpenter who runs a property renovation business and a surfing enthusiast and has a son from a previous relationship, Ari who was born in 1992.

Lady Davina and Gary’s engagement was announced in the Court Circular of March 26. 2004: “The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester are delighted to announce the engagement of their daughter, The Lady Davina Windsor, to be married to Mr. Gary Lewis, son of Mr. Larry Lewis and Mrs. Vikki Carr.”  Gary’s grandfather Tom Smiler remarked, “All I know is he is in England somewhere with a girl and she is related to the Queen or something like that.  It is wonderful.”

The wedding was a private affair held in the Chapel Royal at Kensington Palace, where Lady Davina grew up, and her great-great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria was born.  Except for the bride’s immediate family, no members of the royal family attended, but one of the guests was Captain Mark Phillips, former husband of Princess Anne. Thirty-six members of the groom’s family came from New Zealand to attend the wedding.   The bride’s 102-year-old grandmother Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, was too infirm to attend the wedding.  She died later in the same year.

Lady Davina Windsor is accompanied by her father the Duke of Gloucester, the Queen's cousin, on her way to the chapel at Kensington Palace, London, Saturday July 31, 2004. The 26-year-old, who is 20th in line to the throne, wed 33-year-old Maori renovator Gary Lewis, a former sheep shearer from Gisbourne, New Zealand. (AP Photo/ Chris Young, POOL)

Lady Davina Windsor is accompanied by her father the Duke of Gloucester, the Queen’s cousin, on her way to the chapel at Kensington Palace, London, Saturday, July 31, 2004 (AP Photo/ Chris Young, POOL)

The bride, who wore a cream satin bustier dress with a lace over-blouse, was given away by her father HRH The Duke of Gloucester.  The bridesmaids included Lady Davina’s sister, Lady Rose Windsor, and the best man was  Nick Harvey, an old friend of the groom’s from New Zealand.  The wedding ceremony was conducted by the Reverend Prebendary Willie Booth and the groom’s 12-year-old son from a previous relationship, Ari, gave a reading of a Gaelic prayer.

The newlywed couple with Gary Lewis’ son Ari, Photo Credit – en.academic.ru

The couple had two children: a daughter Senna Kowhai born on June 22, 2010, and a son Tāne Mahuta born on May 25, 2012.  Tāne Mahuta is named after the Tāne Mahuta, a giant kauri tree in the Waipoua Forest of Northland Region in New Zealand.  Lady Davina does not carry out official functions but does attend British Royal Family events such as royal weddings.  Sadly, the couple divorced, amicably, in 2018.

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 William, Duke of Gloucester

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Prince William, Duke of Gloucester, Credit – Wikipedia

In the summer of 1689, Princess Anne was nearing the end of her seventh pregnancy.  Anne, who was married to Prince George of Denmark, was the younger of the two surviving children of King James II of England and his first wife Lady Anne Hyde.  Earlier in 1689, Mary, Anne’s elder sister, had become joint monarch with her husband and first cousin Willem III, Prince of Orange after the Glorious Revolution had overthrown her father King James II.  King William III and Queen Mary II were childless, so Anne was the next in the line of succession.

Anne’s six previous pregnancies had resulted in two miscarriages, two stillbirths, and two live births.  Unfortunately, Mary and Anna Sophia, the two children who were born alive, died, probably of smallpox, within six days of each other in 1687. The House of Stuart needed an heir for its survival.  Anne gave birth to a live child on July 24, 1689, at 5 AM at Hampton Court Palace.  The baby was christened William Henry three days later and was declared, but never created, Duke of Gloucester by his godfather King William III.  The other godparents were his paternal uncle King Christian V of Denmark and the Marchioness of Halifax. After William’s birth, his mother went on to have ten unsuccessful pregnancies: two premature babies who lived for about two hours, four stillbirths, and four miscarriages.

When William was born, he was described as “a brave lively-like boy” by George Melville, 1st Earl of Melville, but shortly thereafter, he had convulsions that caused the doctors to worry that he would die.  Little William was given his own household at Campden House near the Kensington gravel-pits because of the purer air.  He was taken outside every day in a tiny coach pulled by Shetland ponies.  William did not walk or talk until the age of three, and as he grew older it became more apparent that something was wrong.

Some modern medical experts feel that William had hydrocephalus, a condition in which there is an excessive accumulation of fluid in the brain.  Some symptoms of hydrocephalus are an enlarged head, problems with balance, poor coordination, difficulty walking, slowing or loss of developmental progress, lethargy, drowsiness, and irritability.  Certainly, some of these symptoms can be seen in the writings of William’s devoted Welsh servant Jenkin Lewis: “[William’s] head was grown very long and was so big round that his hat was big enough for most men [William was five years old]…[it] made it difficult to fit his head with a peruke [wig].  Although he was active and lively yet he could not go up and down stairs without help, nor raise himself when down; and he tottered when he walked…”

William loved stories of war and had a troop of local boys called “Horse Guards” whom he loved to drill before King William and Queen Mary.  William was close to his aunt and uncle and his childless aunt enjoyed showering him with gifts of toys.  His education had been delayed due to his speech difficulties, but eventually, a tutor was appointed and William had lessons in geography, mathematics, Latin, and French. On his seventh birthday, William was installed as a Knight of the Order of the Garter at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.  When William was eight, he began lessons in government and religion and was making good academic progress.

William in the robes of the Order of the Garter, Credit – Wikipedia

William celebrated his eleventh birthday at a party held at Windsor Castle.  Jenkin Lewis, his servant, reported, “He complained a little the next day, but we imputed that to the fatigues of a birthday so that he was much neglected.”  In the evening, William complained of a sore throat and chills.  Two days later, he was no better and had developed a fever and was delirious.  The doctors suspected smallpox, but no rash appeared, so they used the usual treatments of the time, bleeding and blistering, which no doubt, made William’s condition worse.  William died on the morning of July 30, 1700, at Windsor Castle.  His body was taken to the Palace of Westminster where it lay in state in his apartments.

William was interred in the Henry VII Chapel at Westminster Abbey during the evening of August 7, 1700.  His uncle, King William III wrote to the Duke of Marlborough, that William’s death was “so great a loss to me as well as to all of England, that it pierces my heart.”  Indeed, the House of Stuart had no Protestant heir and it was William’s death that caused Parliament to enact the 1701 Act of Settlement giving the British throne to Sophia of Hanover and her Protestant heirs, a granddaughter of King James I, who was the nearest Protestant in the line of succession.  Upon the death of Queen Anne, William’s mother, Sophia of Hanover’s son ascended to the British throne as King George I.

So what killed William?  There was an autopsy done on William’s body the day after his death and a detailed post-mortem report was written.  Frederick Holmes in his book The Sickly Stuarts: The Medical Downfall of a Dynasty reprinted the report and analyzed it.  Holmes writes, “This autopsy report painstakingly describes inflammation and infection in the throat and larynx, with a grossly swollen neck and pus expressed from lymph nodes in this region.  The lungs are described as both being full of blood, likely this was pus or fluid stained with blood.  Put in context with the clinical course of the illness, this is a picture of an acute bacterial infection of the throat with an associated pneumonia in both lungs.”  Holmes further writes, “Interestingly, the surgeons opened the head and took fluid from the ventricles (the cavities within the brain), and found it to be greatly increased in amount…This confirms the diagnosis of hydrocephalus…”

When Virginia’s General Assembly created Williamsburg as the colony’s capital in 1699, it ordered that its main street “in honor of his Highness William Duke of Gloucester shall for ever hereafter be called and knowne by the Name of Duke of Gloucester Street.”  If you visit Colonial Williamsburg, you can walk on Duke of Gloucester Street which runs from the House of Burgesses to the main entrance of The College of William and Mary.  It’s called DOG Street by the locals and college students.  My son is a William and Mary alumni so I’ve spent lots of time on DOG Street.

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.

Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2013

Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Elisabeth Alexandra Louise Alice of Hesse and by Rhine was born on November 1, 1864, in Bessungen, Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine, now in Hesse, Germany.  Ella, as she was called by her family, was the second daughter and the second of the six children of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom (a daughter of Queen Victoria) and Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, and the elder sister of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia.

Ella in 1865; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Ella had six siblings:

Ella’s family in 1876, two years before the death from diphtheria of Ella’s mother and sister May: Her brother Friedrich, who was a hemophiliac, had died in 1874 after a fall. The photo shows Ella’s father Ludwig holding May, Victoria at his side, Ernest and Irene at the front, Ella with her hand on Irene’s shoulder and leaning against her mother, and Ella’s mother Alice holding on to Alix (the future Empress Alexandra Feodorovna), Photo: Wikipedia

Ella and her siblings received a very strict education and were encouraged to be humble.  They were brought up in a modest lifestyle for royalty, sweeping the floors and cleaning their rooms, while their mother sewed clothes for her children.  The children spoke English with their mother and German with their father.

Ella was 14 years old in 1878 when her mother died, following an outbreak of diphtheria in the family which also took the life of her youngest sister, four-year-old May. Ella had been sent away to her paternal grandmother’s home at the beginning of the outbreak and was the only family member to remain unaffected. Much of the next years were spent, along with her sisters, under the supervision of their grandmother Queen Victoria. The Queen had taken a particular interest in the children following Alice’s death, overseeing almost every aspect of their lives.

Victoria, Ella, Irene, and Alix grieving for their mother, February 1879; Credit – Wikipedia

Ella was charming and considered beautiful, so it is not surprising that she had a number of suitors.  Her first cousin, the future Wilhelm II, German Emperor, proposed to Ella, but she turned him down.  Another suitor who also got a “No” from Ella was Wilhelm’s first cousin, the future Friedrich II, Grand Duke of Baden, who was favored by Ella’s grandmother Queen Victoria.

The Hessian court had a special relationship with the Russian court since Ella’s great-aunt Marie of Hesse and by Rhine (Empress Maria Alexandrovna after her marriage) had married Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia.  The Empress regularly visited her homeland and was usually accompanied by her two youngest sons, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich. Ella and Sergei, who was seven years older, got to know each other and eventually fell in love.  Queen Victoria was strongly against marriage, primarily due to her strong distaste for all things Russian. Despite the misgivings of the two families, Sergei was intent on making Ella his bride. In 1883, during a visit to the Hessian family’s hunting lodge Schloss Wolfsgarten, Sergei proposed and Ella accepted. The engagement was announced publicly in February 1884 when Sergei was visiting Darmstadt.

Ella and Sergei in 1884; Credit – Wikipedia

The couple married on June 15, 1884, at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia. As Ella had not yet converted to the Russian Orthodox religion, there were two ceremonies, one Lutheran and one Russian Orthodox. The wedding was attended by many royals from around Europe, with the noticeable exception of Queen Victoria. Instead, she was represented by two of her sons, The Prince of Wales, and Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh who had married Sergei’s sister. After her marriage, Ella was known as Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna.

Ella in 1885; Credit – Wikipedia

Following the wedding, the couple spent their honeymoon at Ilinskoye, Sergei’s country estate outside of Moscow, and then settled at the Sergeivsky Palace in St. Petersburg. In addition to these two homes, they also had a home on the grounds of Peterhof, and a house on the bank of the Moskva River. Serge and Ella did not have any children of their own. However, they later took in the children of Sergei’s brother Paul, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna (the younger), and Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich. The children’s mother had died in 1891 in childbirth, and they spent much time with Sergei and Ella. In 1902, when Paul entered into a morganatic marriage and was banished from Russia, he was not permitted to take the children, and they were formally put under the guardianship of Sergei and Ella.

Sergei with his foster children: Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna and Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich; Credit – Wikipedia

The couple were very close with Sergei’s brother, Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia, and his wife Empress Maria Feodorovna (born Princess Dagmar of Denmark), and were often asked to represent them at royal events elsewhere in the world. In 1887, they represented the Emperor at Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, and the following year attended the consecration of the church of Saint Mary Magdalene in Jerusalem, built in memory of the brothers’ mother, the late Empress Maria Alexandrovna.  In 1894, Ella’s youngest surviving sister Alix married Sergei’s nephew Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia.  Alix and Nicholas had first met at Ella and Sergei’s wedding.

In 1891, Alexander III appointed Serge Governor-General of Moscow. In the following years, Sergei was also appointed to the Imperial State Council and made Commander of the Moscow military district.  Sergei’s nephew Nicholas became Emperor upon his father’s death in November 1894.  Over the next eleven years, Sergei would become increasingly disenchanted with his nephew’s policies and decisions. Finally, after massive losses in the Russo-Japanese War, Sergei resigned as Governor-General of Moscow on January 1, 1905.

On February 17, 1905, Grand Duke Sergei left the Nicholas Palace in Moscow in his carriage, en route to the Governor General’s mansion where he was in the process of clearing out his office. He had just come through one of the gate towers when an assassin threw a nitroglycerin bomb into the carriage from just a few feet away. The bomb landed in Sergei’s lap and exploded. The Grand Duke was killed instantly, his body literally blown to pieces. The assassin, Ivan Kalyayev, who was injured in the attack, was promptly arrested and later executed. Ella, having heard the blast from the Nicholas Palace, rushed to the scene and began to gather what was left of her husband’s body.

Four years after her husband’s assassination, Ella sold all her jewelry and with the proceeds opened the Convent of Saints Martha and Mary and became its abbess.  A hospital, pharmacy, and orphanage were opened on the convent’s grounds, and Ella and her Russian Orthodox nuns spent their time serving the poor of Moscow.

Ella in her nun’s habit; Credit – Wikipedia

After the Russian Revolution, Ella was arrested in 1918 by the Bolsheviks and was sent away to the Urals where she was later joined by five other Romanovs: Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, three sons of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich: Prince Ioann Konstantinovich, Prince Konstantin Konstantinovich, Prince Igor Konstantinovich, and a son of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich:  Prince Vladimir Pavlovich Paley. Also in the group were Varvara Yakovleva, a nun from Ella’s convent, and Feodor Remez, Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich’s secretary.  On May 20, 1918, they were all taken to Alapaevsk where they were kept in the Napolnaya School.

On July 18, 1918, the day after the shooting of Emperor Nicholas II and his family,  Ella and all of the people with her were thrown down a mineshaft near Alapayevsk by the Bolsheviks. All except Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich survived the fall.  Hand grenades were thrown down after them killing Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich’s secretary, Feodor Remez.   According to the personal account of Vassili Ryabov, one of the killers, the singing of hymns was heard after the grenade explosions.  Ryabov threw another grenade into the mine shaft, but the singing continued.  Finally, wood and brush were set on fire and thrown into the mine shaft.

The Romanovs killed with Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna who was 53 years old when she died; All photos from Wikipedia

Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, 48 years old, grandson of Emperor Nicholas I.

Prince Ioann Konstantinovich, 32 years old, son of Grand Duke Konstantine Konstantinovich who was a grandson of Emperor Nicholas I. 

Prince Igor Konstantinovich, 24 years old, son of Grand Duke Konstantine Konstantinovich who was a grandson of Emperor Nicholas I.

Prince Vladimir Paley, 21 years old, son of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich, a son of Emperor Alexander II.

Three months later, White Army soldiers found the remains of the victims.  Ella’s remains eventually were interred at the St. Mary Magdalene Convent on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem along with the remains of her fellow nun Varvara Yakovleva.  Princess Alice of Battenberg, the mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the niece of Ella, asked to be buried with her aunt.  Princess Alice founded a nursing order of Greek Orthodox nuns, the Christian Sisterhood of Martha and Mary, which was modeled after her aunt’s order of nuns. When Princess Alice died in 1969, she was interred at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, but her remains were transferred to St. Mary Magdalene Convent in 1988.

Tomb of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna; Photo Credit – Автор: Deror Avi – собственная работа, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6527236

Ella was canonized as a saint by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia in 1981, and in 1992 by the Moscow Patriarchate as New Martyr Elizabeth. She is one of the ten 20th-century martyrs depicted in statues above the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey in London, England. Ella’s convent was closed in 1920 during the Soviet regime, but the convent was re-opened in 1994 and the sisters there continue doing the work Ella started.

Statue of Elizabeth (far left) and other martyrs of the 20th century at Westminster Abbey in London; Photo 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.

Recommended Books

  • Elizabeth, Grand Duchess of Russia – Hugo Mager
  • The Life and Death of Ella, Grand Duchess of Russia: A Romanov Tragedy – Christopher Warwick

Abdication of King Leopold III of the Belgians

by Susan Flantzer

King Leopold III with his son Baudouin, Photo Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

On July 21, 2013, King Albert II of the Belgians abdicated in favor of his son Philippe.  In his televised abdication speech, King Albert II said, “I realize that my age and my health are no longer allowing me to carry out my duties as I would like to…After a reign of 20 years I believe the moment is here to hand over the torch to the next generation. Prince Philippe is well prepared to succeed me.”

King Albert’s father, King Leopold III, also abdicated, but under very different circumstances.

King Leopold III was born in Brussels, Belgium on November 3, 1901, the eldest son of King Albert I  and Elisabeth of Bavaria.  Leopold had two younger siblings, Charles, who would later serve as Prince Regent of Belgium and Marie José, who married King Umberto I of Italy.

On November 4, 1926, Leopold married Princess Astrid of Sweden, a granddaughter of King Oscar II of Sweden, in a civil ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden.  On November 10, 1926, the couple married in a religious ceremony at the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula in Brussels, Belgium.  Leopold and Astrid had a very happy marriage. Leopold’s mother Queen Elisabeth said about the marriage, “It is a marriage of love…tell it to our people. Nothing was arranged. Not a single political consideration prevailed in our son’s decision.”   For more information, see Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of Leopold III and Astrid of Sweden.

Leopold and Astrid had three children:

  • Joséphine-Charlotte (11 October 1927 – 10 January 2005), married Grand-Duke Jean of Luxembourg, had issue
  • King Baudouin (7 September 1930 – 31 July 1993), married Fabiola de Mora y Aragón, no issue
  • King Albert II (born 6 June 1934), married Paola Ruffo di Calabria, had issue

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In 1934, Leopold’s father died in a mountain climbing accident and Leopold became king at the age of 32.  In August of 1935, King Leopold and Queen Astrid had gone on vacation in Switzerland with their two elder children.  On August 29, 1935, their last day of vacation, Leopold and Astrid decided to go on an outing.  Leopold was driving their convertible, Astrid was in the front seat, and the chauffeur was sitting in the back seat.  As Astrid pointed out something to her husband, the car went off the road, down a steep slope, and slammed into a tree.  Astrid was thrown out of the car and was slammed into another tree.  Leopold was also thrown out the car, but had only minor injuries, and the chauffeur was uninjured.  Astrid died, aged 29, from her injuries at the accident scene.  Leopold deeply mourned her death.

In 1939, when World War II started, Belgium’s allies France and the United Kingdom asked Belgium to join them.  However, Belgium decided to declare itself a neutral country.  Germany invaded Belgium on May 10, 1940, and on May 28, King Leopold as Commander-in-Chief of the Belgian Armed Forces surrendered.  Leopold had remained in Belgium to face the Germans, while the government leaders had withdrawn to France.  Although Leopold was encouraged by the government to leave Belgium, he decided to remain in Belgium saying, “Whatever happens, I have to share the same fate as my troops.”  Leopold decided to surrender to the Germans against the wishes of his government and this is one of the reasons that would ultimately lead to his abdication.  The Belgian Prime Minister Hubert Pierlot said that the King’s decision to surrender was not only a military decision but also a political decision and that the king had acted without his ministers’ advice, and therefore his actions were against the Belgian Constitution.  King Leopold’s decision to surrender was decried by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and French Prime Minister Paul Reynaud.

King Leopold was held under house arrest by the Germans at the Royal Palace of Laeken in Brussels.  He had a meeting with Adolf Hitler on November 19, 1940 in which he wanted Hitler to issue a public statement about Belgium’s future independence.  However, Hitler’s plans did not include any independent countries and he refused.

While still under house arrest, King Leopold married Lilian Baels on September 11, 1941 in a secret, religious ceremony which was not legal because in Belgium a civil marriage is required.  The couple had intended to wait until after the war for the civil ceremony, but Lilian was pregnant and so a civil marriage was held on December 6, 1941. Nevertheless, legally in Belgium, the civil ceremony must be held before the religious ceremony and the marriage was unpopular with many Belgians.  Lilian was known as the Princess of Réthy.

Leopold and Lilian had three children:

In 1944, King Leopold, the Princess of Réthy, and Leopold’s three children by Queen Astrid, and his eldest child by the Princess of Réthy were deported to Germany where they were kept in harsh conditions and guarded by 70 members of the SS (Schutzstaffel). The family was liberated by American troops in 1945.  For more information, see Deportation to Nazi Germany.

The king did not return immediately to Belgium. Due to opposition from a segment of the population, Prince Charles, Count of Flanders, the king’s brother, who had served as regent since 1944, continued to rule as regent due to Leopold III’s “impossibility of reigning”.  King Leopold was exonerated of treason in 1946, however, many Belgians continued to question his loyalty.  In 1950, a referendum was held concerning the king’s return to Belgium, and 57% were in favor of his return.

King Leopold III returned to Belgium on July 20, 1950 and a few days later there was a violent general strike.  To avoid making the situation more dangerous and tearing his country apart, King Leopold made a decision on August 1, 1950 to abdicate in favor of his son 21-year-old son Prince Baudouin.  The abdication took effect on July 16, 1951.  For more information, see Royal Question.

Leopold III signing the abdication papers, Photo Credit: http://crossoflaeken.blogspot.co.uk

After the abdication, Leopold and Lilian continued to live at the Royal Palace of Laeken until King Baudouin’s marriage to Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragon in 1960, when they moved to the Château d’Argenteuil, a government-owned estate in Brabant, Belgium.  Leopold, an amateur anthropologist and entomologist, traveled the world and explored those interests. King Leopold III died on September 25, 1983 at the age of 81 a few hours after emergency heart surgery at Leuven University Hospital in Leuven, Belgium.  Leopold was buried in the royal crypt at the Church of Our Lady in Laeken, Brussels next to his first wife Queen Astrid.  When Lilian, Princess of Réthy died in 2002, she was buried next to them.  See Unofficial Royalty Belgian Royal Burial Sites.

Wikipedia: Leopold III of Belgium

Wedding of Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones and Daniel Chatto

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2013

The bride and groom met on a movie set.  He was an actor and she was a wardrobe assistant.  He was the son of an actor and a theatrical agent.  She was the daughter of a princess and the granddaughter of a king. He played a prince (one of her cousins) in a film.

Lady Sarah Frances Elizabeth Armstrong-Jones was born on May 1, 1964, at Kensington Palace in London, England.  Her parents were Princess Margaret, the younger daughter of King George VI, and Antony Armstrong-Jones.  Her father was created Earl of Snowdon and Viscount Linley on October 6, 1961, so Sarah is entitled to the courtesy title Lady Sarah.  Sarah has an older brother, David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon.

Sarah and her brother attended Bedales School where Sarah developed an interest in art.  Her interest in art led her to attend Camberwell College of Arts followed by coursework in Printed Textiles at Middlesex Polytechnic, before completing her studies at Royal Academy Schools where she won the Winsor & Newton Prize for emerging artists in painting and drawing in 1988 and the Creswick Landscape Prize in 1990.

Daniel Chatto St. George Sproule was born on April 22, 1957, at the Princess Beatrice Hospital in Richmond, London, England.  His father was actor Thomas Chatto Sproule (stage name Thomas Chatto) who had a career in television, commercials, and on the stage.  His mother was the theatrical agent Ros Chatto, born Rosalind Thompson. Daniel studied English at Oxford University and graduated in 1979.  In 1987, Daniel’s name was legally changed to Daniel St. George Chatto.  With both of his parents in show business, it was not unusual for Daniel to try his hand at acting.  One of his roles was as Prince Andrew in an American TV movie Charles & Diana: A Royal Love Story.  His acting career lasted from 1981-1988.  See his filmography at Internet Movie Database: Daniel Chatto.

In 1983, Daniel had a small role in the film Heat and Dust which was filmed in India.  Sarah was working on the film as an uncredited wardrobe assistant and it was on the film set that the couple first met.
Internet Movie Database: Heat and Dust
Wikipedia: Heat and Dust (film)

Sarah and Daniel’s romance blossomed in 1986, three years after their first meeting, and the two were often spotted going to the theater or art galleries.  By 1989, Daniel had given up acting for art and had a successful art show at the Cadogan Gallery in 1992. Sarah and Daniel took painting trips together and shared a love of books and travel.

The couple’s wedding on July 14, 1994, was a small,  low-key affair at St. Stephen’s Walbrook, a small 17th-century church in London built by Sir Christopher Wren.  The church was chosen by Sarah and Daniel because they wanted a romantic and intimate place to get married. There was seating for only 200 people, and children were not invited due to the dimensions of the church.  The bride chose not to use a royal carriage, red carpet, or have bells ringing.   Daniel was so worried about being punctual that he arrived at the church 90 minutes before the beginning of the ceremony. Sarah arrived with her father Lord Snowdon, and her three bridesmaids: her half-sister Lady Frances Armstrong-Jones, her cousin Zara Philips, and her friend Tara Noble Singh.  The bride’s arrival was almost overshadowed by the arrival of the bride’s more recognizable relatives, the Prince and Princess of Wales, who were appearing at the same place, although not together,  for the first time since Prince Charles’s admission of adultery the previous month.

The bride’s and bridesmaids’ dresses were designed by Jasper Conran.  Many consider Sarah’s dress to be one of the most beautiful royal wedding dresses.  The dress was made with yards of draped white georgette fabric with a ruched bodice and a three-meter train.  The bridesmaids’ dresses were nearly identical.   Sarah’s veil was held in place with the Snowdon Floral Tiara, a gift to Princess Margaret from her husband for their wedding. To enhance the floral effect, some greenery was added to the diamond flowers.

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Lady Sarah wearing the Snowdon Floral Tiara, Photo Credit – orderofsplendor.blogspot.com

As the bride entered the church, the hymn “Ye Holy Angels Bright” was sung.  The ceremony was adapted from the “Book of Common Prayer” of 1928. Other hymns sung during the ceremony were “Jesus Shall Reign Where’er The Sun” and “Alleluia! Sing to Jesus.”  After their marriage vows, the couple exchanged simple gold rings. The ceremony took only 30 minutes and the newlyweds caught everyone by surprise when they left the church unannounced.  Even the driver was not at his place, making the couple laugh while they waited for the car.  After the ceremony, there was a reception at Clarence House which the Princess of Wales did not attend.  The couple spent their honeymoon in India, which was where they first met.

Photo Credit – orderofsplendor.blogspot.com

The couple had two children: Samuel David Benedict Chatto born July 28, 1996, in London, England and Arthur Robert Nathaniel Chatto born February 5, 1999, in London, England.  Arthur Chatto and his cousin Charles Armstrong-Jones, both grandsons of Princess Margaret, served Queen Elizabeth II as Pages of Honor.

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Prince John of the United Kingdom

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Prince John of the United Kingdom, 1918; Credit – Wikipedia

Prince John Charles Francis was the fifth son and the sixth and youngest child of King George V of the United Kingdom and Queen Mary.  He was born on July 12, 1905, at York Cottage on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, England.  At the time of his birth, his parents were the Prince and Princess of Wales, so he was styled His Royal Highness Prince John of Wales until his father became king in 1910 and then he was styled His Royal Highness The Prince John. He was called Johnnie in the family.

John had four brothers and one sister:

John was christened on August 3, 1905, at St. Mary Magdalene Church on the Sandringham Estate. His godparents were:

John and his siblings in 1912, Credit – Wikipedia

For the first four years of his life, John appeared healthy, but at the age of four he suffered his first epileptic seizure, and his condition gradually worsened.  John grew up with his four brothers and one sister, moving with the family from one royal residence to another until 1917 when doctors advised that he be separated from his siblings because his seizures upset them.  Most likely it was because John’s condition had deteriorated. Besides epilepsy, it is quite possible that John also had a mild form of autism.

A household was set up for John at Wood Farm on the Sandringham Estate and John lived there under the care of his nanny Charlotte Bill who was called Lala.  Other staff at Wood Farm included John’s tutor Henry Peter Hansell, Thomas Haverly, a coachman who took John on outings in the country or to the sea, and to the ‘big house’ at Sandringham, a cook named Kate Bennett, whose niece Hilda Simpson was the live-in maid.  Photos show John riding a bicycle and a horse without assistance.  He had his own garden plot, “Prince John’s Garden.”

A young girl named Winifred Thomas, who suffered from asthma and had been sent to the country to live with her aunt and uncle, was John’s companion.  Winifred visited John nearly every day and the two went on walks and cared for the garden.  Later in life, Winifred recounted John’s excitement at watching zeppelins passing over Sandringham in 1916 and his pleasure in meeting ‘a real, live soldier’, her father Sergeant Frederick Thomas who visited that same year. She also remembered his mother Queen Mary as a loving and interested parent who spent much with her son.  John’s grandmother Queen Alexandra also visited him often.

Lalla Bill and Prince John; Credit – Wikipedia

Until the early 20th century, epilepsy was often considered a psychological or behavioral dysfunction, and people with epilepsy were routinely confined to asylums.  It appears that John was well looked after at Wood Farm and while it may have seemed cruel to separate him from his family’s everyday life, had he been born to an ordinary family, his fate would probably have been worse. The evidence suggests that he remained a happy child while at Wood Farm.

After John turned 13, his seizures became more frequent and severe.  On the morning of January 18, 1919, John had a very severe seizure and died peacefully in his sleep at 5:30 that afternoon at Wood Farm in Wolferton in Norfolk, England, most likely from Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy or SUDEP.  Queen Mary wrote in her diary, “The news gave me a great shock, tho’ for the poor little boy’s restless soul, death came as a great release.”  John was buried in the churchyard at St. Mary Magdalene Church on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, England next to his uncle of the same name who lived only one day.  His grandmother Queen Alexandra wrote to Queen Mary, “Now our two Johnnies rest side by side.”

Grave of Prince John, Photo Credit – findagrave.com

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History of Peerages using Cambridge

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2013

There was confusion in the media about the title of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s, (now The Prince and Princess of Wales) first child in the weeks before the birth. The royal use of Cambridge is not recent, but rather started in 1362 and there have been a total of 14 royals whose peerage was “of Cambridge.” However, the usage of the royal father’s peerage in the title of his children is a fairly recent occurrence.

Before 1714 (when the House of Hanover inherited the British throne after the death of Queen Anne), the style of His/Her Royal Highness and the title of prince/princess was not customary. Sons and daughters of the monarch were not automatically or traditionally called a prince or princess. It was a common practice to style children of monarchs after the place they were born. For instance, John of Gaunt, son of King Edward III, was born in Gaunt, today known as Ghent, Belgium. Joan of the Tower, daughter of King Edward II, was born at the Tower of London. Most sons received peerage titles. Sometimes “Lady” was used for daughters.

An exception was the Prince of Wales, a title conferred on the heir apparent, usually but not always the eldest son of the monarch, since 1301. The wife of the Prince of Wales was styled Princess of Wales.

Another exception was the use of Princess Royal. Henrietta Maria, the youngest daughter of King Henri IV of France and the wife of King Charles I of England, Scotland, and Ireland wanted to institute a title similar to Madame Royale, the title given to the eldest daughter of the King of France. Her eldest daughter Mary (born in 1631) was the first Princess Royal.

Therefore, the first children of a father having “of Cambridge” in his peerage to be styled using “Prince/Princess <name> of Cambridge” were the three children of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, a son of King George III.

The very first time Cambridge was used for a peerage was in 1340 when William V, Duke of Jülich was created Earl of Cambridge.   William of Jülich was not a British royal but was married to a sister of Queen Philippa, the wife of King Edward III.  The fourth creation of the Earl of Cambridge was for a Scots noble.  James Hamilton, 2nd Marquess of Hamilton and 4th Earl of Arran was created Earl of Cambridge in 1619.  His son and grandson inherited the title which then became extinct in 1651.

In 1917, when King George V had his relatives relinquish their German titles, a grandson of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, born Prince Adolphus of Teck, relinquished the title he inherited from his father, Duke of Teck, for the title of Marquess of Cambridge.  In addition, his family name changed to Cambridge.  The son of the Marquess of Cambridge, George Cambridge, inherited the title when his father died.  However, George Cambridge, Marquess of Cambridge only had one daughter and so the title of Marquess of Cambridge became extinct in 1981.

Royal Holders of Earl of Cambridge or Duke of Cambridge

Edmund of Langley, Duke of York, Earl of Cambridge, Credit – Wikipedia

Edmund of Langley, Duke of York, Earl of Cambridge (1341–1402): Fifth son of Edward III, created Earl of Cambridge on November 13, 1362, created Duke of York on August 6, 1385

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Edward of Norwich, Duke of York, Earl of Cambridge, Credit – Wikipedia

Edward of Norwich, Duke of York, Earl of Cambridge (c.1373-1415): First son of Edmund of Langley, inherited the title from father, died at the Battle of Agincourt

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Richard of Conisburgh, Earl of Cambridge, Credit – Wikipedia

Richard of Conisburgh, Earl of Cambridge (1373–1415): Second son of Edmund of Langley, created Earl of Cambridge in 1414, beheaded in 1415 after plotting to depose King Henry V,  his title was forfeited, but not attainted (loss of title, property, and the right to pass on titles due to guilt of a capital crime such as treason)

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Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, Earl of March, Earl of Cambridge, and Earl of Ulster, Credit – Wikipedia

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, Earl of March, Earl of Cambridge, and Earl of Ulster (1412–1460): Son of Richard of Conisburgh, Earl of Cambridge, title Earl of Cambridge restored in 1426, father of King Edward IV and King Richard III, killed at the Battle of Wakefield

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Edward Plantagenet, Duke of York, Earl of Cambridge (King Edward IV), Credit – Wikipedia

Edward Plantagenet, Duke of York, Earl of Cambridge (1442–1483): Eldest son of Richard Plantagenet, succeeded to his father’s titles, reigned as King Edward IV, titles merged with the crown in 1461

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Henry Stuart, Duke of Gloucester and Earl of Cambridge, Credit – Wikipedia

Henry Stuart, Duke of Gloucester and Earl of Cambridge (1640-1660): Youngest son of King Charles I, created Duke of Gloucester and Earl of Cambridge on May 13, 1659, died of smallpox.

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Charles Stuart, Duke of Cambridge (1660-1661): Eldest son of James, Duke of York (later King James II), styled Duke of Cambridge but died before the Letters Patent creating him Duke of Cambridge were passed.

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James Stuart, Duke and Earl of Cambridge, Credit – Wikipedia

James Stuart, Duke and Earl of Cambridge (1663-1667): Second son of James, Duke of York (later King James II), created Duke and Earl of Cambridge in 1664, probably died of smallpox.

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Edgar Stuart, Duke of Cambridge (1667–1671): Fourth son of James, Duke of York (later King James II), created Duke and Earl of Cambridge on October 7, 1667.

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Charles Stuart, Duke of Cambridge (born and died 1677): First son of James, Duke of York (later King James II) by his second wife Mary of Modena, styled Duke of Cambridge but never created.

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George Augustus, Electoral Prince of Brunswick and Lüneberg (King George II), Credit – Wikipedia

George Augustus, Electoral Prince of Brunswick and Lüneberg (1683-1760): Only son of King George I, created Duke and Marquess of Cambridge, Earl of Milford Haven, Viscount Northallerton and Baron of Tewkesbury on November 9, 1706 by Queen Anne before his father succeeded to the throne, reigned as King George II

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Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, Credit – Wikipedia

Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (1774-1850): Seventh son of King George III, created Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Tipperary, and Baron Culloden on November 17, 1801

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Prince George, Duke of Cambridge; Credit – Wikipedia

Prince George, Duke of Cambridge (1819-1904): Only son of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, inherited titles from his father

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Prince William, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cambridge, Credit – Wikipedia

Prince William, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cambridge (born 1982): Created Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn, and Baron Carrickfergus on April 29, 2011, created Prince of Wales on September 9, 2022.

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Works Cited
“British Prince .” Wikipedia. Web. 11 July 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_princes>.
“British Princess.” Wikipedia. Web. 11 July 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_princess>.
“Duke of Cambridge.” Wikipedia. Web. 11 July 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_of_Cambridge>.
“Earl of Cambridge.” Wikipedia. Web. 11 July 2013.  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_of_Cambridge>.
Velde, François. “Styles of the members of the British royal family: Documents .” Heraldica. Web. 11 July 2013. <http://www.heraldica.org/topics/britain/prince_highness_docs.htm>.
Williamson, David. Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell, 1996. Print.

George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

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The first grandchild of King George V and Queen Mary of the United Kingdom and the first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, The Honorable George Henry Hubert Lascelles was born on February 7, 1923, at Chesterfield House in London, England. At the time of his birth, he was sixth in the line of succession, after the four surviving sons of King George V and his mother.  His mother was Mary, Princess Royal, the only daughter of King George V and Princess Victoria Mary of Teck. His father was Henry Lascelles, son and heir of the 5th Earl of Harewood, and used the courtesy title Viscount Lascelles at the time of his son’s birth.  In 1929, at the time of his father’s death, Henry Lascelles succeeded his father as the 6th Earl of Harewood and George was able to use the courtesy title Viscount Lascelles.

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George had one younger sibling, a brother Gerald, who was born 18 months after George.  George and Gerald spent their first years in London, but after their father became 6th Earl of Harewood in 1929, the family moved to the family seat Harewood House.  Growing up in the period between the two World Wars, George and Gerald enjoyed living in the country.  They learned to play cricket and spent time with their royal grandparents at Windsor Castle.  Similar to other boys in his social class, George was sent away to school when he was nine and it was then that he developed a love of football (soccer) and a love of music.   He was educated at Ludgrove School, Eton College, and King’s College at Cambridge University.  Both George and Gerald took part in royal family activities including their grandfather’s funeral procession in 1936 and the proclamation of King George VI after the abdication of his elder brother, King Edward VIII.  In 1937, George was a page for the coronation of his uncle, King George VI.

In 1942 during World War II, George joined the Grenadier Guards, reaching the rank of captain.  He saw action in Algeria and Italy and on June 18, 1944, he was wounded and captured by the Germans.  George was held as a prisoner of war at Oflag IV-C, often referred to as Colditz Castle, an infamous German prisoner-of-war camp for officers in World War II.  Adolf Hitler signed a death warrant in March 1945, but the camp commander realized the war was ending and did not carry out the sentence, and instead released George to the Swiss.

After the war, from 1945 -1946, George served as aide-de-camp to his great-uncle Major-General Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone, the Governor-General of Canada.  Lord Athlone was born Prince Alexander of Teck, the brother of Queen Mary, and he was married to Princess Alice of Albany, the daughter of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany who was the youngest son of Queen Victoria.  In 1947, George’s father died and he succeeded him as the 7th Earl of Harewood.   Lord Harewood served as a Counsellor of State in 1947, 1953–54, and 1956.  Counsellors of State are senior members of the British royal family to whom the monarch delegates certain state functions and powers when out of the country or unavailable for other reasons.  Since 1937, the only person to have been a Counsellor of State while not a queen consort, prince or princess has been Lord Harewood.

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On September 29, 1949, Lord Harewood married Marion Stein at St. Mark’s Church in London.  900 guests attended the wedding including the groom’s uncle King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, and Princess Elizabeth who all signed the registry as witnesses.  The new Countess of Harewood was born in Vienna, Austria, the daughter of Jewish musician Erwin Stein, and came to the United Kingdom just before World War II.  She was a concert pianist and had a distinguished musical career.   The couple had three children:

  • David Lascelles, 8th Earl of Harewood (born 1950), married (1) Margaret Rosalind Messenger, had one daughter and three sons, divorced  (2) Diane Jane Howse, no children
  • The Honorable James Lascelles (born 1953), married (1) Frederica Ann Duhrssen, had one daughter and one son, divorced  (2) Lori “Shadow” Susan Lee, had one daughter and one son, divorced  (3) Joy Elias-Rilwan, no children
  • The Honorable Jeremy Lascelles (born 1955), married (1) Julie Baylis, had one son and two daughters, divorced  (2) Catherine Isobel Bell, had one daughter

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The happiness of the marriage did not last and by 1959, there were serious problems.  Lord Harewood began a relationship with violinist Patricia Tuckwell.  Marion refused to divorce until 1967,  by which time Lord Harewood had a son by Patricia Tuckwell.   Lord Harewood married Patricia Tuckwell on July 31, 1967, in New Canaan, Connecticut.  Lord Harewood’s adultery and remarriage made him a social outcast for several years.  It was ten years before he was invited to any events by the Royal Family.  Lord Harewood had one son with his second wife who was born before their marriage and therefore was not in the line of succession to the throne nor was eligible to succeed to the Earldom of Harewood.

  • The Honorable Mark Lascelles (born 1964), married (1) Andrea Kershaw, had three daughters, divorced  (2) Judith Ann Kilburn, no children

It is not surprising that both Lord Harewood’s wives were musicians because music, in particular, opera, was his greatest love.  His achievements in promoting opera were significant in broadening the reach of opera in the United Kingdom. In 1950, he began a new magazine Opera, and was its first editor. The magazine is still in existence.  Lord Harewood was the editor for three editions of The Complete Opera Book originally written by Gustav Kobbé.  He was the director of the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden from 1951 to 1953 and from 1969 to 1972, chairman of the board of the English National Opera from 1986 to 1995, and Managing Director of the  English National Opera from 1972 to 1985.  Lord Harewood also served as artistic director of the Edinburgh, Adelaide, and Leeds Festivals and as Managing Director of the English National Opera North from 1978 to 1981.

Outside of music, Lord Harewood served as a governor of the BBC from 1985 to 1987 and as the president of the British Board of Film Classification from 1985 to 1996.  A second love was football (soccer) and Lord Harewood was president of Leeds United Football Club from 1961 until his death and was president of the Football Association from 1963 to 1972.  His autobiography, The Tongs And Bones: The Memoirs of Lord Harewood, was published in 1981.

George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood, died on July 11, 2011, at the age of 88. At the time of his death, he was 46th in the line of succession to the British throne.  He had been sixth in the line of succession at his birth. Lord Lascelles is notable not because of who he was, but because of what he did, particularly in the field of music.

On Friday, July 15, 2011, as the black and gold Harewood coat of arms flag flew at half-mast over Harewood House, Lord Harewood’s funeral cortege made its way to nearby All Saints Church, on the grounds of the estate. Approximately 100 staff members lined the drive to Harewood House, to pay their respects as Lord Harewood’s casket drove by. The funeral was attended by family and friends. Prince Michael of Kent, who was also a first cousin of Lord Harewood, represented Queen Elizabeth II. Because of Lord Harewood’s great love for opera, it was fitting that opera singer Lesley Garrett performed during the service. Shakespeare’s Sonnet 71 (“No longer mourn for me when I am dead’) was read and the hymn “Jerusalem” was sung.  Lord Harewood was buried at All Saint’s Church in Harewood, West Yorkshire, England where his parents are also buried.

All Saint’s Church in Harewood, West Yorkshire, England; Credit – By Bill Henderson, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7986477

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Lady Jane Grey, Queen of England

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

The Streatham Portrait of Lady Jane Grey; Credit – Wikipedia

In the early summer of 1553, fifteen-year-old Protestant King Edward VI, King Henry VIII‘s son, lay dying.  His eldest half-sister Mary, the Catholic daughter of King Henry VIII’s first wife Catherine of Aragon, was the heiress presumptive.  The Third Succession Act of 1543 had restored Mary and Edward’s other half-sister Elizabeth, daughter of King Henry VIII’s second wife Anne Boleyn, to the succession.  In addition, the Third Succession Act stipulated that if the children of King Henry VIII did not have heirs, the heirs of his younger sister Mary Tudor should inherit the throne.  The heirs of Henry’s elder sister Margaret Tudor who married King James IV of Scotland were excluded presumably to ensure the English throne was not inherited by a Scot.

Henry VIII’s will named 16 executors who were to act as King Edward VI’s Council until he reached the age of 18.  The king’s uncle Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset became Lord Protector of the Realm and Governor of the King’s Person.   In 1550, John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland became Lord President of the Council, the council being the Privy Council. In 1552, after the execution of Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, Northumberland decided to take power and rule as primus inter pares, a Latin phrase describing the most senior person of a group sharing the same rank or office.

Jane Grey was born in 1536 or 1537, the daughter of Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk and Lady Frances Brandon. Lady Frances was the daughter of King Henry VIII’s younger sister Mary Tudor and Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk.  Frances was the elder of her parents’ two surviving children.  Two sons died in childhood, so the only surviving children were Frances and her younger sister Eleanor who died in 1547.  Frances and her husband had three surviving daughters.  Jane was the eldest, followed by two sisters:

Lady Catherine Grey with her elder son; Credit – Wikipedia

Lady Mary Grey; Credit – Wikipedia

Jane was very well educated. She studied Greek and Hebrew with John Aylmer, later Bishop of England, and Italian and Latin with Michelangelo Florio, a former Franciscan friar who converted to Protestantism.  In 1547, Jane was sent to live in the household of King Edward VI’s uncle, Thomas Seymour, who married King Henry VIII’s widow, Catherine Parr.  Jane lived with the couple until the death of Catherine in childbirth in September 1548 and acted as chief mourner at Catherine’s funeral.

The powerful Duke of Northumberland thought marrying one of his sons to Lady Jane Grey would be a good idea.  On May 25, 1553, three weddings were celebrated at Durham Place, the Duke of Northumberland’s London home. Lord Guildford Dudley, the fifth surviving son of the Duke of Northumberland married Lady Jane Grey, Guildford’s sister Lady Katherine Dudley married Henry Hastings, the Earl of Huntingdon’s heir, and Jane’s sister Lady Catherine Grey married Henry Herbert, the heir of the Earl of Pembroke.

Therefore, as King Edward VI lay dying in the early summer of 1553, the succession to the throne according to the Third Succession Act looked like this, and note that number four in the succession was the Duke of Northumberland’s daughter-in-law.

1) Mary, daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon
2) Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn
3) Duchess of Suffolk (Lady Frances Brandon), daughter of Mary Tudor
4) Lady Jane Grey, daughter of Frances Brandon
5) Lady Catherine Grey, daughter of Frances Brandon
6) Lady Mary Grey, daughter of Frances Brandon
7) Lady Margaret Clifford, daughter of Countess of Cumberland (born Lady Eleanor Brandon, daughter of Mary Tudor)

King Edward VI’s death and the succession of his Catholic half-sister Mary would cause trouble for the English Reformation.  Members of Edward’s Council feared this, including the Duke of Northumberland.  Exactly what role the Duke of Northumberland had in what followed is still debated, but surely he played a big part in the unfolding of what happened. King Edward VI had opposed Mary’s succession not only for religious reasons but also because of her illegitimacy and his belief in male succession.  Both Mary and Elizabeth were still considered to be legally illegitimate.

“My devise for the Succession” by King Edward VI; Credit – Wikipedia

King Edward composed a document “My devise for the succession” passing over his half-sisters and the Duchess of Suffolk (Frances Brandon), giving the throne to the Duchess of Suffolk’s daughters and their male heirs. The Duke and Duchess of Suffolk were outraged at the Duchess’ removal from the succession, but after a meeting with the ailing king, the Duchess renounced her rights in favor of her daughter Jane.  Many contemporary legal experts believed the king could not contravene an Act of Parliament without passing a new one that would have established the altered succession.  Therefore, many thought that Jane’s claim to the throne was weak.  Apparently, Jane did not have any idea of what was occurring.

After great suffering, fifteen-year-old King Edward VI died on July 6, 1553, most likely from tuberculosis.  On July 9, Jane was told she was the Queen of England and reluctantly accepted the fact. She was publicly proclaimed Queen with much pomp after Edward’s death was announced on July 10.  Queen Jane made a state entry into the Tower of London.  Her mother carried her train and the rather short Queen wore raised shoes to give her height.  Jane showed some spirit when she refused to allow her husband to be proclaimed king.

The Duke of Northumberland had to find Mary and hopefully capture her before she could gather support.  However, as soon as Mary knew her half-brother was dead, she wrote a letter to the Privy Council with orders for her proclamation as Edward’s successor and started to gather support.  By July 12, Mary and her supporters had assembled a military force at Framlingham Castle in Suffolk.  The Duke of Northumberland set out from London with troops on July 14.  The nobility was incensed with Northumberland and the people,  for the most part, wanted Mary as their Queen, not Jane.  In Northumberland’s absence, the Privy Council switched their allegiance from Jane to Mary and proclaimed her Queen on July 19, 1553.  Mary arrived triumphantly in London on August 3, 1553, accompanied by her half-sister Elizabeth and a procession of over 800 nobles and gentlemen.

The Execution of Lady Jane Grey by Paul Delaroche, 1833; Credit -Wikipedia

Aftermath:  The Duke of Northumberland was executed on August 22, 1553. Lady Jane Grey and Lord Guildford Dudley were both charged with high treason as was Jane’s father Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk. They were all found guilty. Queen Mary appeared as if she was going to be lenient but the Protestant rebellion of Thomas Wyatt the Younger in January 1554 sealed Jane’s fate, although she had nothing to do with the rebellion.   Wyatt’s Rebellion was a reaction to Queen Mary’s planned marriage to the future King Philip II of Spain.  Lady Jane Grey and Lord Guildford Dudley were executed on February 12, 1554, and were buried at the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula within Tower of London in London, England.

The Duke of Suffolk was executed on February 23, 1554.  Lady Jane’s mother, the Duchess of Suffolk, married her Master of the Horse Adrian Stokes in March 1555.  She was fully pardoned by Queen Mary and allowed to live at court with her two surviving daughters.  She died in 1559.

Memorial in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula at the Tower of London, Credit: www.findagrave.com

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