Author Archives: Susan

Philippa of Hainault, Queen of England

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Philippa of Hainault, Queen of England; Credit: Wikipedia

I’ve felt a closeness to Philippa of Hainault since 2005 when I made my second visit to Westminster Abbey.  My first visit was in 1990 with my sister and two children.  In 2005, I was with my husband and kept telling him I was sure I saw Edward the Confessor’s tomb in 1990, but couldn’t see it in 2005.  There was a verger nearby whose duty it was to answer questions, so I asked him.  He said that the route tourists go through the Abbey had changed since 1990 and he would show me how to see Edward the Confessor’s tomb.  He brought me to the tomb of Philippa of Hainault, located on a side aisle next to the main altar.  He told me to stand on the tomb’s edge and then I would be able to see into the Chapel of Edward the Confessor.  So there I was looking into the face of Philippa on her effigy while being able to see Edward the Confessor’s tomb.

Born June 24, 1314, Philippa was fourth of the nine children and the second of the five daughters of William I, Count of Hainault (also Count of Holland, Count of Avesnes and Count of Zeeland) and Joan of Valois.

Philippa’s siblings:

When Philippa was only eight years old, she was already being considered as a bride for the future King Edward III of England who was only seven. Walter de Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter was sent to inspect Philippa.  The bishop gave a very detailed report to King Edward II of England.  Seven years later in 1326, Prince Edward and his mother Queen Isabella were able to check out Philippa themselves when they visited the court of Hainault.  The young prince liked what he saw and he and Philippa were betrothed in the summer of 1326.

In January 1327, King Edward II abdicated after he had been politically opposed and his 14-year-old son became King Edward III.  A year later on  January 24, 1328, Edward and Philippa married at York Minster in York, England.  The couple’s main home was Woodstock Palace in Oxfordshire, England.  It was Philippa’s favorite residence and the birthplace of four of her thirteen children including her eldest child, Edward the Black Prince, who was born days before her sixteenth birthday.  The sons of Edward and Philippa married into the English nobility and their descendants who later battled for the throne in the Wars of the Roses.

The children of Edward III and Philippa:

Like other medieval consorts, Philippa often accompanied her husband on military campaigns.  She was known for her kind nature and successfully pleaded for the lives of six burghers who had surrendered their city of Calais to King Edward III.  Philippa acted as regent for her husband several times while he was away from England. She was a patron of the chronicler Jean Froissart who said of her “The most gentle Queen, most liberal, and most courteous that ever was Queen in her days.”

Philippa died on August 15, 1369, of a “dropsical malady” (edema) that had bothered her for about two years.  She was 55 years old and had outlived seven of her children.  According to the chronicler Jean Froissart, Philippa died holding the hands of her husband and her youngest child Thomas who was fourteen years old.  She was buried in a tomb with an alabaster effigy in Westminster Abbey in London, England. Her husband King Edward III survived her by eight years.  He died in 1377 and was succeeded by his ten-year-old grandson Richard, the only child of his eldest son Edward the Black Prince who had died in 1376.

Effigy of Philippa of Hainault; Credit – www.westminster-abbey.org

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England: House of Plantagenet Resources at Unofficial Royalty

John, 1st Duke of Bedford

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

John, 1st Duke of Bedford praying before St. George, Credit – Wikipedia

Born on June 20, 1389, John was the third surviving son of the future King Henry IV of England and his first wife Mary de Bohun.  His paternal grandparents were John of Gaunt (son of King Edward III of England) and Blanche of Lancaster, the heiress of England’s wealthiest and most powerful peer, Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster.  It was through Blanche that the Duchy of Lancaster came into the royal family.  His maternal grandparents were Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford, and Joan Fitzalan, daughter of Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel  When John was five years old, his mother died while giving birth to her last child Philippa.

John had five surviving siblings:

In 1399, John’s father declared himself King Henry IV, imprisoned his cousin King Richard II, who died in 1400 under mysterious circumstances, and bypassed Richard’s seven-year-old heir-presumptive Edmund de Mortimer.  In 1403, John was made Constable of England and in 1410 he was confirmed in that position for life.  His father King Henry IV died in 1413 and his brother became King Henry V.  In 1414, John’s brother created him Duke of Bedford, Earl of Kendal, and Earl of Richmond.

When King Henry V died at the early age of 35 in 1422, he left his nine-month-old son to succeed him as King Henry VI.  John served as Regent for his young nephew and fought many battles against the French.  It was John who tried and executed Joan of Arc.

Anne of Burgundy, Duchess of Bedford; Credit – Wikipedia

John married Anne of Burgundy, daughter of John II the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy and Margaret of Bavaria in June of 1423.  The couple was childless.  Anne died on November 14, 1432, at the Hôtel de Bourgogne in Paris, France from the plague.

Jacquetta of Luxembourg; CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=135902202

On April 22, 1433, John married 17-year-old Jacquetta of Luxembourg, daughter of Peter I, Count of Saint-Pol, Conversano and Brienne and Margaret de Baux in Thérouanne, France.  The marriage was short-lived and childless as John, Duke of Bedford died on September 14, 1435, at age 46 at his Castle of Joyeux Repos in Rouen, Normandy, France.  He was buried at Rouen Cathedral in France. John’s widow Jacquetta married Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers in 1437 and had fourteen children including Elizabeth Woodville, the wife of King Edward IV.

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Princess Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Princess Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans; Credit – Wikipedia

Known as Henrietta-Anne during her years at the French court, she is an ancestor of the royal families of Belgium, Luxembourg, and Spain.  When the line of Henriette-Anne’s brother King James II of England died out, the Jacobite claims to the British throne descended from her daughter Anne Marie d’Orléans, Queen of Sardinia. The Orléanist pretenders to the French throne and the Savoy pretenders to the Italian throne descend from Henrietta-Anne.

Princess Henrietta was born on June 16, 1644, amid the English Civil War, at Bedford House in Exeter, England, the home of William Russell, 5th Earl of Bedford, where her mother had fled from Oxford, England to safety.  It was in Oxford shortly before her birth that Henrietta’s parents, King Charles I and Henrietta Maria of France, last saw each other.  Henrietta Maria’s parents were King Henri IV of France, who had been assassinated when she was a year old, and Marie de Medici from the famous House of Medici.

Princess Henrietta, drawing by Anthony Van Dyck; Credit – Wikipedia

Henrietta’s siblings who survived infancy:

Henrietta on the right with her brother James and Charles, circa 1660; Credit – Wikipedia

Henrietta was well connected to European royalty through her maternal aunts and uncles: Louis XIII, King of France; Elisabeth, Queen of Spain, wife of Philip IV, King of Spain; Christine Marie, Duchess of Savoy, wife of Vittorio Amedeo I, Duke of Savoy; and Gaston, Duke of Orléans.  Her only surviving paternal aunt or uncle was Elizabeth Stuart who married Frederick V, Elector Palatine.  It was through Elizabeth’s daughter Sophia that the Protestant Hanovers came to the British throne in 1714 through the 1701 Act of Settlement.

About a month after Henrietta’s birth, her mother went to France to ask her nephew, King Louis XIV, for assistance for the Royalist side in the English Civil War.  Henrietta was left in the care of Lady Dalkeith (born Anne Villiers, the daughter of Sir Edward Villiers).  While in Lady Dalkeith’s care, King Charles I saw his daughter for the first time and ordered her baptized with the Church of England rites.  In 1646, Lady Dalkeith disguised herself and the princess as peasants and fled to France, reuniting the princess with her mother.  Lady Dalkeith was Princess Henrietta’s governess in France until 1651.

At the French court, Henrietta was given the additional name of Anne, in honor of Anne of Austria, widow of King Louis XIII and mother of King Louis XIV. Thereafter, the princess was known as Henriette-Anne, but she was called Minette by her family and friends.  Mother and daughter were given apartments at the Louvre Palace, the use of the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and a pension, much of which was given to King Charles I in England and to royalist exiles in France.  In January 1649, King Charles I was beheaded and Henriette-Anne and her mother moved to the Palais Royal with her cousins King Louis XIV and Philippe, Duke of Orléans and their mother Anne of Austria, Dowager Queen of France.  At this time Henrietta Maria decided to have her daughter brought up as a Roman Catholic.

Henrietta Maria wanted her daughter to marry her cousin King Louis XIV, but his mother was against the marriage.  Instead, Louis married Maria Theresa of Spain, another first cousin, in 1660.  Also in 1660, the monarchy was restored in England and Henriette-Anne’s oldest brother became King Charles II.  Now that Henriette-Anne was the sister of the English king, her cousin Philippe became interested in marrying her.  Philippe had homosexual affairs, but apparently, he was intent on fulfilling his dynastic responsibility of having children.  The cousins married on April 1, 1661, and moved into the Palais des Tuileries.  Philippe was styled Monsieur and so Henrietta was then styled as Madame.  Henriette-Anne and Philippe had four children.  Some members of the French court doubted their children’s paternity. Henriette-Anne had affairs, including an affair with her husband’s lover Guy Armand de Gramont, Comte de Guiche.

Henrietta with her daughter Marie Louise by Jean Nocret, 1670; Credit – Wikipedia

Henriette-Anne regularly corresponded with the playwrights Molière and Racine, and the fabulist La Fontaine.  She was interested in gardening and created the water gardens at the Palais Royal. She also had a large art collection focusing on the Flemish artist Van Dyck and the Italian artist Correggio.  In 1669, Henriette-Anne’s mother Henrietta Maria died after mistakenly taking too many opiates as a painkiller.

The Death of the Duchess of Orléans; Credit – Wikipedia

Beginning in 1667, Henriette-Anne’s health started to suffer.  She had pains in her side and her digestive problems became so severe that she could only drink milk.  On June 29, 1670, Henriette-Anne drank a glass of iced chicory water and immediately felt severe pain in her side.  She thought she had been poisoned and asked to be given an antidote.  The last rites were administered and Henriette-Anne died on June 30, 1670, at the age of 26, at the Château de Saint-Cloud in Hauts-de-Seine, France.  There were rumors that her husband’s lover Philippe, Chevalier de Lorraine had poisoned her.

An autopsy was conducted by 17 French doctors and two English doctors and attended by the British ambassador and an audience of 100.  The official report stated that Henriette-Anne died from “cholera morbus caused by heated bile” which was a medical diagnosis at the time for acute gastroenteritis occurring in summer and autumn with severe cramps, diarrhea, and vomiting.  Many of the autopsy observers disagreed with this diagnosis.  Henriette-Anne was buried at the Basilica of St. Denis near Paris, the burial site of the Kings of France and their families.

Henrietta’s funeral; Credit – Wikipedia

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Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde of Luxembourg

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde of Luxembourg, Credit – Wikipedia

Her Grand Ducal Highness Princess Marie-Adélaïde of Luxembourg (Marie-Adélaïde Thérèse Hilda Wilhelmine) was born on June 14, 1894, at Berg Castle in Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg.  At the time of her birth, her father was the Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg and her grandfather Adolphe was the Grand Duke of Luxembourg.  In 1905, her father became Grand Duke Guillaume IV of Luxembourg.  Marie-Adélaïde’s mother was Infanta Marie Anne of Portugal, daughter of the deposed King Miguel I of Portugal and Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg.  Guillaume, who was Protestant, married the Catholic Marie Anne because he thought Luxembourg should have a Roman Catholic ruler.  All the rulers since have been Roman Catholic.

Marie-Adélaïde’s grandfather Adolphe had become Grand Duke of Luxembourg because of the Salic Law.  Up until 1890, the King of the Netherlands was also the Grand Duke of Luxembourg.  However, when Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands succeeded her father in 1890, she could not become Grand Duchess of Luxembourg because of the Salic Law which forbade female succession.  The Grand Duchy’s crown passed to Adolphe, Duke of Nassau via the Nassau Pact.

Ironically, Adolphe’s son Guillaume had six daughters and no sons and therefore, there was another succession problem.  There were only two male heirs, Guillaume’s uncle Prince Nikolaus-Wilhelm of Nassau and Prince Nikolaus-Wilhelm of Nassau’s son by a morganatic marriage, Count Georg Nikolaus von Merenberg.  In 1905, Prince Nikolaus-Wilhelm of Nassau died and in 1907 Grand Duke William declared the Counts of Merenberg were not dynasts and named his eldest daughter Marie-Adélaïde heiress-presumptive.

The five sisters of Marie-Adélaïde:

Marie-Adélaïde (seated on the right) with her mother (seated in the middle) and her five sisters in 1920. Photo credit – Wikipedia

Grand Duke Guillaume died on February 25, 1912, and Marie-Adélaïde became the first reigning Grand Duchess of Luxembourg at the age of 17.  Her mother served as regent until her 18th birthday.  Marie-Adélaïde had a great interest in politics and government and played an active role as Grand Duchess.  However, many of her political views were colored by her devout belief in Roman Catholicism.

In the early days of World War I, Germany violated the neutral stance of Luxembourg and invaded the country.  Marie-Adélaïde issued a formal protest which was not effective in preventing the military occupation by Germany. She decided not to resist the much stronger Germans but instead maintain her country’s neutrality. However, during World War I,  Marie-Adélaïde developed a rather friendly relationship with the Germans, including hosting Wilhelm II, German Emperor at the palace. This caused her political opponents in Luxembourg to call her pro-German. Members of the parliament began to call for her abdication in January 1919. After consulting with the Prime Minister, Marie-Adélaïde abdicated on January 14, 1919.  Her sister Charlotte succeeded her.

After her abdication, Marie-Adélaïde entered a Carmelite convent in Modena, Italy.  Eventually, she became a nun, joining the Little Sisters of the Poor in Rome, and taking the name Sister Marie of the Poor. Her health began to worsen so she left the convent and settled at Hohenburg Castle in Bavaria, Germany where she died of influenza on January 24, 1924, at the age of 29.  On October 22, 1947, her remains were returned to her home country and were buried in the Grand Ducal Crypt of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg.

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Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Resources at Unofficial Royalty

King George V of Hanover

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2012

King George V of Hanover, Credit – Wikipedia

Kingdom of Hanover: In 1714, George, Elector of Hanover, became King George I of Great Britain due to the extinction of the Protestant Stuart line. He remained Elector of Hanover as did his successors King George II and King George III. In 1814, under the terms of the Congress of Vienna, the Electorate of Hanover was raised to the Kingdom of Hanover and King George III also became King of Hanover.

George III’s sons George IV and William IV succeeded him as King of the United Kingdom and King of Hanover. However, because the Kingdom of Hanover followed the Salic Law which did not allow female succession, Queen Victoria who succeeded her uncle William IV as Queen of the United Kingdom, could not become Queen of Hanover. Therefore, Queen Victoria’s paternal eldest surviving uncle Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland became King of Hanover.

King George V, Ernest Augustus’ son, was the last King of Hanover. Hanover backed the losing side in the Austro-Prussian War and was conquered by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1866 and became a Prussian province. Since then, the senior heir of the House of Hanover has been the pretender to the throne of the Kingdom of Hanover. Today the former Kingdom of Hanover is in the German state of Lower Saxony.

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The last King of Hanover was born Prince George of Cumberland on May 27, 1819, in a hotel in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany.  His parents were Prince Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, the fifth son of King George III, and Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.  Prince George was born amidst the race for an heir to the British throne in the third generation.  The death of Princess Charlotte of Wales in childbirth in 1817 left King George III without any legitimate grandchildren.  Prince George was born three days after the eventual heir, Alexandrina Victoria (Queen Victoria), who was ahead of her cousin in the succession by being the child of King George III’s fourth son.  After Queen Victoria succeeded to the throne in 1837, Prince George remained second in the line of succession after his father until Queen Victoria’s first child was born.  Today his descendant Prince Ernst August of Hanover is the senior male-line descendant of King George III and the Head of the House of Hanover.

While George had no full siblings, he did have half-siblings from his mother’s first two marriages:

From his mother’s first marriage to Prince Ludwig of Prussia, George had three half-siblings:

From his mother’s second marriage to Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Solms-Braunfels, George had six half-siblings:

  • Princess Caroline of Solms-Braunfels (born and died 1799)
  • Prince Wilhelm of Solms-Braunfels (1801–1868), married Countess Maria Anna Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau, had nine children
  • Princess Sophie of Solms-Braunfels (born and died 1803)
  • Princess Auguste Luise of Solms-Braunfels (1804–1865), married Prince Albert of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, had four children
  • Prince Friedrich of Solms-Braunfels (1807–1867), married Baroness Louise of Landsberg-Velen, had one child
  • Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels (1812–1875), married (1) morganatically Louise Beyrich, had three children  (2) Princess Sophie of Loewenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, had five children

Prince George was christened George Frederick Alexander Charles Ernest Augustus on July 8, 1819, at a hotel in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia with what might be a record number of godparents:

Prince George spent his childhood in England and Prussia. In 1828, an accident with a swinging set of keys resulted in the loss of some vision.  By 1835, George was completely blind.  In 1837, upon the accession of Queen Victoria, George’s father became King of Hanover.  Up until this point, Hanoverian kings of the United Kingdom were also Electors or Kings of Hanover.  However, Hanover followed the Salic Law which did not allow female succession.  Ernest Augustus, the eldest surviving son of King George III, became King of Hanover and his son George became the Crown Prince.

In 1839, Crown Prince George met Princess Marie of Saxe-Altenburg at Schloss Monbrillant, a summer palace of the Hanovers.  George and Marie were married on February 18, 1843, and had three children:

George and his family; Credit – Wikipedia

George succeeded his father as King of Hanover and Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, as well as Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale, in the Peerage of Great Britain, and Earl of Armagh, in the Peerage of Ireland, on November 18, 1851. King George V of Hanover reigned for only 15 years, being exiled from Hanover in 1866 because of his support for Austria in the Austro-Prussian War.  On September 20, 1866, Hanover was annexed by Prussia.  George never abdicated from the throne of Hanover and he and his wife Marie lived in exile in Gmunden, Austria, and in Paris, France where George died on June 12, 1878, at the age of 59.  After a funeral service was held at the Lutheran Church in the Rue Chacat in Paris and George’s remains were transported to England and buried in the Royal Tomb House under St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England.

An artist’s view inside the Royal Tomb House at St. George’s Chapel. Caskets were placed on the shelves along the sides. The bench in the middle was used as a temporary place for caskets waiting to be buried elsewhere.

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Unofficial Royalty Kingdom of Hanover Resources

Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, Credit – Wikipedia

Henry William Frederick Albert was the third son and fourth child of King George V of the United Kingdom and Princess Victoria Mary of Teck (Queen Mary).  He was born on March 31, 1900, at York Cottage on the Sandringham estate.  His great-grandmother Queen Victoria had created Letters Patent giving the style of Royal Highness to the children of the Duke and Duchess of York, so Henry was HRH Prince Henry of York from birth.  He had five siblings:

Prince Henry (front center) with his siblings, 1910. source: Wikipedia

Prince Henry (known as Harry) was christened on May 17, 1900, in the Private Chapel at Windsor Castle, by the Bishop of Winchester.  His godparents were:

Henry attended St. Peter’s Court School in Kent and then Eton College near Windsor, which was unusual for a royal child at that time.  He also attended the Royal Military College at Sandhurst and Trinity College, Cambridge. On his 28th birthday, his father King George V created him Duke of Gloucester.

Henry had a military career in the British Army and served with The King’s Royal Rifle Corps and the 10th Royal Hussars.  He retired from active duty in 1937 but served with the British Expeditionary Force during World War II. In 1940, he was wounded when the car he was in was attacked from the air.  The highest ranks Henry attained were Field Marshal (1955) and Marshal of the Royal Air Force (1958).

On November 6, 1935, Henry married Lady Alice Montagu Douglas Scott, a daughter of John Montagu Douglas Scott, 7th Duke of Buccleuch.  The wedding was originally set to be held at Westminster Abbey, but when Lady Alice’s father died on October 19, 1935, the wedding venue was changed.  It was deemed more appropriate to have the wedding at the Private Chapel at Buckingham Palace. Among the bridesmaids were the groom’s nieces Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret Rose.

Henry with his wife and their two sons in 1945; Credit – Wikipedia

The couple had two sons, and the family lived at the 16th-century Barnwell Manor in Northamptonshire and York House, St. James’s Palace in London.

The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester with King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, 1945. source: Wikipedia

The Duke of Gloucester served as Governor-General of Australia from 1945 to 1947.  During the early reign of the Duke’s niece Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester carried out royal engagements, including some overseas tours.

In 1965, while driving back to Barnwell Manor after attending the funeral of Winston Churchill, the Duke suffered a stroke, causing a car accident.  The Duchess suffered injuries to the face, which required 57 stitches.  Three years later, the Duke suffered another stroke, which left him incapacitated. The Duchess continued to talk and read to her husband, hoping he could hear and understand.  She never did tell him about the death of their son in a plane crash, but she thought he understood from watching television.

Graves of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester. photo: www.findagrave.com

On June 10, 1974, Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester died at Barnwell Manor, his country home at the age of 73.  He was buried at the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore near Windsor Castle.  After the Duke’s death, his widow received permission from Queen Elizabeth II to style herself Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, to distinguish herself from her son’s wife.  Princess Alice died in 2004 at the age of 102, the longest-living member of the British Royal Family so far.

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Sophia of the Palatinate, Electress of Hanover

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Dowager Electress Sophia of Hanover, Credit – Wikipedia

If the Stuarts had been able to provide a Protestant heir to the British throne, Sophia of Hanover would not have become possibly the most famous footnote in British royal history.  Princess Sophia of the Palatine was born on October 14, 1630, at the Wassenaer Hof in The Hague, Dutch Republic, now in the Netherlands where her parents were in exile during the Thirty Years War.  Her father was Friedrich V, Elector Palatine, but Sophia’s more important dynastic line was through her mother.  Her mother was Elizabeth Stuart, the second child and eldest daughter of James VI and I, King of Scotland, England and Ireland, and his wife Anne of Denmark.

Sophie had twelve siblings:

Sophia married Ernst August, Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg on September 30, 1658.  Ernst August became the first Elector of Hanover in 1692.  Sophia and Ernst August had seven children:

Sophia in 1650; Credit – Wikipedia

Sophia was intelligent and well-read. She was an admirer of the German philosopher and mathematician Gottfried Leibniz and the two regularly corresponded.  Sophia and her husband did much work improving the Hanover ancestral home at Herrenhausen, particularly the beautiful gardens.

Palace of Herrenhausen and the Great Garden, circa 1708; Credit – Wikipedia

The Stuarts came to the British throne after the death of Queen Elizabeth I.  King James VI of Scotland, the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, was the great-grandson of Margaret Tudor (the sister of King Henry VIII), and upon Elizabeth’s death became King James I of England.  James I was succeeded by his son King Charles I who was beheaded during the English Civil War. Oliver Cromwell ruled as Lord Protector for eleven years until the monarchy was restored in 1660 and Charles I’s son became King Charles II.  Despite having at least fourteen illegitimate children by his mistresses, Charles II and his wife Catherine of Braganza had no children.  Charles II was succeeded by his brother King James II in 1685.

King James II had eight children with his first wife Anne Hyde, who died before he became king.  Only two of the eight children survived childhood, the future Queen Mary II and the future Queen Anne.  James converted to Catholicism in 1668 or 1669 during his first marriage, kept his conversion secret, and continued to attend Church of England services until 1673 when his conversion became public.  Charles II refused to allow James’ daughters from his first marriage to become Catholic.  James married again to the Catholic Maria Beatrice of Modena and all of their children born between 1675 – 1682 died young.  The birth of James Francis Edward, a Catholic son of James and Maria Beatrice of Modena, in 1688 precipitated the Glorious Revolution which placed James’ elder daughter Mary and her husband and first cousin William III, Prince of Orange, jointly on the throne as the Protestant monarchs King William III and Queen Mary II.

William and Mary had married in 1677.  William was the only child of Mary, Princess Royal, the daughter of King Charles I, and therefore was Mary’s first cousin.  Mary suffered a miscarriage early in her marriage which may have left her unable to have children.  She had several periods of illness which may have also been miscarriages.  Mary’s inability to have children caused her great grief.  Queen Mary II died of smallpox in 1694 at the age of 32.  King William III reigned until he died in 1702, and was succeeded by Anne, the younger daughter of King James II.

Queen Anne married George of Denmark in 1683. Anne had 17 pregnancies and tragically only three of the pregnancies resulted in children who lived longer than a few days.  The promise of the Stuart succession was with Anne’s only surviving child Prince William, Duke of Gloucester.  Prince William was a sickly child and probably had hydrocephalus. Less than a week after his 11th birthday, Prince William died and there was a succession crisis as his mother was the only person remaining in the Protestant line to the throne established by the Bill of Rights of 1689.

Sophia of Hanover’s family was the most junior of the Stuart lines but was the most Protestant.  In 1701, Parliament passed the Act of Settlement, giving the succession to the British throne to Sophia and her non-Catholic heirs. This act ensured the Protestant succession and bypassed many Catholics with a better hereditary claim to the throne.

On  June 5, 1714, 83-year-old Sophia fell ill after receiving an angry letter from Queen Anne. Two days later, while she was walking in the gardens of Schloss Herrenhausen, it began to rain quite heavily and Sophia ran to a shelter where she collapsed. Sophia of the Palatinate, Electress of Hanover, died on June 8, 1714, at Schloss Herrenhausen in Hanover, Electorate of Hanover, now in Lower Saxony, Germany. She was initially buried at the Chapel of Leineschloss in Hanover which was destroyed during World War II. In 1957, her remains were moved to the mausoleum of King Ernst August I of Hanover in the Berggarten of Herrenhausen Gardens.  She narrowly missed becoming queen, having died two months before Queen Anne. Sophia’s son George, Elector of Hanover, became King George I.

Berggarten Mausoleum at Schloss Herrenhausen in Hanover, Germany; Credit – Wikipedia

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Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily, Holy Roman Empress, Empress of Austria

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily, Holy Roman Empress, Empress of Austria; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily was born at the Royal Palace of Portici in Naples, Kingdom of Naples and Sicily, now in Italy, on June 6, 1772, the eldest child of King Ferdinando IV & III of Naples and Sicily (later King Ferdinando I of the Two Sicilies) and Archduchess Marie Caroline of Austria. She was named after her maternal grandmother, Maria Theresa of Austria, and was a niece of Queen Marie Antoinette of France.

Maria Theresa had sixteen siblings, but only six survived childhood. Eight of her siblings died from smallpox.

The Royal Family of Naples by Angelica Kauffman; Credit – Wikipedia

On September 15, 1790, at the age of 18, Maria Theresa married her double first cousin, Archduke Franz of Austria. Franz and Maria Theresa had the same four grandparents: Franz I, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia; and Carlos III of Spain and Maria Amalia of Saxony.

This was Franz’s second marriage and the only one of his four marriages that resulted in surviving children. Seven of their twelve children survived to adulthood. Among the children of Franz and Maria Theresa were: Marie-Louise, the second wife of Napoleon Bonaparte; Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria and Maria Leopoldina, the wife of Emperor Pedro I of Brazil.  The marriage lasted nearly seventeen years and was said to be very happy.  Maria Theresa enjoyed participating in social events such as balls and masquerades, even during her twelve pregnancies.  She loved music and was an important patron of Viennese music.

Franz and Maria Theresa’s children:

Franz, Maria Theresa, and their children; Credit – Wikipedia

Franz became Holy Roman Emperor at age 24 in 1792 after the two-year reign of his father Leopold. Holy Roman Emperor Franz II feared that Napoleon could take over his personal Habsburg lands within the Holy Roman Empire, so in 1804 he proclaimed himself Emperor Franz I of Austria. Two years later, after Napoleon’s victory at the Battle of Austerlitz, the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved. Lands held by the Holy Roman Emperor were given to Napoleon’s allies, creating the Kingdom of Bavaria, the Kingdom of Württemberg, and the Grand Duchy of Baden. Therefore, Maria Theresa was the last Holy Roman Empress and the first Empress of Austria.

While pregnant with her twelfth child, Maria Theresa fell ill with the lung infection pleurisy. Her doctor bled her, and this caused premature labor. Maria Theresa gave birth to her twelfth child, who lived only three days. On April 13, 1807, a week after giving birth, Maria Theresa died at the age of 34. Franz was inconsolable and had to be forcibly removed from his wife’s body. Maria Theresa was buried in the Imperial Crypt in the Franzensgruft (Franz’s Vault), where her husband and his three other wives are also buried. The infant Archduchess Amalia Theresa was buried in the Imperial Crypt in the northeast pier of the Ferdinandsgruft (Ferdinand’s Vault).

Austria_tomb of Maria Theresa af Naples

Tomb of Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily, Photo Credit – Susan Flantzer

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Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Kingdom of Prussia: The Protestant Franconian branch of the House of Hohenzollern ruled as Margraves of Brandenburg, Dukes of Prussia, Electors of Brandenburg, Kings of Prussia from 1415 until 1918. In November 1700, in exchange for supporting the Holy Roman Empire in the Spanish War of Succession, Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor agreed to allow Friedrich III, Duke of Prussia, Elector of Brandenburg to make Prussia a kingdom and become its first king. In the aftermath of World War I, Prussia had a revolution that resulted in the replacement of the monarchy with a republic. Wilhelm II, German Emperor, King of Prussia abdicated on November 9, 1918.

The Kingdom of Prussia had territory that today is part of Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, and Switzerland. All or parts of the following states of today’s Germany were part of the Kingdom of Prussia: Brandenburg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saarland, Saxony-Anhalt, and Schleswig-Holstein.

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Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia; Credit – Wikipedia

Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albrecht was born on January 27, 1859, at the Crown Prince’s Palace in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany.  He was the first child of Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia (the future Friedrich III, German Emperor and King of Prussia) and Victoria, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom, and the first grandchild of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, whose names he was given.  Wilhelm’s 18-year-old mother had a difficult breech delivery which left Wilhelm with a withered left arm, about six inches shorter than his right arm, which he always tried to conceal.

Wilhelm had seven siblings:

Wilhelm (on the right in the back) with his parents and his siblings; Credit – Wikipedia

Wilhelm was related to many European royals.  His sister Sophie was the Queen Consort of Greece.  Among his first cousins were King George V of the United Kingdom, Queen Maud of Norway, Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia, Queen Marie of Romania, Duke Albert of Schleswig-Holstein, Crown Princess Margaret of Sweden, Duke Charles Edward of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain.

In 1868 when he was nine years old, Wilhelm first met Princess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, known as Dona, who was a few months older.  Dona was the eldest daughter of Friedrich VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. Her maternal grandparents were Ernst I, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Princess Feodora of Leiningen, half-sister of Queen Victoria. In the years that followed, Dona fell in love with her cousin Prince Ernst of Saxe-Meiningen and was sent to England to visit relatives to quash the romance.  Wilhelm had proposed to his first cousin Princess Elisabeth (Ella) of Hesse and by Rhine, daughter of his maternal aunt Alice.  Ella, however, turned him down, and later would marry into the Russian Imperial Family and be murdered by the Bolsheviks in 1918.

Wilhelm in 1877; Credit – Wikipedia

Dona and Wilhelm were reacquainted in the summer of 1878 in Potsdam, Prussia.  The Prussians did not look favorably upon Dona as a possible wife for Wilhelm.  There were questions about whether the marriage would be equal because Dona’s father was not a sovereign. Furthermore, there were political complications from the Prussian annexation of Schleswig-Holstein when Dona’s father claimed them.  However, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck was a strong proponent of the marriage because he believed it would end the dispute between the Prussian government and Dona’s father.  The engagement was announced officially on June 2, 1880, and the couple married on February 27, 1881, in Berlin.  Dona and Wilhelm had a very happy marriage.  Wilhelm was a man who needed to be pampered and since Dona adored him, she had no trouble pampering him.  She had more artistic interests than he did, but they shared very conservative political views and a deep religious faith. Dona had to endure a rough start to her married life because of her in-laws who did not think her rank was sufficient for the wife of a future emperor.

Dona and Wilhelm, Credit – Wikipedia

The couple had seven children, six sons and one daughter:

  • Crown Prince Wilhelm (1882–1951), married Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. They had six children. Their eldest son Prince Wilhelm of Prussia (1906–1940) was killed in World War II.
  • Prince Eitel Friedrich (1883–1942), married Duchess Sophia Charlotte of Oldenburg. They were divorced and had no children.
  • Prince Adalbert (1884–1948), married Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen. They had three children.
  • Prince August Wilhelm (1887–1949), married Princess Alexandra Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. They had one child.
  • Prince Oskar (1888–1958), married Countess Ina Marie von Bassewitz. They had four children. Their eldest son Prince Oskar Wilhelm Karl Hans Kuno of Prussia was killed in 1939 in World War II.
  • Prince Joachim (1890–1920), married Princess Marie-Auguste of Anhalt. They had one son. His great-grandson Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia, Prince of Prussia (born 1981) is a pretender to the Russian throne. Prince Joachim died by suicide.
  • Princess Viktoria Luise (1892–1980),  married Ernst August of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick. They had five children. Among their descendants are Prince Ernst August of Hanover, husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco; former King Constantine II of Greece; and Queen Sofia of Spain.

Wilhelm and Dona’s family in 1896, Credit – Wikipedia from the German Federal Archives

1888 was called the Year of the Three Emperors.  On March 9, 1888, Wilhelm’s grandfather Wilhelm I, German Emperor died. Already ill with throat cancer, Wilhelm’s father became Friedrich III, German Emperor.  His reign lasted only 99 days as he died on June 15, 1888, and Wilhelm became German Emperor at the age of 29.

Wilhelm has been a controversial figure for historians, past and present.  From Wilhelm’s Wikipedia article: “Three trends have characterized the writing about Wilhelm. First, the court-inspired writers who considered him a martyr and a hero. Often they uncritically accepted the justifications provided in the Kaiser’s memoirs. Second, those who judged Wilhelm as completely unable to handle the great responsibilities of his office, a ruler who was too reckless to deal with power. Third, after 1950, scholars sought to transcend the passions of the 1910s and attempted an objective portrayal of Wilhelm II and his rule.”

Wilhelm was very militaristic and wanted to increase the strength of Germany’s armed forces, particularly the German Imperial Navy, which he wanted to be the equal of the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy. Although Wilhelm appeared to have some doubts after the assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914, in Sarajevo, Serbia, Wilhelm incited Austria-Hungary to take revenge against Serbia for the assassination. Events worsened throughout July 1914 resulting in the beginning of World War I in August 1914. Years before the start of World War I, Germany had developed the Schlieffen Plan, a one-front war-winning offensive against France which was the thinking behind the German invasion of France and Belgium on August 4, 1914.

Wilhelm in 1915; Credit – Wikipedia

In the aftermath of World War I, Germany had a revolution resulting in the replacement of the monarchy with a republic. Wilhelm abdicated on November 9, 1918.  On November 10, 1918, Wilhelm Hohenzollern crossed the border by train, and went into exile in the Netherlands, never to return to Germany.  He first settled in Amerongen, living in the castle there.

In 1919, Wilhelm purchased Huis Doorn, a small manor house outside of Doorn, a small town near Utrecht in the Netherlands, and moved there in 1920.  As a condition of his exile, Wilhelm was allowed to travel freely within a radius of 15 miles from his house.  Traveling further required that advance notice had to be given to local government officials.  As Wilhelm did not like to be under the thumb of minor officials, he rarely traveled further than the 15 miles.

Huis Doorn in 1925; Credit – Wikipedia

Wilhelm’s son Joachim was unable to accept his new status as a commoner and became severely depressed. He died by suicide using a gun on July 18, 1920, in Potsdam, Germany.  The shock of abdication and exile, combined with Joachim’s suicide, proved too much for Dona. She died in 1921, at Huis Doorn.  The Weimar Republic in Germany allowed her remains to be transported back to Germany to be buried at the Temple of Antiquities near the New Palace in Potsdam.  Wilhelm was not allowed to go to Germany and could accompany his wife’s body only as far as the border.

Dona in 1913; Credit – Wikipedia

In January 1922, Princess Hermine Reuss of Greiz‘s son sent birthday wishes to Wilhelm, who then invited the boy and his mother to Doorn. Wilhelm found Hermine very attractive and greatly enjoyed her company. Having both been recently widowed, the two had much in common.  Wilhelm was determined to marry Hermine despite objections from his children. 63-year-old Wilhelm and 34-year-old Hermine married on November 5, 1922, in Doorn.  Hermine returned to Germany after Wilhelm’s death.  After World War II, Hermine was held under house arrest at Frankfurt-an-der Oder in the Soviet Zone of Germany. She died at Paulinenhof, a Soviet internment camp near Brandenburg, Germany on August 7, 1947.  She was buried at the Temple of Antiquities in Potsdam with Wilhelm’s first wife.

Hermine and Wilhelm at Huis Doorn in 1933; Credit – Wikipedia

On June 4, 1941, Wilhelm II, formerly German Emperor and King of Prussia, died of a pulmonary embolism at Huis Doorn, his home in exile in Doorn, the Netherlands.  He was 82 years old and had lived at Huis Doorn since 1920.

After Wilhelm’s death, Adolf Hitler wanted to bring his remains back to Germany for a state funeral and burial.  Even though Hitler felt animosity toward the former Kaiser, he thought that as a symbol of Germany during World War I, honoring Wilhelm would show the German people the legitimate succession from the Kaiserreich to the Third Reich.  Wilhelm had stated in his will that he did not want to return to Germany unless the monarchy was restored, and his wishes were granted.  However, Wilhelm’s request that the swastika and other symbols of Nazism not be displayed at his funeral was not followed.

Wilhelm’s eldest son, Crown Prince Wilhelm, asked architect Martin Kieszling to design a mausoleum in the gardens of Huis Doorn near his father’s favorite rhododendrons.  On the mausoleum’s roof is a brass ball with a cross on top, made by a Doorn blacksmith out of pots from the Huis Doorn kitchen after all copper was ordered to be turned into the German occupation of the Netherlands to make weapons.  On the anniversary of Wilhelm’s death, German monarchists still gather at his mausoleum.

Mausoleum of Wilhelm II, Photo Credit – Wikipedia

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Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II

 by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Credit – By BiblioArchives / LibraryArchives from Canada – Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II / uronnement de la Reine Elizabeth IIUploaded by oaktree_b, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19783528

June 2, 2013 was the 60th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.  This occasion was marked by a service of celebration at Westminster Abbey on June 4, 2013, at 11 AM attended by The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, and other members of the Royal Family.

The Queen had acceded to the throne on February 6, 1952, upon the death of her father King George VI.  She was 25 years old at the time and the mother of two young children under the age of four.  Queen Mary, the new queen’s grandmother, died on March 24, 1953.  Before her death, Queen Mary insisted that the coronation go on as scheduled on June 2, 1953. The ceremony in Westminster Abbey, with the exception of the anointing and communion, was televised for the first time.

Westminster Abbey was closed for five months prior to the coronation so that the construction needed for 8,000 people to attend could be completed.  See the BBC news video for more details below.

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Guests: Westminster Abbey opened at 6:00 AM on Coronation Day to the approximately 8,000 invited guests including members of the Queen’s family and foreign royalty, the peers of the United Kingdom, heads of state, Members of Parliament from the Queen’s various legislatures, and other guests from the member countries of the  Commonwealth of Nations. Guests seated on stools were able to purchase their stools following the ceremony, with the profits going towards the cost of the coronation. Below are listed members of The Queen’s family, members of The Duke of Edinburgh’s family, and foreign royalty who attended the coronation.

Guests from the British Royal Family

  • Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen’s husband
  • Prince Charles, Duke of Cornwall, the Queen’s son and heir
  • Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, the Queen’s mother
  • Princess Margaret, the Queen’s sister
  • Princess Mary, Princess Royal, the Queen’s paternal aunt
  • George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood and Marion Lascelles, Countess of Harewood, the Queen’s first cousin and his wife
  • The Honorable Gerald Lascelles, the Queen’s first cousin
  • Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, the Queen’s paternal uncle and aunt
  • Prince William of Gloucester, the Queen’s first cousin
  • Prince Richard of Gloucester, the Queen’s first cousin
  • Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, the Queen’s paternal aunt by marriage and the Duke of Edinburgh’s first cousin
  • Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, the Queen’s first cousin
  • Princess Alexandra of Kent, the Queen’s first cousin
  • Prince Michael of Kent, the Queen’s first cousin
  • Princess Marie Louise, the Queen’s first cousin twice removed and a granddaughter of Queen Victoria
  • Lady Patricia Ramsay (a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, born Princess Patricia of Connaught) and The Honorable Sir Alexander Ramsay, the Queen’s first cousin twice removed and her husband
  • Alexander Ramsay of Mar, the Queen’s second cousin once removed
  • Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone and Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, the Queen’s paternal great-uncle and great-aunt (Princess Alice was the Queen’s first cousin twice removed and a granddaughter of Queen Victoria)
  • Lady May Abel Smith and Colonel Sir Henry Abel Smith, the Queen’s first cousin once removed and her husband
  • Richard Abel Smith, the Queen’s second cousin

Guests from the Bowes-Lyon Family

  • Albemarle Bowes-Lyon, the Queen’s first cousin
  • James Bowes-Lyon, the Queen’s first cousin once removed

Guests from the Teck-Cambridge Family

  • George Cambridge, 2nd Marquess of Cambridge and Dorothy Cambridge, Marchioness of Cambridge, the Queen’s first cousin once removed and his wife
  • Lady Mary Whitney and Peter Whitney, the Queen’s second cousin and her husband
  • The Duchess of Beaufort (born Lady Mary Cambridge) and Henry Somerset, 10th Duke of Beaufort, the Queen’s first cousin once removed and her husband
  • Lady Helena Gibbs, the Queen’s first cousin, once removed, born Princess Helena of Teck

Guests from The Duke of Edinburgh’s Family

  • Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark, the Duke of Edinburgh’s mother, born Princess Alice of Battenberg
  • The Princess and Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, the Duke of Edinburgh’s sister Margarita and brother-in-law Gottfried
  • Princess Beatrix of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, the Duke of Edinburgh’s niece
  • The Margravine and Margrave of Baden, the Duke of Edinburgh’s sister Theodora and brother-in-law Berthold
  • The Hereditary Prince of Baden, the Duke of Edinburgh’s nephew Maximilian
  • Princess and Prince Georg Wilhelm of Hanover, the Duke of Edinburgh’s sister Sophie and brother-in-law Georg Wilhelm
  • Princess Christina Margarethe of Hesse, the Duke of Edinburgh’s niece
  • Prince and Princess George of Greece and Denmark, the Duke of Edinburgh’s paternal uncle George and aunt Marie Bonaparte, representing King Paul of Greece

Guests from the Mountbatten Family

  • Nadejda Mountbatten, Dowager Marchioness of Milford Haven, the Duke of Edinburgh’s maternal aunt by marriage (and widow of the Queen’s second cousin once removed)
  • David Mountbatten, 3rd Marquess of Milford Haven, the Duke of Edinburgh’s first cousin (and the Queen’s third cousin)
  • Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma and Edwina Mountbatten, Countess Mountbatten of Burma, the Duke of Edinburgh’s maternal uncle and aunt (and the Queen’s second cousin once removed and his wife)
  • Lady Pamela Mountbatten, the Duke of Edinburgh’s first cousin (and the Queen’s third cousin)

  • Irene Mountbatten, Marchioness of Carisbrooke, wife of the Queen’s first cousin twice removed

Rulers of British Protectorates

  • Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa I of Bahrain
  • Sheikh Abdullah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah of Kuwait
  • Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III of Brunei
  • Sultan Ibrahim IV of Kelantan
  • Sultan Hisamuddin and Raja Jemaah of Selangor
  • Sultan Ibrahim and Sultanah Helen Ibrahim of Johor
  • Sultan Khalifa bin Harubn and the Sultanah Nunu of Zanzibar
  • Sultan Ali III ibn ‘Abd al-Karim al-‘Abdali of Lahej
  • Sultan Yusuf Izzuddin Shah of Perak
  • Queen Salote of Tonga
  • Sheikh Ahmad bin Ali Al Thani, representing Ali bin Abdullah Al Thani of Qatar

Members of Foreign Royal Families

  • Crown Prince Olav and Crown Princess Märtha of Norway, the Queen’s first cousin once removed and his wife representing his father King Haakon VII of Norway
  • Princess Astrid of Norway, the Queen’s second cousin
  • Prince Axel and Princess Margaretha of Denmark, the Duke of Edinburgh’s first cousin once removed and his second cousin (representing his first cousin once removed, King Frederik IX of Denmark)
  • Prince Bertil of Sweden, Duke of Halland, the Queen’s second cousin once removed (representing his father King Gustav VI of Sweden)
  • Prince Albert, Prince of Liège (representing his brother King Baudouin of the Belgians)
  • Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands (representing his wife Queen Juliana of the Netherlands)
  • Crown Prince Sisavang Vatthana of Laos (representing King Sisavang Phoulivong of Laos)
  • Prince Himalayapratrap Vir Vikram Shah and his wife Princess Princep Shah (representing King Tribhuwan Bir Bikram Shah of Nepal)
  • Hereditary Prince Bao Long (representing Bảo Đại, the Chief of State of Vietnam)
  • Crown Prince Akihito of Japan (representing Emperor Hirohito of Japan)
  • Crown Prince Amha Selassie of Ethiopia (representing Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia)
  • Prince Fahad Ibn Abdul Aziz (representing King Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia)
  • Shah Wali Khan (representing King Mohammed Zahir Shah of Afghanistan)
  • Crown Prince Abdul Ilah (representing King Faisal II of Iraq)
  • Prince Sisowath Monireth (representing King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia)
  • Prince Chula Chakrabongse and Princess Chula (representing King Bhumibol Adulyadej  of Thailand)
  • Prince Saif Al Islam Al Hassan (representing King Ahmad bin Yahya Hamidaddin of Yemen)
  • The Nabil Suleyman Daoud (representing the King Fuad II of Egypt)
  • Hereditary Grand Duke Jean and Hereditary Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte of Luxembourg (representing Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg)
  • Prince Karl Alfred and Princess Agnes of Liechtenstein (representing Prince Franz Joseph II of Liechtenstein)
  • Prince Pierre of Monaco (representing Prince Rainier III of Monaco)

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The Coronation Dress; Credit – Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2022

The Coronation Gown: Queen Elizabeth’s coronation gown was designed by her favorite designer, Norman Hartnell, and featured embroidered floral emblems of the Commonwealth countries: English Tudor rose; Scots thistle, Welsh leek,  Irish shamrock,  Australian wattle, Canadian maple leaf, New Zealand silver fern, South African protea, lotus flowers for India and Ceylon, and Pakistan’s wheat, cotton, and jute.

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The Queen traveled from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey in the Gold State Coach which was built in 1762 and has been used for the coronation of every monarch since King George IV.  It is estimated that 3 million people lined the streets of London that day.

Gold State Coach, Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Upon arrival at Westminster Abbey, Queen Elizabeth was attended by six aristocratic young women who served as Maids of Honor.  Sixty years later, all six were still alive.

    • Lady Moyra Hamilton, 22, daughter of the Marquess of Hamilton, later 4th Duke of Abercorn
    • Lady Anne Coke, 20, daughter  of the 5th Earl of Leicester
    • Lady Jane Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 20, daughter of the 8th Marquess of Londonderry
    • Lady Mary Baillie-Hamilton, 19, daughter of the 12th Earl of Haddington
    • Lady Jane Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 18, daughter of the 3rd Earl of Ancaster
    • Lady Rosemary Spencer-Churchill, 23, daughter of 10th Duke of Marlborough

 The Queen arrives at Westminster Abbey

Charles bored coronation

A rather bored looking Prince Charles at the coronation with his grandmother The Queen Mother and his aunt Princess Margaret, Photo Credit – www.abc.net.au

After the Queen’s procession into Westminster Abbey, the coronation service started.

The Recognition: The Archbishop of Canterbury along with Lord Chancellor, Lord Great Chamberlain, Lord High Constable, and Earl Marshal proceeded to the East, South, West, and North sides of the coronation theater.  Each time the Archbishop said, “Sirs, I here present unto you Queen ELIZABETH, your undoubted Queen: Wherefore all you who are come this day to do your homage and service, Are you willing to do the same?”  The People replied each time, “God Save Queen Elizabeth.”

The Oath: The Queen, seated in the Chair of Estate, took the Coronation Oath administered by the Archbishop of Canterbury.  She then proceeded to the altar and solemnly swore the Oath with her right hand on the Bible.  Afterward, she kissed the Bible and signed the Oath.

The Communion Service: Traditional service of the Anglican Church

The Anointing:  After being disrobed of her crimson robe, the Queen sat in King Edward’s Chair.  Four Knights of the Garter held a canopy over her.  The Dean of Westminster took the Ampulla which held the Holy Oil and poured some into the Spoon.  The Archbishop then anointed the Queen in the form of a cross on the palms of both hands, the breast, and the crown of the head.  The canopy was removed and the Queen was dressed in the Colobium Sindonis, a simple sleeveless white linen shift,  and the Supertunica, a long coat of gold silk that reaches to the ankles and has wide-flowing sleeves.

British Crown Jewels

Regalia used in the coronation; Photo Credit – rachelsprengeler.blogspot.com

The Presenting of the Spurs and Sword, and the Oblation of the Sword of State: The Spurs were brought from the altar by the Dean of Westminster, and given to the Lord Great Chamberlain who presented them to the Queen.  Afterward, the Spurs were returned to the altar.  Next, the Archbishop took the Sword from the altar and assisted by the Archbishop of York and the Bishops of London and Winchester put the Sword the Queen’s hands and said a prayer.  The Queen then went to the altar, returned the sword to its scabbard, and sat down in King Edward’s Chair.

Dressed in the Sindonis and Supertunica, the Queen returns the Sword of State to the altar, Photo Credit – members.boardhost.com

The Investing with the Armills, the Stole Royal and the Robe Royal: and the Delivery of the Orb: The Dean of Westminster delivered the Armills to the Archbishop, who said a prayer while putting them on the Queen’s wrists.  The Queen stood and was clothed with the Robe Royal.  After she sat down, the Sovereign’s Orb was brought from the altar by the Dean of Westminster and delivered into the Queen’s right hand by the Archbishop of Canterbury.  The Queen then gave the orb to the Dean of Westminster who returned it to the altar.

Sovereign's Orb

Sovereign’s Orb; Photo Credit – https://www.royalcollection.org.uk

The Investiture per annulum, et per sceptrum et baculum: The Keeper of the Jewel House gave the Queen’s Ring, which was set with a sapphire and a ruby cross, to the Archbishop of Canterbury who put it on the fourth finger of the Queen’s right hand, and said a prayer.  The Dean of Westminster brought the Sceptre with the Cross and the Rod with the Dove to the Archbishop, who put it in the Queen’s left hand and said a prayer.

The Putting on of the Crown:  The people stood up and the Archbishop of Canterbury took St. Edward’s Crown from the altar, then laid it back on the altar, and said a prayer.  The Archbishop then proceeded to the Queen who was sitting in King Edward’s Chair.  The Dean of Westminster brought him the crown and the Archbishop reverently put the crown on the Queen’s head.  The people repeatedly shouted, “God Save The Queen.”  The Princes and Princesses, the Peers and Peeresses put on their coronets and caps, and the Kings of Arms their crown.  Trumpets sounded, and the great guns at the Tower of London were fired.

Elizabeth_crowning

The Archbishop of Canterbury prepares to crown the Queen; www.dailymail.co.uk

Elizabeth_crowned

The crowned Queen; Photo Credit – www.telegraph.co.uk

The Benediction:  Now that the Queen had been anointed and crowned, and had received all the signs of the sovereign, the Archbishop of Canterbury blessed her and all those assembled at Westminster Abbey replied with a loud Amen.

The Enthroning:  The Queen went to the throne, and was lifted up into it by the Archbishops and Bishops, and other Peers of the Kingdom.  Lords bearing the regalia stood on the steps around the throne.

The Homage: After the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Duke of Edinburgh offered their fealty to the Queen, all princes and peers present did likewise, saying to her, ” I, (name) Duke, or Earl, etc., of (name) do become your liege man of life and limb, and of earthly worship; and faith and truth I will bear unto you, to live and die, against all manner of folks. So help me God.”

 

The Communion: Queen Elizabeth knelt and took communion, in a service that included a general confession and absolution, and, along with the people, recited the Lord’s Prayer.

The Recess: The Queen proceeded to Saint Edward’s Chapel, gave St. Edward’s Crown and the Sceptre and the Rod to the Archbishop of Canterbury who laid them on the altar in the chapel.  The Queen was then disrobed of the Robe Royal and clothed in a Robe of purple velvet and the Imperial State Crown.  The Archbishop of Canterbury put the Sceptre with the Cross into her right hand and the Orb in her left hand.  The Queen left the St. Edward’s Chapel to the singing of the National Anthem and then proceeded up the aisle.

Queen Elizabeth proceeding up the aisle of Westminster Abbey after her coronation, Photo Credit – www.guardian.co.uk

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.