Category Archives: British Royals

First Cousins: King George V of the United Kingdom

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

King George V of the United Kingdom (1865 – 1936)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

King George V of the United Kingdom was born on June 3, 1865, a month early, at Marlborough House in London, England. He was the second son and the second of the six children of King Edward VII and his wife Alexandra of Denmark, who were the Prince and Princess of Wales at that time. Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha were George’s paternal grandparents. His maternal grandparents were King Christian IX of Denmark and Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel. George’s elder brother Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence, known as Eddy, was expected to become king. However, Eddy died of pneumonia at the age of 28 and George became second in the line of succession after his father. George married Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, his deceased brother’s fiancee, and had five sons and one daughter.

The children and grandchildren of George’s paternal grandmother Queen Victoria married into other European royal families giving Victoria the unofficial title of “Grandmother of Europe.” Her grandchildren sat upon the thrones of Germany/Prussia, Greece, Norway, Romania, Russia, Spain, and the United Kingdom as monarchs or consorts. Similarly, George’s paternal grandfather King Christian IX of Denmark can be called the “Grandfather of Europe. His grandsons were the monarchs of Denmark, Greece, Norway, Russia, and the United Kingdom.

King George V had 34 paternal first cousins and 33 maternal first cousins for a total of 67 first cousins.  He shares his first cousins with his siblings Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence; Princess Louise, Princess Royal, Duchess of Fife; Princess Victoria; Princess Maud, Queen of Norway; and Prince Alexander John.

Because King George V has so many cousins and because Unofficial Royalty has articles on all of Queen Victoria’s children, grandchildren, and their spouses and on all of King Christian IX’s children and many of his grandchildren and Wikipedia has articles on the others, this article will be a list on the cousins, with some information and an Unofficial Royalty link or a Wikipedia link where more information can be found.

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Paternal Aunts and Uncles of King George V: Children of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their nine children in 1857

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Maternal Aunts and Uncles of King George V: Children of King Christian IX of Denmark and Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel

Christian IX, King of Denmark and his family by Georg Emil Hansen, albumen carte-de-visite photomontage, 1862, NPG x74402 © National Portrait Gallery, London

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PATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Paternal First Cousins: Children of Victoria, Princess Royal and Friedrich III, German Emperor and King of Prussia

Family of The Crown Prince and Princess of Prussia in 1875

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom and Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine

Hesse and by Rhine family in 1876

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia

The Duchess of Edinburgh with her children

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Helena and Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein

Photo Credit – royal-splendor.blogspot.com

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia

Connaught Family in 1893

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany and Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont

The Duchess of Albany with her two children in 1887; Credit – http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Beatrice and Prince Henry of Battenberg

Princess Beatrice with her children in 1900

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MATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Maternal First Cousins: Children of King Frederik VIII of Denmark and Princess Louise of Sweden

Frederick VIII, King of Denmark with his family by Elfelt, bromide postcard print, (circa 1877), NPG x74398 © National Portrait Gallery, London

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Prince Vilhelm of Denmark, King George I of Greece and Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna of Russia

King George and Queen Olga with six of their children, circa 1890

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Dagmar of Denmark, Maria Feodorovna after marriage, and Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia

Russian Imperial Family in 1888, Photo Credit – Wikipedia

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Thyra of Denmark and Crown Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover, 3rd Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale

Thyra with her husband and children

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Prince Valdemar of Denmark and Princess Marie of Orléans

Valdemar, Marie, and their children; Photo Credit – www.findagrave.com

  • Prince Aage of Denmark (1887 – 1940), married (1914) Matilda Calvi dei conti di Bergolo (1885 – 1949), due to the unequal marriage, he renounced his place in the line of succession to the Danish throne, forfeited the title Prince of Denmark, and was then titled Prince Aage, Count of Rosenborg; had one son, divorced 1939
  • Prince Axel of Denmark (1888 – 1964), married (1919) Princess Margaretha of Sweden (1899 – 1977), had two sons
  • Prince Erik of Denmark (1890 – 1950), married (1924) Lois Frances Booth (1897 – 1941), a Canadian, due to the unequal marriage, he renounced his place in the line of succession to the Danish throne, forfeited the title Prince of Denmark, and was then titled Prince Erik, Count of Rosenborg, had one son and one daughter, divorced 1937
  • Prince Viggo of Denmark (1893 – 1970), married (1924) Eleonor Green (1895 – 1966), an American, due to the unequal marriage, he renounced his place in the line of succession to the Danish throne, forfeited the title Prince of Denmark, and was then titled Prince Viggo, Count of Rosenborg, had no children
  • Princess Margrethe of Denmark (1895 – 1992), married (1921) Prince René of Bourbon-Parma (1894 – 1962), had three sons and one daughter

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

Works Cited

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

First Cousins: King Edward VIII and King George VI of the United Kingdom

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, later The Duke of Windsor (1894 – 1972)

 

King George VI of the United Kingdom (1894 – 1952)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

King Edward VIII, the Duke of Windsor after his abdication, was born on June 23, 1894, at White Lodge, Richmond Park on the outskirts of London, England. At the time of his birth, his great-grandmother Queen Victoria sat upon the throne of the United Kingdom. His parents, the future King George V and Queen Mary were the Duke and Duchess of York and his grandparents, the future King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra were Prince and Princess of Wales. The infant prince was the eldest son of his parents and was third in the line of succession behind his grandfather and father. Christened Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David, he was known as David. After his abdication in 1936, he married Wallis Simpson and had no children.

Eighteen months after David’s birth, another son was born into the family on December 14, 1895, at York Cottage, his parents’ home on the grounds of the Sandringham estate in Sandringham, Norfolk, England. Christened Albert Frederick Arthur George, he was known as Bertie and would succeed his elder brother upon his abdication as King George VI. He married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon and had two daughters.

The brothers’ paternal grandparents were King Edward VII, eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and Alexandra of Denmark, eldest daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark and Louise of Hesse-Kassel. Their mother had been born Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, known as May, the eldest of the four children and the only daughter of Prince Francis, Duke of Teck and Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, a first cousin of Queen Victoria.

The Duke of Windsor and King George VI had ten first cousins. They share their first cousins with their siblings Mary, Princess Royal, Countess of Harewood; Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester; Prince George, Duke of Kent; and Prince John.

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Paternal Aunts and Uncles: Children of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom and Alexandra of Denmark

Maternal Aunts and Uncles: Children of Prince Francis, Duke of Teck, and Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge

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PATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Paternal First Cousins: Children of Louise, Princess Royal and Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife

Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife, Princess Arthur of Connaught (1891 – 1959)

Princess Alexandra was the eldest surviving child of Princess Louise, Princess Royal and Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife. As a female-line great-granddaughter of the British sovereign, (Queen Victoria) at birth, Alexandra was not entitled to the title of Princess or the style Royal Highness. Instead, she was styled Lady Alexandra Duff, the style of daughters of a Duke. The Letters Patent for her father’s title allowed the dukedom to pass to the daughters of the 1st Duke of Fife if he had no son, and then to the male heirs of his daughters. Therefore, Alexandra became heir to her father’s dukedom and did succeed her father as 2nd Duchess of Fife in her own right.

When Alexandra’s mother was created Princess Royal in 1905, Alexandra and her sister Maud were granted the title of Princess with the style of “Highness” and received precedence immediately after all members of the royal family bearing the style of “Royal Highness.” Alexandra married her first cousin once removed, Prince Arthur of Connaught, the only son of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught who was a son of Queen Victoria.

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Princess Maud of Fife, Countess of Southesk (1893 – 1945)

Princess Maud of Fife was the younger of the two daughters of Princess Louise, Princess Royal and Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife. Maud married Charles Carnegie, the eldest son of Charles Noel Carnegie, 10th Earl of Southesk. The couple had one child, James Carnegie. After her marriage, Maud stopped using ‘Her Highness Princess Maud’ and was known as Lady Carnegie, and later The Countess of Southesk after her husband succeeded his father as the 11th Earl of Southesk. Maud’s son James Carnegie succeeded his maternal aunt Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife, as the 3rd Duke of Fife, because her only child, Alastair, 2nd Duke of Connaught, had predeceased her. James also succeeded his father upon his death in 1992 as the 12th Earl of Southesk and as Chief of the Clan Carnegie.

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Maud of Wales, Queen of Norway and King Haakon VII of Norway

King Olav V of Norway (1903 – 1991)

King Olav V of Norway was born Prince Alexander of Denmark on July 2, 1903, at Appleton House on the Sandringham Estate in Sandringham, Norfolk, England. He was the only child of Prince Carl of Denmark, son of King Frederik VIII of Denmark, and Princess Maud of Wales, daughter of the future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom. At the time of his birth, there was little expectation that he would one day become a king himself. However, this would all change in 1905, when his father was named as the new King of Norway, taking the name Haakon VII. Young Alexander was given the more Norwegian-sounding name Olav and at the age of just two years old, became Crown Prince of Norway.

Olav represented Norway in the 1928 Olympic Games, winning a Gold Medal in the sailing competition and remained active in sailing his whole life. He married Princess Märtha of Sweden and had one son, King Harald V of Norway, and two daughters. Sadly, Märtha died of cancer before Olav succeeded his father in 1957.

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MATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Maternal First Cousins: Children of Prince Adolphus of Teck, later Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge and Lady Margaret Evelyn Grosvenor

Prince George of Teck, later 2nd Marquess of Cambridge (1895 – 1981)

Styled His Serene Highness Prince George of Teck at birth, George’s name and title changed in 1917, when King George V requested that his relatives who were British subjects relinquish their German titles, styles, and designations, due to anti-German sentiment during World War I. George’s father became Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge and George became George Cambridge, Earl of Eltham, one of his father’s subsidiary titles. George married Dorothy Hastings and they had one daughter. Upon his father’s death, George succeeded to the title Marquess of Cambridge. However, the title became extinct upon George’s death because he had no sons and his only brother had died in World War II.

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Princess Mary of Teck, later Lady Mary Cambridge, Duchess of Beaufort  (1897 – 1987)

Like her brother George, Princess Mary of Teck’s title changed in 1917 to Lady Mary Cambridge. She was a bridesmaid at the wedding of her first cousin Prince Albert, Duke of York and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. Mary married Henry Somerset, 10th Duke of Beaufort but the couple had no children.

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Princess Helena of Teck, later Lady Helena Cambridge, Lady Helen Gibbs (1899 – 1969)

In 1917, as per King George V’s request, Princess Helena of Teck relinquished her German title and was then styled Lady Helena Cambridge. Lady Helena married Colonel John Gibbs, a veteran of the Boer Wars and World War I but their marriage was childless.

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Prince Frederick of Teck, later Lord Frederick Cambridge (1907 – 1940)

Born Prince Frederick of Teck, like the rest of his family, he relinquished his title in 1917 and was then styled Lord Frederick Teck. During World War II, Frederick served as a Captain in the Coldstream Guards. He was killed in action in Leuven, Belgium and was buried in Heverlee War Cemetery in Belgium.

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Prince Alexander of Teck, later Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone and Princess Alice of Albany

Princess May of Teck, later Lady May Cambridge, Lady May Abel Smith (1906- 1994)

Princess May of Teck was the eldest of the three children of Prince Alexander of Teck and Princess Alice of Albany, the daughter of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, the hemophiliac son of Queen Victoria. At the request of King George V, the family relinquished their German titles. May’s father became Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone and May was styled Lady May Cambridge. When Lady May married Henry Abel Smith in 1931, the future Queen Elizabeth II was one of her child bridesmaids. Lady May and her husband had two daughters and one son.

Wikipedia: Lady May Abel Smith

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Rupert with his mother and his sister

Prince Rupert of Teck, later Rupert Cambridge, Viscount Trematon (1907 – 1928)

In 1917, Prince Rupert of Teck, along with the rest of his family, gave up his title and was then styled Rupert Cambridge, Viscount Trematon, one of his father’s subsidiary titles. Rupert inherited hemophilia from his mother Princess Alice of Albany. Princess Alice’s father, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany was Queen Victoria’s youngest son and had hemophilia. The daughter of a hemophiliac will always be a carrier because her father can only pass on to her an X chromosome with hemophilia on it.

On April 1, 1928, Rupert was driving with two of his friends when the car skidded and crashed into a tree. One of his friends died due to injuries and the other was only slightly injured. At first, Rupert also did not seem to be seriously injured. However, after being in the hospital for several days, he began to hemorrhage from the ear due to a slight fracture of the skull. The bleeding was arrested and Rupert seemed to be improving, but it did not last. On April 15, 1928, 20-year-old Rupert died from an injury he probably would have recovered from had he not been a hemophiliac.

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Maurice on his mother’s lap with his sister and brother

Prince Maurice of Teck (born and died 1910)

Prince Maurice of Teck was born March 29, 1910. On September 14, 1910, five-month-old Maurice died at Reinhardsbrunn Castle in Germany while his family was visiting Princess Alice’s brother, Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Maurice was interred on a burial island on the grounds of Reinhardsbrunn Castle.

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

Works Cited

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

December 19, 2019 – The State Opening of Parliament

Photo Credit – Zimbio

On December 19, 2019, the State Opening of the Parliament was held.  Although there was a State Opening of Parliament just in October after Boris Johnson became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom another State Opening was necessary because of last week’s parliamentary election. This ceremony formally marks the beginning of a session of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Queen Elizabeth II read a prepared speech, known as the “Speech from the Throne” or the “Queen’s Speech”, outlining the Government’s agenda for the coming year.

For a short video that shows just the Queen’s Speech, see BBC: State Opening of Parliament

For a longer video, that shows more of the pomp, see Global News: Queen’s speech formally reopens UK parliament following election | FULL

For more information, see our link below.

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Wedding of Mary, Princess Royal and Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

Queen Mary; Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood; Princess Mary, Countess of Harewood; King George V by Vandyk, 12 x 10 inch glass plate negative, 28 February 1922, NPG x130069 © National Portrait Gallery, London

Her Royal Highness The Princess Mary (created Princess Royal in 1932) and Henry Lascelles, Viscount Lascelles (succeeded his father as 6th Earl of Harewood in 1929) were married at Westminster Abbey in London, England on February 28, 1922.

Mary’s Early Life

Embed from Getty Images 
Princess Mary with her five brothers, circa 1910

The only daughter of King George V and Queen Mary (born Princess Victoria Mary of Teck) was born on April 25, 1897, in the year of the Diamond Jubilee of her great-grandmother Queen Victoria, at York Cottage on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, England. She was the third of the six children of her parents who were the Duke and Duchess of York at the time of her birth. Mary’s youngest brother Prince John died in 1919 when he was thirteen years old due to epilepsy complications. Her two elder brothers became Kings of the United Kingdom: Edward VIII and George VI. The other two brothers were Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Prince George, Duke of Kent.

Princess Mary was educated by governesses and also shared some lessons with her brothers. During World War I, when she was a teenager, Mary accompanied her mother Queen Mary on visits to hospitals and other organizations that assisted soldiers and their families. Mary had her own project, Princess Mary’s Christmas Gift Fund, which sent a gift box to British soldiers and sailors for Christmas 1914. In 1918, Princess Mary began a nursing course at the Great Ormond Street Hospital, working two days a week in the Alexandra Ward. Mary also became active in supporting the Voluntary Aid Detachment, the Women’s Land Army and the Girl Guides. She was the honorary president of the British Girl Guide Association from 1920 until her death.

To learn more about Mary, see Unofficial Royalty: Princess Mary, Princess Royal, Countess of Harewood

Henry’s Early Life

Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood; Credit – Wikipedia

Henry Lascelles was born on September 9, 1882, in London, England. He was the elder son and the eldest of the three children of Henry Lascelles, 5th Earl of Harewood and Lady Florence Bridgeman, daughter of Orlando Bridgeman, 3rd Earl of Bradford. At the time of his birth, Henry was styled The Honourable Henry Lascelles. When his grandfather died in 1892 and his father became the 5th Earl of Harewood, Henry was able to use one of his father’s subsidiary titles and be styled Viscount Lascelles. He became the 6th Earl of Harewood upon the death of his father in 1929.

Henry grew up at Harewood House, the family seat near Leeds in Yorkshire, England. After attending Eton College, Henry attended the Royal Military College Sandhurst and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant into the Grenadier Guards on February 12, 1902. He gained the rank of Captain in the service of the Grenadier Guards and fought in World War I where he commanded the 3rd Battalion Grenadier Guards. He was mentioned in dispatches and wounded twice. He also served with the Yorkshire Hussars Yeomanry and attained the rank of Major.

To learn more about Henry, see Unofficial Royalty: Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood

The Engagement

Embed from Getty Images
Engagement Photo

Mary’s eldest brother The Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VIII) knew Henry from World War I and greatly admired him. After meeting at the Grand National, an annual horse race, and a house party in 1921, Mary and Henry were continuously seen together, despite their fifteen-year age difference. They both loved horse riding and the two frequently attended hunts together.

When Henry was invited to Balmoral and Sandringham, it was noted that there could be an engagement announcement soon. On November 20, 1921, Henry proposed to Mary at York Cottage, where he was staying while at Sandringham. Queen Mary wrote in her diary for that day, “At 6.30 Mary came to my room to announce to me her engagement to Lord Lascelles! We then told G. (King George V) & then gave Harry L. our blessing. We had to keep it quiet owing to G. having to pass an order in council to give his consent. Of course, everybody guessed what had happened & we were very cheerful & almost uproarious at dinner. We are delighted.”

The Wedding Site

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Westminster Abbey Choir leading to the Altar

The wedding of Princess Mary and Viscount Lascelles was the first time a child of a monarch had married at Westminster Abbey since 1290 when Margaret of England, daughter of King Edward I, married John II, Duke of Brabant. Westminster Abbey was completed around 1060 and was consecrated in 1065, during the reign of Edward the Confessor. Construction of the second and present church was begun in 1245 by Henry III who selected the site for his burial. In 1269, Henry III oversaw a grand ceremony to rebury Edward the Confessor in a magnificent new shrine, personally helping to carry the body to its new resting place.

Westminster Abbey was the wedding venue for six royal weddings during the reigns of the Plantagenet kings including that of King Richard II to Anne of Bohemia in 1382. That would be the last royal wedding at Westminster Abbey until the reign of King George V. Queen Victoria’s granddaughter and King George V’s first cousin Princess Patricia of Connaught married The Honorable Alexander Ramsay at Westminster Abbey in 1919. This was the first major royal event after World War I.

Mary was the first of King George V’s children to marry. Five of the six children (Prince John died in childhood) of King George V married and three of the five were married at Westminster Abbey. Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester was due to marry at Buckingham Palace but the unexpected death of his fiancée’s father caused the wedding to be moved to the Private Chapel at Buckingham Palace. The large size of Westminster Abbey allowed more guests to be present at the wedding ceremony and the long drive from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey brought out immense crowds along the route. With each royal wedding, the anticipation and excitement grew.

Bridesmaids and Best Man

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Seated, left to right: Lady Mary Cambridge, Princess Maud of Fife, Lady Rachel Cavendish, Lady Mary Thynne. Standing, left to right: Lady Doris Gordon-Lennox, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyons, Viscount Lascelles, Princess Mary, Major Sir Victor Mackenzie, Lady Diana Bridgeman, Lady May Cambridge.

Major Sir Victor Mackenzie, 3rd Baronet was the best man. Like the groom, Sir Victor was wounded twice in World War I and mentioned in dispatches. In 1932, he was made Groom in Waiting to King George V, serving in the role until 1936. In 1936, he was made an Extra Groom in Waiting to King Edward VIII and retained that position in the household of King George VI from 1937 until his death in 1944. He never married.

Bridesmaids:

  • Princess Maud of Fife, first cousin of the bride, daughter of Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife and Princess Louise, Princess Royal, married Charles Carnegie, 11th Earl of Southesk
  • Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, future sister-in-law of the bride, daughter of Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore, married the future King George VI
  • Lady Diana Bridgeman, first cousin once removed of the groom, daughter of Orlando Bridgeman, 5th Earl of Bradford, married Sir Robert Henry Edward Abdy, 5th Baronet
  • Lady May Cambridge, maternal first cousin and paternal second cousin of the bride, daughter of Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone (brother of Queen Mary) and Princess Alice of Albany (granddaughter of Queen Victoria), married Sir Henry Abel Smith
  • Lady Mary Cambridge, maternal first cousin of the bride, daughter of Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge (brother of Queen Mary), married Henry Somerset, 10th Duke of Beaufort
  • Lady Rachel Cavendish, daughter of Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire, married James Stuart, 1st Viscount Stuart of Findhorn
  • Lady Doris Gordon-Lennox, daughter of Charles Gordon-Lennox, 8th Duke of Richmond, married Commander Clare George Vyner
  • Lady Mary Thynne, daughter of Thomas Thynne, 5th Marquess of Bath, married (1) Charles Wilson, 3rd Baron Nunburnholme (2) Sir Ulick Alexander

Wedding Attire

Viscount Lascelles and Princess Mary; Credit – Wikipedia

The groom and best man both wore the uniform of the Grenadier Guards. Across his scarlet tunic, the groom wore the blue sash of the Order of the Garter, bestowed upon him by King George V the day before the wedding.

Lady Elizabeth Bowes Lyon in the dress she wore as a bridesmaid at the wedding of Princess Mary and Viscount Lascelles; Credit – Royal Collection Trust

The eight bridesmaids wore dresses of frosted cloth of silver over ivory satin. At their waists was a big true lover’s knot in blue, Princess Mary’s favorite color, and they carried bouquets of sweet peas, the bride’s favorite flower. Each bridesmaid wore a brooch given by Viscount Lascelles – a crystal jewel studded with sapphires and diamonds with two coronets and the initials M and H.

Princess Mary’s wedding dress was designed by Messrs. Reville, Ltd. of Hanover Square, London. The dress was made of cloth of silver with an ivory silk train embroidered with emblematic flowers of the British Empire. The cloth of silver was brought by Queen Mary from India during her visit in 1911. The silk train was woven by hand by workers in Braintree, Essex, England, an old English silk manufacturing center where the art of silk weaving was passed down from generation to generation.

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Princess Mary’s floral bridal wreath

Instead of wearing a tiara, Princess Mary wore a floral bridal wreath. To complement her wedding dress, Mary wore a short single strand of pearls and a diamond and pearl brooch suspended from a very fine chain, a gift from the groom. On her bodice, she wore the brooch given to her by the Royal Scots regiment, the oldest regiment in the British Army when she was appointed their Colonel-in-Chief.

The Wedding

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An interior view of Westminster Abbey during the wedding ceremony

Over 2,000 wedding guests began arriving at Westminster Abbey at 9:00 AM and by 10:00 AM, most of them were in their seats. At 11:15 AM, the members of the British Royal Family were ready for their procession. They were led by Queen Alexandra, the grandmother of the bride. Closely following was Queen Mary, the mother of the bride, in a white dress covered with gold embroidery, wearing the blue sash of the Order of the Garter, and bedecked with diamond jewelry. Soon, cheers from the street, coming through the open Abbey door, heralded the arrival of King George V and his only daughter Princess Mary. The wedding coach was not the familiar Gold State Coach that had been used at State Openings of Parliament but the coach known as The Glass Coach.

At the west door, the bride was joined by the eight bridesmaids, who had been awaiting her in Little Poet’s Corner, where poets who are not honored in the better-known Poet’s Corner in the South Transept are remembered. King George V was in the uniform of colonel-in-chief of the Grenadier Guards, in honor of the groom who served in the Grenadier Guards during World War I. As the bridal procession moved past the grave of the Unknown Warrior, whose remains were brought from France and buried there in 1920, their thoughts must have flashed back to those lost in World War I. A year later, when one of Mary’s bridesmaids, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, married the future King George VI, she laid her bouquet of white roses on the grave of the Unknown Warrior. No doubt she was thinking of her brother Fergus Bowes-Lyon and all the other British soldiers who had died in World War I. It has become a tradition that royal brides have their bouquets placed on the grave of the Unknown Warrior.

The wedding ceremony, the typical Church of England service, was conducted by Randall Davidson, Archbishop of Canterbury, Cosmo Gordon Lang, Archbishop of York, Arthur Winnington-Ingram, Bishop of London, and Herbert Ryle, Dean of Westminster.

Princess Mary signing the register in Edward the Confessor’s Chapel at Westminster Abbey, February 28, 1922 by Frank O. Salisbury; Credit – www.harewood.org

The signing of the register took place in Edward the Confessor’s Chapel, among the tombs of five kings and six queens. The register was signed by the bride and groom and attested by King George V and Queen Mary; Henry Lascelles, 5th Earl of Harewood and Florence Lascelles, Countess of Harewood; Randall Davidson, Archbishop of Canterbury; Cosmo Gordon Lang, Archbishop of York; and Herbert Ryle, Dean of Westminster.

Music

Before the wedding, as the guests arrived, the following music was played on the organ by Sidney Nicholson, organist of Westminster Abbey:

  • “Solemn Melody” by Walford Davies
  • “Trumpet Voluntary” by Henry Purcell
  • “Marche Nuptiale” by Alexandre Guilmant
  • Four Movement from “Water Music” by Georg Friedrich Handel
  • “Benediction Nupitale” by Camille Saint-Saens
  • “Bridal March” by Hubert Parry
  • “Imperial March” by Edward Elgar

During the wedding, the following was performed by Sidney Nicholson, organist of Westminster Abbey and the Choir of Westminster Abbey:

  • Procession of the Bride: The hymn “Lead Us, Heavenly Father” was sung
  • After the solemnization of matrimony, as the couple moved to the altar: Psalm 67 “God be merciful unto us” with music by Thomas Tertius Noble was sung
  • After the address by the Archbishop of Canterbury: The hymn “Praise My Soul The King of Heaven” by Sir John Goss was sung
  • Before the signing of the register: The National Anthem, “God Save The King” was sung
  • During the signing of the register: The anthem “Beloved, Let Us Love One Another” written especially for the occasion by Sidney Nicholson was sung
  • Procession of the Bride and Groom, Clergy, King and Queen, Royal Family: Bridal March from “Romeo and Juliet” by Charles Gounod and “Wedding March” by Felix Mendelssohn were played on the organ

After the Wedding

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Buckingham Palace Balcony Appearance: Left to Right – King George V, Princess Mary, Viscount Lascelles, Queen Alexandra, and Queen Mary

The newlyweds proceeded back to Buckingham Palace, with huge crowds cheering them along the way. The wedding breakfast at Buckingham Palace was a small affair, only a hundred people were present, members of the bride and groom’s families and some of the bridesmaids.

Each table sat ten people and was decorated with white lilacs and pink tulips. At the main table, King George V sat with Princess Mary on his right. Continuing around the circular table on the right sat the groom’s mother the Countess of Harewood, Mary’s brother Prince Henry, the Dowager Countess of Bradford (the groom’s maternal grandmother), Mary’s brother The Duke of York (the future King George VI), Queen Alexandra, the groom’s father the Earl of Harewood, Queen Mary and the groom Viscount Lascelles.

As the newlyweds were ready to leave the palace, everyone went to the Grand Hall where the newlyweds were pelted with rose-leaf confetti. A huge crowd had waited patiently outside Buckingham Palace to see the couple as they left for the honeymoon. At 3:45 PM, an open landau drawn by four gray horses carrying the bride and groom appeared in the quadrangle. King George V and his four sons and walked to where the guests had gathered in the forecourt. They all took up positions on either side of the arch through which the landau was to pass. They were joined by some of the bridesmaids and two little pages. They were all given confetti shaped like horseshoes and silver slippers. As the landau passed the crowd, the bride and groom were pelted with the confetti so hard by the King and the Princes that the couple had to duck down. Everyone laughed, especially the King.

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King George V, The Duke of York, Prince Henry and Prince George, throwing confetti in the shape of small horseshoes and silver slippers as Princess Mary and Viscount Lascelles leave Buckingham Palace

As the couple made their way to Paddington Station, they were greeted by throngs of people cheering loudly. At Paddington Station, the couple boarded a train to their honeymoon destination, Weston Park in Weston-under-Lizard, Staffordshire, England, the country home of the Earls of Bradford, the family of Viscount Lascelles’ mother. After some days of seclusion, the newlyweds traveled to Italy and then spent time with Bernard Forbes, 8th Earl of Granard and Beatrice Forbes, Countess of Granard at their Paris home.

Children

 

Mary and Henry had two sons:

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

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Wedding dress of Princess Mary. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_dress_of_Princess_Mary [Accessed 5 Oct. 2019].
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2014). Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/henry-lascelles-6th-earl-of-harewood/ [Accessed 5 Oct. 2019].
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2014). Princess Mary, Princess Royal, Countess of Harewood. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/princess-mary-princess-royal-countess-of-harewood/ [Accessed 5 Oct. 2019].
  • Hough, Richard. (1991). Born Royal – The Lives and Loves of the Young Windsors. Leicester: Ulverscroft.
  • Nytimes.com. (1922). LASCELLES PICKS BEST MAN.; Names Sir Victor Mackenzie, Twice Wounded in World War.. [online] Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1922/02/07/archives/lascelles-picks-best-man-names-sir-victor-mackenzie-twice-wounded.html?searchResultPosition=45 [Accessed 5 Oct. 2019].
  • Nytimes.com. (1922). LONDON BEGINS FETE ON EVE OF WEDDING OF PRINCESS MARY; PRINCESS MARY, A BRIDE TODAY, HER WEDDING COACH, AND SCENE OF HER HONEYMOON Sightseers and Holiday Makers Watch for a Glimpse of Bridal Couple. CHEERED AS THEY APPEAR Princess Limits Decorations’ Cost, but Triumphal Arches Are Erected. RECEIVES WANAMAKER GIFT Ambassador and Mrs. Harvey to Be Only Americans Officially Present in Abbey. Lascelles Eludes Crowd. Harveys Only American Guests. Letter of Thanks to Wanamaker. 170 to Be at Breakfast. Lascelles May Be Made a Duke. Rescuer of Lascelles Invited. Princess Will Change Initial Bay Horses to Draw Carriages. Trades and Crafts Offer Gifts Fine Fabric for Bride’s Train. Princess’s Coat of Arms.. [online] Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1922/02/28/archives/london-begins-fete-on-eve-of-wedding-of-princess-mary-princess-mary.html?searchResultPosition=55 [Accessed 5 Oct. 2019].
  • Nytimes.com. (1922). PRINCESS GOING TO PARIS.; Mary and Her Husband to Be Guests at Granard Mansion.. [online] Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1922/03/03/archives/princess-going-to-paris-mary-and-her-husband-to-be-guests-at.html?searchResultPosition=59 [Accessed 5 Oct. 2019].
  • Nytimes.com. (1922). PRINCESS MARY ENGAGED TO WED LORD LASCELLES; Betrothal to the Viscount Is Formally Announced by the King and Queen. HE HAS LARGE FORTUNEHeir to Title and Yorkshire Estates of Earl of Harewood–Distinguished Himself in the War. ENGAGEMENT IS POPULARMarriage of Member of Royal Family Within the Kingdom Is Welcomed by the Press.. [online] Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1921/11/23/archives/princess-mary-engaged-to-wed-lord-lascelles-betrothal-to-the.html?searchResultPosition=32 [Accessed 5 Oct. 2019].
  • Nytimes.com. (1922). PRINCESS MARY’S GOWN TO BE CLOTH OF SILVER; Her Wedding Dress to Have a Train of Ivory Silk Woven by Hand.. [online] Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1922/01/17/archives/princess-marys-gown-to-be-cloth-of-silver-her-wedding-dress-to-have.html?searchResultPosition=40 [Accessed 5 Oct. 2019].
  • Nytimes.com. (1922). PRINCESS MARY WED IN REGAL SPLENDOR TO LORD LASCELLES IN WESTMINSTER; ALL LONDON JOINS IN THE REJOICING; GORGEOUS SCENE IN CHURCH Women in Brilliant Gowns and Jewels for Princess’s Wedding. LONDON WAR GLOOM BROKEN King Joins in Throwing Rice as Couple Leave on Their Honeymoon. BRIDAL TRIP TO SHROPSHIRE Satisfaction Is Voiced That the Princess’s Match Means No Foreign Tie.. [online] Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1922/03/01/archives/princess-mary-wed-in-regal-splendor-to-lord-lascelles-in.html?searchResultPosition=57 [Accessed 5 Oct. 2019].
  • Nytimes.com. (1922). PRINCESS SECLUDED ON HER HONEYMOON; Mary and Lascelles Even Dispense With the Telephone on the Weston Estate. GRATEFUL FOR GOOD WILL Musical Part of the Wedding Ceremony is to Be Repeated at Westminster.. [online] Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1922/03/02/archives/princess-secluded-on-her-honeymoon-mary-and-lascelles-even-dispense.html?searchResultPosition=58 [Accessed 5 Oct. 2019].
  • Pope-Hennessy, James. (1959). Queen Mary, 1867-1953. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
  • Royal-magazin.de. (2019). Jewels – Wedding gifts to Mary Princess Royal| Viscountess Lascelles | Countess Harewood. [online] Available at: https://royal-magazin.de/england/mary-lascelles-harewood/princess-royal-mary.htm [Accessed 5 Oct. 2019].
  • Trove. (1922). PRINCESS MARY’S WEDDING – PAGEANT IN STREET AND ABBEY STORY OF AN EYE-WITNESS. (FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT.) – The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957) – 6 Apr 1922. [online] Available at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/4671031 [Accessed 5 Oct. 2019].
  • Westminster-abbey.org. (1922). Order of Service of the Marriage of Her Royal Highness Princess Mary and The Viscount Lascelles, D.S.O.. [online] Available at: https://www.westminster-abbey.org/media/5182/princess-mary-wedding-1922.pdf [Accessed 5 Oct. 2019].
  • Westminster Abbey. (2019). Wedding of Princess Mary, daughter of George V | Westminster Abbey. [online] Available at: https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/royals/princess-mary-daughter-of-george-v [Accessed 5 Oct. 2019].

First Cousins: Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom (1926 – 2022)

(Photos are from Wikipedia unless otherwise noted.)

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom was born on April 21, 1926, at 17 Bruton Street in Mayfair, London, the home of her maternal grandparents, as Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth of York. She was the elder of the two daughters of the future King George VI and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (at the time, the Duke and Duchess of York), and was named in honor of her mother, her great-grandmother Queen Alexandra, and her grandmother Queen Mary. Her paternal grandparents were King George V and Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, and her maternal grandparents were Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck. Elizabeth married Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark and had three sons and one daughter. She died on September 8, 2022, at the age of 96.

Queen Elizabeth II has thirty-one first cousins. She shares her first cousins with her sister Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon.

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Queen Elizabeth II’s Paternal Aunts and Uncles: Children of King George V of the United Kingdom and Princess Victoria Mary of Teck

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Queen Elizabeth II’s Maternal Aunts and Uncles: Children of Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck

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PATERNAL COUSINS

Learn more about the British Royal Family at Unofficial Royalty: British Index

Paternal First Cousins: Children of Mary, Princess Royal, Countess of Harewood and Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood


George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood (1923 – 2011)

George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood was the eldest of the nine grandchildren of King George V of the United Kingdom. He served in the British Army during World War II and 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 1947, George’s father died and he succeeded him as the 7th Earl of Harewood. Lord Harewood married Marion Stein, the daughter of a musician, and the couple had three sons. The couple divorced and Lord Harewood married for a second time to violinist Patricia Tuckwell. Lord Harewood had one son with his second wife but because he was born before his parents married, he is not in the line of succession to the throne nor is he eligible to succeed to the Earldom of Harewood.

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Credit – www.thepeerage.com

The Honorable Gerald Lascelles (1924 – 1998)

The Honorable Gerald Lascelles married actress Angela Dowding. Gerald and Angela had one son. Their marriage had collapsed when Gerald left Angela to live with another actress, Elizabeth Collingwood, whom he had known for 20 years and with whom he already had a son. Gerald divorced his first wife and married Elizabeth Collingwood. The couple had one child who was born before his parents’ marriage and so he is not in the line of succession to the throne or eligible to succeed to the Earldom of Harewood.

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Lady Alice Montagu Douglas Scott


Prince William of Gloucester (1941 – 1972)

Prince William of Gloucester went to Magdalene College, Cambridge to read history, graduating with a BA degree which was later raised to an MA degree. Following Cambridge, he spent a year at Stanford University in California studying political science, American history, and business. He worked for Lazard, an investment bank, and later became the second member of the British Royal Family (after his uncle Prince George, Duke of Kent) to work in the civil service or the diplomatic service. Prince William was a licensed pilot, owned several airplanes, and enjoyed competing in air shows. Sadly, while competing in an air show, his plane crashed and he died. Prince William was the elder son of his parents and would have succeeded his father as Duke of Gloucester. His younger brother Prince Richard succeeded their father as Duke of Gloucester.

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Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester (born 1944)

Prince Richard intended to have a career in architecture but that changed when his elder brother died in a plane crash.  He studied architecture at Magdalene College, Cambridge University where he received a Diploma of Architecture. Upon his brother’s death, Richard became his father’s heir, and took on increased royal duties and the responsibility for the family estate.  He married Danish-born Birgitte Eva Henriksen and the couple had one son and two daughters. Upon his father’s death, Richard succeeded him as Duke of Gloucester.  In support of his cousin Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Gloucester carries out a significant number of public duties and hundreds of official engagements in the United Kingdom and overseas.

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Prince George, Duke of Kent and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark

Prince Edward, Duke of Kent (born 1935)

When he was six years old, Prince Edward’s father was killed in a plane crash and so he succeeded his father as Duke of Kent. The Duke of Kent served in the British Army for 21 years. He married Katharine Worsley and the couple had three children. The Duke of Kent is the patron of numerous organizations. He is probably most recognized for his role as President of The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, a position to which he succeeded upon his mother’s death in 1968. In this role, he presented the champion’s trophies at Wimbledon each year. The Duke of Kent and his siblings Princess Alexandra and Prince Michael are not only first cousins of Queen Elizabeth II but also first cousins once removed of her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The fathers of Prince Philip and Princess Marina, the mother of Edward, Alexandra, and Michael, were brothers.

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Princess Alexandra, The Honorable Lady Ogilvy (born 1935)

Princess Alexandra has been one of the most active members of the British Royal Family. Beginning in the late 1950s, she carried out an extensive program of engagements in support of her cousin The Queen, both in the United Kingdom and overseas. Alexandra married The Honorable Angus Ogilvy, second son of David Ogilvy, 12th Earl of Airlie. The couple had two children.

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Prince Michael of Kent (born 1942)

Because Prince Michael was born on American Independence Day in 1942, his father asked President Franklin Roosevelt to be one of his son’s godparents. President Roosevelt accepted and the baby prince was named Michael George Charles Franklin. Sadly, just six weeks after his birth, his father died in a Royal Air Force plane crash in the service of his country. Prince Michael married Baroness Marie-Christine von Reibnitz, now known as Princess Michael of Kent. Because his wife was Roman Catholic, Prince Michael forfeited his place in the line of succession under the terms of the Act of Settlement 1701. When the Succession to The Crown Act 2013 went into effect, eliminating the exclusion of anyone who marries a Roman Catholic, Prince Michael was returned to his place in the line of succession. Prince Michael and his wife have two children.

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MATERNAL COUSINS

Maternal First Cousins: Children of Lady Mary Bowes-Lyon, Lady Elphinstone and Sidney Elphinstone, 16th Lord Elphinstone)

The wedding of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother; Credit – by Bassano Ltd, bromide print, 26 April 1923, NPG x158916, © National Portrait Gallery, London

The Honorable (Mary) Elizabeth Elphinstone (1911 – 1980)

The Honorable (Mary) Elizabeth Elphinstone went by her middle name. Along with her cousin Lady Cecilia Bowes-Lyon, she was a bridesmaid at the wedding of her aunt Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon and Prince Albert, Duke of York, the future King George VI. In the photo above, Elizabeth is sitting on the floor on the left, and her cousin Lady Cecilia is sitting on the floor on the right. Elizabeth never married.

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Lord Elphinstone is the second person from the left

John Elphinstone, 17th Lord Elphinstone and 3rd Baron Elphinstone (1914 – 1975)

Lord Elphinstone served in the British Army during World War II and like another of Queen Elizabeth II’s cousins, George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood, he 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. When his father died, he succeeded him as the 17th Lord Elphinstone. He never married and upon his death, his titles were passed to his nephew.

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Credit – http://www.thepeerage.com

The Honorable Jean Elphinstone, Mrs. Wills (1915 – 1999)

The Honorable Jean Elphinstone married Major John Lycett Wills and had one son and three daughters. Their daughter Marilyn was a goddaughter of Princess Margaret and was a bridesmaid at her wedding. Jean served as an Extra Lady-in-Waiting to her cousin Princess Margaret.

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Credit – http://www.thepeerage.com

The Reverend The Honorable Andrew Elphinstone (1918 – 1975)

The Reverend The Honorable Andrew Elphinstone married Jean Hambro. The couple had one daughter and one son. Their son James Elphinstone became the 18th Lord Elphinstone upon the death of his uncle John Elphinstone, 17th Lord Elphinstone (above).

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The Honorable Margaret Elphinstone, Mrs. Rhodes (1925 – 2016)

The Honorable Margaret Elphinstone married Denys Rhodes and they had two daughters and two sons. Because she was close in age to her cousin, the future Queen Elizabeth II, Margaret was a frequent playmate and was a bridesmaid at her wedding. Margaret’s daughter Annabel was a bridesmaid at Princess Margaret’s wedding. Margaret was an Extra Woman of the Bedchamber to her aunt Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother from 1991 until The Queen Mother’s death in 2002. Margaret remained close to her royal cousin and lived in a grace and favor residence in Windsor Great Park.

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Patrick Bowes-Lyon, 15th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne and Lady Dorothy Osborne)

Credit – Hon. John Patrick Bowes-Lyon by Bassano Ltd, whole-plate glass negative, 10 February 1931, NPG x150014 © National Portrait Gallery, London

The Honorable John Bowes-Lyon, Master of Glamis (1910 – 1941)

The Honorable John Bowes-Lyon, Master of Glamis was a Lieutenant in the Scots Guards and served during World War II. John would have succeeded his father as Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne but he was killed in action.

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Credit – Lady Cecilia Harington (née Bowes-Lyon) by Bassano Ltd, whole-plate glass copy negative, 12 July 1933, NPG x150901 © National Portrait Gallery, London

Lady Cecilia Bowes-Lyon, Mrs. Harrington (1912 – 1947)

Along with her cousin, The Honorable (Mary) Elizabeth Elphinstone, Lady Cecilia Bowes-Lyon was a bridesmaid at the wedding of her aunt Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon and Prince Albert, Duke of York, the future King George VI. See the wedding photo above. Lady Cecilia married Major Kenneth Harrington. The marriage was childless and Lady Cecilia died at the young age of 35.

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Credit – http://www.thepeerage.com

Timothy Bowes-Lyon, 16th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne (1918 – 1972)

Timothy Bowes-Lyon was the twin brother of Lady Nancy Bowes-Lyon. He became the heir to his father’s earldom upon the death of his elder brother in action during World War II. He married Bridget Mary Brennan and the couple had one daughter who died in infancy. As he had no son, upon his death, he was succeeded by his first cousin Fergus Michael Bowes-Lyon.

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Lady Nancy with her twin brother Timothy, the future 16th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne

Lady Nancy Bowes-Lyon (1918 – 1959)

Lady Nancy Bowes-Lyon was the twin sister of Timothy Bowes-Lyon, 16th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. She married Lance Burra-Robinson. The couple had two sons and divorced. Lady Nancy made a second, childless marriage to John Blair.

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of The Honorable John Bowes-Lyon and The Honorable Fenella Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis

Patricia Bowes-Lyon (1916 – 1917)

Patricia Bowes-Lyon was born on July 6, 1916, and died on June 18, 1917.

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Credit – www.thepeerage.com

Anne Bowes-Lyon, Princess Anne of Denmark (1917 – 1980)

Anne Bowes-Lyon first married Thomas Anson, Viscount Anson, son and heir of Thomas, 4th Earl of Lichfield, and they had a son and a daughter. Their son Thomas Patrick John Anson succeeded his grandfather as the 5th Earl of Lichfield. Known as professionally Patrick Lichfield, he became a noted photographer, took the official photos at the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer, and was also chosen to take the official photos of Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee. Anne divorced her first husband and married Prince George Valdemar of Denmark and thereafter was styled Princess Anne of Denmark.

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Diana Bowes-Lyon, Mrs. Somervel (1923 – 1986)

Diana Bowes-Lyon, who has Cinderella as one of her middle names, was one of the bridesmaids at the wedding of her cousin, the future Queen Elizabeth II. She married Peter Somervel. They had one daughter who is a goddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II.

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Nerissa Bowes-Lyon (1919 – 1986) and Katherine Bowes-Lyon (1923 – 2014)

Katherine and Nerissa Bowes-Lyon; Credit – Netflix/The Crown

In 1987, it was revealed that Nerissa and Katherine had been placed in Royal Earlswood Hospital, a hospital for the developmentally disabled, in 1941and had been erroneously listed in Burke’s Peerage as being dead since 1963.

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of The Honorable Fergus Bowes-Lyon and Lady Christian Dawson-Damer

Rosemary Bowes-Lyon, Mrs. Joicey-Cecil (1915 – 1989)

Rosemary Bowes-Lyon was born two months before her father was killed in action during World War I.  She married Edward Joicey-Cecil and they had a son and a daughter.

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Lady Rose Bowes-Lyon, Countess Granville and William Leveson-Gower, 4th Earl Granville

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Lady Mary with her daughter

Lady Mary Levenson-Gower, Mrs. Clayton (1917 – 2014)

Lady Mary Levenson-Gower married Samuel Wittewronge Clayton. They had a son and a daughter. When Lady Mary died in 2014, Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Countess of Wessex, and Princess Beatrice of York attended her funeral.

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Granville James Leveson-Gower, 5th Earl Granville (1918 – 1996)

Granville James Leveson-Gower, 5th Earl Granville succeeded to his earldom upon the death of his father in 1953. He married Doon Aileen Plunket and they had two sons and one daughter. His elder son is a godson of Queen Elizabeth II.

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of The Honorable Michael Bowes-Lyon and Elizabeth Cator

Fergus Michael Bowes-Lyon, 17th Earl of Strathmore and his wife; Credit – https://www.glamis-castle.co.uk

Fergus Michael Bowes-Lyon, 17th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne (1928 – 1987)

Fergus Michael Bowes-Lyon went by his middle name Michael. He succeeded to the Earldoms of Strathmore and Kinghorne upon the death of his first cousin Timothy Bowes-Lyon, 16th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, who had no sons. He married Mary Pamela McCorquodale and they had one son and two daughters.

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Embed from Getty Images
The Prince of Wales and Lady Mary Colman

Lady Mary Bowes-Lyon, Mrs. Colman (1932 – 2021)

Lady Mary Cecilia Bowes-Lyon is the twin sister of Lady Patricia Bowes-Lyon. She married Sir Timothy Colman and had three daughters and two sons. Lady Mary served as an Extra Lady-in-Waiting to Princess Alexandra of Kent. In 1974, she was granted the rank of an earl’s daughter. Lady Mary’s husband was appointed a Knight of the Order of the Garter in 1996.

The Peerage: Lady Mary Cecilia Bowes-Lyon

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Credit – https://peeragenews.blogspot.com

Lady Patricia Bowes-Lyon (1932 – 1997)

Lady Patricia Bowes-Lyon was the twin sister of Lady Mary Bowes-Lyon. In 1974, she was granted the rank of an earl’s daughter. She married Oliver Tetley but they later divorced. They had one son who served as Equerry to HRH The Duke of Kent between 1993 and 1995.

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The Honorable Michael Albemarle Bowes-Lyon (born 1940)

Born Michael Albemarle Bowes-Lyon, he goes by his middle name Albemarle. In 1974, he was granted the rank of an earl’s younger son. He was director of the bank Coutts & Company.

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of The Honorable Sir David Bowes-Lyon and Rachel Clay

Credit – https://www.dailymail.co.uk

Davina Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Stair (1930 – 2017)

Davina Bowes-Lyon married John Aymer Dalrymple, 13th Earl of Stair, and afterward was styled Countess of Stair. The Earl and Countess of Stair had three sons.

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Sir Simon Bowes-Lyon presenting an award; Credit – www.watfordobserver.co.uk

Sir Simon Bowes-Lyon (born 1932)

Simon Bowes-Lyon served as Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire and was created a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order. He married Caroline Pike and the couple has one daughter and three sons.

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

Works Cited

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

First Cousins: King Charles III of the United Kingdom

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

King Charles III of the United Kingdom (born 1948)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

Charles is the eldest of the four children of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, born a Prince of Greece and Denmark. His paternal grandparents are Prince Andrew of Greece, son of King George I of Greece (born Prince Vilhelm of Denmark, son of King Christian IX of Denmark) and Princess Alice of Battenberg, daughter of Prince Ludwig of Battenberg (later Louis Mountbatten, 1st Marquess of Milford Haven) and Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine. Charles’ maternal grandparents are King George VI of the United Kingdom and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, daughter of Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th of Strathmore. Charles is a descendant of two children of Queen Victoria. His father is the great-grandson of Prince Alice of the United Kingdom who married Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine. His mother is the great-granddaughter of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom who married Princess Alexandra of Denmark, daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark.

Charles attended Trinity College, Cambridge University, where he studied anthropology, archaeology, and history. He was the first heir apparent to the British throne to earn a university degree. Prince Charles served in both the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force and trained as a helicopter pilot and a jet pilot.

Charles married Lady Diana Spencer, daughter of John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer. The couple had two sons Prince William and Prince Harry. Unfortunately, Charles and Diana’s marriage was not the fairy tale marriage it was expected to be. Within five years, the couple’s incompatibility and age difference of almost 13 years, as well as Diana’s concern about Charles’s previous girlfriend, Camilla Parker Bowles, became visible and was damaging to their marriage. Audiotapes showing evidence of Diana’s own extramarital affairs also surfaced. The couple divorced in 1996 and tragically, just a year later, Diana died in a car accident.

Following the divorces of both Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles, Charles let it be known that his relationship with Camilla was “non-negotiable.” He knew that the relationship was causing much negative publicity and he had Mark Bolland, his Deputy Private Secretary, work on the rehabilitation of Camilla’s image which occurred from 1999 until 2005. In 2005, Charles and Camilla married. After her second marriage, Camilla automatically received the female counterparts of her husband’s titles, including Princess of Wales. However, because the title Princess of Wales is so strongly associated with the previous holder of that title, Diana, Princess of Wales, Camilla adopted the feminine form of her husband’s highest-ranking subsidiary title, Duke of Cornwall, so she was styled Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall and The Duchess of Rothesay when she was in Scotland. When Charles succeeded to the throne, his wife was styled Her Majesty Queen Consort Camilla.

Charles shares his 22 first cousins with his siblings Anne, The Princess Royal; Prince Andrew, The Duke of York; and Prince Edward, The Duke of Edinburgh.

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Paternal Aunts of King Charles III: Children of Prince Andrew of Greece and Princess Alice of Battenberg

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Maternal Aunt of King Charles III: Child of King George VI of the United Kingdom and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon

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Paternal First Cousins of King Charles III: Children of Princess Margarita of Greece, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Gottfried, 8th Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

Credit – www.findagrave.com

Kraft, 9th Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1935 – 2004)

Kraft was trained as a forest manager and banker and became titular Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg upon the death of his father in 1960. He married Princess Charlotte of Croÿ, daughter of Prince Alexander of Croÿ and Anne Elspeth Campbell. They had two daughters and one son and divorced after 25 years of marriage. Kraft made a second, childless marriage to Irma Pospesch.

Kraft and his siblings are descendants of Queen Victoria through both of their parents. Their paternal grandmother was Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Their paternal grandmother was Princess Alice of Battenberg, a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria.

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Credit – www.findagrave.com

Princess Beatrix of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1936 – 1997), unmarried

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Prince Georg Andreas of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1938 – 2021)

Georg Andreas married Princess Luise of Schönburg-Waldenburg and had two daughters.

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Credit – www.findagrave.com

Prince Rupprecht of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1944 – 1978), unmarried

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Credit – www.findagrave.com

Prince Albrecht of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1944 – 1992)

Prince Albrecht married Maria-Hildegard Fischer and had one son.

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Paternal First Cousins of King Charles III: Children of Princess Theodora of Greece, Margravine of Baden and Berthold, Margrave of Baden

Princess Margarita of Baden (1932 – 2013)

Margarita trained as a nurse at St. Thomas Hospital in London, England. While attending the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, her aunt by marriage, she met Prince Tomislav, a member of the exiled Yugoslav royal family and also a descendant of Queen Victoria. The couple eventually married and had one son and one daughter. Margarita and Tomislav lived near Billingshurst, Sussex, England where they owned a fruit farm. Their marriage ended in divorce after 24 years of marriage. Margarita attended the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey in 2011 as William was the son of her first cousin, Prince Charles.

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Maximilian, Margrave of Baden (1933 – 2022)

Maximilian attended the Schule Schloss Salem, the school that his father and educator Kurt Hahn founded. After his schooling, he did his military service as a reserve officer candidate of the Bundeswehr, the unified armed forces of Germany. After active service, he remained a colonel with the reserves. Maximilian married Archduchess Valerie of Austria, daughter of Archduke Hubert Salvator of Austria and Princess Rosemary of Salm-Salm. They had three sons and one daughter. The family runs the Winery of the Margrave of Baden.

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Prince Ludwig of Baden (born 1937)

Ludwig married Princess Anna Maria of Auersperg-Breunne and had two daughters and one son.

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Paternal First Cousins of King Charles III: Children of Princess Cecilie of Greece, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Hesse and Georg Donatus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse

Prince Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine (1931 – 1937)

Ludwig was the first great-great-great-grandchild of Queen Victoria. He died at the age of six in an airplane crash along with his parents, his brother Alexander and his paternal grandmother Princess Eleonore of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich, the last Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine. See Unofficial Royalty: November 16, 1937 – Deaths of the Grand Ducal Family of Hesse and by Rhine.

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Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine (1933 – 1937)

Alexander died at the age of four in an airplane crash that killed his family except for his younger sister Johanna who was not on the airplane.

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Princess Johanna with her aunt and uncle Prince Ludwig and Princess Margaret; Photo: The Esoteric Curiosa

Princess Johanna of Hesse and by Rhine (1936 – 1939)

Johanna became an orphan when she was fourteen months old when her parents, her two elder brothers, and her paternal grandmother were killed in an airplane crash in Belgium as they were on their way to the wedding of her uncle Prince Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine and Margaret Geddes in London, England. Ludwig and Margaret adopted Johanna and planned to raise her as their own daughter. However, she developed meningitis less than two years after the airplane accident and died.

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Paternal First Cousins of King Charles III: Children of Princess Sophie, Princess of Hesse and her first husband Prince Christoph of Hesse

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Princess Christina Margarethe with her mother and her daughter

Princess Christina Margarethe of Hesse (1933 – 2011)

Christina Margarethe, known as Krista, and her siblings lost their father during World War II. Prince Christoph of Hesse was the fifth and the youngest son (and twin of Prince Richard of Hesse) of Prince Friedrich Karl of Hesse and Princess Margaret of Prussia, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Christoph was a German SS officer and was killed on active duty in a plane crash during World War II. Two of his four brothers had been killed in World War I.

Krista attended the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. She spent the winter of 1955-1956 living in London, studying the restoration of paintings. A year earlier, Krista had met Prince Andrew of Yugoslavia, youngest son of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia and Princess Maria of Romania, in Portugal, and she met up with him in London. Krista and Andrew married and had one son and one daughter. Five years after the marriage, Krista left Andrew to live with a Dutch artist Robert Floris van Eyck. Andrew began divorce proceedings and obtained custody of their two children. Krista married Robert Floris van Eyck and they had one son and one daughter. They divorced after 24 years of marriage.

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Princess Dorothea of Hesse (born 1934)

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Princesses Christine and Dorothea of Hesse at a fitting for their dresses to be worn to the coronation of Elizabeth II

Dorothea married Prince Friedrich Karl of Windisch-Grätz and had two daughters.

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Prince Karl of Hesse (1937 – 2022)

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Prince Karl with his sisters Christina and Dorothea

Karl married Countess Yvonne Szapáry von Muraszombath, Széchysziget und Szapár and had one son and one daughter.

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Prince Rainer of Hesse (born 1939)

Rainer is a German historian and director. He had an apprenticeship as an assistant at the Staatstheater Darmstadt and at the Münchner Kammerspiele and has worked over the years directing plays. As a historian, he has earned a reputation for studying the history of his own family. He funded Jonathan Petropoulos, an American historian who writes about the Nazi period in Germany, as he was researching and writing Royals and the Reich, which depicts the role of the House of Hesse in the Third Reich.

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Princess Clarissa on the right with her parents

Princess Clarissa of Hesse (born 1944)

Clarissa married Jean-Claude Derrien and had one daughter.

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Paternal First Cousins of King Charles III: Children of Princess Sophie of Greece, Princess of Hanover and her second husband Prince Georg Wilhelm of Hanover

Prince Welf Ernst of Hanover (1947 – 1981)

Welf and his siblings were the children of Princess Sophie of Greece and her second husband Prince Georg Wilhelm of Hanover, son of Ernst August, Duke of Brunswick and Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia, only daughter of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia. Their father’s sister was Queen Frederica of Greece and so they are the first cousins of King Constantine II of Greece, Queen Sofia of Spain and Princess Irene of Greece.

Welf married Wibke van Gunsteren and they had one daughter. Welf and his wife became disciples of the Indian mystic Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh also known as Osho. They took the names Vimalkirti (“Spotless Splendor”) and Wibke Prem Turiya (“Spiritual Love”) and moved with their daughter to Poona, India to live in Osho’s ashram. In 1979, the couple divorced but continued to live together in India. Welf died at a clinic in Poona, India from a cerebral hemorrhage after collapsing during a morning karate practice session. After Welf’s death, his daughter was brought to England by her grandparents so she could have a normal education.

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Prince Georg and his wife Victoria Bee with Georg’s grandmother Viktoria Luise of Prussia, Duchess of Brunswick, daughter of Wilhelm II, German Emperor

Prince Georg of Hanover (born 1949)

Georg married American Victoria Anne Bee, daughter of Robert Bee and Countess Eleonore Fugger von Babenhausen. The couple had two daughters.

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Princess Friederike being held by her mother; Credit – Daily Mail

Princess Friederike of Hanover, Mrs. Jerry Cyr (born 1954)

Princess Friederike of Hanover is a godchild of her aunt by marriage, Queen Elizabeth II. She attended Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada and remained in Canada. Friederike married Jerry William Cyr, son of Gordon Paul Cyr and Emma Grandbois in Vancouver, Canada. The couple had one daughter and one son.

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Maternal First Cousins of King Charles III: Children of Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon and Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon

David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon with his daughter

David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon (born 1961)

During his secondary education at Bedales School in Steep, Hampshire, England, David developed an interest in arts and crafts. He then studied the craft of woodworking at Parnham College in Beaminster, Dorset, England, now known as the Architectural Association School of Architecture. David has had a career as a furniture designer and maker and set up his own company LINLEY in 1985.

David married The Honorable Serena Stanhope, a daughter of Charles Stanhope, 12th Earl of Harrington. The couple separated and intend to divorce. They had two children Charles Armstrong-Jones, Viscount Linley, who served as the First Page of Honor of his great-aunt, Queen Elizabeth II, and Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones, who was a bridesmaid at the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.

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

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Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones Chatto (born 1964)

Sarah attended Bedales School where she developed an interest in art. Her interest in art led her to attend the 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 and the Creswick Landscape Prize.

Sarah married Daniel Chatto, son of actor Tom Chatto and theatrical agent Ros 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. Like his wife Sarah, Daniel became an artist.

Sarah and Daniel had two sons, Samuel and Arthur. Like his cousin Charles Armstrong-Jones, Arthur also served as the First Page of Honor of his great-aunt, Queen Elizabeth II.

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

Works Cited

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

First Cousins: Prince William, The Prince of Wales

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

Prince William, The Prince of Wales (born 1982)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

The elder of the two sons of King Charles III of the United Kingdom and his first wife Lady Diana Spencer, William was the first future British king to be born in a hospital. William’s paternal grandparents are Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, born a Prince of Greece and Denmark. His maternal grandparents are John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer and The Honorable Frances Ruth Roche, daughter of Maurice Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy.

William began his schooling at Jane Mynors’ nursery school, followed by pre-preparatory schooling at Wetherby School, both in London. He attended Ludgrove School in Wokingham, England and then studied Geography, Biology, and History of Art at Eton College. William attended the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Initially studying Art History, he changed his course to Geography and graduated in 2005 with honors. He served in the Royal Air Force with the rank of Flight Lieutenant and trained as a helicopter pilot with the RAF’s Search and Rescue Force.

William married Catherine Middleton, who he met at the University of St. Andrews and the couple had two sons, Prince George and Prince Louis, and a daughter, Princess Charlotte. At the time of his wedding, William was created Duke of Cambridge.

William shares his cousins with his brother Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex.

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Paternal Aunt and Uncles of Prince William, The Prince of Wales: Children of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

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Maternal Aunts and Uncle of Prince William, The Prince of Wales: Children of John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer and Frances Ruth Roche

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PATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Paternal First Cousins of Prince William, The Prince of Wales: Children of Anne, The Princess Royal and Mark Philipps

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Peter Phillips (born 1977)

Although Peter Phillips, Queen Elizabeth II’s eldest grandchild, does not hold any royal titles, he is still very much a part of the British Royal Family. Peter attended Port Regis Prep School in Dorset and then, following in the footsteps of his grandfather and uncles, attended Gordonstoun School in Scotland. He then enrolled at the University of Exeter, graduating in 2000 with a degree in sports science. He married Autumn Kelly, a Canadian, and the couple had two daughters. The couple divorced in 2021.

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Zara Phillips Tindall (born 1981)

Zara was educated at the Beaudesert Park School in Gloucestershire, the Port Regis School in Dorset, and Gordonstoun School in Scotland. She later attended the University of Exeter, qualifying as a physiotherapist, specializing in equine physiotherapy.

An accomplished equestrian from a young age, Zara participated in the 2005 European Eventing Championships, earning both team and individual gold medals. The following year she won team silver, and individual gold, at the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games. Having won gold, she was the reigning Eventing World Champion until 2010. In 2007, she again won team gold at the European Eventing Championships.

In 2006, she was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year, and in 2007, was made a Member of the British Empire (MBE) for her services to Equestrianism. Having been unable to compete in the 2004 and 2008 Olympic games due to injuries to her horse, Zara was named a member of the 2012 British Equestrian Team for the London Olympics. She was part of the silver medal-winning team event, receiving her medal from her mother, The Princess Royal, herself a participant in the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal.

Zara married English rugby player Mike Tindall and the couple had two daughters.

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Paternal First Cousins of Prince William, The Prince of Wales: Children of Prince Andrew, The Duke of York and Sarah Ferguson

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Princess Beatrice of York (born 1988)

Princess Beatrice started her schooling in 1991 at Upton House School in Windsor, Berkshire, England. In 1995, Beatrice began attending Coworth Park School in Windlesham, Surrey, England which merged in 2004 with Flexlands School to become Coworth Flexlands School. From 2000-2007, Beatrice attended St. George’s School in Ascot, Berkshire, England. She completed A-Levels in Drama, History, and Film Studies and in her final year was Head Girl. In September 2008, Beatrice started a three-year course studying for a Bachelors degree in History and History of Ideas at Goldsmiths College, University of London, England graduating in 2011.

Beatrice has been involved with a number of charitable organizations. In 2009, Princess Beatrice appeared as an extra, portraying a lady-in-waiting, in the film The Young Victoria which focused on early reign of Queen Victoria, and her marriage to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert are Beatrice’s great-great-great-great-grandparents.

In 2020, Beatrice married Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, a multi-millionaire property tycoon and the son of Alessandro (Alex) Mapelli Mozzi, a former British Olympian in Alpine Skiing. The couple have one daughter.

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Princess Eugenie, Mrs. Jack Brooksbank (born 1990)

Following a year at the Winkfield Montessori School, Eugenie attended the Upton House School in Windsor. She then attended Coworth Park School, St George’s School, and Marlborough College. Following a gap year, she enrolled at Newcastle University and graduated with a 2:1 in English Literature and History of Art.

Eugenie is the Patron of the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital’s Redevelopment Appeal. She had undergone surgery in 2002 at the hospital to correct scoliosis in her back.

After internships at Christie’s and The Royal Collection Trust, Eugenie moved to New York and worked as a Benefit Auctions Manager for Paddle8, an online auction firm. She moved back to London and worked for the Hauser & Wirth art gallery as an associate director.

In 2018, Eugenie married Jack Brooksbank, who skipped university and embarked upon a career in the hospitality industry. Eugenie and Jack have one son.

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Paternal First Cousins of Prince William, The Prince of Wales: Children of Prince Edward, The Duke of Edinburgh and Sophie Rhys-Jones

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Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor (born 2003)

Lady Louise was born with esotropia, a condition that causes one or both eyes to turn inwards. She underwent two surgeries to correct the condition.  Lady Louise made her first big appearance on the royal stage in 2011, serving as a bridesmaid at the wedding of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, now The Prince and Princess of Wales.

Lady Louise attended St George’s School, near her grandmother’s home at Windsor Castle. In 2017, she started at St. Mary’s School Ascot, a Roman Catholic independent day and boarding school for girls in South Ascot, Berkshire, England. In September 2022, Louise began studying English at the University of St. Andrews in St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland.

Lady Louise has followed in the footsteps of her grandfather The Duke of Edinburgh and taken up carriage driving. The Duke of Edinburgh took up the sport at age 50 after he quit polo.

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James Mountbatten-Windsor, Earl of Wessex (born 2017)

As the eldest son of a Duke, James uses his father’s highest subsidiary title, Earl of Wessex. James has joined his parents on the balcony following the Trooping the Colour ceremonies and is often photographed with the family at more informal events, such as the Windsor Horse Show, and while attending church on the Sandringham Estate. He attended St George’s School in Windsor Castle and now attends Eagle House School, a coeducational preparatory school in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England.

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MATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Maternal First Cousins of Prince William, The Prince of Wales: Children of Lady Sarah Spencer and Neil McCorquodale

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Emily with her husband at Prince Harry’s wedding

Emily Jane McCorquodale (born 1983)

Emily married James Hutt in 2012. They have one daughter and one son.

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George, second from the left, with his parents and wife at Prince Harry’s wedding

George Edmund McCorquodale (born 1984)

George married Bianca Moore in 2016.

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Celia and her husband at Prince Harry’s wedding

Celia Rose McCorquodale (born 1989)

Celia married George Woodhouse in 2018 at St Andrew and St Mary’s Church, Stoke Rochford, Lincolnshire, England.

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Maternal First Cousins of Prince William, The Prince of Wales: Children of Lady Jane Spencer and Robert Fellowes, Baron Fellowes

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Laura at Prince Harry’s wedding

The Honorable Laura Jane Fellowes (born 1980)

Laura was a bridesmaid for the wedding of Prince Andrew, Duke of York and Sarah Ferguson. She is a godmother to Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, the daughter of her first cousin Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. Laura married Nicholas Pettman in 2009. The couple has two sons.

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Alexander with his wife and father at Prince Harry’s wedding

The Honorable Alexander Robert Fellowes (born 1983)

Alexander married Alexandra Finlay in 2013. They have one son and one daughter.

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Eleanor with her cousin Prince Harry and her brother Alexander at the first wedding of their uncle Charles Spencer, Viscount Althorp and Victoria Lockwood in 1989

The Honorable Eleanor Ruth Fellowes (born 1985)

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Maternal First Cousins of Prince William, The Prince of Wales: Children of Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer and his first wife Victoria Lockwood

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Lady Kitty Eleanor Spencer (born 1990)

Lady Kitty is a fashion model. Originally, she was raised in Cape Town, South Africa but after her parents divorced, Lady Kitty spent her time between England with her father and South Africa with her mother. She studied psychology, politics, and English literature at the University of Cape Town and art history and Italian in Florence, Italy. Lady Kitty as a master’s degree in luxury brand management from the European Business School London at Regent’s University London.

Lady Kitty is an ambassador for Centrepoint, a charity that supports homeless youth. Her paternal aunt Diana, Princess of Wales was the patron of Centrepoint and currently, her first cousin Prince William, Duke of Cambridge is the patron.

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Lady Eliza Victoria Spencer (born 1992)

Lady Eliza and Lady Amelia are twins.

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Lady Amelia Spencer (born 1992)

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Louis with his sister Eliza, his mother and his sister Kitty at the wedding of Prince Harry

Louis Frederick John Spencer, Viscount Althorp (born 1994)

Louis is the heir apparent to his father’s earldom and uses his father’s subsidiary title, Viscount Althorp, as a courtesy title. He attended Diocesan College in Cape Town, South Africa and the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

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Maternal First Cousins of Prince William, The Prince of Wales: : Children of Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer and his second wife Caroline Freud

The Honorable Edmund Charles Spencer (born 2003)

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Lady Lara Caroline Spencer (born 2006)

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer and his third wife Karen Gordon

Lady Charlotte Diana Spencer (born 2012)

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

Works Cited

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

Harold II Godwinson, King of England

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Credit – Wikipedia

Harold Godwinson was the last crowned Anglo-Saxon King of England. Born around 1022, he was the second son of Godwin, Earl of Wessex and Gytha Thorkelsdóttir. Godwin, Earl of Wessex was one of the most powerful earls in England under Cnut the Great, Harold I Harefoot, Harthacnut, and his son-in-law Edward the Confessor. Harold’s mother was the daughter of the Danish chieftain Thorkel Sprakling whose claim to fame was being the grandfather of two kings, Gytha’s son Harold who became King of England and King Sweyn II of Denmark, the son of Thorkel’s son Ulf.  After the death of his elder brother Sweyn in 1052, Harold became his father’s heir.

Harold had nine siblings:

In 1042, Harold’s father Godwin, Earl of Wessex was instrumental in securing the English throne for Edward the Confessor, the son of Æthelred II (the Unready), King of the English and his second wife Emma of Normandy. When Godwin’s daughter Edith married Edward the Confessor, King of England, on January 23, 1045, he and his sons gained even more power. Shortly after his sister’s marriage to Edward the Confessor, Harold became Earl of East Anglia.

In 1051, Godwin and his sons fell out of favor with Edward and fled England. Edith was sent to a nunnery, possibly because she was childless and Edward hoped to divorce her. Godwin and his family returned to England in 1052 with armed forces, gaining the support of the townspeople, and peasants, thereby forcing Edward to restore his earldom. Harold succeeded his father as Earl of Wessex in 1053 and was then the second most powerful man in England after the king. Soon Harold was handling most of the matters of government for his brother-in-law Edward the Confessor. Like his father, Harold led the resistance against the Norman influence in England.

Bayeux Tapestry – Scene 1: King Edward the Confessor and Harold Godwinson at Winchester; Credit – Wikipedia

Edith the Fair, also known as Edith Swansneck, was Harold’s companion for more than twenty years. Their relationship was more danico, Latin for “in the Danish manner”, similar to handfasting. Although the relationship was not recognized by the Catholic Church, Harold and Edith’s children were not considered illegitimate.

Edith the Fair and Harold had six children:

  • Godwin of Wessex (born circa 1049), exiled after his father’s death in 1066, disappears from history in the early 1070s
  • Edmund of Wessex (born circa 1049), exiled after his father’s death in 1066, disappears from history in the early 1070s
  • Magnus of Wessex (born circa 1051), exiled after his father’s death in 1066
  • Gytha of Wessex (died 1107) (circa 1053 – died 1098 or 1107), married Vladimir II Monomakh, Grand Prince of Kievan Rus, had at least five children
  • Gunhild of Wessex (circa 1055 – 1097), abandoned her life as a nun at Wilton Abbey and lived with Alan the Red, intending to marry him, after his death, she lived with his brother Alan the Black
  • Ulf, imprisoned in Normandy after his father’s death in 1066, on his deathbed in 1087, King William I of England was persuaded to release all of his political prisoners including Ulf

The marriage of Edward the Confessor and Harold’s sister Edith was childless and there was concern over the succession. At that time, succession to the throne was not entirely based upon primogeniture. The Anglo-Saxons had a king’s council called the Witan and one of the Witan’s jobs was to elect the king. There were several potential candidates to succeed Edward the Confessor.

1) Edward the Exile (1016 – 1057) also called Edward Ætheling was the son of King Edmund II Ironside. Edmund Ironside was the half-brother of Edward the Confessor from Æthelred II the Unready’s first marriage, so Edward the Exile was Edward the Confessor’s nephew. Edmund Ironside succeeded his father Æthelred II (the Unready) as King of England in 1016. Edmund’s reign was short-lived. During his seven-month reign, Edmund battled against the Danish Cnut the Great for control of England. After a victory for the Danes at the Battle of Assandun on October 18, 1016, Edmund was forced to sign a treaty with Cnut which stated that all of England except Wessex would be controlled by Cnut. When one of the kings died, the other would take all of England, that king’s son being the heir to the throne. Edmund Ironside died on November 30, 1016, and Cnut became king of all England. King Cnut sent Edward the Exile to King Olaf Skötkonung of Sweden to be murdered, but instead, the king sent him to Kyiv where his daughter was the queen. There he grew up in exile. Edward the Exile had the best hereditary claim to the English throne.

2) Edgar the Ætheling (circa 1051 – circa 1126) was the son of Edward the Exile. After his father’s death, Edgar had the best hereditary claim to the English throne.

3) Harald III Hardrada, King of Norway (circa 1015 – 1066) was named the heir to his childless nephew King Magnus I of Norway. Magnus and King Harthacnut of England and Denmark, Edward the Confessor’s half-brother and his predecessor, made a political agreement that the first of them to die would be succeeded by the other. As Magnus’ heir, Harald Hardrada, thought he had a claim to the English throne.

4) Harold Godwinson (circa 1022 – 1066) was the son of Godwin, Earl of Wessex, the most powerful earl in England and the brother of Edward the Confessor’s wife. Harold succeeded his father as Earl of Wessex in 1053 and he then became the most powerful person in England after Edward the Confessor, King of England.

5) William II, Duke of Normandy (circa 1027-1028 – 1087) was the first cousin once removed of Edward the Confessor. Edward the Confessor’s mother Emma of Normandy was the sister of William’s grandfather Richard II the Good, Duke of Normandy. William’s marriage to Matilda of Flanders may have been motivated by his growing desire to become King of England. Matilda was a direct descendant of Alfred the Great, King of Wessex. In 1051, William visited his first cousin once removed, Edward the Confessor, King of England, and apparently Edward named William as his successor.

In 1057, Edward the Confessor discovered that his nephew Edward the Exile was still alive and summoned him to England as a potential successor. However, Edward the Exile died within two days of his arrival in England and the cause of his death has never been determined. Murder is a possibility, as he had many powerful enemies, one of them being Godwin, Earl of Wessex. Edward the Exile’s three children Edgar the Ætheling, Margaret, and Cristina were then raised in the court of Edward the Confessor. Margaret, known as Saint Margaret of Scotland, married King Malcolm III of Scotland and their daughter Edith, also known as Matilda, married King Henry I of England, son of William I.

Guy of Ponthieu capturing Harold, scene 7 of the Bayeux Tapestry; Credit – Wikipedia

From 1062 – 1063, Harold led a series of successful campaigns against Gruffydd ap Llywelyn of Gwynedd, King of Wales. This conflict ended with Gruffydd’s defeat and death in 1063. On his way home to England, Harold was shipwrecked on the shores of Ponthieu in northern France and was captured by Guy I, Count of Ponthieu. William II, Duke of Normandy demanded the release of Harold, and after being paid a ransom for him, Guy delivered Harold Godwinson to William. Harold was not released from Normandy until he had sworn on holy relics to be William’s vassal and to support his claim to the throne of England.

Harold swearing the oath to William, Duke of Normandy, scene 23 of the Bayeux Tapestry; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1065, it is probable that Edward the Confessor had a series of strokes. He was too ill to attend the dedication of his greatest achievement, the church at Westminster, now called Westminster Abbey, on December 28, 1065. Edward the Confessor died several days later, on January 5, 1066. According to the Vita Ædwardi Regis, before Edward died he briefly regained consciousness and named Harold Godwinson as his heir. The Witan met the next day and selected Harold Godwinson to succeed Edward as King Harold II. It is probable that Harold was immediately crowned in Westminster Abbey.

Bayeux Tapestry – Scenes 29-30-31: the coronation of Harold II of England. He receives orb and scepter. On his left stands Archbishop Stigand; Credit – Wikipedia

Harold made a marriage recognized by the Catholic Church. Although the date is unknown, it occurred sometime before the Norman Conquest in October 1066 but whether it occurred before or after Harold’s coronation as King of England is unknown. Despite the fact that Edith the Fair was still living, (she lived until around 1086), Harold married the widow of a defeated enemy, Gruffydd ap Llywelyn of Gwynedd, King of Wales, Ealdgyth of Mercia, daughter of Ælfgar, Earl of Mercia. Apparently, Harold married her to secure the support of the Mercians and also to weaken the links between the Mercians and the Welsh rulers.

Harold and Ealdgyth had one son who was born after Harold’s death:

  • Harold (1067 – after 1098), exiled during the reign of King William I of England and found refuge at the court of the King of Norway.

When William II, Duke of Normandy heard that Harold Godwinson had been crowned King of England, he began careful preparations for an invasion of England. During the summer of 1066, he assembled an army and an invasion fleet. Meanwhile, in England, King Harold II was forced to march to Northumbria in September 1066 to deal with an invasion by his brother Tostig Godwinson and Harald III Hardrada, King of Norway. Harold defeated the invaders on September 25, 1066, at the Battle of Stamford Bridge and his brother Tostig Godwinson and Harold Hardrada were killed in the battle. The Norman invasion fleet sailed two days later and landed in England on September 28, 1066.

The army of William II, Duke of Normandy army met the army of King Harold of England about six miles northwest of Hastings, England on October 14, 1066. Harold appears to have tried to surprise William but Norman scouts found his army and reported its arrival to William, who marched from Hastings to the battlefield to confront Harold. Early efforts of the Normans to break the English battle lines had little effect. In response, the Normans adopted the tactic of pretending to flee in panic and then turning on their pursuers. Harold’s death, probably near the end of the battle, led to the retreat and defeat of most of his army. Two of Harold’s brothers, Gyrth and Leofwine, were also killed at the Battle of Hastings.

The Battle of Hastings, Bayeux Tapestry Scene 52a; Credit – Wikipedia

Harold is slain, Bayeux Tapestry Scene 57; Credit – Wikipedia

Following Harold’s death in battle, the Witan elected the teenaged Edgar the Ætheling, the last of the Anglo-Saxon House of Wessex, King of England. As William’s position grew stronger, it became evident to those in power that King Edgar should be abandoned and that they should submit to William. On Christmas Day 1066, William was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.

Edith the Fair finds Harold’s body on the battlefield at Hastings by Horace Vernet (1828); Credit – Wikipedia

Exactly what happened to Harold’s body is unknown. An account by the Norman chronicler William of Jumieges says that Harold’s mother Gytha offered to buy her son’s body for its weight in gold but the offer was rejected by William II, Duke of Normandy. Another source says that Harold’s rejected first companion Edith the Fair was called to identify the body, which she did by some private mark known only to her. Harold’s strong association with Bosham in West Sussex, England, and the discovery in 1954 of an Anglo-Saxon coffin in the church there, has suggested it might be his burial place.  An exhumation had revealed the remains of a man, estimated to be around 60 years old, lacking a head, one leg, and the lower part of his other leg. In 2003, a request to exhume remains in Bosham Church for DNA analysis was refused by the Diocese of Chichester on the grounds that the chances of establishing the identity of the body as Harold’s were too slim to justify disturbing a burial place.

The strongest claim for Harold’s burial place is the Abbey Church of Waltham Holy Cross in the town of Waltham Abbey, Essex, England. Harold had rebuilt, refounded, and richly endowed the church, which was rededicated in 1060. The church was left in ruins during the Dissolution of the Monasteries which occurred in the reign of King Henry VIII and was restored in subsequent centuries. The reputed site of King Harold II’s grave now lies in the churchyard.

Reputed tomb of King Harold II under the site of the High Altar; Credit – By No machine-readable author provided. Shakti assumed (based on copyright claims). – No machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=727530

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.

England: House of Wessex Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • Ashley, M. (1998). The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens. New York: Carroll & Graf Pub.
  • Cannon, J. and Griffiths, R. (1988). The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Dodson, A. (2004). The Royal Tombs of Great Britain. London: Duckworth.
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Harold Godwinson. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Godwinson [Accessed 28 Mar. 2019].
  • Flantzer, S. (2019). Edith of Wessex, Queen of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at:  https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/edith-of-wessex-queen-of-england/ [Accessed 28 Mar. 2019].
  • Flantzer, S. (2016). King William I of England (the Conqueror). [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-william-i-of-england-the-conqueror/ [Accessed 28 Mar. 2019].
  • Flantzer, S. (2019). Saint Edward the Confessor, King of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/saint-edward-the-confessor-king-of-england/ [Accessed 25 Mar. 2019].
  • Williamson, D. (1998). Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.

Edith of Wessex, Queen of England

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

Credit – Wikipedia

The eldest of the three daughters of Godwin, Earl of Wessex and Gytha Thorkelsdóttir, Edith of Wessex was born around 1025. Her father was one of the most powerful earls in England under Cnut the Great, Harold I Harefoot, Harthacnut, and his son-in-law Edward the Confessor. Her mother was the daughter of the Danish chieftain Thorkel Sprakling whose claim to fame is being the grandfather of two kings, Gytha’s son King Harold II of England and King Sweyn II of Denmark, the son of Thorkel’s son Ulf.

Edith had nine siblings:

Edith grew up at Wilton Abbey in Wiltshire, England, three miles from Salisbury. At Wilton Abbey, she learned several languages and had excellent needlework skills. On January 23, 1045, Edith of Wessex married Edward the Confessor, King of England, the son of Æthelred II (the Unready), King of the English and his second wife Emma of Normandy, and was then crowned Queen of England at the Old Minster in Winchester, England. The marriage was childless and Edward, who was about twenty years older than Edith, treated her with great respect and endowed her with valuable property all over England. With Edith becoming Queen of England, her father and brothers gained even more power.

Edith is crowned Queen of England; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1051, Godwin and his sons fell out of favor with Edward and fled England. Edith was sent to a nunnery, possibly because she was childless and Edward hoped to divorce her. Godwin and his family returned to England in 1052 with armed forces, gaining the support of the navy, townspeople, and peasants, forcing Edward to restore his earldom. Edith was reinstated as queen and in later years, she became one of Edward’s inner group of advisers. Edward’s brother-in-law Harold Godwinson soon handled most of the matters of government as his father Godwin died in 1053.

In 1042, Edward had begun rebuilding St. Peter’s Abbey to provide himself with a royal burial church, the first Westminster Abbey. It is possible that Edward had a series of strokes in 1065. He was too ill to attend the dedication of his greatest achievement, Westminster Abbey, on December 28, 1065, and so Edith represented him. Edward the Confessor died several days later, on January 5, 1066.

During the exile of Godwin’s family from 1051-1052, William II, Duke of Normandy (William the Conqueror) visited Edward, his first cousin once removed, and apparently, Edward named William as his successor. However, according to the Vita Ædwardi Regis, before Edward died he briefly regained consciousness and named Edith’s brother Harold Godwinson as his heir. The Witan met the next day and selected Harold Godwinson to succeed Edward as King Harold II.

When William II, Duke of Normandy heard that Harold Godwinson had been crowned King of England, he began careful preparations for an invasion of England. During the summer of 1066, he assembled an army and an invasion fleet. Meanwhile, in England, King Harold II was forced to march to Northumbria in September 1066 to deal with an invasion by his brother Tostig Godwinson and Harald III Hardrada, King of Norway. Harold defeated the invaders on September 25, 1066, at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, and his brother Tostig Godwinson and Harold Hardrada were killed in the battle. The Norman invasion fleet sailed two days later and landed in England on September 28, 1066.

Edith’s brother King Harold II is slain, Bayeux Tapestry Scene 57; Credit – Wikipedia

The army of William II, Duke of Normandy army met the army of King Harold of England about six miles northwest of Hastings, England on October 14, 1066. Harold appears to have tried to surprise William but Norman scouts found his army and reported its arrival to William, who marched from Hastings to the battlefield to confront Harold. Early efforts of the Normans to break the English battle lines had little effect. In response, the Normans adopted the tactic of pretending to flee in panic and then turning on their pursuers. Harold’s death, probably near the end of the battle, led to the retreat and defeat of most of his army. Besides losing her brother Harold at the Battle of Hastings, Edith also lost her brothers Gyrth and Leofwine.

Death of Edith’s brothers Gyrth and Leofwine at the Battle of Hastings, scene 52 of the Bayeux Tapestry

Following Harold’s death in battle, the Witan elected the teenaged Edgar the Ætheling, the last of the House of Wessex, King of England. As William’s position grew stronger, it became evident to those in power that King Edgar should be abandoned and that they should submit to William. On Christmas Day 1066, William was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.

The new King William I of England treated Edith with great respect and although she lost some of her dower lands, she remained an important landowner after the Norman conquest. She commissioned a biography of her husband, the Vita Ædwardi Regis (Life of King Edward). Edith died at St. Mary’s Abbey in Winchester, England on December 18, 1075, apparently caused by a disease that she had suffered from for some time, at around the age of 50. Her funeral was arranged by King William I. Originally buried with her husband Edward the Confessor at the original Westminster Abbey he had built, Edith was reburied on the left side of the Chapel of St. Edward the Confessor in present Westminster Abbey built during the reign of King Henry III.

Shrine of Edward the Confessor, Edith is buried nearby

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.

England: House of Wessex Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • Ashley, M. (1998). The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens. New York: Carroll & Graf Pub.
  • Cannon, J. and Griffiths, R. (1988). The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Dodson, A. (2004). The Royal Tombs of Great Britain. London: Duckworth.
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Edith of Wessex. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_of_Wessex [Accessed 25 Mar. 2019].
  • Flantzer, S. (2019). Saint Edward the Confessor, King of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/saint-edward-the-confessor-king-of-england/ [Accessed 25 Mar. 2019].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. (2019). Édith de Wessex. [online] Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89dith_de_Wessex [Accessed 25 Mar. 2019].
  • Williamson, D. (1998). Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.

Saint Edward the Confessor, King of England

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Credit – Wikipedia

Born between 1003 and 1005 in Islip, Oxfordshire, England, Edward the Confessor was the eldest of the three children and the elder of the two sons of Æthelred II (the Unready), King of the English, son of King Edgar I the Peaceful, and his second wife Emma of Normandy, daughter of Richard I, Duke of Normandy.

Emma with her sons Edward and Alfred; Credit – Wikipedia

Edward had two full siblings:

Edward had ten half-siblings from his father’s first marriage to Ælfgifu of York. All of Æthelred’s sons were named after Æthelred’s predecessors. Ætheling was used in Anglo-Saxon England to designate princes of the royal dynasty who were eligible for the kingship.

Edward had two half-siblings from his mother’s second marriage to Cnut the Great, King of England, Denmark, and Norway:

Edward had two stepbrothers from the first marriage of his stepfather Cnut the Great, King of England, Denmark, and Norway to Ælfgifu of Northampton:

Emma and her sons Edward and Alfred being received by her brother Richard II, Duke of Normandy; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1013, when Edward was around ten-years-old, Sweyn Forkbeard, King of Denmark and Norway launched an invasion with the goal of also becoming King of England. As Sweyn’s forces approached southern England, Emma and her children were sent to the Isle of Wight for safety. Æthelred soon followed them to the Isle of Wight and in August 1013, he sent Emma and their children to safety in Normandy. By the end of 1013, English resistance had collapsed and Sweyn had conquered the country, became King of England, and forced Æthelred into exile in Normandy. When Sweyn Forkbeard died in 1014 and Æthelred regained power, Edward stayed on in Normandy, being raised in the court of Richard II, Duke of Normandy, his paternal uncle. He grew up favoring Norman customs, never expecting to become King of England.

Edward’s father, Æthelred II (the Unready, King of the English, died on April 23, 1016, and was succeeded by his eldest surviving son from his first marriage Edmund II (Ironside). After Æthelred’s death, Cnut the Great, son of Sweyn Forkbeard, attacked London and demanded a large sum of money for Emma’s ransom. London held out and Cnut was forced to retreat from London but he did not leave England. Edward’s half-brother Edmund fought five battles against the Danes, ending in his defeat on October 18, 1016, at the Battle of Assandun. Edmund and Cnut agreed to divide the Kingdom of England with Edmund taking Wessex and Cnut the rest. However, Edmund died on November 30, 1016, leaving two young sons. Cnut became the king of all of England and exiled the remaining members of Edmund’s family.

In 1017, Cnut thought it would be expedient to marry Æthelred’s widow and sent for Emma. It is unclear whether Emma married Cnut by force or if she chose to accept Cnut’s proposal but she returned to England and married Cnut. Her children by Æthelred remained in exile in Normandy. Cnut became King of Denmark in 1019 and King of Norway in 1028 and his territories were called the North Sea Empire.

Cnut died in 1035 and was succeeded in England by Harold Harefoot, his son from his first marriage, and in Denmark by Harthacnut, his son from his second marriage to Emma and therefore, Edward’s half-brother. In 1036, Edward and his brother Alfred returned to England from their exile in Normandy to visit their mother. As they made their way to London, they were betrayed. Alfred was blinded with a hot iron to his eyes and died soon afterward. Edward escaped the attack and returned to Normandy. It is unclear exactly who was behind the attack on Alfred. Some historians claim Harold Harefoot was behind the attack so he could rid himself of two more potential claimants to the English throne by killing Edward and Alfred. Other historians argue that Godwin, Earl of Wessex, who was traveling with Alfred and Edward as their protector, could have been the instigator of the attack.

Bayeux Tapestry – Scene 1: King Edward the Confessor, enthroned, and Harold Godwinson at Winchester; Credit – Wikipedia

When Harold Harefoot died in 1040, Edward’s half-brother Harthacnut, King of Denmark also became King of England. Harthacnut lived only two more years and upon his death in 1042, Edward became King of England. Harthacnut’s throne in Denmark was inherited by Magnus I, King of Norway. Edward’s coronation was held on Easter, April 3, 1043, at the Old Minster in Winchester, England. Upon his accession, Edward realized that his kingdom was divided between Saxons, Danes, and Norse with powerful earls from all three factions. To Edward’s credit, he succeeded in governing his kingdom despite those issues.

On January 23, 1045, Edward married Edith of Wessex, daughter of the powerful Godwin, Earl of Wessex, the father of the last Anglo-Saxon king, Harold II Godwinson, King of England, who was defeated by William II, Duke of Normandy (William the Conqueror) at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The marriage was childless and Edward treated Edith with great respect and endowed her with valuable property all over England.

In 1051, Godwin and his sons fell out of favor with Edward and fled England. Edith was sent to a nunnery, possibly because she was childless and Edward hoped to divorce her. During the exile of Godwin’s family, William II, Duke of Normandy (William the Conqueror) visited Edward, his first cousin once removed, and apparently, Edward named William as his successor. Godwin and his family returned to England the following year with armed forces, gaining the support of the navy, townspeople, and peasants, forcing Edward to restore his earldom. Edith was reinstated as queen and in later years, she became one of Edward’s inner group of advisers. Edward’s brother-in-law Harold Godwinson handled most of the matters of government.

In 1057, Edward discovered that his nephew Edward the Exile, the son of his half-brother King Edmund II was still alive and summoned him to England as a potential successor. However, Edward the Exile died within two days of his arrival in England and the cause of his death has never been determined. Murder is a possibility, as he had many powerful enemies. His three children Edgar, Margaret, and Cristina were then raised in Edward’s court. Margaret, known as Saint Margaret of Scotland, married King Malcolm III of Scotland and their daughter Edith (later known as Matilda) married King Henry I of England, son of William the Conqueror.

Harold meeting Edward shortly before his death, depicted in scene 25 of the Bayeux Tapestry; Credit – Wikipedia

By far, Edward’s greatest achievement was the foundation of Westminster Abbey which he built to atone for the breaking of a vow to make a pilgrimage to Rome. In 1042, he began rebuilding St. Peter’s Abbey to provide himself with a royal burial church, the first Westminster Abbey. It is possible that Edward had a series of strokes in 1065. He was too ill to attend the dedication of his greatest achievement, Westminster Abbey, on December 28, 1065. Edward the Confessor died several days later, on January 5, 1066. According to the Vita Ædwardi Regis, before Edward died he briefly regained consciousness and named Harold Godwinson as his heir. The Witan met the next day and selected Harold Godwinson to succeed Edward as King Harold II.

Edward’s funeral depicted in scene 26 of the Bayeux Tapestry; Credit – Wikipedia

Edward was buried before the high altar in his new Westminster Abbey. In 1245, the construction of the second and present church was begun by King Henry III who selected the site for his burial. King Henry III oversaw a grand ceremony on October 13, 1269, to rebury Edward the Confessor in a magnificent new shrine, personally helping to carry the body to its new resting place.

Shrine of Saint Edward the Confessor, King of England

In 1161, Pope Alexander III canonized Edward as a saint. The title “Confessor,” short for Confessor of the Faith, was given to male saints who lived a holy life and died in peace. Saint Edward the Confessor was one of England’s national saints until King Edward III adopted Saint George as the national patron saint in 1358 when the Order of the Garter was founded. Saint Edward the Confessor’s feast day is October 13 and is observed by both the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church.

Steps leading up to Edward the Confessor’s Chapel, located on the left side of the high altar

Each October 13 – 20, Westminster Abbey observes Edwardtide which celebrates the life of Saint Edward the Confessor. On October 13, National Pilgrimage Day, everyone is welcome, without a ticket, “to visit the Abbey with other pilgrims and experience its beauty and space in an atmosphere characterised by prayer. Everyone will be able to pray at the Shrine of St Edward – the only shrine in this country that still contains the body of the saint.” On October 13, 2018, this writer had the experience of attending the National Pilgrimage Day. The Chapel of Edward the Confessor is usually not open to tourists and it was awe-inspiring to see the shrine surrounded by the tombs of kings and queens. In the photo above of the shrine, notice the three openings at the bottom of the shrine. These are openings where pilgrims enter to kneel to pray. Imagine all the people over the centuries who have knelt there.

Queen Elizabeth II placing a tribute of roses on the altar in the Chapel of St Edward the Confessor in Westminster Abbey before the service inaugurating the 12-month long commemoration of the 900th anniversary of the consecration of the Abbey on December 28, 1965

England: House of Wessex Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • Ashley, M. (1998). The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens. New York: Carroll & Graf Pub.
  • Cannon, J. and Griffiths, R. (1988). The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Dodson, A. (2004). The Royal Tombs of Great Britain. London: Duckworth.
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Edward the Confessor. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_the_Confessor [Accessed 24 Mar. 2019].
  • Flantzer, S. (2019). Emma of Normandy, Queen of England, Denmark, and Norway. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/emma-of-normandy-queen-of-england-denmark-and-norway/ [Accessed 28 Feb. 2019].
  • Williamson, D. (1998). Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.

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.