Category Archives: British Royals

Prince George, Duke of Kent

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2014

photo: Wikipedia

Prince George, Duke of Kent (born George Edward Alexander Edmund of Wales) was the fifth of six children of the future King George V of the United Kingdom and Queen Mary, born Princess Victoria Mary of Teck. He was born on December 20, 1902, at York Cottage on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, England. He had five siblings:

Prince George was christened on January 26, 1903, in the Private Chapel at Windsor Castle. His godparents were:

Prince George (front, right) with his siblings, 1910. Photo: Wikipedia

His education began privately at home, and then he attended St Peter’s Court Preparatory School in Kent. He then attended the Royal Naval College at Osborne, and later at Dartmouth, and served in the Royal Navy until 1929. He then became the first member of the British Royal Family to work as a civil servant, taking up positions in the Foreign Office and then the Home Office.

 

In August 1934, Buckingham Palace announced the engagement of Prince George to his second cousin, Princess Marina of Greece (both are great-grandchildren of King Christian IX of Denmark). They married at Westminster Abbey on November 29, 1934, followed by a Greek Orthodox service held in the Private Chapel at Buckingham Palace. This would be the last time a foreign princess married into the British Royal Family. The month prior to the wedding, Prince George was created Duke of Kent, Earl of St Andrews, and Baron Downpatrick.

The couple had three children:

 

In 1937, George was given a commission as a Group Captain in the Royal Air Force (RAF). And in 1938, he was appointed to become the next Governor-General of Australia, beginning in November 1939. However, the appointment was postponed due to the outbreak of World War II. The Duke of Kent returned to active military service, working briefly in the Intelligence Division of the Admiralty. In 1940, he transferred to the RAF. By then he’d been elevated to the rank of Air Vice-Marshal, but voluntarily relinquished the rank and reverted to Group Captain so as not to outrank more experienced officers. He worked as a Welfare Officer, part of the Inspector General’s staff. In this role, he traveled extensively, visiting troops and facilities to help boost morale.

It was on one of these trips, that Prince George’s life would come to an end. On August 25, 1942, just six weeks after the birth of his youngest child, George boarded an RAF flying boat in Scotland, headed for Iceland. Sadly, the plane crashed near Dunbeath, Caithness in Scotland, killing all except for one person aboard. The Duke of Kent was just 39 years old. There is much speculation as to the nature of this trip. While officially it was a standard visit to troops in Iceland, there are allegations and suggestions that it was some sort of “secret mission”. The Duke’s body was found with a briefcase handcuffed to his wrist, full of 100 kroner notes. These had no value in Iceland at the time. The Duchess of Kent met several times with the lone survivor over the years, allegedly trying to find out why her husband had died. See Unofficial Royalty: Tragedy in the British Royal Family at the End of August (scroll down).

The Duke of Kent’s funeral was held at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, and his remains placed in the Royal Vault there. Following his wife’s death, almost exactly 26 years later, his remains were moved to the Royal Burial Ground at Frogmore in Windsor, England, where his beloved Marina was then buried by his side.

 

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Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2014

Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Victoria was born on July 6, 1868, at Marlborough House, near Buckingham Palace, in London, England, the second daughter and the fourth of the six children of the future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom and his wife Alexandra of Denmark. Her full name was Victoria Alexandra Olga Mary and she was known as Toria in the family. At the time of her birth, she was styled Princess Victoria of Wales, as her father was Prince of Wales. When her father became king, she was then styled Her Royal Highness The Princess Victoria.

When Toria was christened on August 6, 1868, at Marlborough House, her parents’ London home, she had a large and impressive group of godparents, most of whom had a proxy standing in for them:

Toria had five siblings:

 

Toria was brought up with her elder sister Louise and her younger sister Maud. None of the sisters had inherited the good looks of their mother and as a result, the three sisters were very shy. Their mother Alexandra was extremely possessive, demanded complete devotion from her children, and insisted that they call her Motherdear. Louise and Maud escaped into marriage, leaving Toria at home as her mother’s constant companion. Toria had several suitors including Prince Adolphus of Teck, Sir Arthur Davidson who was one of her father’s equerries, and Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery. Lord Rosebery was a former Prime Minister who had been widowed, and both he and Toria would have liked to have married. However, Toria’s mother actively discouraged her from marrying anyone. Instead, Toria remained a companion to her mother, Queen Alexandra, whom she lived with until the Queen’s death in 1925. Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, Toria’s first cousin, described her as little more than “a glorified maid.”

 

When her mother died, Toria was 57 and was able to live her own life at last. She purchased a country home, Coppins, in Iver, Buckinghamshire, England. Toria became active in the village life of Iver and was the honorary president of the Iver Horticultural Society. When she died, she left Coppins to her nephew Prince George, Duke of Kent and it was sold by his elder son in 1972.

Toria’s last years were plagued with health issues and she suffered from neuralgia, migraines, indigestion, depression, colds, and influenza. Princess Victoria died at her home Coppins on December 3, 1935. Initially interred at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, she was buried on January 8, 1936, at the Royal Burial Ground at Frogmore near Windsor Castle. Her brother King George V, who was very close to his sister, wrote in his diary, “No one ever had a sister like her.” Her brother did not survive her long. He died on January 20, 1936.

Grave of Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom; Credit – www.findagrave.com

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Princess Maud, Countess of Southesk

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2014

Princess Maud, Countess of Southesk; Credit – Wikipedia

Maud Alexandra Victoria Georgina Bertha was born at East Sheen Lodge in Richmond, London, England on April 3, 1893. She was the youngest child of Princess Louise, Princess Royal and Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife, and a grandchild of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom.  As a female-line great-granddaughter of the British sovereign, (Queen Victoria) at birth, Maud was not entitled to the title of Princess or the style Royal Highness. Instead, she was styled Lady Maud Duff, the style of the daughters of a Duke.  Through their father, Maud and her sister Alexandra were descendants of King William IV of the United Kingdom, who had no legitimate children but had ten illegitimate children with actress Dorothea Jordan.

Maud had one older sister:

Maud, on her mother’s lap, with her sister; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1900, when it became apparent that the Duke and Duchess of Fife were unlikely to have a son to inherit the title, Queen Victoria issued the Duke of Fife a new Letters Patent as Duke of Fife and Earl of Macduff in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. This Letters Patent gave the second dukedom of Fife a special remainder that 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 Maud was second in line.

Maud’s mother was the eldest daughter of King Edward VII and was created Princess Royal during her father’s reign, in 1905.  At the same time, Alexandra and 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.” This act was unprecedented and when the College of Arms told King Edward VII it could not be done, the King simply said, “Do it!” Alexandra and Maud’s maternal uncle, the future King George V, was greatly disturbed by this act.  Maud was then styled Her Highness Princess Maud.

Maud and her husband Charles Carnegie; Credit – Wikipedia

On November 13, 1923, Maud married Charles Alexander Bannerman Carnegie, the eldest son of Charles Noel Carnegie, 10th Earl of Southesk, at the Royal Military Chapel at the Wellington Barracks in London, England. After her marriage, Maud stopped using ‘Her Highness Princess Maud’ and was known as Lady Carnegie. In 1941, upon his father’s death, Maud’s husband became the 11th Earl of Southesk.

The couple had one child:

On December 14, 1945, Maud, aged 52, died of bronchitis at a nursing home in London, England on the 84th anniversary of the death of her great-grandfather Prince Albert. She was buried at the home of the Carnegie family, the Earls of Southesk, Kinnaird Castle in Brechin, Angus, Scotland. Her husband survived her, remarried, and died in 1992 at the age of 98.  In 1959, Maud’s son James Carnegie succeeded his maternal aunt, Princess Arthur of Connaught, 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. James Carnegie, 3rd Duke of Fife died in 2012 and his son David Carnegie became the 4th Duke of Fife.

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Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife, Princess Arthur of Connaught

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2014

Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Alexandra Victoria Alberta Edwina Louise was born on May 17, 1891, at East Sheen Lodge in Richmond, London, England. She was the eldest surviving child of Princess Louise, Princess Royal and Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife and a grandchild of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom.  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.  Through their father, Alexandra and her sister Maud were descendants of King William IV of the United Kingdom, who had no legitimate children but had ten illegitimate children with actress Dorothea Jordan.

Alexandra had one sister:

Alexandra on the right with her mother and sister; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

In 1900, when it became apparent that the Duke and Duchess of Fife were unlikely to have a son to inherit the title, Queen Victoria issued the Duke of Fife a new Letters Patent as Duke of Fife and Earl of Macduff in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. This Letters Patent gave the second dukedom of Fife a special remainder that 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.

Alexandra’s mother was the eldest daughter of King Edward VII and was created Princess Royal during her father’s reign, in 1905.  At the same time, Alexandra and 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.” This act was unprecedented and when the College of Arms told King Edward VII it could not be done, the King simply said, “Do it!” Alexandra and Maud’s maternal uncle, the future King George V, was greatly disturbed by this act.

Photo Credit – Wikipedia

On October 15, 1913, at the Chapel Royal of St. James’ Palace in London, England, 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. Because Alexandra’s father had died the year before, King George V, her uncle, gave her away. After her marriage, Alexandra was styled Her Royal Highness Princess Arthur of Connaught, Duchess of Fife.

Alexandra and Arthur with their son Alastair in 1920; Credit – Wikipedia

Alexandra and Arthur had one son Alastair Arthur, born on August 9, 1914, at his parents’ home at 54 Mount Street, in Mayfair, London, England. As a great-grandchild of Queen Victoria through the male line, Alastair was styled His Highness Prince Alastair of Connaught until he was three years old.  At that time King George V restricted the titles of Prince/Princess and the style of Royal Highness to the children of the sovereign, the children of the sovereign’s sons, and the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales. Alastair was then styled Alastair Windsor with the courtesy title Earl of Macduff, his mother’s secondary title.

Alexandra at a women’s exhibition in 1915; Credit – Wikipedia

Alexandra and her husband carried out engagements on behalf of King George V and King George VI, and Alexandra served as a nurse at St. Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, London, England during World War I. From 1920-1924, Prince Arthur served as Governor-General of South Africa and Alexandra accompanied him there. When the couple returned to the United Kingdom, they continued their royal duties.

Alastair Windsor, 2nd Duke of Connaught; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

On September 12, 1938, Prince Arthur died of stomach cancer at the age of 55. He was buried at the Royal Burial Ground in Frogmore, Windsor, England. As Prince Arthur predeceased his father The Duke of Connaught, Arthur’s son Alastair became heir to the dukedom. In 1942, upon the death of his paternal grandfather Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, Alastair succeeded him as the 2nd Duke of Connaught. On April 26, 1943, while on active duty with the British Army in Ottawa, Canada, the 28-year-old Alastair fell asleep or passed out in front of an open window while inebriated, fell out the window, and died of hypothermia during the night. On his death, his titles became extinct.

Alexandra died at her home in London on February 26, 1959, at the age of 67. She is buried in the private chapel in the mausoleum of Mar Lodge in Braemar, Aberdeenshire, Scotland where her parents are buried. Alexandra’s nephew, James Carnegie, the only child of her sister Maud, succeeded her as the 3rd Duke of Fife.

Alexandra’s grave; Credit – Wikipedia

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Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2014

Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife, was the husband of Princess Louise, Princess Royal who was the eldest daughter of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom. Alexander William George Duff was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on November 10, 1849. He was the only son of James Duff, 5th Earl Fife and Lady Agnes Hay, daughter of William Hay, 18th Earl of Erroll and Lady Elizabeth FitzClarence who was one of the ten children of King William IV and his mistress Dorothea Jordan. When Duff’s father became 5th Earl Fife in 1857, he was able to use the courtesy title Viscount Macduff, and Macduff became his nickname. Duff was educated at Eton College.

Duff had five sisters:

  • Lady Anne Duff (1847 – 1925), married John Townshend, 5th Marquess Townshend, had issue
  • Lady Ida Duff (died 1918), married (1) Adrian Hope, had issue (2)  William Wilson, no issue
  • Lady Alexina Duff (1851 – 1882), married Henry Coventry, no issue
  • Lady Agnes Duff (1852 – 1925), married (1) George Hay-Drummond, no issue  (2) Herbert Flower, no issue (3)  Alfred Cooper, had issue; David Cameron, the former British prime minister, is a descendant of this third marriage
  • Lady Mary Duff (born and died 1854)

In 1874, Duff was elected to Parliament as a Liberal Party member for the Scottish constituency Elginshire and Nairnshire. He remained in Parliament until his father’s death in 1879 when he became the 6th Earl Fife and then had a seat in the House of Lords. In the House of Lords, Duff served as the Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms.  He was
Lord-Lieutenant of Elginshire from 1872 – 1902 and one of the founders of the Chartered Company of South Africa.

On July 27, 1889, in the Private Chapel of Buckingham Palace, Duff married Princess Louise, eldest daughter of the then Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII). Louise and Alexander were third cousins via their mutual descent from King George III. Alexander’s descent was via the future King William IV’s long-time relationship with actress Dorothea Jordan by whom he had ten children who married into the British aristocracy. As with the marriage of Princess Louise’s aunt, another Princess Louise who married the 9th Duke of Argyll, there were grumblings about a member of the royal family marrying into the British aristocracy. However, Queen Victoria approved of the marriage. Two days after the wedding, Queen Victoria created the groom Duke of Fife and Marquess of Macduff in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.  Despite the seventeen-year age difference, the couple was well-matched and settled down to a life of country pursuits with the Duke managing his Scottish estates and Louise becoming an expert at salmon fishing.

Photo Credit – Alexander William George Duff, 1st Duke of Fife; Princess Louise Victoria Alexandra Dagmar, Duchess of Fife by William Downey, for W. & D. Downey. albumen cabinet card, 27 July 1889, NPG x3805. © National Portrait Gallery, London

The couple had three children:

Duke and Duchess of Fife with their daughters; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

In 1900, when it became apparent that the Duke and Duchess of Fife were unlikely to have a son to inherit the title, Queen Victoria issued the Duke of Fife a new Letters Patent as Duke of Fife and Earl of Macduff in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. This Letters Patent gave the second dukedom of Fife a special remainder that 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.

In December 1911, the Duke and Duchess of Fife and their two daughters set off to spend the winter in Egypt and Sudan where the climate was more beneficial to Louise’s health. Their ship went aground near Morocco and then their lifeboat sank. The family was rescued, but the Duke of Fife later developed pneumonia and died in Aswan, Egypt on January 29, 1912. The Duke of Fife was buried at the Private Chapel, Mar Lodge Mausoleum in Braemar, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

Duff grave

Grave of the Duke of Fife; Photo Credit – www.findagrave.com

The Duke’s elder daughter Alexandra succeeded to the 1900 Dukedom, becoming the 2nd Duchess of Fife and Countess of Macduff in her own right. Her father’s other titles, including the 1889 Dukedom, became extinct. Alexandra’s only son predeceased her, so upon her death, Maud’s son James Carnegie became the 3rd Duke of Fife.

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

Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2014

Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Prince Albert Victor Christian Edward was born on January 8, 1864, at Frogmore House near Windsor Castle in Windsor, England. the eldest child of the then Prince and Princess of Wales, the future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom and Queen Alexandra, born Princess Alexandra of Denmark. His mother, who had been participating in indoor and outdoor winter festivities, did not even realize she was in labor, and disregarded the twinges of pain she had been feeling. However, her lady-in-waiting, Lady Macclesfield, who had given birth to thirteen children, realized what was happening. She sent for the Windsor town doctor because none of the royal doctors would have arrived in time. Because the baby was two months premature, nothing was ready for the birth. Despite last-minute preparations, the 3 3/4 pound prince was born strong and healthy, with only the Prince of Wales, Lady Macclesfield, and the doctor in attendance.

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

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

Prince Eddy with his mother and father; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

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

Prince Eddy and his siblings; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

eddy and mary

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

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

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

eddy_tomb

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

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

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

Recommended Book

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

Alexandra of Denmark, Queen of the United Kingdom

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2014

Photo Credit – Wikipedia

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

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

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

Photo Credit – Wikipedia

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

 

The Prince and Princess of Wales, Bertie and Alix, made their homes at Marlborough House near Buckingham Palace in London and at Sandringham House in Norfolk, England.  Sandringham House had been purchased by Queen Victoria for Bertie and Alix and is still a privately-owned residence of the British monarch.

Sandringham House; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

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

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

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

Photo Credit – Wikipedia

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

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

 

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House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Princess Michael of Kent

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2014

 

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

Prince Michael of Kent

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2014

Credit – Wikipedia

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

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

 

Michael has two elder siblings:

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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.

“Much Ado About Nothing?” – Pondering Richard III’s DNA

by The Laird o’Thistle
December 4, 2014

The announcement this week that DNA evidence has shown, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the car-park bones from Leicester are those of Richard III is most welcome. But, it was the other news about Richard’s DNA that is garnering the headlines, mostly variations of, “DOUBT CAST ON ROYAL ANCESTRY!”

It appears that Richard III’s male-line descent from the Plantagenets has been disproven. Somewhere in the family line a husband was cuckolded by an adulterous wife (or, an infertile husband found a willing stand-in to father an heir for him). Speculation is rife as to the “who-what-when-where” this break in the royal line occurred. Most of the speculation, however, gets a failing grade in historical research!

A quick and simple look at Wikipedia (no less) indicates that there has been speculation, apparently since the fifteenth century, that the paternal grandfather of Edward IV and Richard III was illegitimate. He was known as Richard of Conisburgh (1375-1415). Richard of Conisburgh was ostensibly the son of Edmund of Langley, Duke of York, the fourth son of King Edward III. (Edmund’s two elder brothers were Lionel, Duke of Clarence, and John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, of whom more, anon.) Richard of Conisburgh’s mother was Isabella of Castile. His elder brother was Edward, the second Duke of York in the Plantagenet line. (Edward was the highest ranking English casualty at the battle of Agincourt, dying there in October 1415. He had no children.) Richard of Conisburgh married Anne Mortimer in 1408, and they had two surviving children, a son and a daughter. Their son, Richard (1411-1460), became the third Duke of York after the death of his uncle, and was the father of Edward IV and Richard III. In the summerof 1415 it was discovered that Richard of Conisburgh was part of a plot to assassinate King Henry V, and, after a hasty trial, Conisburgh was executed.

Questions about Richard of Conisburgh’s paternity have existed for years. He received no lands from his “father”, and was not even mentioned in Edmund’s will. It is believed that he may have been the offspring of an adulterous liaison between Isabella of Castile and John Holland, the first Duke of Exeter. Although passed over by his father, Conisburgh was favored by his mother who, in her will, appealed to King Richard II (Conisburgh’s godfather) to grant her son an annuity… which he did. This may be notable because, besides being Richard of Conisburgh’s godfather, Richard II was the maternal half-brother of John Holland. (Holland’s mother was Joan, the “Fair Maid of Kent”, a granddaughter of King Edward I. John Holland was a son of Joan’s first marriage. Her second marriage was to Edward III’s eldest son, Edward the “Black Prince” of Wales. Richard II was the offspring of that second marriage.) After the deposing of Richard II in 1399, Conisburgh “received no favors” from the Lancastrian Henry IV.

So much for Richard of Conisburgh. It seems likely to me that the new DNA discovery will eventually be found (if they can get evidence from the Holland family) to confirm the old speculation. What all the articles that I have seen thus far fail to take into account, however, is that the House of York’s primary claim to the throne – putting them ahead of the Lancastrians – was not based on their male-line descent from Edmund of Langley. It was based on their descent through Richard of Conisburgh’s wife, Anne Mortimer, who was the heiress of Edward II’s second son, Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence. The question of Richard III’s male-line descent… and that of Edward IV… is moot, so long as their father was their father, the son of Anne Mortimer.

Anne Mortimer (1390-1411) was the daughter and eventual heiress of Roger Mortimer, fourth Earl of March, and Eleanor Holland. (Eleanor was a grandniece of John Holland, above.) Roger Mortimer was, in turn the son and primary heir of Philippa of Clarence, the only child of Lionel of Antwerp. Roger Mortimer was widely, though not officially, recognized as the “heir presumptive” to the childless King Richard II. Mortimer, however, was slain in Ireland in 1398, and the family claim was shunted aside by Henry IV’s coup the following year. Mortimer’s elder surviving son and daughters were not well treated by the Lancastrians, and Anne Mortimer was the only one to have issue. Anne’s marriage to Richard of Conisburgh occurred without parental consent, but it was validated by the Pope in 1408. Anne died shortly after the birth of her son Richard, the eventual third Duke of York, in 1411.

Anne Mortimer was the key to the House of York’s claim to the throne, over against the Lancastrians. It was her claim that was being pressed in the Wars of the Roses. It was her claim that passed through her son to King’s Edward IV and Richard III. It was her claim that passed through Edward IV’s daughter, Elizabeth of York, to the Tudors with Elizabeth’s marriage to Henry VII. The question of the male-line descent of Edward IV and Richard III is moot… as is the question being asked by some about legitimacy in the Lancastrian line. While the English laws of succession… until the recent change prior to Prince George’s birth… practiced male primogeniture, they never excluded descent via the female line. England was never a land where the Salic Law (allowing only male-line descent) was recognized. (Ironically, Shakespeare includes a notable discussion of the Salic Law in his Henry V.)

It is fairly safe to assume, then, that despite the sensational headlines of the moment, there is no actual threat to the legitimacy of the British royal line, past or present, in this Richard III news. There may be a newly confirmed anomaly, but the legitimacy of the historic succession is not in question here.

Best wishes to all for a Merry Christmas, and a “Gude New Year” to ane and ‘a!

Yours aye,
Ken Cuthbertson