Category Archives: Current Monarchies

Queen’s Chapel at St. James’s Palace in London, England

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Queen’s Chapel, St James’s Palace; Credit – By Steve Cadman – https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevecadman/411794867/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50925591

The Queen’s Chapel is located on Marlborough Road which runs between The Mall and Pall Mall in London. It is across from St. James’s Palace, adjacent to Marlborough House, and a very short distance from Buckingham Palace. The Queen’s Chapel is a royal peculiar, a Church of England parish or church under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch rather than the jurisdiction of a bishop.

The Queen’s Chapel was begun in 1623, as a consequence of the proposed marriage between Charles, Prince of Wales, the future King Charles I of England and son of King James I of England, and Infanta Maria Anna of Spain, daughter of King Felipe III of Spain. In 1622, King James I received an offer of marriage from King Felipe IV of Spain, brother of Maria Anna, to strengthen the relations between England and Spain. Active marriage negotiations began but ultimately Maria Anna did not wish to marry a Protestant and Charles would not convert to Catholicism. Officially, the wedding never took place due to political reasons and because of the reluctance of King Felipe IV to make a dynastic marriage with the House of Stuart.

Inigo Jones, the architect of the Queen’s Chapel; Credit – Wikipedia

Since England was Protestant, Maria Anna would have needed a Roman Catholic chapel for worship, and so planning for a chapel accessible from St. James’s Palace in London began during the marriage negotiations. Special dispensation was given to construct the chapel as at that time the construction of Roman Catholic churches was prohibited in England. The Queen’s Chapel was designed by Inigo Jones, the first significant English architect of the early modern period. Parts of the design for the Queen’s Chapel were inspired by the Pantheon of ancient Rome and Jones intended the church to evoke the Roman temple. The foundation stone was laid on May 30, 1623.

Henrietta Maria of France, Queen of England; Credit – Wikipedia

While King Charles I did not marry Infanta Maria Anna of Spain, he did marry another Roman Catholic princess, Henrietta Maria of France, the youngest of the six children of King Henri IV of France and his second wife Marie de’ Medici, and the sister of King Louis XIII of France. In 1625, Henrietta Maria arrived in England with over 400 attendants including 29 priests and a bishop. Parliament was outraged to discover that secret terms of the marriage contract permitted the daily celebration of the Catholic Mass. Charles I insisted on the rapid completion of the Queen’s Chapel to accommodate Henrietta Maria’s religious needs.

During the English Civil War (1642–1651), Parliament passed an ordinance demanding that the Royal Chapels be “cleansed from all Popish Reliques and superstitions.” The Queen’s Chapel was looted and much of the interior suffered damage. During the Commonwealth of England (1649 – 1660), when England was governed as a republic, the Queen’s Chapel was used as a stable.

Catherine of Braganza, Queen of England; Credit – Wikipedia

in 1660, upon the Restoration of the monarchy, the son of the beheaded King Charles I returned to England to reign as King Charles II of England. The Roman Catholic Catherine of Braganza, daughter of King João IV of Portugal, had first been suggested as a bride for the future King Charles II in 1645 during the reign of Charles II’s father King Charles I of England, and again in 1660 when the monarchy was restored in England. Already there were rumors of Catherine’s inability to have children – her marriage to Charles II turned out to be childless – but the newly restored King Charles II was eager to have her £300,000 dowry. Catherine arrived in England in 1662. According to the marriage treaty, Catherine was to be provided with “a private Chapel in her residence with the right to practice her Catholic religion,” and Charles II commenced work on the restoration of the Queen’s Chapel for Catherine’s use.

Maria Beatrice of Modena, Queen of England; Credit – Wikipedia

King Charles II’s brother, James, Duke of York, the future King James II of England, had secretly converted to Catholicism sometime after his first marriage to Anne Hyde who had also converted to Catholicism. After Anne’s death in 1671, King Charles II allowed his brother James to make a second marriage with the fifteen-year-old Catholic Maria Beatrice of Modena in 1673. Maria Beatrice’s deeply pious Catholicism could be expressed within the seclusion of the Queen’s Chapel where she and her husband James could practice their Roman Catholicism without public scrutiny. When the childless Charles II died in 1685, his brother succeeded him as King James II of England.

The Queen’s Chapel in 1688; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1688, the Catholic King James II was overthrown in the Glorious Revolution. He was replaced by his Protestant daughter Mary from his first marriage and her Protestant husband and first cousin Willem III, Prince of Orange who reigned jointly as King William III and Queen Mary II. Almost immediately, the Queen’s Chapel was purged of all traces of Roman Catholicism. The interior was stripped of its statues, relics, side altars, and paintings. William and Mary were unsure what to do with the Queen’s Chapel. They may have considered its demolition or its conversion to another purpose. Ultimately, it was decided to grant the use of the Queen’s Chapel to French Protestants who had settled in London to escape religious persecution in France.

The German Chapel in 1819; Credit – Wikipedia

By 1781, there was no longer a need for a French Protestant chapel. Instead, a group of Hanoverian Lutherans whose families had come from Hanover when King George I became king was granted the use of the Queen’s Chapel. The name of the chapel changed to the German Chapel.

In 1809, a fire destroyed the royal apartments adjacent to the German Chapel. Instead of rebuilding the royal apartments, King George III decided to connect Pall Mall with The Mall by building Marlborough Road right through the site of the destroyed royal apartments. This cut off the chapel from St. James’s Palace and placed a physical barrier, Marlborough Road,  between the royal residence and the chapel. The chapel now appeared to be connected not to St. James’s Palace but rather to Marlborough House, the London townhouse of the Dukes of Marlborough.

Alexandra of Denmark, Princess of Wales, later Queen Alexandra; Credit – Wikipedia

The German Chapel continued to exist under the patronage of Queen Victoria’s husband Prince Albert, born a Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, now in Germany, but this lasted only until Prince Albert died in 1861. After the death of George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough in 1817, the ownership of Marlborough House had been taken over by The Crown. After their marriage in 1861, The Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII) and his Danish wife Princess Alexandra made Marlborough House their home. Because the Queen’s Chapel was so close to Marlborough House, Alexandra used it as a private chapel. After 1881, the Queen’s Chapel became a Danish community church. After Queen Victoria died in 1901, the name of the chapel was changed to the Marlborough House Chapel and the Danish Church had exclusive use.

The chapel was closed in 1938 for its first major restoration since William III and Mary II had purged its Catholic past. The original name, the Queen’s Chapel, was restored in 1939. Restoration work stopped during World War II and was not fully completed until 1951. Although used regularly for weekly Sunday services for the public from Easter until October, the Queen’s Chapel no longer plays a major role in the life of the British royal family.

Recent Royal Events

Queen Elizabeth II after the funeral service for Margaret (Bobo) MacDonald

Margaret “Bobo” MacDonald, who died on September 22, 1993, was a member of the royal household since 1930 and was the nanny, dresser, and confidante of Queen Elizabeth II. From 1930 onward, Bobo was closer to Elizabeth than anyone outside her family. In her later years, Bobo held a unique position in Buckingham Palace. She had her own suite, no duties, and enjoyed a closer personal friendship with Queen Elizabeth II than nearly anyone else, including some of the members of the royal family. She was given a funeral on September 30, 1993, at the Queen’s Chapel attended by Queen Elizabeth II.

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The coffin of Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon lying in rest at the Queen’s Chapel

Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, daughter of King George VI and sister of Queen Elizabeth II: After her death at King Edward VII’s Hospital, London, on February 9, 2002, Princess Margaret’s coffin was initially taken to Kensington Palace. Her coffin then rested at the Queen’s Chapel February 12, 2002 – February 14, 2002, to enable her family and friends to pay their respects privately before the coffin was transferred to St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle for the funeral.

The Sub-Dean of the Chapels Royal, Reverend Willie Booth, kneels in prayer at the coffin of Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother in the Queen’s Chapel

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, wife of King George VI and mother of Queen Elizabeth II: After her death on March 30, 2002, at her home, Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, her coffin rested in the Royal Chapel of All Saints, Windsor Great Park until April 2, 2002, when it was taken to the Queen’s Chapel at St. James’s Palace where it rested to enable members of the royal family to their respects privately before the coffin was transferred to lie in state at Westminster Hall on April 5, 2002.

Alexander Windsor, Earl of Ulster and his bride leave the Queen’s Chapel after their wedding

Alexander Windsor, Earl of Ulster, son of Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, married Claire Alexandra Booth on June 22, 2002, at the Queen’s Chapel

Lady Rose Windsor and her husband leave the Queen’s Chapel after their wedding

Lady Rose Windsor, daughter of Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, married George Gilman on July 19, 2008, at the Queen’s Chapel

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Queen’s Chapel – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen%27s_Chapel> [Accessed 1 May 2021].
  • Leyden, Kyle, 2015. Consorting with the Enemy: The Queen’s Chapel at St James’s Palace. [online] VITRUVIUS HIBERNICUS. Available at: <https://kyleleyden.wordpress.com/2015/01/24/consorting-with-the-enemy-the-queens-chapel-at-st-jamess-palace/> [Accessed 1 May 2021].
  • Timms, Elizabeth, 2018. The Queen’s Chapel, St James’s. [online] Royal Central. Available at: <https://royalcentral.co.uk/features/the-queens-chapel-st-jamess-102570/> [Accessed 1 May 2021].
  • Unofficial Royalty. 2021. Unofficial Royalty. [online] Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/> [Accessed 1 May 2021]. (various articles)

Erik XIV, King of Sweden

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Erik XIV, King of Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

Erik XIV, King of Sweden is known for the Sture Murders in which he and his guards killed six men. Deposed by his half-brother, Erik was imprisoned, and likely murdered by arsenic poisoning. He was born on December 13, 1533, at Tre Kronor Castle in Stockholm, Sweden, the only child of Gustav I Vasa, King of Sweden and his first wife Katharina of Saxe-Lauenburg. In September 1535, during a ball given in honor of her brother-in-law, Christian III, King of Denmark and Norway, who was visiting Sweden, the pregnant Katharina fell while dancing with Christian III. The fall confined her to bed and led to pregnancy complications, and she died on September 23, 1535, the day before her twenty-second birthday along with her unborn child. Erik was not yet two years old.

Gustav I Vasa, King of Sweden, Erik’s father; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1536, Erik’s father Gustav I married his second wife Margareta Leijonhufvud. Margareta was a member of the Leijonhufvud family, one of Sweden’s most powerful noble families. Her constant pregnancies took a toll on her health and she died from pneumonia at the age of 35 in 1551.

Erik had ten half-siblings from his father’s second marriage:

In 1552, Erik’s father Gustav I married his third wife 17-year-old Katarina Stenbock, the daughter of Gustaf Olofsson Stenbock and Brita Eriksdotter Leijonhufvud, who was the sister of King Gustav I’s second wife Margareta Leijonhufvud. They had no children. Katarina survived her husband by sixty-one years, dying on December 13, 1621, aged 86.

Erik, along with his half-brother, the future Johan III, King of Sweden, was well-educated by tutors and excelled in foreign languages, mathematics, and history. In 1557, King Gustav I wrote his will and divided his kingdom into hereditary duchies for his sons: Erik, Duke of Kalmar; Johan, Duke of Finland; Magnus, Duke of Östergötland; and Karl, Duke of Södermanland. When Erik started to make public appearances, he was referred to as the “chosen king” (Swedish: utvald konung) until the Riksdag (parliament) granted him the title of “hereditary king” (Swedish: arvkonung) in 1560.

When Erik was in his early 20s, his relationship with his father became very strained. Against his father’s wishes, Erik entered into negotiations for a marriage with the future Queen Elizabeth I of England and pursued her for several years. The death of Gustav I Vasa, King of Sweden on September 29, 1560, prevented Erik from traveling to England to press Queen Elizabeth I for her hand in marriage. His later marriage proposals to Mary, Queen of Scots, Renata of Lorraine, Anna of Saxony, and Christine of Hesse were also rejected.

Now as Erik XIV, King of Sweden, he opposed the Swedish nobility and chose as his closest advisor Göran Persson who held the same views as Erik and who had narrowly escaped execution under the reign of Erik’s father. Erik summoned the Riksdag at Arboga where, under Erik’s urging, the Arboga Articles were adopted which curtailed the authority of his half-brothers Johan and Karl in the dukedoms given to them by their father. As a further move against his half-brother Johan, Duke of Finland, Erik placed the city of Reval, now Tallinn, Estonia, under his protective power and led expansionist campaigns of conquest in Estonia.

Johann then turned to Sigismund II Augustus, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania for an alliance. He married Katarina Jagellonica of Poland, the sister of Sigismund II Augustus and in exchange received a substantial sum of money and land in Livonia (located in present-day Estonia and Latvia) which then hindered Erik’s expansionist policy. Erik’s response was to send 10,000 troops to besiege Johan’s home Turku Castle in Turku, Finland. On August 12, 1563, Turku Castle surrendered. Johan was tried for high treason and sentenced to death but he was pardoned and imprisoned with his wife at Gripsholm Castle in Mariefred, Södermanland, Sweden.

Karin Månsdotter, Erik XIV, and Göran Persson; Credit – Wikipedia

Sometime in 1565, Erik entered into a relationship with low-born Karin Månsdotter, a maid to his half-sister Elisabet. In 1567, Erik decided to marry Karin following the agreement he made with the state council in 1561 that he could marry whomever he pleased. The marriage plans were supported by his advisor Göran Persson. On December 29, 1567, Erik and Karin were married morganatically in a secret ceremony. A second official wedding was held in Storkyrkan (Great Church) in Stockholm, Sweden on July 4, 1568, followed the next day by Karin’s coronation as Queen of Sweden.

Erik and Karin Månsdotter had four children. The first two were born before the second official marriage in 1568 (see below) but were later legitimized. The last two died in early childhood.

  • Princess Sigrid (1566 – 1633), married Henrik Klasson Tott, had three children
  • Prince Gustav (1568 – 1607), unmarried
  • Prince Henrik (1570 – 1574)
  • Prince Arnold (1572 – 1573)

Erik had suffered from mental health issues and from 1563 onwards these issues worsened. His decisions became more illogical and he exhibited violent behavior. Erik’s suspicion of the nobility led him to be suspicious of the Sture family, then headed by Svante Stensson Sture who was married to Märta Erikdotter Leijonhufvud, the sister of Margareta Leijonhufvud, the second wife of Erik’s father. Erik lacked a legal heir and feared that the Sture family might claim his throne. These fears resulted in the Sture Murders, the murders of five incarcerated Swedish nobles and Erik’s former tutor.

Svante Stensson Sture; Credit – Wikipedia

On May 24, 1567, in Uppsala Castle, Erik and his guards killed six men. Svante Stensson Sture, and his sons Nils Svantesson Sture and Erik Svantesson Sture, Abraham Gustafsson Stenbock (brother of Katarina Gustavsdotter Stenbock, the third wife of King Gustav I Vasa), and Ivar Ivarsson Liljeörn were killed in their cells inside the castle. Erik personally stabbed Nils Svantesson Sture to death. After the murders, Erik’s former tutor Dionysius Beurreus found him outside the castle in a state of agitation. Beurreus tried to calm Erik but instead, Erik issued an order to kill Beurreus and vanished into a nearby forest. The guards then stabbed Beurreus to death. Abraham Gustafsson Stenbock and Ivar Ivarsson Liljeörn already had been sentenced to death but Svante Sture and his sons were executed without trial on Erik’s order and the unfortunate Beurreus was killed on a whim.

Johan III, King of Sweden, Erik’s eldest half-brother and successor; Credit – Wikipedia

On May 27, 1567, Erik was found in the village of Odensala, disguised as a peasant and confused, and was brought to Stockholm. Eventually, he calmed down and then asked both God and the Swedish people for forgiveness. He sought reconciliation with the relatives of the murdered. For a period of time, a regency council took over the government of the country, freed Erik’s half-brother Johan from prison, and sentenced Erik’s advisor Göran Persson to death. However, this death sentence was not carried out for fear of how Erik would react when he recovered. The king’s younger half-brothers led a revolt against Erik which ended in his removal as King of Sweden in September 1568 and his eldest half-brother succeeding to the throne as Johan III, King of Sweden. In January 1569, the Riksdag legally dethroned Erik.

Erik was imprisoned in various castles for nine years. He died on February 26, 1577, aged 43, at Örbyhus Castle in Örbyhus, Sweden. He was most likely murdered due to the three major conspiracies that attempted to depose his half-brother Johan III and place Erik back on the Swedish throne. An examination of his remains in 1958 confirmed that Erik probably died of arsenic poisoning. Erik XIV, King of Sweden was originally buried in a crypt at Västerås Cathedral in Västerås, Västmanland, Sweden. In 1797, Erik’s remains were reburied at Västerås Cathedral in a Carrara marble sarcophagus that King Gustav III of Sweden originally ordered for himself.

Tomb of Erik XIV, King of Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

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

Kingdom of Sweden Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Erik XIV. – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_XIV.> [Accessed 30 April 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Eric XIV of Sweden – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_XIV_of_Sweden> [Accessed 30 April 2021].
  • Sv.wikipedia.org. 2021. Erik XIV – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_XIV> [Accessed 30 April 2021].

Private Chapel at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The original Private Chapel at Windsor Castle, lithograph by Joseph Nash, 1848; Credit – Wikipedia

The original octagonal-shaped Private Chapel at Windsor Castle was created for Queen Victoria by architect Edward Blore in the 1840s. It had previously been a music room, with an intricately carved screen separating it from St. George’s Hall. The Private Chapel had niches with marble sculptures, pews, and a large Gothic chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Some of Queen Victoria’s children were christened and confirmed there, her daughter Helena was married there, and Queen Victoria regularly worshipped there.

Windsor Castle on fire; Credit – www.windsorexpress.co.uk

On November 20, 1992, at 11:33 AM, a fire began in the Private Chapel at Windsor Castle when a spotlight left too close to curtains by a painter, ignited the curtains. The location of the fire was shown on a map of the castle by an indicator light and the chief officer of the castle’s fire brigade immediately sounded the public fire alarm. The fire was initially in the Brunswick Tower, but soon many other indicator bulbs lit up, as the fire spread to neighboring rooms, including the Windsor Castle State Apartments which are the rooms the public is allowed to visit. By 12:20 PM, the fire had spread to St. George’s Hall, built in the 1360s and the largest of the State Apartments, and the roof of St. George’s Hall would later collapse.

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh chaired the Restoration Committee. The restoration of the damaged areas took five years and was completed six months ahead of schedule on November 20, 1997, exactly five years after the fire and on the 50th wedding anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh, at a cost of £37 million (US $59.2 million), £3 million below budget. Queen Elizabeth II personally contributed £2 million towards the restoration. 70% of the cost of restoration was to be met by charging the public an entry fee to the Windsor Castle precincts, and for an admission fee to Buckingham Palace. Buckingham Palace had never been open to the public. Since 1993, it has been open during August and September and on some dates throughout the year.

The original Private Chapel was irreparable, and a plaque now marks the place where the fire started. The Lantern Lobby was created in the space where the original Private Chapel had previously stood, creating a formal passageway between the State Apartments and the private apartments.

 

The area where the new Private Chapel (artist’s drawing above) was created previously was a passageway between the public and private areas of Windsor Castle. It is much smaller than the original Private Chapel and has a capacity of only thirty people. Instead of pews, red giltwood chairs, originally commissioned by King George IV for the state dining room, are used. The new altar was made by Queen Elizabeth II’s nephew David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon who is a furniture designer and maker. In a clip from the BBC documentary The Duke: In His Own Words, Prince Philip shows a camera crew around the Private Chapel in Windsor Castle where his coffin rested before his funeral. The clip can be seen in the link below.

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The stained glass window in the restored Private Chapel is based on an idea by the Duke of Edinburgh

Royal Events at the Private Chapel at Windsor Castle

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The christening of Queen Victoria’s son Prince Alfred

In addition to the events listed below, there were a number of confirmations, particularly of Queen Victoria’s children and grandchildren, held at the Private Chapel at Windsor Castle. Queen Elizabeth II and her eldest two children, King Charles III and Princess Anne, were also confirmed there.

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

  • Flantzer, Susan, 2019. British Royal Christenings: House of Windsor. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/house-of-windsor-christenings/> [Accessed 25 April 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2019. British Royal Christenings: Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, Their Children, and Select Grandchildren. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/christenings-of-queen-victoria-prince-albert-their-children-and-select-grandchildren/> [Accessed 25 April 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2013. November 20, 1992 – Fire seriously damages Windsor Castle. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/november-20-1992-fire-seriously-damages-windsor-castle/> [Accessed 28 April 2021].
  • Flood, Rebecca, 2021. Inside the private chapel at Windsor Castle where Archie Harrison is due to be christened in top-secret ceremony. [online] The Sun. Available at: <https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/9450387/archie-harrison-christening-chapel-windsor-castle-meghan-markle-prince-harry/> [Accessed 28 April 2021].
  • HELLO!. 2021. Prince Philip designed Queen’s private chapel where his coffin has been resting. [online] Available at: <https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/20210417111237/prince-philip-coffin-lying-in-rest-private-chapel-windsor-castle-he-designed/> [Accessed 28 April 2021].
  • Hill, Ben, 2021. Philip gives tour of private chapel at Windsor where he lies before funeral. [online] The US Sun. Available at: <https://www.the-sun.com/news/2697086/prince-philip-tour-private-chapel-windsor-castle/> [Accessed 28 April 2021].
  • Royal Collection Trust. 2021. The fire at Windsor Castle. [online] Available at: <https://www.rct.uk/visit/windsor-castle/the-fire-at-windsor-castle#/> [Accessed 28 April 2021].

Katarina Gustavsdotter Stenbock, Queen of Sweden

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Credit – Wikipedia

The third wife of Gustav I Vasa, King of Sweden, Katarina Gustavsdotter Stenbock was born on July 22, 1535, at the Torpa Stenhus (Torpa Stonehouse), a medieval castle near Lake Åsunden, in Västragötaland, Sweden. The well-preserved castle is still owned by descendants of the Stenbock family. Katarina was the second of the six daughters and the second of the eleven children of Gustaf Olofsson Stenbock and Birgitta Eriksdotter Leijonhufvud. Both Katarina’s parents were from Swedish noble families. Her father Gustaf Olofsson Stenbock was part of the contingent that brought Gustav Vasa’s first wife Katharina of Saxe-Lauenburg to Sweden. Over the years, he was appointed a state councilor, Governor of Västergötland, and a Marshal of Sweden.

Margareta Eriksdotter Leijonhufvud, 2nd wife of King Gustav I Vasa and the maternal aunt of Katarina; Credit – Wikipedia

Katarina’s mother Birgitta Eriksdotter Leijonhufvud was the sister of King Gustav I Vasa’s second wife Margareta Eriksdotter Leijonhufvud. Therefore, Katarina was the first cousin of the ten children of Gustav Vasa and Margareta Leijonhufvud. Katarina’s parents, like Margareta’s other relatives, were part of the Kungafränderna (The King’s Relatives) and were given prominent positions and had much influence at court. King Gustav I Vasa often attended their family celebrations and Katarina’s parents were considered his personal friends.

Katarina had ten siblings:

  • Beata Gustavsdotter Stenbock (1533 – 1583), married Per Brahe the Elder (nephew of King Gustav I Vasa), had thirteen children
  • Olof Gustavsson Stenbock (circa 1536 – 1599)
  • Karl Gustavsson Stenbock (circa 1537 – 1609), married Brita Claesdotter, had four children
  • Erik Gustavsson Stenbock (1538 – 1602), married his cousin Malin Sture, had two children
  • Arvid Gustafsson Stenbock (1541 – circa 1609), married Carin Månsdotter
  • Cecilia Gustavsdotter Stenbock
  • Margareta Gustavsdotter Stenbock
  • Märta Gustavsdotter Stenbock, married Svante Stensson Sture, had fifteen children
  • Ebba Gustavsdotter Stenbock (? – 1614), married Clas Eriksson Fleming, had four children
  • Abraham Gustafsson Stenbock (? – 1567)

Very little is known about Katarina’s life before she became Queen of Sweden. It is quite probable that she served as a maid of honor to her aunt Margareta Leijonhufvud. Margareta’s ten pregnancies in thirteen years took a toll on her health and she died from pneumonia at the age of 35 on August 26, 1551. After Margareta’s death, her children were placed in the care of her sisters Birgitta (Katarina’s mother) and Märta Eriksdotter Leijonhufvud (Katarina’s aunt) who had married Svante Stensson Sture.

Gustav I Vasa, King of Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

In Sweden at that time, it was the norm for a noble widower with minor children to remarry, and King Gustav I Vasa stated that he needed a queen for his court and a mother for his children. In March 1552, Katarina’s mother, her aunt Märta and her husband Svante Stensson Sture, and Per Brahe the Elder (nephew of King Gustav I Vasa and the husband of Katarina’s sister Beata) were called to a family council. It is probable that at this meeting Gustav Vasa proposed marriage to Katarina, despite the king being 56 and Katarina being 17. Gustav Vasa saw this marriage as a way to forgo the costs and the time-consuming negotiations necessary to arrange a marriage with a foreign princess in the complicated political climate in Europe as a result of the ongoing conflicts caused by the Protestant Reformation. Katarina’s family saw the marriage as a way to preserve the family connection they had made with Gustav Vasa through his previous marriage with Margareta Leijonhufvud. On August 22, 1552, at Vadstena Abbey in Vadstena, Sweden, Katarina married King Gustav I Vasa, and the next day, she was crowned Queen of Sweden.

Katarina and Gustav Vasa had no children but Katarina served as a stepmother to her first cousins, the children of Gustav Vasa and her aunt Margareta Leijonhufvud. She was given responsibility for the royal nursery, especially for the upbringing of Gustav Vasa’s daughters.

Katarina’s stepchildren, also her first cousins:

In the late 1550s, King Gustav I Vasa’s health declined. He died on September 29, 1560, aged 64, at Tre Kronor Castle (Three Crowns Castle) which stood on the site of the present Stockholm Palace in Stockholm, Sweden. The official cause of death was cholera but it may have been dysentery or typhoid. Gustav I, King of Sweden was buried in the Vasa Chapel at Uppsala Cathedral in Uppsala, Sweden with his first two wives. Katarina never remarried despite being only 25-years old when King Gustav I died. She dressed in mourning for the rest of her life.

Katarina lived during the reigns of the next five Kings of Sweden who were either sons or grandsons of her husband:

King Erik XIV (reigned 1560 – 1568) – Gustav Vasa’s only surviving child from his first marriage to Katharina of Saxe-Lauenburg. Erik was deposed via a rebellion by his half-brother who became King Johan III. He was then imprisoned in various castles for nine years. He died in 1577 and was most likely murdered due to the three major conspiracies that attempted to depose his half-brother Johan III and place Erik back on the Swedish throne. An examination of his remains in 1958 confirmed that Erik probably died of arsenic poisoning.

King Johan III (reigned 1568 – 1592) – son of King Gustav I Vasa and his second wife Margaret Leijonhufvud and therefore, he was Katarina’s first cousin. During the reign of King Johan III, Katarina no longer had such a prominent place at court. However, because of her royal rank, she occupied a more dominant role in her own birth family, and often hosted family meetings and arranged family occasions such as weddings and funerals, and continued to act as a channel between her relatives and the royal house. King Johan III died in 1592.

King Sigismund III Vasa (reigned 1592 – 1599) – son of King Johan III and grandson of King Gustav I Vasa. Sigismund was not only King of Sweden but also King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania through his mother. Sigismund, who was Catholic, was deposed in 1599 as King of Sweden by his Protestant uncle who reigned as King Karl IX, and lived the remainder of his life in Poland.

King Karl IX (Regent of Sweden 1599 – 1604, King of Sweden 1604 – 1611) – youngest son of King Gustav I of Sweden and his second wife Margaret Leijonhufvud.  Karl became King of Sweden by championing the Protestant cause and deposing his Catholic nephew.

King Gustavus Adolphus (reigned 1611 – 1632) – son of Karl IX, King of Sweden and grandson of King Gustav I Vasa. 16-year-old Gustavus Adolphus became King of Sweden with his mother serving as Regent until he became of age. Gustavus Adolphus, aged 37, was killed in the Battle of Lützen during the Thirty Years War.

Strömsholm Castle, Katarina’s dowager home; Credit – By Christer Johansson – Own work (File produced by Christer Johansson), CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2502279

Katarina spent her last years tending to her estates, engaging in her financial and business enterprises, and spending time with her relatives, especially her sisters. Katarina was well known for providing a safe haven for many female relatives of the exiled supporters of the deposed King Sigismund III Vasa and other charitable work. During her last years, she had issues with her mobility and for this reason not able to attend the wedding of her husband’s grandson King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden in 1620.

Katarina survived her husband by sixty-one years, dying on December 13, 1621, aged 86, at her home Strömsholm Castle in Strömsholm, Västmanland, Sweden. Upon her death, it was noted, “The poor have lost a friend, the orphans their mother.”  Katarina was buried in Uppsala Cathedral in Uppsala, Sweden with her husband and his first two wives but she has no monument or memorial.

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.

Kingdom of Sweden Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Catherine Stenbock – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Stenbock> [Accessed 27 April 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Gustav I, King of Sweden. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/gustav-vasa-i-king-of-sweden-reigned-1523-1560/> [Accessed 27 April 2021].
  • Sv.wikipedia.org. 2021. Gustaf Olofsson (Stenbock) till Torpa – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustaf_Olofsson_(Stenbock)_till_Torpa> [Accessed 27 April 2021].
  • Sv.wikipedia.org. 2021. Katarina Gustavsdotter (Stenbock) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katarina_Gustavsdotter_(Stenbock)> [Accessed 27 April 2021].

The Jacobite Succession – Pretenders to the British Throne

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

James II, King of England/James VII, King of Scots; Credit – Wikipedia

After James II, King of England/James VII, King of Scots, a son of King Charles I, lost his throne via the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the Jacobite (from Jacobus, the Latin for James) movement formed. The goal of the Jacobites was to restore the Roman Catholic Stuart King James II of England/VII of Scotland and his Roman Catholic heirs to the thrones of England and Scotland.

The current Jacobite pretender is Franz, Duke of Bavaria (born 1933) who is also the pretender to the throne of the Kingdom of Bavaria. Because Franz never married, his heir presumptive in the Jacobite line of succession is his younger brother Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria (born 1937). Prince Max’s heir presumptive is his daughter Sophie, Duchess in Bavaria, Hereditary Princess of Liechtenstein, and then her eldest son Prince Joseph Wenzel of Liechtenstein, who is second in the line of succession to the throne of Liechtenstein after his father Alois, Hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein.

Why did James II, King of England/James VII, King of Scots lose his throne?

On February 6, 1685, Charles II, King of England, King of Scots died. Having no legitimate children, Charles was succeeded by his brother James, who reigned in England and Ireland as King James II, and in Scotland as King James VII. James and his second wife Mary Beatrice of Modena, who were both Catholics, were crowned on April 23, 1685, following the Church of England rite but omitting Holy Communion. The previous day, they had been privately crowned and anointed in a Catholic rite in their private chapel at the Palace of Whitehall.

James II’s nephew James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth; Credit – Wikipedia

On June 11, 1685, James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, the eldest of the illegitimate children of King Charles II, claimed the throne as the Protestant champion. Monmouth’s forces were defeated by his uncle’s forces at the Battle of Sedgemoor. The Duke of Monmouth was beheaded for treason on July 15, 1685.

King James II was now set on a course of restoring Catholicism to England. He issued a Declaration of Indulgence removing restrictions imposed on those that did not conform to the Church of England. England might have tolerated King James II knowing that his heirs were the Protestant daughters of his first wife Anne Hyde, the future Queen Mary II and Queen Anne. However, on June 10, 1688, his Catholic second wife Maria Beatrice of Modena, who had no surviving children, gave birth to a son, James Francis Edward who would be raised Catholic. Immediately, false rumors swirled that the infant had been smuggled into the queen’s chambers in a warming pan.

William III, Prince of Orange, later King William III of England, James II’s nephew and son-in-law; Credit – Wikipedia

On November 5, 1688, William III, Prince of Orange, the nephew and son-in-law of King James II, landed in England vowing to safeguard the Protestant interest. He marched to London, gathering many supporters. James panicked and sent his wife and infant son to France. He tried to flee to France about a month later but was captured. William III, Prince of Orange had no desire to make his uncle a martyr, so he allowed him to escape. James was received in France by his first cousin King Louis XIV, who offered him a palace and a pension.

Back in England, Parliament refused to depose James but declared that having fled to France, James had effectively abdicated the throne and the throne had become vacant. James’s elder daughter Mary was declared Queen Mary II and she was to rule jointly with her husband and first cousin William III, Prince of Orange, who would be King William III. At that time, William, the only child of King James II’s deceased elder sister Mary, Princess Royal, Princess of Orange, was third in the line of succession after his wife and first cousin Mary and her sister Anne. This overthrow of King James II is known as the Glorious Revolution.

What happened to James II, King of England/James VII, King of Scots and his family?

Mary Beatrice and her son James Francis Edward Stuart; Credit – Wikipedia

James II, his wife Maria Beatrice of Modena, and his son James Francis Edward Stuart settled at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye in France, provided by James II’s first cousin King Louis XIV of France, where a court in exile, composed mainly of Scots and English Catholics, was established. James II was determined to regain the throne and landed in Ireland with a French force in 1689. He was defeated by his nephew William III, King of England at the Battle of the Boyne on July 1, 1690, and was forced to withdraw once again to France. James II spent the rest of his life in France, planning invasions that never happened. He died from a stroke on September 16, 1701, at St. Germain.

Battle of the Boyne between James II and his nephew William III, July 11, 1690; Credit – Wikipedia

Upon his father’s death, James Francis Edward was recognized by King Louis XIV of France as the rightful heir to the English and Scottish thrones. Spain, the Vatican, and Modena recognized him as King James III of England and VIII of Scotland and refused to recognize William III, Mary II, or Anne as legitimate sovereigns. As a result of James Francis Edward claiming his father’s lost thrones, he was attainted for treason in 1702 and his titles were forfeited under English law.

In 1708, James Francis Edward, with the support of King Louis XIV, attempted to land in Scotland, but the British Royal Navy intercepted the ships and prevented the landing. In 1713, the Treaty of Utrecht forced King Louis XIV of France to recognize the British 1701 Act of Settlement settling the succession on the Electress Sophia of Hanover, a granddaughter of James VI of Scotland and I of England, and her non-Roman Catholic heirs. Upon the death of Queen Anne in August 1714, George, Elector of Hanover, son of Electress Sophia of Hanover, ascended the British throne as King George I. With the death of King Louis XIV in 1715, the French government found James Francis Edward an embarrassment and he was no longer welcome in France. In 1715, Scottish Jacobites started “The ‘Fifteen” Jacobite rising, an unsuccessful attempt to put “James III and VIII” on the throne.

The Battle of Culloden; Credit – Wikipedia

After James Francis Edward failed to regain the throne, attention fell upon his son Charles Edward, The Young Pretender, whose Jacobite Rising of 1745 culminated in the final devastating loss for the Jacobites at the Battle of Culloden. After the disastrous Battle of Culloden, there were no further Jacobite uprisings. James Francis Edward Stuart died at his home, the Palazzo Muti in Rome, on January 1, 1766, and was buried in the crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.

The Vatican had recognized James Francis Edward as King of England and Scotland as “James III and VIII”, but did not give his son Charles Edward the same recognition. 67-year-old Charles Edward Stuart died of a stroke on January 31, 1788, at the Palazzo Muti in Rome. He was initially buried in the Cathedral of San Pietro in Frascati, Italy where his brother Henry Benedict Stuart was Cardinal Bishop.

Memorial to the three Stuart pretenders, ‘James III’, and his sons, Charles Edward and Henry Benedict, above their place of interment in the crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica, in the Vatican; Credit – By Kim Traynor – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20417324

Upon the death of his elder brother Charles Edward Stuart in 1788, Henry Benedict assumed the style “King Henry IX”, but no government considered him the legal King. After the French Revolution, Henry Benedict lost the funds that the French Royal Family had been paying his exiled family, and lost any French property he owned, causing him financial problems. In 1800, King George III granted Henry Benedict a pension of £4,000 per year. For many years the British government had promised to return the dowry of his grandmother Maria Beatrice of Modena, but never did so. Henry Benedict considered the £4,000 per year an installment on money legally owed him. Henry Benedict Stuart died on July 13, 1807, at the age of 82. He was buried in the crypt at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican where his father had been buried and Charles Edward’s remains were transferred to the same crypt in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.

The Jacobite Pretenders

In 1807, with the extinction of the Stuart line descended from James II, King of England/James VII, King of Scots, the Jacobite succession proceeded to the House of Savoy. The Jacobite pretender became Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia, the senior surviving descendant of Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans, the younger sister of James II/VII. The Jacobite succession proceeded to the House of Austria-Este, and then to the House of Wittelsbach. It likely will proceed to the House of Liechtenstein. However, unlike the Stuart pretenders, none of the later pretenders have claimed the thrones of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom or incorporated the arms of these countries in their coats-of-arms. Nevertheless, since the 19th century, there have been groups advocating the restoration of the Jacobite succession to the throne.

Charles I of England → his daughter Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans → her daughter Anne Marie d’Orléans, Queen of Sardinia → her son Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia → his son Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia → his son Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia → his brother Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia → his daughter Maria Beatrice of Savoy, Duchess of Modena and Reggio → her son Francesco V, Duke of Modena and Reggio → his niece Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, Queen of Bavaria → her son Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria → his son Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria → his son Franz, Duke of Bavaria

House of Stuart

James II, King of England/James VII, King of Scots; Credit – Wikipedia

  • James II of England & James VII of Scotland (1633 – 1701)
  • Reigned: February 6, 1685 – December 11, 1688
  • Claim: December 11, 1688 – September 16, 1701
  • James lawfully succeeded his brother King Charles II to the thrones of England and Scotland on February 6, 1685, as Charles II did not have legitimate children. When James fled England in 1688, the English Parliament declared that he had abdicated and the Scottish Convention of Estates declared he had forfeited his crown. However, James and his supporters denied that he had abdicated and claimed that the declaration of forfeiture had been by an illegal Scottish Convention. They maintained that James continued to be the rightful king.

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James Francis Edward Stuart; Credit – Wikipedia

  • James Francis Edward Stuart (1688 – 1766)
  • Son of James II of England & James VII of Scotland
  • “James III & James VIII”
  • The Old Pretender
  • Claim: September 16, 1701 – January 1, 1766 as James II/VII’s only surviving legitimate son

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Charles Edward Stuart; Credit – Wikipedia

  • Charles Edward Stuart (1720 – 1788)
  • Elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart
  • “Charles III”
  • The Young Pretender, Bonnie Prince Charlie
  • Claim: January 1, 1766 – January 31, 1788 as James Francis Stuart’s elder son

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Henry Benedict Stuart; Credit – Wikipedia

  • Cardinal Henry Benedict Stuart (1725 – 1807)
  • Younger son of James Francis Edward Stuart
  • “Henry IX & Henry I”
  • Claim: January 31, 1788 – July 13, 1807 as the only brother of Charles Edward Stuart. Henry Benedict was the last surviving legitimate descendant of James II/VII.

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House of Savoy

Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

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Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

  • Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia (1759 – 1824)
  • Brother of Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia
  • “Victor”
  • Claim: October 6, 1819 – January 10, 1824 as the next eldest brother of his predecessor, Carlo Emanuele who had died childless

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Maria Beatrice of Savoy, Duchess of Modena; Credit – Wikipedia

  • Maria Beatrice of Savoy, Duchess of Modena (1792 – 1840)
  • Eldest surviving daughter of Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia
  • “Mary II”
  • Claim: January 10, 1824 – September 15, 1840 as the eldest surviving daughter of her predecessor Vittorio Emanuele who had no surviving sons

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House of Austria-Este

Francesco V, Duke of Modena; Credit – Wikipedia

  • Francesco V, Duke of Modena (1819 – 1875)
  • Eldest son of Maria Beatrice of Savoy, Duchess of Modena
  • “Francis I”
  • Claim: September 15, 1840 – November 20, 1875 as the eldest son of his predecessor Maria Beatrice

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Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, Queen of Bavaria; Credit – Wikipedia

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House of Wittelsbach

Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria; Credit – Wikipedia

  • Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria (1869 – 1955)
  • Eldest son of Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, Queen of Bavaria
  • “Robert I & IV”
  • Claim: February 3, 1919 – August 2, 1955 as the eldest son of his predecessor Maria Theresa.

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Albrecht with his younger half-brother, Prince Heinrich; Credit – Wikipedia

  • Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria (1905 – 1996)
  • Eldest surviving son of Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria
  • “Albert”
  • Claim: August 2, 1955 – July 8, 1996, as the eldest surviving son of his predecessor Rupprecht.

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Franz, Duke of Bavaria; Credit – By Christoph Wagener – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22663494

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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

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Jacobite succession – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobite_succession> [Accessed 22 June 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2016. Charles Edward Stuart, The Young Pretender, Bonnie Prince Charlie. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/charles-edward-stuart/> [Accessed 22 June 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2016. Cardinal Henry Benedict Stuart. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/cardinal-henry-benedict-stuart/> [Accessed 22 June 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2017. King James II of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-james-ii-of-england/> [Accessed 22 June 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2016. James Francis Edward Stuart, The Old Pretender. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/james-francis-edward-stuart-the-old-pretender/> [Accessed 22 June 2021].
  • Jacobite.ca. 2021. The Jacobite Heritage. [online] Available at: <http://www.jacobite.ca/> [Accessed 22 June 2021].

Private Chapel at Buckingham Palace in London, England

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

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The original Private Chapel at Buckingham Palace, circa 1910-1911

The building at the core of today’s Buckingham Palace was originally Buckingham House, a large townhouse built for John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham in 1703. It was acquired by King George III in 1761 as a private residence for his wife Queen Charlotte and became known as The Queen’s House. During the 19th century, it was enlarged by John Nash, one of the foremost architects of the Regency and Georgian eras, and then by Edward Blore, a landscape and building architect.

The original Private Chapel at Buckingham Palace was created for Queen Victoria in what had originally been a conservatory. Queen Victoria disliked the octagonal chapel that had formerly been one of King George III’s libraries. Edward Blore was commissioned to convert one of the conservatories created by John Nash into a chapel. The roof had to be raised and many alterations were needed. In 1843, William Howley, Archbishop of Canterbury consecrated the new Private Chapel at Buckingham Palace.

Buckingham Palace: The Private Chapel 1843-4 by Douglas Morrison; Credit – Royal Collection Trust

The purpose of a Private Chapel is to provide a place for members of the royal family to worship when in residence. During the reign of Queen Victoria, six of her nine children and one of her grandchildren were christened at the Private Chapel at Buckingham Palace, and during the reign of King George V, four of his grandchildren were also christened there. In addition, several royal weddings were held at the Private Chapel.

During World War II, one non-British, but royal christening, was held at the Private Chapel at Buckingham Palace. On May 10, 1940, the German army invaded the Netherlands. A few days later, the Dutch royal family fled to London. Princess Irene, born on August 5, 1939, the second of four daughters of the future Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld, had yet to be christened. King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth arranged for Princess Irene to be christened on May 31, 1940, the same day as her christening had been scheduled in the Netherlands, in the Private Chapel at Buckingham Palace in London, with Queen Elizabeth serving as one of Princess Irene’s godparents. Less than four months later, the Private Chapel at Buckingham Palace was destroyed.

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth survey the damage after the September 13, 1940 bombing of Buckingham Palace; Credit – https://www.royal.uk/80th-anniversary-bombing-buckingham-palace-during-blitz

During The Blitz, the German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom during World War II, Buckingham Palace and its grounds were bombed on sixteen separate occasions with nine direct hits. One of those direct hits occurred on September 13, 1940, while King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth were in residence. Their daughters Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret had been sent to Windsor Castle for their safety. A water main was ruptured, most of the windows on the southern and western sides of Buckingham Palace were blown out, the Private Chapel was destroyed, and four workers were injured with one later dying. Originally, King George VI had wanted the Private Chapel rebuilt but because of all the reconstruction needed in the country after World War II, the plan was shelved.

In 1962, at the suggestion of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the ruined Private Chapel was redeveloped as a gallery for the Royal Collection. The Queen’s Gallery opened to the public in 1962 to exhibit works of art from the Royal Collection. At that time, a very small Private Chapel was built near The Queen’s Gallery for the royal family’s personal use.

The 1997 renovated Private Chapel at Buckingham Palace; Credit – http://www.johnsimpsonarchitects.com/pa/Buckingham-Palace-cp.html

In 1997, a competition was held for the appointment of an architect (John Simpson Architects Ltd.) to expand and modernize the Queen’s Gallery in honor of Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee. At that time, the Private Chapel was renovated in a manner that is reminiscent of architect John Nash’s work.

Since the bombing of the original private chapel in 1940 and the construction (1962) and renovation (1997) of a new private chapel, which is much smaller than the original private chapel, royal christenings occurring at Buckingham Palace have occurred in the larger Music Room. Those christened in the Music Room include Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince William.

Christenings at the Private Chapel, Buckingham Palace

The Christening of Prince Arthur in the Private Chapel at Buckingham Palace by Eugene-Louis Lami; Credit – The Royal Collection

Photograph, above, of a painting depicting the christening of Prince Arthur at the Private Chapel at Buckingham Palace. Towards the center of the composition are Prince Albert, Queen Victoria, the Princess Royal, the Prince of Wales, Princess Alice, and Prince Alfred.

(Links are to Unofficial Royalty biography articles.)

Weddings at the Private Chapel, Buckingham Palace

The Marriage of Princess Louise of Wales with the Duke of Fife at Buckingham Palace, 27th July 1889 by Sydney Prior Hall; Credit – Royal Collection Trust

The painting above depicts the couple kneeling at the altar, Behind them, from right to left: The Prince of Wales; Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine; Queen Victoria; The Princess of Wales and her brothers King George I of Greece, and Crown Frederik of Denmark

 (Links are to Unofficial Royalty wedding articles.)

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. 2021. Buckingham Palace – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckingham_Palace> [Accessed 25 April 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2019. British Royal Christenings: House of Windsor. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/house-of-windsor-christenings/> [Accessed 25 April 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2019. British Royal Christenings: Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, Their Children, and Select Grandchildren. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/christenings-of-queen-victoria-prince-albert-their-children-and-select-grandchildren/> [Accessed 25 April 2021].
  • Flantzer, S., 2012. Weddings of British Monarchs’ Children: Tudors – Windsors. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-weddings/british-royal-weddings/weddings-of-british-monarchs-children/> [Accessed 25 April 2021].
  • Healey, Edna, 1997. The Queen’s House – A Social History of Buckingham Palace. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc.
  • Westendatwar.org.uk. 2021. 13 September 1940 | Buckingham Palace | Bomb Incidents | West End at War. [online] Available at: <http://www.westendatwar.org.uk/page_id__39_path__0p2p.aspx> [Accessed 24 April 2021].

Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain, Queen of Sardinia

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The Kingdom of Sardinia: The House of Savoy had been Counts and then Dukes of Savoy, since the 11th century and ruled from the city of Turin in the Duchy of Savoy, now in northern Italy. Vittorio Amedeo II, Duke of Savoy became King of Sicily in 1713 as a result of his participation in the War of the Spanish Succession. However, in 1720, Vittoria Amedeo II was forced to exchange the Kingdom of Sicily for the less important Kingdom of Sardinia after objections from the Quadruple Alliance (Great Britain, France, Habsburg Austria, and the Dutch Republic).

Sardinia, now in Italy, is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea after Sicily, also now in Italy, but the Kings of Sardinia of the House of Savoy ruled from Turin, the capital of the Duchy of Savoy. They styled themselves as Kings of Sardinia because the title was superior to their original lesser title as Dukes of Savoy. However, they retained the regnal numerical order of the Dukes of Savoy.

Vittorio Emanuele II became the last King of Sardinia upon the abdication of his father in 1849. He then became a driving force behind the Italian unification movement along with Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and nationalist, and Giuseppe Mazzini, a politician and journalist. Garibaldi conquered Naples and Sicily, the territories of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, while the Sardinian troops occupied the central territories of the Italian peninsula, except Rome and part of Papal States. With all the newly acquired land, Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

Note: Children of Kings of Sardinia were often styled “of Savoy” as their fathers were also Dukes of Savoy from the House of Savoy.

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Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain, Queen of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

The wife of Vittorio Amedeo III, King of Sardinia, Infanta Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain was born on November 17, 1729, at the Royal Alcázar in Seville, Spain. She was the youngest of the three daughters and the youngest of the six children of Felipe V, King of Spain and his second wife Elisabeth Farnese of Parma.

Maria Antonia’s father was born Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou at the Palace of Versailles in France. He was the second of the three sons of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, the heir apparent to the throne of France, and Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria. At the time of Philippe’s birth, his grandfather Louis XIV was King of France. In 1700, Carlos II, King of Spain died childless with no immediate Habsburg heir. Philippe’s father Louis, Le Grand Dauphin had the strongest genealogical claim to the throne of Spain because his mother Maria Teresa, Infanta of Spain had been the half-sister of Carlos II. However, neither Philippe’s father nor his elder brother Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petite Dauphin could be displaced from their place in the succession to the French throne. Therefore, Carlos II, King of Spain, in his will, named 16-year-old Philippe of Anjou, Duke of Anjou as his successor. He took the Spanish version of his name Felipe V, King of Spain, the first Spanish King of the House of Bourbon which still reigns in Spain.

Maria Antonia’s mother Elisabeth Farnese of Parma was the only surviving child of Odoardo Farnese, Hereditary Prince of Parma and Dorothea Sophie of Neuburg. Because of the lack of male heirs to succeed to the Duchy of Parma, changes were legally made for the succession of the Duchy of Parma in the female line through Elisabeth Farnese. Her second son Felipe became the Duke of Parma and founded the House of Bourbon-Parma.

“The Family of Felipe V”; (L-R) Mariana Victoria, Barbara, Princess of Asturias; Fernando, Prince of Asturias; King Felipe V; Luis, Count of Chinchón; Elisabeth Farnese; Infante Felipe; Louise Élisabeth of France; Infanta Maria Teresa; Infanta Maria Antonia (Queen of Sardinia); Maria Amalia, Queen of Naples and Sicily; Carlo, King of Naples and Sicily. The two children in the foreground are Princess Maria Isabella Anne of Naples and Sicily and Infanta Isabella of Spain (daughter of the future Duke of Parma); Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Antonia had five siblings:

Maria Antonia had four half-brothers from her father’s first marriage to Maria Luisa of Savoy, daughter of Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia and Anne Marie d’Orléans. Maria Luisa died from tuberculosis at the age of 25. Only two of Maria Antonia’s half-brothers survived childhood and both became Kings of Spain.

Vittorio Amedeo III, King of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Antonia Ferdinanda married the future Vittorio Amedeo III, King of Sardinia. The marriage was arranged by Maria Antonia’s half-brother Fernando VI, King of Spain to strengthen relations between Spain and Sardinia/Savoy as they had fought on opposing sides during the War of the Austrian Succession. As a wedding gift from her father-in-law, Maria Antonia’s apartments at the Royal Palace of Turin were remodeled by the architect Benedetto Alfieri. Her half-brother Ferdinand VI, King of Spain provided a dowry of 3,500,000 Piedmontese Lires and Spanish possessions in Milan. Vittorio Amedeo and Maria Antonia Ferdinanda were married by proxy in Madrid, Spain on April 12, 1750, and then they were married in person on May 31, 1750, at Oulx, near Turin in the Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy.

Maria Antonia Ferdinanda and Vittorio Amedeo with their family in 1760; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Antonia Ferdinanda and Vittorio Amedeo had twelve children:

Upon the death of her father-in-law Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia in 1773, Maria Antonia’s husband succeeded him as Vittorio Amedeo III. She was the first Queen Consort of Sardinia since the death of Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine in 1741. In 1773 her son Carlo Emanuele married Maria Clotilde of France, the sister of King Louis XVI of France. Maria Clotilde and Maria Antonia Ferdinanda had a very close relationship.

Basilica of Superga in Turin; Credit – By Incola – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32157893

Maria Antonia Ferdinanda died on September 19, 1785, aged 55, at the Castle of Moncalieri in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy. Vittorio Amedeo III survived her by eleven years, dying from a stroke, aged 70, on October 16, 1796, also at the Castle of Moncalieri in Turin. They were both buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin.

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. 2021. Elisabeth Farnese – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_Farnese> [Accessed 21 June 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Antonia_Ferdinanda_of_Spain> [Accessed 21 June 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2019. Felipe V, King of Spain. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/felipe-v-first-bourbon-king-of-spain/> [Accessed 21 June 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia, Duke of Savoy. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/vittorio-amadeo-iii-king-of-sardinia-duke-of-savoy/> [Accessed 21 June 2021].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Antonia di Borbone-Spagna – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Antonia_di_Borbone-Spagna> [Accessed 21 June 2021].
  • Ru.wikipedia.org. 2021. Мария Антония Испанская — Википедия. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%90%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%98%D1%81%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F> [Accessed 21 June 2021].

Margareta Leijonhufvud, Queen of Sweden

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Credit – Wikipedia

The second of the three wives of Gustav I Vasa, King of Sweden, Swedish noblewoman Margareta Eriksdotter Leijonhufvud was born on January 1, 1516, at Ekeberg Castle in Närke, Sweden. She was the third of the six children of Erik Abrahamsson Leijonhufvud (died 1520, link in Swedish) and Ebba Eriksdotter Vasa (circa 1490 – 1549), a second cousin of Gustav I Vasa, King of Sweden.

Margareta had five siblings:

  • Abraham Eriksson Leijonhufvud (1512 – 1556), married (1) Anna Agesdotter Thott, had one son (2) Emerentia Gera
  • Birgitta Eriksdotter Leijonhufvud (1514 – 1572), married Gustaf Olofsson Stenbock, had eleven children including Katarina Gustafsdotter Stenbock, third wife of Gustav I Vasa, King of Sweden
  • Anna Leijonhufvud (1517 – 1540), married Axel Eriksson Bielke
  • Sten Eriksson Leijonhufvud (1518 – 1568), married Ebba Mansdotter Lilliehöök
  • Marta Eriksdotter Leijonhufvud (1520 – 1584), married Svante Stensson Sture, had fifteen children

When Margareta was four years old, her father was beheaded during the Stockholm Bloodbath. Several days after the coronation of Christian II, King of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden as King of Sweden, the followers of Sten Sture the Younger, who led the anti-Danish faction in Sweden, were charged with heresy for their part in the rising against Gustav Eriksson Trolle, Archbishop of Uppsala and his support of Christian II. What followed is known as the Stockholm Bloodbath. It is estimated that from November 9 – 10, 1520, 82 people were either hanged or beheaded in the square outside Stockholm Palace. Instead of cementing Christian II’s control of the Swedish throne, the Stockholm Bloodbath led to him losing the Swedish throne. The remaining Swedish nobility, disgusted by the bloodbath, rose against Christian II. On August 23, 1521, Christian was deposed with the election of Gustav Vasa as Regent of Sweden. On June 6, 1523, Gustav Vasa was elected King of Sweden, the first monarch of the Swedish House of Vasa.

Margareta’s sister Birgitta was married Gustaf Olofsson Stenbock, King Gustav Vasa’s favorite courtier. Considering Margareta’s social status, age, contacts, and the contemporary custom for those from noble families to end their upbringing as a court, Margareta likely served as a maid-of-honor to Katharina of Saxe-Lauenburg, the first wife of Gustav Vasa.

In September 1535, during a ball given in honor of her sister’s husband, Christian III, King of Denmark and Norway, who was visiting Sweden. King Gustav Vasa’s first wife Katharina, who was pregnant with her second child, fell while dancing with Christian III. The fall confined her to bed and led to complications, and she died on September 23, 1535, the day before her twenty-second birthday along with her unborn child.

Although Katharina fulfilled her most important duty as queen consort when she gave birth to a son, the future Erik XIV, King of Sweden, it was considered necessary for King Gustav Vasa to remarry in case the heir to the throne was to die. Margareta was selected as the king’s second wife because she belonged to one of the leading Swedish noble families which created an alliance between the king and one of the most powerful factions of the nobility.

Gustav Vasa and Margareta Leijonhufvud; Credit – Wikipedia

Margareta and Gustav Vasa were married on October 1, 1536, at Uppsala Cathedral in Uppsala, Sweden, where Margareta was crowned Queen of Sweden the following day. The new queen’s brothers were knighted and, along with the husbands of Margareta’s sisters, were named state councilors. This began the period called Kungafränderna (The King’s Relatives), during which the relatives that King Gustav I Vasa had acquired through his marriage with Margareta were given prominent positions and influence at court. During the first years of their marriage, Margareta’s mother and Gustav Vasa’s second cousin Ebba Eriksdotter Vasa played such a dominating role at court, that not even the king dared oppose her.

Margareta and Gustav had ten children including Johan III, King of Sweden who succeeded his deposed half-brother Eric XIV.

Although Margareta was twenty years younger than her husband, she felt very comfortable in her role as Queen of Sweden and had a great influence on King Gustav I Vasa. Margareta remained a Catholic her entire life despite the Swedish Reformation, and made donations to the still active Vadstena Abbey, while her husband had Catholic churches and monasteries looted.

Margareta’s effigy; Credit – Wikipedia

Margareta’s constant pregnancies took a toll on her health. She died from pneumonia at the age of 35 on August 26, 1551, at Tynnelsö Castle in Strängnäs Municipality, Södermanland, Sweden. She was buried next to Gustav Vasa’s first wife in Uppsala Cathedral in Uppsala, Sweden. When King Gustav Vasa died in 1560, he was buried with his first two wives. Gustav’s effigy is in the middle of the tomb with the effigies of his wives Katharina of Saxe-Lauenburg and Margareta Leijonhufvud on either side. One year after Margareta’s death, King Gustav Vasa married her 17-year-old niece Katharina Gustafsdotter Stenbock, the daughter of Margareta’s eldest sister Birgitta Eriksdotter Leijonhufvud.

Tomb of Gustav I and his first two wives; Credit – Von Skippy13 – Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=726933

Kingdom of Sweden Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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. 2021. Ebba Eriksdotter Vasa – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebba_Eriksdotter_Vasa> [Accessed 20 April 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Margaret Leijonhufvud – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Leijonhufvud> [Accessed 20 April 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan. 2021. Gustav I, King of Sweden. [online] Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/gustav-vasa-i-king-of-sweden-reigned-1523-1560/> [Accessed 20 April 2021].
  • Sv.wikipedia.org. 2021. Margareta Eriksdotter (Leijonhufvud) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margareta_Eriksdotter_(Leijonhufvud)> [Accessed 20 April 2021].

Old St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, England

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Model of Old St. Paul’s Cathedral; Credit – By Ben Sutherland – https://www.flickr.com/photos/bensutherland/7083572515, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51702266

Old St. Paul’s Cathedral stood on the site of the present St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, England until it was severely damaged in the Great Fire of London in 1666. There have been churches and religious communities on the site since Roman times. The first cathedral built on the site dedicated to St. Paul dates from 604. Historians think Old St. Paul’s Cathedral was the fourth church on the site. A major fire occurred in London in 1087, at the beginning of the reign of William II Rufus, King of England. The previous church was the most significant building to be destroyed in the 1087 fire. The fire also damaged the Palatine Tower, built by William I (the Conqueror), King of England on the banks of the River Fleet in London, so badly that the remains had to be pulled down. Part of the stone from the Palatine Tower was then used in the construction of Old St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Work on Old St. Paul’s Cathedral began in 1087 and construction was delayed by another fire in 1135. The cathedral was completed in 1240 and enlarged in 1256 – 1314, although it had been consecrated in 1300. In 1314, Old St. Paul’s Cathedral was the third-longest church in Europe at 586 feet/178 meters. The spire was completed in 1315 and, at 489 feet/149 meters, it was the tallest in Europe at that time. The walls of the cathedral were made of stone. However, the roof was mostly wood because stone would have been too heavy to support. The decision to use wood for the roof would lead to dire consequences in the Great Fire of London in 1666.

1916 engraving of Old St Paul’s as it appeared before the fire of 1561 in which the spire was destroyed; Credit – Wikipedia

By the 16th century, Old St. Paul’s Cathedral was deteriorating. In 1549, radical Protestant preachers incited a mob to destroy much of the cathedral’s interior. The spire caught fire in 1561 and crashed through the nave roof. The roof was repaired but the spire was never rebuilt. In 1621, King James I of England appointed architect Inigo Jones to restore the cathedral but the work stopped during the English Civil War and the Commonwealth of England. In 1660, after the restoration of the monarchy, King Charles II of England gave architect Sir Christopher Wren the job of continuing the restoration of the cathedral. That restoration was in progress when Old St. Paul’s Cathedral was severely damaged in the 1666 Great Fire of London. What remained of Old St. Paul’s Cathedral was demolished, and the present cathedral, designed by Sir Christopher Wren, was built on the site.

Old St. Paul’s Cathedral in flames; Credit – Wikipedia

Royal Events at Old St. Paul’s Cathedral

Richard II, King of England was deposed by his first cousin Henry of Bolingbroke who then reigned as Henry IV, King of England. Held in captivity at Pontefract Castle in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England, Richard is thought to have starved to death and died on or around February 14, 1400.  Although Henry IV has often been suspected of having Richard murdered, there is no substantial evidence to prove that claim. It can be positively said that Richard did not suffer a violent death. After his death, Richard’s body was put on public display for three days at the Old St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, both to prove to his supporters that he was truly dead and also to prove that he had not suffered a violent death. Whether Richard did indeed starve himself or whether that starvation was forced upon him is still up for speculation.

Richard II’s body is brought to Old St Paul’s Cathedral to let everyone see that he is dead – engraving from A Chronicle of England: B.C. 55 – A.D. 1485 by James William Edmund Doyle (1864); Credit – Wikipedia

English monarchs were often in attendance at the Old St. Paul’s Cathedral, and the court occasionally held sessions there. Arthur, Prince of Wales, son of King Henry VII of England, married Catharine of Aragon at Old St. Paul’s on November 14, 1501. Several kings, including Henry VI, and Henry VII, lay in state in Old St. Paul’s before their funerals at Westminster Abbey.

Royal Burials at Old St. Paul’s Cathedral

Commemoration of those who were buried or memorialized in Old St. Paul’s Cathedral but whose tombs or memorials have not survived; Credit – Wikipedia

Only the monument to poet John Donne survived the 1666 Great Fire of London. No other memorials or tombs of the many famous people buried at Old St. Paul’s Cathedral survived the fire. In 1913, an inscribed stone, set up on a wall in the crypt of the new St. Paul’s Cathedral, lists those known to have tombs or memorials lost in the Great Fire of London, including several royals listed below

Tomb of John of Gaunt and his first wife Blanche of Lancaster, lost in the 1666 Great Fire of London; Credit – Wikipedia

Works Cited

  • Britain Express. 2021. St. Paul’s Cathedral, London – early history. [online] Available at: <https://www.britainexpress.com/London/st-pauls.htm> [Accessed 4 April 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Old St Paul’s Cathedral – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_St_Paul%27s_Cathedral> [Accessed 4 April 2021].
  • Es.wikipedia.org. 2021. Antigua catedral de San Pablo – Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre. [online] Available at: <https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antigua_catedral_de_San_Pablo> [Accessed 4 April 2021].
  • The Inside Page Ltd, 2004. St Paul’s Cathedral – Official Guide. London: Jerrold Publishing.

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.

Katharina of Saxe-Lauenburg, Queen of Sweden

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Effigy of Katharina of Saxe-Lauenburg, Queen of Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

Katharina of Saxe-Lauenburg, the first of the three wives of Gustav Vasa I, King of Sweden, was born on September 24, 1513, in Ratzeburg, Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg, now in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. She was the third of the six children and the second of the five daughters of Magnus I, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg (1470 – 1543) and Katharina of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1488 – 1563), daughter of Heinrich IV, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg.

Katharina’s parents, Magnus I, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg and Katharina of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel; Credit – Wikipedia

Katharina had five siblings:

Since 1397, Sweden was part of the Kalmar Union in which the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden were ruled by one monarch. Denmark was dominant in the Kalmar Union and this occasionally led to uprisings in Sweden. In 1520, King Christian II of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden asserted his claim to Sweden by force when he ordered a massacre of Swedish nobles in Stockholm. The actions of King Christian II stirred the Swedish nobility to a new resistance. During the Swedish War of Liberation (1521 – 1523), Swedish nobleman Gustav Vasa successfully deposed King Christian II from the throne of Sweden, ending the Kalmar Union between Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Gustav Vasa was then elected King of Sweden by the Swedish Riksdag.

Gustav I Vasa, King of Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

The fledgling King of Sweden needed heirs for his new House of Vasa. After being rejected by several potential brides’ families, Gustav Vasa was advised to consider the Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg. Although the duchy was small and poor, the ducal family was related to many of the most powerful dynasties of Europe and was Protestant, which was important for the ongoing Swedish Reformation. With all this in mind, Gustav Vasa chose Katharina to be his wife.

In September 1531, Katharina was escorted to Stockholm, Sweden where she married Gustav I Vasa, King of Sweden on September 24, 1531, her eighteenth birthday. On December 13, 1533, Katharina fulfilled her most important duty as queen consort when she gave birth to a son, the future Erik XIV, King of Sweden.

Katharina and Gustav Vasa’s son Erik XIV, King of Sweden had an unsuccessful reign. Erik was deposed via a rebellion by his half-brother from his father’s second marriage who reigned as King Johan III of Sweden. Erik was imprisoned in various castles for eight years. He was most likely murdered due to the three major conspiracies that attempted to depose his half-brother Johan III and place Erik back on the Swedish throne. An examination of his remains in 1958 confirmed that Erik probably died of arsenic poisoning.

In September 1535, during a ball given in honor of her brother-in-law, Christian III, King of Denmark and Norway, who was visiting Sweden, the pregnant Katharina fell while dancing with Christian III. The fall confined her to bed and led to complications, and she died on September 23, 1535, the day before her twenty-second birthday along with her unborn child. Katharina was initially buried in the Storkyrkan (Great Church) in Stockholm, Sweden. Following her husband’s death in 1560, Katharina’s remains were reburied at Uppsala Cathedral in Uppsala, Sweden, together with her husband King Gustav I and his second wife Margareta Leijonhufvud.

Effigies of Gustav I Vasa and his first two wives; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Effigy of Katharina of Saxe-Lauenburg, Queen of Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

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

Kingdom of Sweden Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Katharina von Sachsen-Lauenburg (1513–1535) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katharina_von_Sachsen-Lauenburg_(1513%E2%80%931535)> [Accessed 4 April 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_of_Saxe-Lauenburg> [Accessed 4 April 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Gustav I, King of Sweden. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/gustav-vasa-i-king-of-sweden-reigned-1523-1560/> [Accessed 4 April 2021].
  • Sv.wikipedia.org. 2021. Katarina av Sachsen-Lauenburg – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katarina_av_Sachsen-Lauenburg> [Accessed 4 April 2021].

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.