Category Archives: Current Monarchies

Johann Friedrich Struensee, Favorite of King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway and Lover of his wife Queen Caroline Matilda

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Johann Friedrich Struensee, Credit – Wikipedia

The scandalous story of King Christian VII, Queen Caroline Matilda, and Johann Friedrich Struensee has been told in several novels including Norah Loft’s The Lost Queen (1969) and Per Olov Enquist’s The Visit of the Royal Physician (1999) and also in the Danish film A Royal Affair (2012) which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and starred Academy Award-winning supporting actress (for The Danish Girl) Alicia Vikander as Queen Caroline Matilda.

Johann Friedrich Struensee was born on August 5, 1737, in Halle, Kingdom of Prussia, now in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. He was the third of the seven children and the second of the four sons of Adam Struensee (link in German) and Maria Dorothea Carl.

Struensee had six siblings:

Sophie Elisabeth Struensee (1733 – 1768), married her cousin Samuel Struensee
Carl August Struensee (link in German) (1735 – 1804), Prussian Minister of Finance, married Karoline Elisabeth Müller, had three daughters
Samuel Adam Struensee (born 1739), died young
Maria Dorothea Struensee (1744 – 1820), married Wilhelm Alexander Schwollmann
Johanna Henrietta Struensee (born 1745), died young
Gotthilf Christoph Struensee (link in German) (1746 – 1829), married unknown wife

Struensee’s mother Maria Dorothea Carl was the daughter of Johann Samuel Carl, (link in German) the personal physician of Ludwig Ferdinand, Count of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg. In 1736, Carl became the personal physician of King Christian VI of Denmark and Norway and also served as personal physician to Christian VI’s son and successor King Frederik V of Denmark and Norway. Struensee’s father Adam Struensee was a Lutheran minister who adhered to Pietism, a movement that originated in the Lutheran Church in the 17th century in Germany that stressed personal piety over religious formality and orthodoxy. Adam Struensee was a pastor in Halle and a professor of theology at the University of Halle. In 1758, he accepted the position as pastor of Trinity Church in Altona, now in Germany, but then under the administration of the Danish monarchy. In 1760 Adam Struensee became superintendent-general (similar to a bishop) of the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein, then part of Denmark.

In 1752, at the age of fifteen, Johann Friedrich Struensee entered the University of Halle and graduated as a Doctor in Medicine on December 12, 1757. He moved with his parents to Altona in 1758 and took a low-paying position as a public physician. In Altona, Struensee fought the spread of epidemics by improving hygiene and introducing the smallpox vaccination. In 1760, he was appointed physician of the County of Rantzau and in that position, he also treated bourgeois and noble patients. Struensee began to publish articles in medical journals. In his articles, he wrote about the links between lack of education, poor hygiene, and diseases in poor neighborhoods and recommended reforms. He believed that the government had a duty to ensure the health and education of its citizens. Struensee also believed that this care should apply to unmarried mothers and the mentally ill. Over time, Struensee earned a good reputation with the Schleswig-Holstein nobility. In 1768, because he was known for a new kind of therapy for mental illness, Struensee was called to treat 18-year-old King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway while he was staying in Altona.

King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway; Credit – Wikipedia

When King Christian VII was not quite two years old, his mother Queen Louisa, daughter of King George II of Great Britain, died at age 27 due to complications from a miscarriage. The next year, his father King Frederik V of Denmark and Norway made a second marriage to Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. By all reports, Christian seemed to be an intelligent child and was taught in Danish, German, and French. However, he had a nervous disposition and was poorly educated and terrorized by a brutal governor, Christian Ditlev Reventlow, Count of Reventlow.

Queen Caroline Matilda; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1766, Christian VII succeeded to the Danish and Norwegian thrones after the early death of his father at age 42. Since there was a connection between the British and Danish royal families and both families were Protestant, it was natural that a British bride should be sought for Christian. The choice fell upon fifteen-year-old Princess Caroline Matilda, his first cousin, the daughter of Christian’s deceased maternal uncle Frederick, Prince of Wales. On October 1, 1766, a proxy marriage was held at St. James’s Palace in London, with Caroline Matilda’s brother King George III standing in for King Christian VII. Caroline Matilda arrived in Copenhagen on November 8, 1766, and married Christian in person later that day in the Christiansborg Palace Chapel in Copenhagen, Denmark.

A copperplate engraving depicting the first dance of King Christian VII and Queen Caroline Mathilde of Denmark at their wedding at Christiansborg Palace; Credit – Wikipedia

It was soon clear that Christian VII was not quite normal. It is unknown if Christian’s mental illness was caused by the brutal treatment of the Count of Reventlow, possible porphyria inherited from his Hanover mother, or schizophrenia. Christian’s behavior wandered into excesses, especially sexual promiscuity. He publicly declared that he could not love Caroline Matilda because it was “unfashionable to love one’s wife”. His symptoms included paranoia, self-mutilation, and hallucinations. Christian wandered the streets of Copenhagen visiting the city’s taverns and brothels with his favorite Count Frederik Vilhelm Conrad Holck. It was becoming clearer and clearer that Christian could not fulfill his role as king.

In May of 1768, Christian VII took a long tour of Europe, including stays in Altona, Paris, and London. The trip had been arranged because it was believed that new environments could change Christian’s behavior. It was on this journey that he became acquainted with Johann Friedrich Struensee. Struensee was the first person who understood that Christian was seriously ill. When Christian came home from the trip, Struensee accompanied him and was employed as Christian’s personal physician. Struensee could handle Christian’s instability, which was a great relief to the king’s advisers, and Christian developed confidence in him.

Princess Louise Auguste of Denmark, probably the child of Queen Caroline Matilda and Johann Friedrich Stuensee; Credit – Wikipedia

Because of Christian VII’s confidence in him, Struensee gained political power. In 1770, Struensee became Master of Requests and Minister of the Royal Cabinet. Within a short time, Struensee tried to reform the Danish state in the spirit of the Enlightenment. He also became the lover of the ill-treated Caroline Matilda, whose marriage was less than satisfactory. In 1771, when Caroline Matilda gave birth to her daughter Louise Auguste, no one doubted that Struensee was the father of the princess, who was given the unflattering nickname la petite Struensee, although Christian VII officially acknowledged her as his daughter. Eventually, Queen Dowager Juliana Maria maneuvered a coup that would bring about the fall of Struensee and discredit Caroline Matilda.

Contemporary woodcarving of the arrest of Struensee; Credit – Wikipedia

Early on the morning of January 17, 1772, following a ball at the court theater at Christiansborg Palace, Christian VII was awakened and forced to sign orders for the arrest of Struensee, his friend Count Enevold Brandt, and Caroline Matilda. Caroline Matilda was immediately taken to Kronberg Castle in Helsingør, Denmark, immortalized as Elsinore in William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, to await her fate. She was allowed to keep her daughter with her, but the four-year-old Crown Prince Frederik stayed with his father. Upon hearing of Caroline Matilda’s arrest, Struensee confessed to his relationship with her, and eventually, Caroline Matilda also confessed. 34-year-old Struensee and his friend Brandt were condemned to death and both suffered a brutal execution on April 28, 1772. In the presence of thousands of people, their right hands were severed first, then their bodies were broken on the wheel, and finally, they were beheaded. Struensee’s parents were both still alive when he was executed.

Johann Friedrich Struensee and his friend Count Enevold Brandt are beheaded; Credit – Wikipedia

The bodies of Stuensee and Brandt were put on public display at the execution site for two years until only their bones were left. Exactly what happened to their remains is unknown. By tradition, it is said that Struensee and Brandt’s remains were buried at the Vestre Cemetery in Copenhagen and that in the 1920s, their coffins were placed in the burial chapel under the German-speaking St. Peter’s Church in Copenhagen However, according to St. Peter’s Church, Struensee and Brandt are not in the burial chapel, but are buried in the churchyard. There has never been an investigation to determine if Struensee and Brandt are buried at St. Peter’s Church.

Queen Caroline Matilda was also punished. Her marriage was dissolved on April 6, 1772. She lost her title of Queen and was forcibly separated from her children whom she never saw again. Caroline Matilda was not quite 20-years-old. Originally, it was decided that Caroline Matilda was to be held in custody for life at Aalborghus Castle in Aalborg, Denmark, but her brother King George III intervened. King George III sent Sir Robert Murray Keith, a British diplomat, to negotiate her release from Danish imprisonment. On May 28, 1772, Caroline Matilda was sent to Celle in her brother’s Kingdom of Hanover and lived the rest of her life at Celle Castle. Her imprisonment was not to last long. Caroline Matilda died of “a putrid fever and sore throat,” probably scarlet fever, on May 10, 1775, at the age of 23. She was buried at the Stadtkirche St. Marien (link in German) in Celle next to her great-grandmother Sophia Dorothea of Celle, Electoral Princess of Hanover, wife of the future King George I of Great Britain, who suffered a similar fate.

After the fall of Struensee, Christian VII’s stepmother Dowager Queen Juliana Marie and her son, Christian’s half-brother Hereditary Prince Frederik reinstated the Council of State. Christian was only nominally king from 1772 onward. Between 1772 and 1784, Denmark was ruled by Queen Dowager Juliana Marie, Hereditary Prince Frederik, and Cabinet Secretary Ove Høegh-Guldberg. From 1784, Christian’s son, the future King Frederik VI, ruled permanently as a prince regent.

Christian lived in isolation with a caretaker. When he was behaving too violently, he was locked up in his room or tied to his chair. His only involvement with the government was when he had to sign “Christian Rex” on formal papers. On March 13, 1808, in Rendsburg, Schleswig (then in Denmark, now in Germany) King Christian VII died from a stroke at the age 59. He was buried in Frederik V’s Chapel at Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark.

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Works Cited

Da.wikipedia.org. 2020. Adam Struensee. [online] Available at: <https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Struensee> [Accessed 8 May 2020].
Da.wikipedia.org. 2020. Johann Friedrich Struensee. [online] Available at: <https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Friedrich_Struensee> [Accessed 8 May 2020].
De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Adam Struensee. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Struensee> [Accessed 8 May 2020].
De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Johann Friedrich Struensee. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Friedrich_Struensee> [Accessed 8 May 2020].
En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Johann Friedrich Struensee. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Friedrich_Struensee> [Accessed 8 May 2020].
Flantzer, Susan, 2016. Caroline Matilda Of Wales, Queen Of Denmark And Norway. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/caroline-matilda-of-wales-queen-of-denmark-and-norway/> [Accessed 8 May 2020].
Flantzer, Susan, 2016. King Christian VII Of Denmark And Norway. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-christian-vii-of-denmark/> [Accessed 8 May 2020].
Hadlow, Janice. A Royal Experiment. New York: Picador, 2014. Print.
Tillyard, Stella. A Royal Affair: George III and His Scandalous Siblings. New York: Random House, 2006. Print.
Williamson, David. Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell, 1996. Print.

Anna Sophie von Reventlow, Queen of Denmark and Norway

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Anna Sophie von Reventlow, Queen of Denmark and Norway; Credit – Wikipedia

From 1711 – 1712, Anna Sophie von Reventlow was the mistress of Frederik IV, King of Denmark and Norway. From 1712 – 1721, she was the bigamous wife of Frederik IV, and then she was Queen of Denmark and Norway from 1721 until 1730 when she was expelled from the Danish court by Frederik IV’s son and successor Christian VI, King of Denmark and Norway.

Clausholm Castle, Anna Sophie’s family home; Credit – By Nico at the Danish language Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6672277

Anna Sophie von Reventlow was born on April 16, 1693, at Clausholm Castle, her family home, in the eastern part of the Jutland Peninsula of Denmark. She was one of the ten children of Conrad von Reventlow, Count Reventlow of Clausholm and his second wife Sophie Amalie von Hahn. Anna Sophia had seven elder half-siblings from her father’s first marriage to Anna Margarete von Gabel. Conrad von Reventlow, Count Reventlow of Clausholm served Frederik IV, King of Denmark and Norway as Grand Chancellor, the highest-ranking non-monarchial government official at that time, similar to a Prime Minister. Nothing is known about Anna Sophie’s childhood but it is assumed that she was not well educated because her letters show that she wrote poorly in Danish, French, and German.

Among Anna Sophie’s siblings were:

Notable half-siblings from her father’s first marriage:

Christian Detlev von Reventlow, Count Reventlow of Clausholm (1671 – 1738), was a Danish military leader and Royal President of the city of Altona, married Benedikte Margrethe von Brockdorff and had eleven children
Christine Sophie von Reventlow (1672 – 1757), was an influential advisor to her sister Anna Sophie and brother-in-law King Frederik IV, married (1) Count Niels Friis, had one son (2) Count Ulrik Adolf von Holstein of Holsteinsborg, no children

Anna Sophie’s notable full siblings:

Anna Margrethe (1682 – 1710), married Hans Schack, 2nd Count of Schackenborg, had four children
Ulrikke Eleonor (1690 – 1754), married Ferdinand Anton Gyldenløve, a grandson of Frederik III, King of Denmark and Norway by his mistress Margrethe Pape, had two sons

Frederik IV, King of Denmark and Norway; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1695, Frederik IV, King of Denmark and Norway had married Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow with whom he had five children although three sons died in infancy. Frederik began a relationship with Elisabeth Helene von Vieregg, a lady-in-waiting to his unmarried sister Princess Sophia Hedwig of Denmark and Norway in 1699. In 1703, without divorcing his wife Queen Louise, Frederik made a bigamous marriage to Elisabeth. After Elisabeth died in 1704 due to childbirth complications giving birth to a son Frederik Gyldenløve, Frederik IV gave her an elaborate funeral. Little Frederik Gyldenløve lived for only nine months.

After the death of Elisabeth, Frederik began an affair with her lady-in-waiting, Charlotte Helene von Schindel (scroll down in the article). In 1709, Frederik wanted to again make a bigamous marriage but received strong opposition from the church which told him that the law against bigamy also applied to kings. Charlotte and Frederik had a daughter in 1710 who died in infancy.

After losing interest in his mistress Charlotte Helene von Schindel in 1711, Frederik IV then fell in love with 19-year-old Anna Sophie after meeting her at a masked ball. In 1712, Frederik abducted Anna Sophie from her parents’ home Clausholm Castle and took her to Skanderborg Castle where they were married bigamously as Frederik’s wife Queen Louise was still alive. Frederik IV installed Anna Sophie in a house on Bag Børsen (present-day Slotsholmsgade 8), close to Copenhagen Castle in Copenhagen and she was given the title Duchess of Schleswig. In 1713, Frederik gave Vallø Castle to Anna Sophie.

Vallø Castle; Credit – By Flemming – DSC_0125, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17230727

Anna Sophie’s mother, by then a widow, did not support her daughter’s bigamous marriage, and mother and daughter did not reconcile until 1718. Anna Sophie did, however, receive support from her influential half-sister Christine Sophie who often visited her. Frederik IV preferred to spend time with Anna Sophie instead of Queen Louise and so Anna Sophie’s home became more or less a court, with gatherings of the nobility who were seeking Frederik IV’s favor. Because Frederik IV did not wish to be so public about his bigamous marriage to Anna Sophie, she was regarded by many as just his official mistress.

Queen Louise died on March 15, 1721, aged 53, and was buried at Roskilde Cathedral, the traditional burial site of the Danish royal family, in Roskilde, Denmark. On April 4, 1721, Frederik IV and Anna Sophie were married in a second formal wedding conducted with great ceremony. Although the marriage was still scandalous, it was not declared morganatic and Anna Sophie was crowned as Queen of Denmark and Norway at Frederiksberg Palace in May 1721. Neither of the two surviving children of Frederik IV and his first wife, Crown Prince Christian (future King Christian VI) nor the unmarried Princess Charlotte Amalie, kissed her hand as required by the ceremony.

Anna Sophie as Queen of Denmark and Norway, circa 1730; Credit – Wikipedia

Although Crown Prince Christian behaved with respect towards Anna Sophie, he detested her and blamed her for his father’s ill-treatment of his mother. Princess Charlotte Amalie overcame her disapproval of Anna Sophie and eventually came to like her. In 1725, King Frederik IV made an addition to his will that guaranteed Anna Sophie’s rights as Queen Dowager after his death and made Crown Prince Christian sign it.

After Anna Sophie’s coronation, Frederik IV dismissed several officials and replaced them with relatives of Anna Sophie who were known as the Reventlowske Bande (Reventlow Gang). Anna Sophie was accused of nepotism but it is not known whether she used political influence or if Frederik IV wished to strengthen her role at court by appointing those loyal to her to powerful positions.

Anna Sophie enjoyed the theater and founded, and then supported, the Lille Grønnegade Theater, the first public theater in Denmark. She was known to be generous to those in need, both privately and publically, and came to be called “The Protector of the Poor.” In 1729, Anna Sophie created the charity Dronning Anna Sofies Stiftelse (Foundation of Queen Anna Sophie) to benefit the poor.

Anna Sophie and King Frederik IV had six children. Three were born before the legal marriage in 1721 but none survived. The three children born after the 1721 marriage were styled as Prince/Princess of Denmark and Norway but none of them survived infancy either. The deaths of all the children of Frederik IV and Anna Sophie were seen by many as divine punishment for their bigamous marriage.

Frederika Sophie von Reventlow (born and died before1721), died in infancy
Frederica Conradine von Reventlow (born and before 1721), died in infancy
Stillborn (before 1721)
Princess Christiana Amalia (1723 – 1724), died in infancy
Prince Frederik Christian (1726 – 1727), died in infancy
Prince Karl (1728 – 1729), died in infancy

Frederik IV, King of Denmark and Norway died on October 12, 1730, the day after his 59th birthday, and was buried at Roskilde Cathedral, the traditional burial place for the Danish royal family, in a tomb adjacent to the tomb of his first wife Queen Louise. Frederik IV’s son, Christian VI, King of Denmark and Norway, did not follow the instruction in his father’s will to guarantee Anna Sophie’s rights as Queen Dowager. Christian VI’s opinion was that Anna Sophie had taken advantage of his father during his ill health and that she had caused his family pain and suffering during the years of her open adultery.

Christian VI granted Anna Sophie an allowance but confiscated all her property, and banished her to Clausholm Castle, her family home. She was allowed to be styled Queen Anna Sophie but not Queen Anna Sophie of Denmark and Norway or Queen Dowager. Anna Sophie spent the remainder of her life under house arrest at Clausholm Castle and was never granted permission to leave. She spent her time developing the gardens at Clausholm Castle, engaging in charitable works for the peasants on the estate, and in religious devotions.

When Anna Sophie, aged 49, died at Clausholm Castle on January 7, 1743, Christian VI allowed her to be buried at Roskilde Cathedral, but in the Trolle Chapel which is on the opposite side of the cathedral, far away from his parents’ tombs in the chancel of the cathedral. Her three children, born after her 1721 marriage, were also re-buried in the Trolle Chapel on Christian VI’s orders.

Tombs of Anna Sophie and three of her children; Credit – By FaceMePLS – originally posted to Flickr as Roskilde cathedral, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6821429

Kingdom of Denmark Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

Da.wikipedia.org. 2020. Anna Sophie Reventlow. [online] Available at: <https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Sophie_Reventlow> [Accessed 1 May 2020].
En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Anne Sophie Reventlow. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Sophie_Reventlow> [Accessed 1 May 2020].
En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Conrad Von Reventlow. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conrad_von_Reventlow> [Accessed 1 May 2020].
Flantzer, Susan., 2020. Frederik IV, King Of Denmark And Norway. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/frederik-iv-king-of-denmark-and-norway/> [Accessed 1 May 2020].

What’s Wrong With “Victoria” Season 3? – Better Late Than Never!

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Prince Albert and Queen Victoria in 1854; Credit – Wikipedia

Victoria is a British television series created by Daisy Goodwin, a British television producer and novelist, and written by Goodwin, Guy Andrews, and Ottilie Wilford for the British television station ITV. It is shown in the United States on PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) on its Masterpiece, the long-running weekly drama series that features British productions.

Sorry for the long delay in writing and publishing this article. Victoria Season 3 aired in the United States on PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) from January 31, 2019 – March 3, 2019. My husband and I DVR everything we watch on television – even PBS shows that do not have commercials – and so I set my DVR to record the eight episodes of Victoria Season 3. And then I saw some reviews and heard from people who had seen it. Then it began airing in the United Kingdom on March 24, 2019, and I read articles about it in the British media. None of what I found out about Series 3 made me want to watch it.

I also noticed that Unofficial Royalty’s article on Queen Victoria’s dresser Marianne Skerrett (NOT NANCY SKERRETT!) was getting a lot of views so I knew something was up with her in Season 3. As of the date this article was published, Marianne Skerrett’s article has had 54,605 views – Unofficial Royalty’s fifth most viewed article and the second most viewed biography article – and she isn’t even a royal.

I had noticed when Season 2 was airing, a lot of people viewed Unofficial Royalty’s article about Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert’s brother. Ernst’s article has 60,990 views, is the fourth most viewed article, and is the most viewed biography article. At that time of the airing of Season 2, I wondered what they had Ernst doing in Season 2 – probably the same inaccurate things he had been doing in Season 1. What they had Ernst doing (and what they had many other characters – or should I say real people – doing) never happened. In Season 3, real people were still doing things that never occurred along with a lot of fabrication involving people who never existed.

And so, I procrastinated watching Victoria Season 3 and it languished on my DVR occupying eight hours of space until the coronavirus pandemic came around and I figured that it was as good a time as any to get that eight hours of DVR space back.

Mediaeval Baebes in concert; Credit – By https://www.flickr.com/photos/sfllaw/ – https://www.flickr.com/photos/sfllaw/47623647/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7065649

I have to honestly say that the best thing about watching Victoria Season 3 was hearing the Mediaeval Baebes sing the title theme eight times. The Mediaeval Baebes are a British musical ensemble that performs traditional medieval songs and poetry set to music and some original compositions. They sing in a variety of languages and their vocals are backed by medieval instruments played by the singers or fellow musicians. My husband and I are fans of the Mediaeval Baebes. We first heard them years ago while listening to the Rutgers University radio station in the car. That Christmas we bought each other a Mediaeval Baebes CD – luckily they were different CDs. In 2018, the Mediaeval Baebes did a US tour and we were able to attend a concert. Among the songs performed in the concert was the title theme to Victoria – which is longer than it is on the show. We bought their latest CD at the concert (which has the Victoria theme on it) and they all signed the CD and we got to speak with them.

I wanted to include here a YouTube video of the Mediaeval Baebes singing the Victoria theme but there is only an audio YouTube video. I am guessing it is because of copyright issues. The music was composed by Martin Phipps and he holds the copyright. You can listen to the Victoria – The Suite at this link YouTube – Victoria – The Suite and this is the official website of the Mediaeval Baebes: https://www.mediaevalbaebes.com/ Check it out!

Will there be a Victoria Season 4? According to the website for PBS (Public Broadcasting Service), “The series is currently on hiatus, and unfortunately, we don’t have any additional information to share at this time.”

We encourage our readers to learn more about Queen Victoria and her family. You can start right here at Unofficial Royalty. See the links below. Read some books. You will find lots of suggestions in the bibliography listed first.

Now let’s get on with What’s Wrong with “Victoria” Season 3. I have no major issues with what went on between Victoria and Albert. They certainly were known to have their differences during their marriage. The parts of Victoria Season 3 that made me want to SCREAM deal with Queen Victoria’s half-sister Princess Feodora (utterly false story), the Duke and Duchess of Monmouth (they did not exist), and Nancy Skerrett (her name was Marianne, she was 26 years older than Queen Victoria and she did not die of cholera) and Charles Elmé Francatelli (he worked at the palace only from 1840 – 1842 and did not marry Marianne Skerrett).

There are a few picky issues that I’ll get to at the end of the article along with some thoughts on Prince Albert’s hair, but first a timetable.

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Timetable

The opening of the Great Exhibition 1851 by EUGÈNE LOUIS LAMI; Credit – Royal Collection Trust

Victoria Season Three started around the time of Princess Louise’s birth and ended after the opening of the Great Exhibition which would be 1848 – 1851. For the most part, historical events occurred around the correct time except for the cholera outbreak which occurred in 1854. Also included below is the tenure of real people in their positions who were characters in Season 3.

1837 – 1862 – Marianne Skerrett was Wardrobe Woman and then Head Dresser to Queen Victoria
1840 – 1842 – Charles Elmé Francatelli worked at the palace as Maitre d’Hôtel and Chief Cook
June 30, 1846 – February 21, 1852 – Lord John Russell, after 1861 1st Earl Russell, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He also served as Prime Minister from 1865 – 1866.
July 6, 1846 – December 26, 1851 – Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston was the Foreign Minister of the United Kingdom. He served in the British Cabinet in other posts and was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice from 1855 – 1858 and from 1859 – 1865.
February 23, 1848 to early 1849 – Revolutions of 1848
March 18, 1848 – Princess Louise, the fourth of the five daughters and sixth child of the nine children of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, was born at Buckingham Palace
April 8, 1848 – Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and their family go to Osborne House because of the possible danger due to the Chartist protests.
April 10, 1848 – Chartist Convention organized a mass meeting on Kennington Common in London, which would form a procession to present a petition to Parliament
May 1, 1850 – Prince Arthur, the third of the four sons and the seventh of the nine children of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, was born at Buckingham Palace
May 1, 1851 – October 15, 1851 – Great Exhibition was open
1854 – Broad Street cholera outbreak

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Feodora of Leiningen, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

Feodora of Leiningen, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg in 1854; Credit – Wikipedia

Victoria Season 3 would have the viewer believe that Queen Victoria’s half-sister Feodora of Leiningen, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg spent more than two years living in England and was a scheming, jealous person. This is ridiculous and false.

Queen Victoria had two elder half-siblings from the first marriage of her mother Princess Victoire of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Emich Carl, 2nd Prince of Leiningen: Karl, 3rd Prince of Leiningen (1804 – 1856) and Princess Feodora of Leiningen (1807 – 1872). Feodora was twelve years older than Victoria.

In 1814, at the age of ten, Karl became Prince of Leiningen upon his father’s death. However, in 1806, the Principality of Leiningen had been mediatized – annexed to another state(s), while allowing certain rights to its former sovereign. The Principality of Leiningen ceased to exist and was divided between the Grand Duchy of Baden, the Kingdom of Bavaria, and the Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine. The family retained Amorbach Abbey in Amorbach, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria and it remains the family seat of the Princely Family of Leiningen. Karl, who was fifteen years older than Victoria, had less of a presence in his half-sister’s life as he was educated abroad and spent time at Amorbach Abbey.

Karl and Feodora’s father died in 1814 and their mother married Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, the fourth son of King George III, in 1818. The Duke and Duchess of Kent’s only child, the future Queen Victoria, was born on May 24, 1819. Victoria was only eight months old when her father died on January 23, 1820, just six days before his father, King George III died.

After King George III’s death, the infant Victoria was third in the line of succession after her uncles, Frederick, Duke of York and William, Duke of Clarence. Neither the new king, George IV, nor his brothers Frederick and William had any heirs, and the Duchess of Kent decided she would take a chance on Victoria’s accession to the throne. The Duchess decided to stay in England rather than return to her homeland.

Feodora shared Victoria’s relatively isolated existence at Kensington Palace. Feodora was educated privately under the direction of her governess, Louise Lehzen, who would later become governess, confidante, and companion to the young Victoria. Feodora, too, was a close companion and devoted to her sister, and the two would maintain a close relationship for the rest of Feodora’s life.

In Victoria Season 3, Feodora claims that King George IV, Victoria’s paternal uncle, wanted to marry her. There is no historical evidence that this occurred. Stifled by her restricted life within Kensington Palace, Feodora was very eager to find a husband and move away. In 1828, Feodora married Ernst I, 4th Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg at Kensington Palace, despite having only met him twice before the wedding. After her sister married, nine-year-old Victoria wrote in her journal that she missed Feodora, “for she used to come into my room very often in the day, and used to sit very often in my room writing her letters… and she was always so gay and cheerful.”

Feodora’s husband Ernst I, 4th Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, like her brother, had a title but had no land to reign over. In 1806, the Principality of Hohenlohe-Langenburg had been mediatized to the Kingdom of Württemberg. Ernst held several political positions in the Kingdom of Württemberg and was one of the most influential men in the kingdom. The couple lived in a castle in Langenburg where they raised their six children. Feodora’s daughter Adelheid (the “Heidi” in Victoria Season 3) married Friedrich VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein. Adelheid and Friedrich’s daughter Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein married Wilhelm II, German Emperor, King of Prussia, son of Victoria’s eldest child Victoria, Princess Royal. And so, Feodora’s granddaughter married Victoria’s grandson. Through this marriage, Feodora and her daughter Adelheid are ancestors of the Greek and Spanish royal families.

Victoria and Feodora wrote to each other religiously. Victoria and her mother visited Feodora and Feodora did visit Victoria and their mother in England. Whenever she came, Victoria paid Feodora £300 for her expenses. Most importantly, Feodora came to England when Victoria needed her the most, in the summer of 1861 following the death of their mother and then in December 1861 following Prince Albert’s death.

Following a serious illness, Princess Feodora, aged 64, died on September 23, 1872. After getting a telegram informing her of Feodora’s death, Victoria wrote in her journal: “Can I write it? My own darling, only sister, my dear excellent, noble Feodora is no more!… I stand so alone now, no near & dear one nearer my own age, or older, to whom I could look up to, left! All, all gone! How good & wise, beloved Feodora was, so devoted to me, so truly pious & religious. She is gone to that world she was so fit for & entered it, just sleeping away. What a blessed end! but what a loss to those who are left! She was my last near relative on an equality with me, the last link with my childhood & youth.”

A copy of a letter dated 1854 (shortly after the time period of Victoria Season 3) sent to Victoria was found among Feodora’s papers after her death: “I can never thank you enough for all you have done for me, for your great love and tender affection. These feelings cannot die, they must and will live in my soul – till we meet again, never more to be separated – and you will not forget.”

The sentiments above in Victoria’s journal and in Feodora’s letter sound like they are coming from sisters who truly loved each other.

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Marianne Skerrett and Charles Elmé Francatelli

No, they did not get married! No, Marianne (NOT NANCY!) did not die from cholera! The portrayals of Marianne Skerrett and Charles Elmé Francatelli in Victoria disturb me the most. They are not well-known but they were real people whose actual life stories were turned upside-down and inside-out.

Marianne Skerrett attributed to Dr. Ernest Becker, circa 1859; Photo Credit – https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/2906440/miss-mariann

Marianne Skerrett (1793 – 1887) was the Head Dresser and Wardrobe-Woman to Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1862. The daughter of a British Army officer who owned a plantation in the West Indies, Marianne was born in 1793, so she was 44-years-old when Victoria became queen. She was extremely well-read and was fluent in Danish, French, and German.

Author Carolly Erickson has references to Marianne in her biography of Queen Victoria, Her Little Majesty. From Erickson’s book: Marianne Skerrett was “the head of Victoria’s wardrobe, overseeing all the practical work of ordering all her clothing, shoes, hats, gloves, and undergarments…She kept the wardrobe accounts, checking all the bills to make certain no one tried to cheat her mistress, and supervised the purveyors, hairdressers, dressmakers, and pearl-sewers whose task it was to keep the royal wardrobe in good repair.”

In addition, Marianne and Victoria had a lot in common. From Erickson’s book: “Both were intelligent, loved animals, spoke several languages…shared a great interest in paintings and painters. Marianne was well educated, with cultivated tastes, and in time to come Victoria would rely on her to help with the purchase of paintings and in corresponding with artists.”

Although she retired in 1862, Marianne remained in contact with Queen Victoria until her death in 1887 at the age of 94.

Unofficial Royalty: Marianne Skerrett

Charles Elmé Francatelli, drawn by Auguste Hervieu and engraved by Samuel Freeman, 1846; Credit – Wikipedia

Charles Elmé Francatelli (1805 – 1876) was born in London, England. He was educated in France at the Parisian College of Cooking where he studied culinary arts with Antonin Carême, known as “The King of Chefs and the Chef of Kings.” When Francatelli returned to England, he became chef de cuisine (executive chef) to several members of the nobility. He then became chef de cuisine at the St. James’s Club, popularly known as Crockford’s.

For two years only, from March 9, 1840 to March 31, 1842, Francatelli served as maitre d’hôtel and chief cook in ordinary to Queen Victoria. For some reason, he was dismissed, perhaps because Queen Victoria did not like his French cuisine, and he returned to Crockford’s. Francatelli did have one more royal client. For a short period in the 1860s, he served as chef de cuisine to The Prince and Princess of Wales (the future King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra) at their London home, Marlborough House.

During his career, Francatelli was chef de cuisine at the Coventry House Club and the Reform Club. Afterward, he managed the St. James’s Hotel in Piccadilly London and finally the Freemasons’ Tavern, a position he held until shortly before his death.

Francatelli was a very successful cookbook author. In 1845, he published The Modern Cook which ran through twelve editions. His next book was The Cook’s Guide and Butler’s Assistant published in 1861. The same year, he published Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes which contained practical information valuable to the less affluent people. In 1862, The Royal English and Foreign Confectionery Book was published.

Francatelli did marry twice (but not to Marianne Skerrett) and did have children. He died in Eastbourne, England on August 10, 1876, at the age of 71.

Unofficial Royalty: Charles Elmé Francatelli

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The Duke and Duchess of Monmouth

James Scott, the only real Duke of Monmouth; Credit – Wikipedia

Charles, Duke of Monmouth and Sophie, Duchess of Monmouth, supposedly Mistress of the Robes, are totally fictional and in my opinion, an unnecessary soap-opera-like narrative in Season 3.

The peerage Duke of Monmouth was created only once and that was during the reign of King Charles II. In 1663, Charles II created his eldest illegitimate child 14-year-old James, the son of Lucy Walter, Duke of Monmouth. James married Anne Scott who was the 4th Countess of Buccleuch in her own right. On their wedding day, the couple was created 1st Duke and 1st Duchess of Buccleuch. Thereafter, James used Scott as his surname but was usually called Monmouth. The couple had seven children and Sarah, Duchess of York (the great-great-granddaughter of the 6th Duke of Buccleuch) and her daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (born Lady Alice Montagu-Douglas-Scott, the daughter of the 7th Duke of Buccleuch) and her son Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester are among their descendants.

Anne Scott, the only real Duchess of Monmouth with her sons; Credit – Wikipedia

When King Charles II died without a legitimate heir on February 6, 1685, his brother and the Duke of Monmouth’s uncle succeeded to the throne as King James II. James, Duke of Monmouth thought he has a claim to the throne and planned an invasion of England and Scotland. On July 6, 1685, the armies of uncle and nephew met at the Battle of Sedgemoor where the army of James, Duke of Monmouth was defeated.

James, Duke of Monmouth had previously been attainted of treason by Parliament on June 16, 1685, and was to “suffer Paines of Death and Incurr all Forfeitures as a Traitor Convicted and Attainted of High Treason.” He was sent to the Tower of London and beheaded on Tower Hill on July 15, 1685.

The Act of Attainder forfeited his English peerages including the Duke of Monmouth, but his Scottish peerages including the Duke of Buccleuch were not affected and continued to be held by his widow and their descendants. Since 1685, there has never been another Duke of Monmouth.

James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth (illegitimate son of Charles II)

Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland, the real Mistress of the Robes during the time period covered in Season 3; Credit – Wikipedia

Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland was the Mistress of the Robes during the period covered in Season 3, serving 1846–1852. She also served as Mistress of the Robes during 1837–1841, 1853–1858, and 1859–1861.

Unofficial Royalty: Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland

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A Few Picky Issues

Lord Palmerston in 1855, not exactly the dashing, young Lord Palmerston of Season 3; Credit – Wikipedia

Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, Foreign Secretary was portrayed by Laurence Fox (born 1978), who I very much liked in the role of Detective Sergeant James Hathaway in the British television series Inspector Lewis, a sequel to the Inspector Morse series. Palmerston was born in 1784 and so in 1848 when Series 3 started, he was 64-years-old and not the dashing, young Palmerston as portrayed by Laurence Fox, in his early 40s. Palmerston did have a reputation as a womanizer and was nicknamed “Cupid,” but I don’t know if he was running around the halls of palaces, sneaking in ladies’ rooms in his 60s – so why not take twenty years off his real age and make up some stories – which is what happened in Season 3. His wife, born The Honorable Elizabeth Lamb, was the sister of William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, Queen Victoria’s first Prime Minister, and had a long-term affair with Palmerston during her first marriage.

Unofficial Royalty: Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

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Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langnburg – Season 3 tried to marry her off to a non-existent prince; Credit – Wikipedia

Prince Sigmund of Prussia? No, you are not slipping this one past me! In Series 3, it was said that Feodora’s daughter Adelheid (called Heidi in the show) may marry Prince Sigmund of Prussia, the brother of the King of Prussia, The King of Prussia during the time period of Victoria Season 3 was King Friedrich Wilhelm IV. He had three brothers and none of them was named Sigmund. In fact, no King of Prussia had a brother named Prince Sigmund.

Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia had a brother named Prince Sigismund but he was born in 1864 and died in 1866. Prince Heinrich of Prussia, Wilhelm II’s brother, had a son named Prince Sigismund but he wasn’t born until 1896. So let’s just make up a fictional prince and say he was a suitor of Princess Feodora’s daughter!

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In 1851, this was the Crown Prince of Prussia; Credit – Wikipedia

In the same conversation as “Prince Sigmund,” it was said that Vicky, Queen Victoria’s eldest child, would marry the Crown Prince of Prussia. It was 1851 and the Crown Prince of Prussia was 54-year-old Wilhelm, the brother of the childless King Friedrich Wilhelm IV. Wilhelm succeeded his brother in 1861 as King Wilhelm I of Prussia. Wilhelm was also already married and had a son and a daughter. The son was the future Friedrich III, German Emperor and King of Prussia. He was the one that Vicky married in 1858 but he would not be Crown Prince of Prussia until his father succeeded to the throne in 1861. When Vicky married him he was Prince Friedrich of Prussia. So in 1851, the correct thing to say would have been “Vicky will marry the son of the Crown Prince of Prussia” but I guess the viewers were not considered smart enough to deal with that so let’s just use something else that is inaccurate.

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King Otto of Greece – Not Albert’s cousin; Credit – Wikipedia

In Season 3, it was said that King Otto of Greece was Prince Albert’s cousin. Um, no! Not even close! I did a double-take when I heard that. King Otto of Greece was born Prince Otto of Bavaria, the son of Ludwig I, King of Bavaria and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. In 1832, the Convention of London established Greece as a kingdom, and the Great Powers appointed Otto to be the new kingdom’s first king. He reigned for thirty years, until 1862 when he was deposed by a coup.

According to the relationship calculator at Leo’s Genealogics Website, the only way Otto is related to Albert is through Albert’s marriage to Victoria. King Otto of Greece (born Prince Otto of Bavaria) is the second cousin once removed of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert’s wife. Otto and Victoria’s mutual ancestors are Karl, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Princess Elisabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen. They are Queen Victoria’s great-grandparents through her paternal grandmother Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (wife of King George III) and Otto’s great-great-grandparents through his mother.

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Some Thoughts on Prince Albert’s Hair

Tom Hughes as Prince Alber in Season 1t; Credit – https://tvfeatures.bradfordzone.co.uk/2019/03/15/victoria-interview-with-tom-hughes-prince-albert/

In Season 3, Prince Albert ranges in age from 29 to 32. Albert, as played by Tom Hughes, has been wearing his hair the same way since he first appeared in the series as a teenager. Perhaps the idea for Hughes’ hairstyle came from the portrait of Albert below by Franz Xaver Winterhalter. The painting is from 1842 when Albert was 23-year-old.

Credit – Wikipedia

Albert began to suffer from a receding hairline early in his marriage. Quite a few of Albert’s descendants had early receding hairlines including his great-great-grandsons Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, his great-great-great-grandson Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and his great-great-great-great-grandsons Prince William, Prince of Wales and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex. By 1848, the first year of Victoria Season 3, Albert was 29-years-old and had far less hair. In the early daguerreotype with hand-coloring from 1848 below, Albert’s hairline is receding.

Credit – Wikipedia

And yet here is Albert, Victoria, and their son Bertie below at Osborne House in Season 3 at the same age (or even older) as Albert above, still sporting his teenage hairstyle with no evidence of a receding hairline.

Credit – https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/episodes/victoria-s3-e3/

In the 1850s, Albert’s hairline continued receding. Below is a photo of Victoria and Albert in 1854, only two years after the time period of Season 3.

Credit – Wikipedia

Below is Albert, aged 42, in 1861, the year of his death. If Victoria makes it to Albert’s death and he dies with a head of hair like Tom Hughes above, you will hear me SCREAM! from wherever you are!

Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth Helene von Vieregg and Charlotte Helene von Schindel, Mistresses of Frederik IV, King of Denmark and Norway

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Elisabeth Helene von Vieregg

Elisabeth Helene von Vieregg; Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth Helene von Vieregg was born on May 4, 1679, probably at her father’s estate in Wattmannshagen, now in Lalendorf in the German state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. She was the only daughter and the eldest of the three children of Adam Otto von Vieregg and Anna Helene von Wolffersdorff. Her father was the Chamber President of the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Güstrow and Prussian Minister of State and Privy Councilor. From 1698 to 1706, Elisabeth’s father was a Prussian envoy in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Frederik IV, King of Denmark and Norway; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1699, Elisabeth became a lady-in-waiting to Princess Sophie Hedwig of Denmark and Norway, the sister of Crown Prince Frederik, and caught his attention, and he gave Elisabeth a diamond ring as a gift. After succeeding to the throne as Frederik IV, King of Denmark and Norway in August 1699, he began a secret relationship with her despite having married Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow in 1695. Their relationship remained a secret until 1701 when a letter from Elisabeth’s father defending the relationship was made public.

On September 6, 1703, without divorcing his wife Queen Louise, Frederik IV made a bigamous marriage to Elisabeth. On the same day, Elisabeth was created Countess of Antvorskov and was given Antvorskov Castle, a Catholic monastery before the Protestant Reformation. In 1585, it became illegal to use the name Antvorskov Abbey to refer to the property, and so it was called Antvorskov Castle.

Antvorskov Castle, 1749; Credit – Wikipedia

On June 18, 1704, Elisabeth gave birth to a son, Frederik Gyldenløve. Following the practice of his predecessors, Frederik IV gave his illegitimate children the surname Gyldenløve which means Golden Lion. After giving birth, Elisabeth developed complications and died on June 27, 1704, aged 25. She was greatly mourned by Frederik IV who gave her a lavish funeral and commanded that the bells of three churches should ring for two hours. Elisabeth was buried at the Church of Our Savior in Copenhagen, Denmark. Her son lived for only nine months and was buried with Elisabeth.

Church of Our Saviour in Copenhagen, Denmark; Credit – Wikipedia

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Charlotte Helene von Schindel

After the death of Elisabeth Helene von Vieregg in 1704, Frederik IV, King of Denmark and Norway began an affair with her lady-in-waiting, Charlotte Helene von Schindel. Charlotte was born in 1690, the only daughter and the youngest of the three children of Wiglas von Schindel and Anna Helene von Horn. Charlotte’s father was a Hofmester, a senior official, at the Danish royal court. Her mother was responsible for the upbringing of Frederik IV’s son by Elisabeth Helene von Vieregg, Frederik Gyldenløve, who died when he was nine months old.

In 1709, Frederik again wanted to make a bigamous marriage but received strong opposition from Lutheran church leaders who told him that the law against bigamy also applied to kings. Charlotte and Frederik had a daughter in 1710 who died shortly before her first birthday. After the birth of her daughter, Charlotte was created Countess of Frederiksholm and received two estates Frederik had bought for her, Næsbyholm Castle in Næsby, Denmark, and Bavelse, a manor in Bavelse Sogn, Denmark.

Charlotte’s relationship with Frederik IV ended in 1711 when he entered into a relationship with Anna Sophie Reventlow who became Frederik’s mistress, bigamous wife, second legal wife, and Queen of Denmark. Charlotte was ordered to leave the Danish court and live at her estates. She claimed to be pregnant with Frederik’s child but the pregnancy claim turned out to be false. As Countess of Frederiksholm, Charlotte had an active social life and she had a relationship with Major-General Ernst Gotschalck von Bülow, the governor of Antvorskov Castle with whom she had a son, Frederik August Gotschalck von Bülow.

When King Frederik IV heard about the child, he ordered von Bülow to marry Charlotte. The wedding took place at the Antvorskov Castle Church on February 9, 1716. After the marriage, Frederik IV took away Charlotte’s estates, awarded her an annual pension, and ordered the couple to leave Denmark. They settled in Holstein in the Duchy of Holstein (now in Germany), where they lived until von Bülow died in 1721.

After her husband’s death, Charlotte lived with her sister in Silesia, then part of the Kingdom of Prussia, now located mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. She also lived in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia (now in Germany) before settling in Flensburg, Denmark (now in Germany) in 1750. Despite her annual pension, Charlotte died in poverty on April 6, 1752, aged 62.

Works Cited

Da.wikipedia.org. 2020. Charlotte Helene Von Schindel. [online] Available at: <https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Helene_von_Schindel> [Accessed 1 May 2020].
Da.wikipedia.org. 2020. Elisabeth Helene Von Vieregg. [online] Available at: <https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_Helene_von_Vieregg> [Accessed 1 May 2020].
De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Elisabeth Helene Von Vieregg. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_Helene_von_Vieregg> [Accessed 1 May 2020].
En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Charlotte Helene Von Schindel. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Helene_von_Schindel> [Accessed 1 May 2020].
En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Elisabeth Helene Von Vieregg. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_Helene_von_Vieregg> [Accessed 1 May 2020].
Sv.wikipedia.org. 2020. Charlotte Helene Von Schindel. [online] Available at: <https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Helene_von_Schindel> [Accessed 1 May 2020].

Sophie Amalie Moth, Mistress of King Christian V of Denmark and Norway

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Sophie Amalie Moth; Credit – Wikipedia

Sophie Amalie Moth was a longtime mistress of King Christian V of Denmark and Norway. She was born in Copenhagen, Denmark on March 28, 1654, one of the eight children and the youngest of the four daughters of Paul Moth and Ida Burenneus. Sophie Amalie’s father Paul Moth (link in German) was a physician. In 1651, due to some well-placed contacts, Paul Moth received a call to the court of King Frederik III of Denmark and Norway in Copenhagen, Denmark. Shortly thereafter, he became the personal physician of King Frederik III. He also supervised the education of King Frederik III’s heir Crown Prince Christian, the future King Christian V of Denmark and Norway. Sophie Amalie grew up at the Danish court with her siblings.

King Christian V of Denmark and Norway; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1667, Crown Prince Christian married Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel and between the years 1671 – 1687, the couple had seven children. Upon his father’s death in 1670, Crown Prince Christian succeeded him as Christian V, King of Denmark and Norway. Sophie Amalie’s relationship with King Christian V started shortly after he became king and it was arranged by Sophie Amalie’s mother.

Immediately, news of the relationship was spread throughout the Danish court. Although Christian V’s adultery caused an embarrassing situation for his wife, Queen Charlotte Amalie always made the most of her position as queen, both in her public life as well as in her private interactions with her husband. Sophie Amalie was also wise enough to treat Queen Charlotte Amalie with respect. She lived discreetly at court and never exerted influence besides asking for some favors for relatives, especially her brother Matthias Moth, who took advantage of the connection.

In 1677, Sophie Amalie was recognized as Christian’s official mistress and was created Countess of Samsøe. Between 1672 – 1682, Christian V and Sophie Amalie had six children who were all publicly acknowledged. Following the practice of his grandfather and father, Christian also gave his illegitimate children the surname Gyldenløve which means Golden Love. All the children also had Christian or Christiane among their names in honor of their royal father. The current Danish noble family of the Danneskiold-Samsøe descends from the eldest son of Sophie Amalie and King Christian V.

Christian Gyldenløve, eldest son of Sophie Amalie and Christian V; Credit – Wikipedia

Christian and Sophie Amalie had six children:

Christiane Gyldenløve (link in Danish) (1672 – 1689), married Count Frederik Ahlefeldt (link in Danish), no children, died at age 17
Christian Gyldenløve (1674 – 1703), married (1) Countess Charlotte Amalie of Danneskiold-Samsøe, daughter of an illegitimate son of King Frederik III, had two daughters (2) Dorothea Krag, had two sons
Sophie Christiane Gyldenløve (1675 – 1684)
Anna Christiane Gyldenløve (1676 – 1689)
Ulrik Christian Gyldenløve (1678 – 1719), Danish Navy Admiral and Governor of Iceland
A daughter (1682 – 1684)

Sophie Amalie and her children were financially secure because of the funds received from King Christian V and the crown treasury. King Christian V was an active participant in the children’s upbringing, education, and marriage negotiations. When his sons by Sophia Amalie reached the age of five or six, they were sent to be raised by King Christian V’s illegitimate half-brother Ulrik Frederik Gyldenløve, Count of Laurvig.

Sophie Amalie was able to purchase properties with the funds she had received. These properties further ensured the financial security of Sophie Amalie and her children. In 1682, Sophia Amalie received several properties in Gottorp from Christian V. After the death of naval hero Niels Jue in 1697, Sophia Amalie was given Thott Mansion, the mansion that Christian V had built for Juel. However, she immediately passed Thott Mansion on to her eldest son Christian Gyldenløve.

Jomfruens Egede; Credit – Af NPSE – Eget arbejde, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5789075

After the death of King Christian V in 1699, Sophie Amalie left the Danish court and retired to Jomfruens Egede, an estate she had purchased in 1674 in Fakse on the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark. Twenty years later, Sophie Amalie died on January 17, 1719, aged 64, at her home Jomfruens Egede. She was first buried at the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen, Denmark. In 1734, Sophia Amalie and her eldest son Christian Gyldenløve were reinterred at Saint Peter’s Church in Copenhagen, Denmark.

St. Peter’s Church in Copenhagen; Credit – By Tanya Dedyukhina, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56793710

Works Cited

Da.wikipedia.org. 2020. Sophie Amalie Moth. [online] Available at: <https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Amalie_Moth> [Accessed 1 May 2020].
Dansk kvindebiografisk leksikon. n.d. Sophie Amalie Moth (1654 – 1719). [online] Available at: <https://www.kvinfo.dk/side/597/bio/1457/origin/170/> [Accessed 1 May 2020].
De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Sophie Amalie Moth. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Amalie_Moth> [Accessed 1 May 2020].
En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Sophie Amalie Moth. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Amalie_Moth> [Accessed 1 May 2020].

Elisabeth of Valois, Queen of Spain

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Elisabeth of Valois, Queen of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth of Valois was the third of the four wives of King Philip II of Spain, son of Carlos I, King of Spain/Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Isabella of Portugal. Born on April 2, 1545, at the Château de Fontainebleau in Fontainebleau, France, Elisabeth was the eldest of the four daughters and the second of the ten children of Henri II, King of France and Catherine de’Medici.

Elisabeth had nine siblings but only six survived childhood:

François II, King of France (1544 – 1560), married Mary, Queen of Scots, no children
Claude of Valois, Duchess of Lorraine (1547 – 1575), married Charles III, Duke of Lorraine, had nine children
Louis, Duke of Orléans (1549 – 1550), died in infancy
Charles IX, King of France (1550 – 1574), married Elisabeth of Austria, had one daughter who died young
Henri III, King of France (1551 – 1589), married Louise of Lorraine, no children
Marguerite of Valois, Queen of France and Navarre (1553 – 1615), married Henri III, King of Navarre, the future Henri IV of France, no children
Hercule François, Duke of Anjou (1555 – 1584), unmarried
Victoria of Valois (born and died 1556), twin of Joan, died in infancy
Joan of Valois, twin of Victoria, died in utero

Elisabeth’s brother François and sister-in-law Mary, Queen of Scots; Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth grew up with her elder brother, the future François II, King of France, a year older than Elizabeth, and François’ fiancée Mary, Queen of Scots, who was three years older. In July 1548, the Scottish Parliament had approved Mary’s marriage to François and in August 1548, five-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots set sail for France where she would be raised with her future husband. She would not return to Scotland for thirteen years, after the death of François, whom she married in 1558. Elisabeth shared a bedroom with Mary and had to give precedence to Mary because she was already a crowned queen. Elisabeth and Mary remained close through their correspondence for the rest of their lives.

In 1551, when Elisabeth was six years old, her father Henri II began negotiations for a marriage to the Protestant 13-year-old King Edward VI of England. Pope Julius III said he would excommunicate Henri II and Elisabeth if the marriage occurred. Despite this, Henri II continued with the marriage negotiations and agreed upon a dowry. However, King Edward VI died in 1553.

In 1559, Elisabeth was betrothed to 14-year-old Carlos, Prince of Asturias, the only child and the heir apparent of King Philip II of Spain of the House of Habsburg. Carlos was sickly, deformed, and showed signs of mental instability. His condition was probably due to the inbreeding common among the House of Habsburg, and the royal houses of Portugal and Spain. Carlos’ parents, Philip of Spain and María Manuela of Portugal, were double first cousins which meant Carlos had only four different great-grandparents instead of the usual eight. Carlos was imprisoned in his rooms by his father Philip in early 1568 after participating in a plot to murder him. He died after six months, probably as the result of his delicate health although there were rumors of poisoning. Modern historians now think that Carlos died of natural causes.

King Philip II of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

The marriage between Elisabeth and Carlos never occurred. Instead, 14-year-old Elisabeth married Carlos’ 32-year-old father King Philip II of Spain. Philip had already been married twice: first to Carlos’ mother María Manuela of Portugal who died giving birth to Carlos and next to his first cousin once removed Queen Mary I of England who had died in 1558. In 1559, the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis was signed with France’s longtime enemies, the Habsburgs, and two marriages were stipulated by the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis: Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy marrying Henri II’s sister Marguerite of France, Duchess of Berry, and King Philip II of Spain marrying Elisabeth.

Departure of Elisabeth for Spain by Eugène Isabey depicts Elisabeth in white and her mother Catherine de’Medici in black as they part from each other; Credit – Wikipedia

The proxy marriage of Elisabeth and Philip II took place at Notre-Dame de Paris on June 22, 1559, with Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba representing King Philip II. On June 30, 1559, a great celebration and tournament were held in Paris at the Hôtel des Tournelles (now the site of the Place des Vosges) in honor of the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis and the two marriages that occurred as a result of the Peace. During a joust with Gabriel de Lorges, Comte de Montgomery, captain of the Scotch Guard, de Montgomery’s lance struck King Henri II’s helmet, splintered, and went through the visor going through the king’s right eye and his temple into the brain. Henri II survived for more than a week, dying on July 10, 1559, at the age of 40, probably from a subdural hematoma and sepsis. Henri II’s fifteen-year-old eldest son succeeded as King François II of France. Because of her father’s death, Elisabeth’s departure for Spain was postponed until November 18, 1559. She did not meet King Philip until January 31, 1560. On February 2, 1560, Elisabeth and Philip were married in person in Guadalajara, Spain.

Queen Elisabeth in 1560; Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth and Philip made the Royal Palace of Aranjuez in Madrid, Spain their primary home. Enchanted by his 14-year-old wife, Philip eventually gave up his mistresses. Despite the 18-year-age gap, Elisabeth was also quite pleased with her husband. At first, Elisabeth found it very difficult in Spain. She missed France and her family very much but she worked hard to get used to her new role in the Kingdom of Spain. Elisabeth’s efforts left a good impression on the aristocrats of the Spanish royal court. Born and raised in Renaissance France, Elisabeth began to spread French customs in Spain. She was very fond of gambling, picnics, and most importantly masquerade balls and soon these customs became commonplace at the Spanish court.

Elisabeth and Philip’s two daughters Isabella Clara Eugenia and Catherine Michelle; Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth continued to concentrate on her role as Queen of Spain. She considered her main duty to give birth to sons but she was unable to do so. She had five pregnancies but had only two surviving daughters:

Stillborn son (1560)
Miscarried twin daughters (1564)
Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia (1566 – 1633), married Albert VII, Archduke of Austria, no children
Infanta Catherine Michelle (1567 – 1597), married Carlo Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, had ten children
Premature daughter Juana (born and died October 3, 1568)

In May 1568, Elisabeth’s health suffered. A new pregnancy caused severe vomiting and dizziness which the doctors tried to relieve by bleeding which would have further weakened her and not helped her as the doctors then believed. On October 3, 1568, at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez in Madrid, Spain, Elisabeth went into premature labor which turned out to be very complicated and so all of the doctors of the royal court were called. Elisabeth demanded that Philip be brought to her. She begged him to look after their two daughters and to help her brother Henri III to reign in France. Elisabeth also told him that she had known that she would not live a long life and had prayed constantly for her soul. She asked Philip to pray for her soul and Philip immediately fell to his knees. After much suffering, Elisabeth gave birth to a daughter of five months of gestation. The daughter was baptized Juana but only lived for ninety minutes. An hour later, 23-year-old Elisabeth died. It was said that Philip II was only seen crying once in his life, during the funeral of his wife Elisabeth.

Philip wanted to have all the kings and queens of Spain buried at the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial which was still under construction and so Elisabeth and her daughter Juana were temporarily buried at the Carmelite Convent of Las Descalzas Reales in Madrid which had been founded by Philip’s sister Joanna of Austria. In 1573, Elisabeth’s remains were transferred to El Escorial where she was buried in the Pantheon of the Infantes (Princes) and not where her husband would be buried in the Pantheon of the Kings because she had not been the mother of a King of Spain.

Tomb of Elisabeth of Valois, Queen of Spain; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Philip II dressed in deep mourning for the rest of his life and only the lack of a male heir pushed him into a fourth marriage. In 1570, Philip married his niece Anna of Austria, daughter of first cousins Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria of Spain, who was Philip’s sister. Philip and Anna had five children and the only one who survived was Philip II’s successor King Philip III of Spain. Philip II was a widower four times, outliving all four of his wives.

Works Cited

En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Elisabeth Of Valois. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_of_Valois> [Accessed 18 June 2020].
En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Philip II Of Spain. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_II_of_Spain> [Accessed 18 June 2020].
Es.wikipedia.org. 2020. Isabel De Valois (1546-1568). [online] Available at: <https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel_de_Valois_(1546-1568)> [Accessed 18 June 2020].
Flantzer, Susan, 2013. King Henri II Of France. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/june-30-daily-featured-royal-date/> [Accessed 18 June 2020].
Flantzer, Susan, 2019. King Philip II Of Spain. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-philip-ii-of-spain/> [Accessed 18 June 2020].
Ka.wikipedia.org. 2020. ელიზაბეტ დე ვალუა. [online] Available at: <https://ka.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%83%94%E1%83%9A%E1%83%98%E1%83%96%E1%83%90%E1%83%91%E1%83%94%E1%83%A2_%E1%83%93%E1%83%94_%E1%83%95%E1%83%90%E1%83%9A%E1%83%A3%E1%83%90> [Accessed 18 June 2020]. (Elisabeth of Valois from Georgian Wikipedia)

Eleanor of Austria, Queen of Portugal, Queen of France

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2020

Eleanor of Austria, Queen of Portugal, Queen of France; Credit – Wikipedia

Eleanor, Archduchess of Austria, Infanta of Castile was the third wife of Manuel I, King of Portugal, and the second wife of François I, King of France. She was born on November 15, 1498, in Leuven, Spanish Netherlands, now in Belgium. Eleanor (Leonor in Spanish and Portuguese, Eléonore or Aliénor in French) was the eldest of the four daughters and the eldest of the six children of Philip (the Handsome), Duke of Burgundy and Joanna, Queen of Castile and León and Queen of Aragon.

Eleanor’s father Philip; Credit – Wikipedia

Eleanor’s mother Joanna; Credit – Wikipedia

Eleanor’s paternal grandparents were Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Austria and Mary, Duchess of Burgundy in her own right. Her maternal grandparents were Ferdinand II, King of Aragon and Isabella I, Queen of Castile and León. Eleanor and her siblings were nieces and nephews of Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of King Henry VIII of England, and first cousins of Henry VIII and Catherine’s daughter Queen Mary I of England.

Ferdinand, Charles, Eleanor, Isabella, Mary, and Catherine; Credit – Wikipedia

Eleanor had five younger siblings. Her two brothers were Kings and Holy Roman Emperors and Eleanor and her three sisters were all Queen Consorts.

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain (1500–1558), married Isabella of Portugal, had three children who survived to adulthood including King Philip II of Spain
Isabella of Austria (1501–1526), married Christian II, King of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, had three surviving children, her husband was deposed
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia and Hungary (1503–1564), married Anne of Bohemia and Hungary, had fifteen children (all but two reached adulthood)
Mary of Austria (1505–1558), married Louis II, King of Bohemia and Hungary, no children; Mary was Governor of the Spanish Netherlands 1531-1555
Catherine of Austria (1507–1578), married João III, King of Portugal, had nine children

Eleanor’s relatives from her father’s House of Habsburg unsuccessfully tried to negotiate marriages for her to King Henry VII and King Henry VIII of England, King Louis XII of France, and King Sigismund I of Poland. When Eleanor was eighteen years old, she wanted to marry Friedrich II, Elector Palatine. Eleanor’s brother Charles, then Duke of Burgundy and King of Spain, discovered her reading love letters from Friedrich. Eleanor and Friedrich had to legally swear that they were not secretly married, after which Charles expelled Friedrich from his court.

Eleanor’s first husband, Manuel I, King of Portugal; Credit – Wikipedia

Eventually, Charles made a political marriage for his sister Eleanor with King Manuel I of Portugal to avoid the possibility of Portuguese assistance for any rebellion in Castile, part of the Kingdom of Spain. On July 16, 1518, 19-year-old Eleanor became Queen of Portugal when she married 49-year-old Manuel I. Manuel had been married twice before to two maternal aunts of Eleanor, Isabella of Aragon and Maria of Aragon. Isabella had died in childbirth giving birth to her first child who also died. Maria also died in childbirth giving birth to her tenth child who did not survive. However, eight of Maria and Manuel’s children did survive including two Kings of Portugal, King João III and Cardinal-King Henrique I, and Isabella who married her first cousin and Eleanor’s brother Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain. The marriage of Eleanor and King Manuel I of Portugal lasted only three years. On December 13, 1521, Manuel died from the plague and was succeeded by his son with his second wife, King João III.

Eleanor and Manuel had two children:

Infante Carlos of Portugal (1520-1521), died from a fever
Infanta Maria of Portugal, Duchess of Viseu (1521-1577), unmarried, was the richest woman in Europe of her time

Eleanor’s daughter, Infanta Maria of Portugal, Duchess of Viseu; Credit – Wikipedia

After the death of King Manuel I of Portugal, Eleanor and her six-month-old daughter Maria returned to the court of her brother Charles, who had been elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1519. When Maria was nine years old, she was moved back to Lisbon, Portugal where she lived at the court of her half-brother King João III for the rest of her life. There were some considerations for her marriage but Maria never did marry.

François I, King of France and Eleanor; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1529, the Treaty of Cambrai was signed ending the Seventh Italian War, also known as the War of the League of Cognac, fought between Charles V’s Holy Roman Empire and Habsburg Spain and François I’s Kingdom of France and his allies. To seal the treaty, François I, King of France, a widower for several years, agreed to marry Eleanor, the sister of Charles V. Eleanor and François were married on July 4, 1530, and Eleanor was crowned Queen of France at the Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris, France on May 31, 1531. Eleanor was ignored by François who preferred his mistresses. Needless to say, Eleanor and François had no children.

Eleanor served useful as an intermediary between France and her brother’s Holy Roman Empire. She took an active role in the care and education of François’ two youngest daughters, eleven-year-old Madeleine and nine-year-old Marguerite. Their mother Claude of France had died seven years earlier, in 1524. Eleanor played her role as Queen of France on official occasions such as the marriage of François’ heir, the future King Henri II, and Catherine de’Medici in 1533. Eleanor’s second husband François I, King of France, aged 52, died on March 31, 1547, at the Château de Rambouillet. He was buried at the Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris with his first wife Claude of France.

Eleanor’s brother Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

After being widowed, Eleanor received the Duchy of Touraine as her dower lands, and in 1548, she left France for the court in Brussels, then in the Spanish Netherlands, now in Belgium, where her sister Mary served as the Governor of the Spanish Netherlands. For many years, with the help of her brother Charles, Eleanor unsuccessfully sought the permission of the King of Portugal for her daughter Maria to live with her. Physically exhausted after forty years of ruling, Eleanor’s brother Charles abdicated in 1555 and retired to the peace of the Monastery of San Jerónimo de Yuste in Cuacos de Yuste, Spain. In 1556, Eleanor and her sister Mary decided to follow their brother Charles into retirement in Spain in Jarandilla de la Vera, close to the monastery where Charles retired so they could visit him.

Eleanor had not seen her daughter Maria since 1528. Finally, in 1558, King João III of Portugal agreed to allow his half-sister Maria to visit her mother. Both mother and daughter traveled to the town of Badajoz, Spain, close to the Portuguese border. Eleanor asked Maria to live with her but Maria refused the request and remained with her mother for three weeks before returning to Lisbon. On the return trip from Badajoz, Eleanor died at Talavera la Real, Spain on February 18, 1558, at the age of 59. Her siblings Charles and Mary soon followed her into death. Charles died on September 21, 1558, and Mary died on October 18, 1558.

Eleanor was initially buried at the Cathedral of Saint Mary Major in Mérida, Spain. In 1574, on the order of her nephew King Felipe II of Spain, Eleanor’s remains, along with the remains of other members of the Habsburg family, were transferred to a temporary crypt at the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial in Spain which was under construction. In 1586, the remains were transferred to the permanent crypts at El Escorial, which is now the traditional burial site of the Spanish royal family. Eleanor’s remains rest in the Pantheon of the Infantes – Chapel 9 at El Escorial.

Tomb of Eleanor of Austria; Credit – Wikipedia

Works Cited

En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Eleanor Of Austria. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_of_Austria> [Accessed 15 June 2020].
En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Manuel I Of Portugal. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_I_of_Portugal> [Accessed 15 June 2020].
Es.wikipedia.org. 2020. Leonor De Austria. [online] Available at: <https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonor_de_Austria> [Accessed 15 June 2020].
Flantzer, Susan, 2020. François I, King Of France. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/François-i-king-of-france/> [Accessed 15 June 2020].
Fr.wikipedia.org. 2020. Éléonore De Habsbourg. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89l%C3%A9onore_de_Habsbourg> [Accessed 15 June 2020].

Contemporary Monarchs of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

compiled by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Embed from Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom is the longest-reigning British monarch having surpassed her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria on September 9, 2015. Having reigned 70 years, 214 days, she is the second longest-reigning monarch ever on a list of monarchs of states that were internationally sovereign for most or all of their reigns and have verifiable reigns by an exact date.

Only one monarch is ahead of Queen Elizabeth II:

King Louis XIV of France, reigned May 14, 1643 to September 1, 1715, for 72 years, 110 days

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Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom – reigned February 6, 1952 – September 8, 2022

Many monarchs have come and gone and some monarchies have been abolished during the long reign of Queen Elizabeth II. The following monarchs reigned during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. The links on the names of the monarchies lead to that monarchy’s content area at Unofficial Royalty. Note that not all monarchies have content areas. The content area for the United Kingdom can be found here.

Kingdom of Afghanistan (monarchy abolished 1973)

King Mohammed Zahir Shah of Afghanistan (reigned 1933 – 1973, deposed)

Kingdom of Bahrain

Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Hakim of Bahrain (reigned 1942 – 1961)
Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Emir of Bahrain (reigned 1961 – 1999)
Sheikh Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, King of Bahrain (reigned 1999 – )

Kingdom of Belgium

Baudouin, King of the Belgians (reigned 1951 – 1993)
Albert II, King of the Belgians (reigned 1993 – 2013, abdicated)
Philippe, King of the Belgians (reigned 2013 – )

Kingdom of Bhutan

King Jigme Wangchuck of Bhutan (reigned 1926 – 1952)
King Jigme Dorji of Bhutan (reigned 1952 – 1972)
King Jigme Singye Wangchuck of Bhutan (reigned 1972 – 2006, abdicated)
King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck of Bhutan (reigned 2006 – )

Nation of Brunei, Abode of Peace

Omar Ali Saifuddien III, Sultan of Brunei (reigned 1950 – 1967, abdicated)
Hassanal Bolkiah, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei (reigned 1967 – )

Kingdom of Burundi (monarchy abolished 1966)

King Mwambutsa IV Bangiriceng of Burundi (reigned 1915 – 1966, deposed)
King Ntare V Ndizeye of Burundi (reigned July 8 – November 28, 1966, deposed, assassinated 1972)

Kingdom of Cambodia

King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia (reigned 1941 – 1955, 1993 – 2004, abdicated)
King Norodom Suramarit of Cambodia (reigned 1955 -1960)
King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia (reigned 2004 – )

Kingdom of Denmark

King Frederik IX of Denmark (reigned 1947 – 1972)
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark (reigned 1972 – )

Kingdom of Egypt (monarchy abolished 1953)

King Farouk I of Egypt (reigned 1936 – 1952, abdicated)
King Fuad II of Egypt (reigned 1952 – 1953, deposed)

Kingdom of eSwatini (formerly Swaziland)

Note: King Sobhuza is not on the list of longest reigning internationally recognized monarchs of a sovereign state. He was an internationally recognized monarch of a sovereign state for fourteen years, from when Swaziland was granted independence in1968 until his death in 1982. However, he is number one on the list of longest reigning monarchs of dependent or constituent states.

King Sobhuza II of Swaziland (reigned as Paramount Chief 1899 – 1967, as King 1967 – 1982)
King Mswati III of eSwatini (1982 – )

Empire of Ethiopia (monarchy abolished 1975)

Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia (reigned 1930 – 1974, deposed)
Emperor Amha Selassie I of Ethiopia (reigned 1974 – 1975, monarchy abolished)

Kingdom of the Hellenes (Greece) (monarchy abolished 1973)

King Paul of the Hellenes (reigned 1947 – 1964)
King Constantine II of the Hellenes (reigned 1964 – 1973, a military junta ruled Greece from 1967 – 1974, in 1967 King Constantine II attempted a counter-coup against the military junta which failed, King Constantine II remained the head of state in exile until June 1, 1973, when the junta abolished the monarchy)

Imperial State of Iran (monarchy abolished 1979)

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran (reigned 1941 – 1979, deposed)

State of Japan

Emperor Shōwa of Japan (Hirohito) (reigned 1926–1989)
Emperor Akihito of Japan (reigned 1989 – 2019, abdicated)
Emperor Naruhito of Japan (reigned 2019 – )

Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

King Talal of Jordan (reigned 1951 – 1952, abdicated)
King Hussein I of Jordan (reigned 1952 – 1999)
King Abdullah II of Jordan (reigned 1999 – )

State of Kuwait

Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (reigned 1950 – 1965)
Sabah Al-Salim Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (reigned 1965 – 1977)
Jaber III al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (reigned 1977 – 2006)
Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (reigned 2006, abdicated due to illness)
Sabah IV bin Ahmad Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (reigned 2006 – 2020)
Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (reigned 2020 – )

Kingdom of Laos (monarchy abolished 1975)

Sisavang Vong, King of Laos (reigned 1946 – 1959)
Savang Vatthana, King of Laos (reigned 1959 – 1975, forced to abdicate)

Kingdom of Lesotho

Regents for Moshoeshoe II (1940 – 1960)
King Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho (reigned Paramount Chief 1960 – 1966, King 1966 – 1996)
King Letsie III of Lesotho (reigned 1996 – )

Kingdom of Libya (monarchy abolished 1969)

King Idris I of Libya (reigned 1951 – 1969, deposed)

Principality of Liechtenstein

Prince Franz Josef II of Liechtenstein (reigned 1938 – 1989)
Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein (reigned 1989 – )

Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg (reigned 1919 – 1964, abdicated)
Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg (reigned 1964 – 2000, abdicated)
Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg (reigned 2000 – )

Malaysia

Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy with an elected monarch, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, as head of state. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong is elected to a five-year term by and from the nine hereditary rulers of the Malay states. See the following link for a list of the Yang di-Pertuan Agongs: Wikipedia: Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Sultanate of the Maldives (monarchy abolished in 1968)

King Muhammad Fareed Didi of the Maldives (reigned 1954 – 1968, deposed by a national referendum which decided to replace the sultanate with a republic)

Principality of Monaco

Prince Rainier III of Monaco (reigned 1949 – 2005)
Prince Albert II of Monaco (reigned 2005 – )

Kingdom of Morocco

King Mohammed V of Morocco (reigned as Sultan 1927 – 1953, deposed; 1955 – 1957, reigned as King 1957 – 1961)
Sultan Mohammed Ben Aarafa of Morocco (reigned 1953 – 1955, abdicated)
King Hassan II of Morocco (reigned 1961 – 1999)
King Mohammed VI of Morocco (reigned 1999 – )

Kingdom of Nepal (monarchy abolished 2008)

Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah, King of Nepal (1st reign 1911 – 1950, went into exile; 2nd reign 1951 – 1955)
Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah, King of Nepal (reigned 1955 – 1972)
Birendra Bir Bikram Shah, King of Nepal (reigned 1972 – 2001, assassinated by his son Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah (who shot himself in the head) along with eight other members of the royal family)
Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah, King of Nepal (reigned June 1, 2001 – June 4, 2001, declared brain dead)
Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah (1st reign 1950 – 1951, abdicated; 2nd reign 2001 – 2008, Nepalese Constituent Assembly declared Nepal a republic and abolished the monarchy)

Kingdom of the Netherlands

Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (reigned 1948 – 1980, abdicated)
Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands (reigned 1980 – 2013, abdicated)
King Willem-Alexander (reigned 2013 – )

Kingdom of Norway

King Haakon VII of Norway (reigned 1905 – 1957)
King Olav V of Norway (reigned 1957 – 1991)
King Harald V of Norway (reigned 1991 – )

Sultanate of Oman

Said bin Taimur, Sultan of Oman (reigned 1932 – 1970, overthrown in a coup d’etat)
Qaboos bin Said Al Said, Sultan of Oman (reigned 1970 – 2020)
Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, Sultan of Oman (reigned 2020 – )

State of Qatar

Sheikh Ali bin Abdullah Al Thani, Hakim of Qatar (reigned 1949 – 1960, abdicated)
Sheikh Ahmad bin Ali Al Thani, Emir of Qatar (reigned as Hakim 1960 – 1971, reigned as Emir 1971 – 1972, deposed)
Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of Qatar (reigned 1972 – 1995, deposed)
Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar (reigned 1995 – 2013, abdicated)
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar (reigned 2013 – )

Kingdom of Rwanda (monarchy abolished 1961)

Mutara III Rudahigwa, King of Rwanda (1931 – 1959)
Kigeli V Ndahindurwa, King of Rwanda (1959 – 1961, monarchy abolished, Kigeli V Ndahindurwa continued to maintain his claim to the throne until his death in 2016)

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

King Abdulaziz (Ibn Saud) of Saudi Arabia (reigned 1932 – 1953)
King Saud of Saudi Arabia (reigned 1953 – 1964, deposed)
King Faisal of Saudi Arabia (reigned 1964 – 1975, assassinated)
King Khalid of Saudi Arabia (reigned 1975 – 1982)
King Fahd of Saudi Arabia (reigned 1982 – 2005)
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia (reigned 2005 – 2015)
King Salman of Saudi Arabia (reigned 2015 – )

Kingdom of Sikkim (monarchy abolished 1975)

Tashi Namgyal, Chogyal of Sikkim (reigned 1914 – 1963)
Palden Thondup Namgyal, Chogyal of Sikkim (reigned 1963 – 1975, a referendum abolished the monarchy and Sikkim became a state of India)

Kingdom of Spain

King Juan Carlos I of Spain (reigned 1975 – 2014, abdicated)
King Felipe VI of Spain (reigned 2014 – )

Kingdom of Sweden

King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden (reigned 1950 – 1973)
King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden (reigned 1973 – )

Kingdom of Thailand

King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand (reigned 1946 – 2016)
King Maha Vajiralongkorn of Thailand (reigned 2016 – )

Kingdom of Tonga

Queen Sālote Tupou III of Tonga (reigned 1918 – 1965)
King Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV of Tonga (reigned (1965 – 2006)
King George Tupou V of Tonga (reigned 2006 – 2012)
King Tupou VI of Tonga (reigned 2006 – )

Kingdom of Tunisia (monarchy abolished in 1957)

King Muhammad VIII al-Amin of Tunisia (reigned as Bey 1943 – 1956, reigned as King 1956 – 1957, deposed)

United Arab Emirates

Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Emir of Abu Dhabi (President 1971 – 2004)
Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Emir of Abu Dhabi (President 2004 – )
Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Emir of Dubai (Prime Minister & Vice President 1971 – 1979 and 1990 – 2006)
Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emir of Dubai (Prime Minister & Vice President 1979 – 1990)
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Emir of Dubai (Prime Minister & Vice President 2006 – )

Kingdom of Yemen (monarchy abolished 1966)

Ahmad bin Yahya, King of Yemen (reigned 1948 – 1962)
Muhammad al-Badr, King of Yemen (reigned 1962 – 1966, deposed, monarchy abolished)

Sultanate of Zanzibar (monarchy abolished 1964)

Khalifa bin Harub, Sultan of Zanzibar (reigned 1911 – 1960)
Abdullah bin Khalifa, Sultan of Zanzibar (reigned 1960 – 1963)
Jamshid bin Abdullah, Sultan of Zanzibar (reigned 1963 – 1964, deposed, Zanzibar united with Tanganyika to form Tanzania)

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Queen Elizabeth II meets Liz Truss, her 15th Prime Minister on September 6, 2022, two days before her death; Credit – The Royal Family Facebook Page

In addition to all those monarchs, Queen Elizabeth II had fifteen Prime Ministers and reigned during the terms of fourteen Presidents of the United States and seven pontificates of Popes.

Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom during Queen Elizabeth II’s reign

Sir Winston Churchill: (October 26, 1951 – April 5, 1955)
Sir Anthony Eden: (April 6, 1955 – January 9, 1957)
Harold Macmillan: (January 10, 1957 – October 18, 1963)
Sir Alec Douglas-Home: (October 19, 1963 – October 16, 1964)
Harold Wilson; (October 16, 1964 – June 19, 1970)
Edward Heath: (June 19, 1970 – March 4, 1974)
Harold Wilson: (March 14, 1974 – April 5, 1976)
James Callaghan: (April 5, 1976 – May 4, 1979)
Margaret Thatcher: (May 4, 1979 – November 28, 1990)
John Major: (November 28, 1990 – May 2, 1997)
Tony Blair: (May 2, 1997 – June 27, 2007)
Gordon Brown: (June 27, 2007 – May 11, 2010)
David Cameron: (May 11, 2010 – July 13, 2016)
Theresa May: (July 13, 2016 – July 24, 2019)
Boris Johnson: (July 24, 2019 – September 6, 2022)
Liz Truss: (September 6, 2022 – October 25, 2022)

Presidents of the United States during Queen Elizabeth II’s reign

Harry S. Truman: (April 12, 1945 – January 20, 1953)
Dwight D. Eisenhower: (January 20, 1953 – January 20, 1961)
John F. Kennedy: (January 20, 1961 – November 22, 1963, assassinated)
Lyndon B. Johnson: (November 22, 1963 – January 20, 1969)
Richard Nixon: (January 20, 1969 – August 9, 1974, resigned)
Gerald Ford: (August 9, 1974 – January 20, 1977)
Jimmy Carter: (January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981)
Ronald Reagan: (January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989)
George H.W. Bush: (January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993)
Bill Clinton: (January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001)
George W. Bush: (January 20, 2001 – January 20, 2009)
Barack Obama:( January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2017)
Donald Trump: (January 20, 2017 – January 20, 2021)
Joseph Biden: (January 20, 2021 – )

Popes during Queen Elizabeth II’s reign

Pope Pius XII: March 2, 1939 – October 9, 1958
Pope (Saint) John XIII: October 28, 1958 – June 3, 1963
Pope (Saint) Paul VI: June 21, 1963 – August 6, 1978
Pope (Blessed) John Paul I: August 26, 1978 – September 28, 1978
Pope (Saint) John Paul II: October 16, 1978 – April 2, 2005
Pope Benedict XVI: April 19, 2005 – February 28, 2013, resigned
Pope Francis: March 13, 2013 –

Sophia Magdalene of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, Queen of Denmark and Norway

Credit – Wikipedia

Margravine Sophia Magdalene of Brandenburg-Kulmbach was the wife of Christian VI, King of Denmark and Norway. She was born at Schloss Schönberg in Lauf an der Pegnitz near the Imperial City of Nuremberg, now in the German state of Bavaria, on November 28, 1700. Sophia Magdalene was the ninth of the fourteen children and the fourth of the seven daughters of Margrave Christian Heinrich of Brandenburg-Kulmbach and Sophie Christiane of Wolfstein.

Sophia Magdalene had thirteen siblings but seven did not survive childhood. Several of her siblings lived in Denmark and/or were appointed to Danish positions once Sophia Magdalena’s husband became King of Denmark and Norway.

Georg Frederick Karl, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (1688 – 1735), married Dorothea of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck, had five children, divorced
Albrecht Wolfgang (1689 – 1734), unmarried, Lieutenant General in the Imperial Army (Holy Roman Empire), killed in action
Dorothea Charlotte (1691 – 1712), married Karl Ludwig, Count of Hohenlohe-Weikersheim
Friedrich Emanuel (1692 – 1693), died in infancy
Christiane Henriette (1693 – 1695), died in early childhood
Friedrich Wilhelm (born and died 1695), died in infancy
Christiane (born and died 1698), died the day of her birth
Christian August (1699 – 1700), died in infancy
Christine Wilhelmine (1702 – 1704), died in early childhood
Friedrich Ernst, Governor of the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein (1703 – 1762); married Christine Sophie of Brünswick-Bevern, no children
Marie Eleonore (1704 – 1705), died in infancy
Sophie Caroline (1705 – 1764) married Georg Albrecht, Prince of East Frisia, no children
Friedrich Christian, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (1708 – 1769), married Viktoria Charlotte von Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym, had two daughters, divorced

Sophia Magdalene’s father Christian Heinrich of Brandenburg-Kulmbach was the father of two reigning Margraves of Brandenburg-Bayreuth and a Queen Consort of Denmark and Norway but never ruled as a sovereign himself. His title of Margrave was a nominal title. Because Christian Heinrich had few resources and was in debt, in 1694 he accepted the invitation of his relative, Georg Friedrich II, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, to move in with his family at Schloss Schönberg where Sophia Magdelena was born in 1700.

In 1703, Christian Heinrich signed the Contract of Schönberg. Under the terms of this contract, he renounced his succession rights in Anhalt and Bayreuth in favor of Prussia. Friedrich I, King in Prussia then granted Christian Heinrich the use of Schloss Weferlingen (link in German) now in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Four-year-old Sophia Magdalene moved to Schloss Weferlingen with her family. When she was eight-years-old, Sophia Magdalene’s father died at the age of 47, three months before the birth of his last child.

Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, Queen of Poland, Electress of Saxony, who raised Sophia Magdalene; Credit – Wikipedia

After her father’s death, Sophia Magdalene was raised at Pretzsch Castle in Pretzsch, Electorate of Saxony, now in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, by the wife of Augustus II, King of Poland, Elector of Saxony and Sophie Magdalene’s distant relative, Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth. Christiane Eberhardine’s husband converted to Catholicism to become King of Poland, however, she remained a staunch Lutheran throughout her life. Besides Sophia Magdalene, Christiane Eberhardine took in several relatives to educate them including Sophia Magdalene’s sister Sophie Caroline and Charlotte Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel who married Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich of Russia. the son and heir of Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia.

The future King Christian VI, husband of Sophia Magdalene; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1721, Crown Prince Christian of Denmark and Norway, the son and heir of Frederik IV, King of Denmark and Norway, was traveling throughout Europe seeking a princess to become his wife. At the court of Augustus II, King of Poland, Elector of Saxony, he fell in love with Sophia Magdalene who was then serving as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Christiane Eberhardine. Although Sophia Magdalene came from an insignificant, poor family, King Frederik IV granted permission for the couple to marry. Christian and Sophie Magdalene were married on August 7, 1721, at Pretzsch Castle in the Electorate of Saxony, now in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.

Christian and Sophia Magdalene had one son and two daughters:

Frederik V, King of Denmark and Norway (1723 – 1766), married (1) Louisa of Great Britain, daughter of King George II of Great Britain, had five children including Christian VII, King of Denmark and Norway and Sophia Magdalena who married Gustav III, King of Sweden (2) Juliane Marie of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, had one son Frederik, Hereditary Prince of Denmark
Louise of Denmark and Norway (born and died 1724), died when six months old
Louise of Denmark (1726 – 1756), married Ernst Friedrich III, Duke of Saxony-Hildburghausen, no surviving children

Family of Christian VI, 1744, (left to right) Crown Prince Frederik (future Frederik V) King Christian VI; Queen Sophia Magdalene, and Crown Princess Louise (Frederik’s wife); Credit – Wikipedia

Sophia Magdalene’s husband succeeded his father upon his death on October 12, 1730, as Christian VI, King of Denmark and Norway. The coronation of the new King and Queen of Denmark and Norway was held on June 6, 1731, at the Fredensborg Palace Chapel in Fredensborg, Denmark. A new crown was made for Sophia Magdalene because she refused to wear the crown that the despised Queen Anna Sophie, her husband’s stepmother and longtime mistress of King Frederik IV, had worn. The vast majority of the Danish crown jewels come from Sophia Magdalene’s collection. Sophie Magdalen’s crown and other crown jewels can be seen today, at Rosenborg Castle in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Left: The crown made for Queen Sophia Magdalene; Right: The Crown made for King Christian V, on display at Rosenborg Palace; Photo Credit – Susan Flantzer

Sophia Magdalene never forgot that she came from a poor family and she never forgot that more fortunate people helped her family. She was responsible for bringing several family members to Denmark. Sophie Magdalen’s mother, Sophie Christiane of Wolfstein, came to Denmark during her daughter’s first pregnancy in 1723 and remained in Denmark, living at Sorgenfri Palace in Kongens Lyngby, Denmark. When she died in 1737, she was buried at Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark, the burial site of the Danish royal family. Two of the Queen’s brothers became Danish admirals. Her widowed sister Sophie Caroline was brought to the Danish court in 1735. In 1737, Sophia Magdalene founded the Vallø Stift (Noble Vallø Foundation for Unmarried Daughters). The foundation was headed by an abbess from a princely house and Sophia Magdalene appointed her sister Sophie Caroline as the first abbess.

Hirschholm Palace designed by Lauritz de Thurah for King Christian VI & Queen Sophia Magdalene; Credit – Wikipedia

Christian VI, King of Denmark and Norway died at the age of 46 on August 6, 1746, the day before his 25th wedding anniversary, at Hirschholm Palace located in present-day Hørsholm municipality just north of Copenhagen, Denmark. He was buried in Frederik V’s Chapel at Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark.

Sophia Magdalene survived her husband by twenty-four years. She lived for the entire reign of her son King Frederik V and was alive for the first four years of the reign of her grandson King Christian VII. Her summers were spent at Hirschholm Palace and during the winters, she lived at Christiansborg Palace. Queen Sophia Magdalene, aged 69, died at Christiansborg Castle in Copenhagen, Denmark on May 27, 1770. At her request, she was buried in a simple ceremony in Frederik V’s Chapel at Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark.

Tomb of Queen Sophia Magdalene; Credit – Wikipedia

Kingdom of Denmark Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

Da.wikipedia.org. 2020. Sophie Magdalene Af Danmark. [online] Available at: <https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Magdalene_af_Danmark> [Accessed 1 May 2020].
De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Sophie Magdalene Von Dänemark. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Magdalene_von_D%C3%A4nemark> [Accessed 1 May 2020].
En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Sophie Magdalene Of Brandenburg-Kulmbach. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Magdalene_of_Brandenburg-Kulmbach> [Accessed 1 May 2020].
Sv.wikipedia.org. 2020. Sofia Magdalena Av Danmark. [online] Available at: <https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofia_Magdalena_av_Danmark> [Accessed 1 May 2020].

Christian VI, King of Denmark and Norway

Credit – Wikipedia

Christian VI, King of Denmark and Norway was born on November 30, 1699, at Copenhagen Castle in Copenhagen Denmark. He was the second of the five children and the second but the only surviving of the four sons of Frederik IV, King of Denmark and Norway and Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow.

Christian VI had three brothers and one sister but only his sister survived infancy:

Christian of Denmark and Norway (1697 – 1698), died in infancy
Frederik Carl of Denmark and Norway (1701 – 1702), died in infancy
Jørgen of Denmark and Norway (1703 – 1704), died in infancy
Charlotte Amalie of Denmark and Norway (1706 – 1782), unmarried

Christian had more of a Germanic upbringing than a Danish one which was not unusual as the language of the Danish royal court at that time was German. He could understand Danish but spoke and wrote in German. It was not until the time of his daughter-in-law, Louisa of Great Britain who learned Danish and insisted that her children learn Danish, that the native language of Denmark regained a foothold at court.

Christian’s mother Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow had been brought up as an adherent to Pietism, a movement that originated in the Lutheran Church in the 17th century in Germany that stressed personal piety over religious formality and orthodoxy. Christian followed his mother’s religious views. The adultery and bigamy of his father Frederik IV, King of Denmark and Norway, and the effect it had upon his mother deeply affected and disturbed Christian.

In 1699, the year of Christian’s birth, King Frederik IV began a relationship with Elisabeth Helene von Vieregg, lady-in-waiting to his unmarried sister Sophia Hedwig. In 1703, without divorcing his wife Louise, Frederik made a bigamous marriage to Elisabeth. After Elisabeth died in 1704 due to childbirth complications giving birth to a son who lived only nine months, Frederik gave her an elaborate funeral.

After the death of Elisabeth, Frederik began an affair with her lady-in-waiting, Charlotte Helene von Schindel. In 1709, Frederik wanted to again make a bigamous marriage but received strong opposition from the church leaders who told him that the law against bigamy also applied to kings. Charlotte and Frederik had a daughter in 1710 who died in infancy.

After losing interest in Charlotte Helene von Schindel in 1711, Frederik IV then fell in love with 19-year-old Anna Sophie Reventlow, daughter of Grand-Chancellor Conrad Reventlow who held a position similar to Prime Minister. In 1712, Frederik abducted Anna Sophia from her parents’ home and took her to Skanderborg Castle where they were married bigamously while Queen Louise was still alive.

After the death of Queen Louise in 1721, King Frederik IV and Anna Sophie Reventlow married again in a second formal wedding conducted with great ceremony. Although the marriage was still scandalous, it was not declared morganatic and Anna Sophie was crowned Queen of Denmark and Norway less than a month after Queen Louise’s death. Anna Sophie and King Frederick IV had six children. Three were born before the legal marriage in 1721 but none survived. The three children born after the 1721 marriage were styled as Prince/Princess of Denmark and Norway but none of them survived infancy either. The deaths of the six children were seen by many as divine punishment for the bigamy of Frederik IV and Anna Sophie. Christian distanced himself from his father and he came to detest his stepmother.

Sophia Magdalene of Brandenburg-Kulmbach; Credit – Wikipedia

Christian’s father allowed him to choose his wife. Accompanied by Count Ulrik Adolf von Holstein of Holsteinsborg, the husband of Anna Sophie’s half-sister, Christian traveled through the courts of Europe seeking a princess to become his wife. At the court of Augustus II, King of Poland, Elector of Saxony, he fell in love with Margravine Sophia Magdalene of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, a lady-in-waiting to Augustus II’s wife Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, and had been raised at her court. She was the daughter of Christian Heinrich, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth-Kulmbach and Countess Sophie Christiane of Wolfstein. Although Sophia Magdalene came from an insignificant, poor family, King Frederik IV granted permission for the couple to marry. Christian and Sophie Magdalene were married on August 7, 1721, at Pretzsch Castle (link in German), the site of the court of Augustus II, King of Poland, Elector of Saxony, then in Pretzsch, Electorate of Saxony, now in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.

Christian and Sophia Magdalene had one son and two daughters:

Frederik V, King of Denmark and Norway (1723 – 1766), married (1) Louisa of Great Britain, daughter of King George II of Great Britain, had five children including Christian VII, King of Denmark and Norway and Sophia Magdalena who married Gustav III, King of Sweden (2) Juliane Marie of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, had one son Frederik, Hereditary Prince of Denmark
Louise of Denmark and Norway (born and died 1724), died when six months old
Louise of Denmark (1726 – 1756), married Ernst Friedrich III, Duke of Saxony-Hildburghausen, no surviving children

Family of Christian VI, 1744, (left to right) Crown Prince Frederik (future Frederik V) King Christian VI; Queen Sophia Magdalene, and Crown Princess Louise (Frederik’s wife); Credit – Wikipedia

Christian became King of Denmark and Norway upon the death of his father Frederik IV, King of Denmark and Norway on October 12, 1730. Frederik IV was buried at Roskilde Cathedral, the traditional burial place for the Danish royal family, a tomb adjacent to the tomb of his first wife, Christian’s mother, Queen Louise.

The Coronation of King Christian VI and Queen Sophia Magdalene; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1725, King Frederik IV made an addition to his will that guaranteed Anna Sophie’s rights as Queen Dowager after his death and made his son Crown Prince Christian sign it. However, once he became King of Denmark and Norway, Christian VI did not follow the instructions in his father’s will. Christian VI’s opinion was that his stepmother Anna Sophie had taken advantage of his father during his ill health and that she had caused his family pain and suffering during the years of her open adultery.

Anna Sophie Reventlow, Christian’s stepmother; Credit – Wikipedia

Christian VI granted Anna Sophie an allowance, confiscated her property, and banished her to Clausholm Castle, her family home. She was allowed to be styled Queen Anna Sophie but not Queen Anna Sophie of Denmark and Norway or Queen Dowager. Anna Sophie spent the remainder of her life under house arrest at Clausholm Castle and was never granted permission to leave. When Anna Sophie died in 1743, Christian VI allowed her to be buried at Roskilde Cathedral but in the Trolle Chapel which is on the opposite side of the cathedral, far away from his parents’ tombs in the chancel of the cathedral. Her three children, born after her 1721 marriage, were also re-buried in the Trolle Chapel on Christian VI’s orders.

Christian VI is known as a religious ruler and remained devoted to Pietism. His court was considered dull. Only religious music was played and dancing was not allowed. Christian was a shy person, anxious about responsibility and decisions, and uncomfortable about carrying out his ceremonial obligations as the king. He never traveled except for one trip to Norway in 1733.

The first Christiansborg Palace; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1744, on the site of Copenhagen Castle, Christian VI built a namesake palace, the first Christiansborg Palace as his new main residence. The palace was nearly completely destroyed by a fire in 1794. A second Christiansborg Palace was built on the site but was also destroyed by a fire in 1884. A third Christiansborg Palace was built in the early 20th century and today it houses the Danish Parliament, the Supreme Court, and Prime Minister’s Office. Other places named after King Christian VI include Christian’s Church in Copenhagen, the town of Christiansted on the island of Saint Croix in the United States Virgin Islands, formerly the Danish West Indies, and Fort Christiansværn also on Saint Croix.

Christian VI, King of Denmark and Norway died at the age of 46 on August 6, 1746, at Hirschholm Palace located in present-day Hørsholm municipality just north of Copenhagen, Denmark. He was buried in Frederik V’s Chapel at Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark. His wife Sophie Magdalene of Brandenburg-Kulmbach survived him by 24 years, dying in 1770 at the age of 69.

Tomb of King Christian VI; Photo by Susan Flantzer

Kingdom of Denmark Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

Da.wikipedia.org. 2020. Christian 6.. [online] Available at: <https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_6> [Accessed 30 April 2020].
De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Christian VI. (Dänemark Und Norwegen). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_VI._(D%C3%A4nemark_und_Norwegen)> [Accessed 30 April 2020].
En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Christian VI Of Denmark. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_VI_of_Denmark> [Accessed 30 April 2020].
Sv.wikipedia.org. 2020. Kristian VI Av Danmark. [online] Available at: <https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristian_VI_av_Danmark> [Accessed 30 April 2020].

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