Category Archives: Former Monarchies

Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia, Duke of Savoy

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

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

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

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

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

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Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

Carlo Emanuele III was the King of Sardinia from 1730 until his death in 1773. Born on April 27, 1701, at the Royal Palace in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy, he was the fifth of the six children and the second of the three sons of Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia and his first wife Anne Marie d’Orléans. His paternal grandparents were Carlo Emanuele II, Duke of Savoy and Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy-Nemours and his maternal grandparents were King Louis XIV of France’s only sibling Philippe, Duke of Orléans and his first wife Princess Henrietta of England, the daughter of King Charles I of England. At birth, he was given the title Duke of Aosta, which came to be the traditional title of the second son of the reigning monarch of the House of Savoy.

Carlo Emanuele had five siblings:

Carlo Emanuele’s elder brother Vittorio Amedeo was the heir to the throne and bore the title Prince of Piedmont, the traditional title of the heir of the House of Savoy. Vittorio Amedeo II favored his eldest son and neglected Carlo Emanuele’s education except on the military field, where he sometimes accompanied the father. On March 22, 1715, fifteen-year-old Vittorio Amedeo died from smallpox and his younger brother Carlo Emanuele became the heir to the throne and the Prince of Piedmont.

Carlo Emanuele married three times but all three wives died young.

Anna Christine of Sulzbach, Princess of Piedmont; Credit – Wikipedia

On March 15, 1722, in Vercelli, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy, Carlo Emanuele married Anna Christine of Sulzbach, daughter of Theodor Eustach, Count Palatine of Sulzbach and Eleonore of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg. They had one child and a few days later, on March 12, 1723, Anna Christine died of childbirth complications, aged nineteen. Anna Christine died before her husband became King of Sardinia and so she was titled Princess of Piedmont.

Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, Queen of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

Carlo Emanuele’s second wife was Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, daughter of Ernst Leopold, Landgrave of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg and Eleonore of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort. Polyxena was the first cousin of Carlo Emanuele’s first wife and belonged to the only Roman Catholic branch of the reigning House of Hesse. After a proxy marriage on July 23, 1724, in Rotenburg, Landgraviate of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, now in Hesse, Germany, the couple was married in person on August 20, 1724, in Thonon, Chablais, then a province of the Duchy of Savoy, now in France. When her husband became King of Sardinia in 1730, Polyxena became Queen of Sardinia. She died on January 13, 1735, aged 28, having been ill since June 1734. Carlo Emanuele and Polyxena had six children.

The children of Carlo Emanuele and his second wife Polyxena; (L-R) Eleonora; Vittorio Amedeo; Maria Felicita and Luisa; Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine, Queen of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine was the third wife of Carlo Emanuele. She was the daughter of Leopold Joseph, Duke of Lorraine and Élisabeth Charlotte d’Orléans the daughter of King Louis XIV of France’s only sibling Philippe I, Duke of Orléans and his second wife Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, known as Liselotte. Carlo Emanuele and Elisabeth Therese were half-first cousins as their mothers were half-sisters. After a proxy marriage on March 5, 1737, at the Château de Lunéville in the Duchy of Lorraine, now in France, Carlo Emanuele and Elisabeth Therese married in person on April 1, 1737, in Lyon, France. The couple had three children but only the third child Benedetto survived childhood. Sadly, Elisabeth Therese died on July 3, 1741, aged 29, from puerperal fever (childbed fever), thirteen days after giving birth to Benedetto.

Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia in his coronation robes; Credit – Wikipedia

On August 26, 1728, Carlo Emanuele’s mother Queen Anne Marie died after a series of heart attacks the day before her 59th birthday. Two years later, Carlo Emanuele’s father Vittorio Amedeo II secretly married Anna Canalis di Cumiana, a former mistress. To the surprise and dismay of the court, Vittorio Amedeo II and Anna Canalis di Cumiana made their marriage public on September 3, 1730. At the same time as the marriage announcement, Vittorio Amedeo II abdicated and retired from the royal court. His son succeeded him as Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia. However, in 1731, Vittorio Amedeo attempted to reclaim the throne, accusing his son of incompetence. Carlo Emanuele III thwarted this power play by having his father arrested and confined for the remainder of his life. Anna Canalis di Cumiana was also separately confined for the rest of her life.

Carlo Emanuele was a soldier-king who gained territory for his kingdom by fighting on the French side in the War of the Polish Succession and then on the Austrian side in the War of the Austrian Succession. His ancestors were avid art collectors and Carlo Emanuele was no different. He added many new paintings to the collection of the House of Savoy.

Tomb of Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia; https://www.wga.hu/html_m/c/collino/filippo/carloem3.html

On February 20, 1773, at the Royal Palace in Turin, Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia died at the age of 71. He is buried in the Royal Crypt of the Basilica of Superga in Turin in a monumental tomb, the work of the sculptor Ignazio Collino. He survived his three wives, his five siblings, and six of his ten children.

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

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Anne Christine of Sulzbach, Princess of Piedmont – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Christine_of_Sulzbach,_Princess_of_Piedmont> [Accessed 17 June 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Emmanuel_III_of_Sardinia> [Accessed 17 June 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_Therese_of_Lorraine> [Accessed 17 June 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Polyxena of Hesse-Rotenburg – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyxena_of_Hesse-Rotenburg> [Accessed 17 June 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/vittorio-amedeo-ii-king-of-sardinia/> [Accessed 17 June 2021].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Carlo Emanuele III di Savoia – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Emanuele_III_di_Savoia> [Accessed 17 June 2021].

Anne Marie d’Orléans, Queen of Sardinia

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

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

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

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

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Credit – Wikipedia

Anne Marie d’Orléans was the first wife of Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia. She was born on August 27, 1669, at the Château de Saint-Cloud in Hauts-de-Seine, France, near Paris, France. Anne Marie had an impeccable royal genealogy. Her parents were first cousins. Her father was Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, the younger of the two sons of Louis XIII, King of France and Anne of Austria, and the only sibling of Louis XIV, King of France. Her mother was Princess Henrietta of England, the youngest child of Charles I, King of England and Henrietta Maria of France. Philippe’s father Louis XIII and Henrietta’s mother Henrietta Maria were siblings, the children of Henri IV, King of France and Marie de Medici from the famous House of Medici. As the granddaughter of Louis XIII, King of France, Anne Marie was entitled to the style and title Her Royal Highness Petite-fille de France (Granddaughter of France).

Anne Marie had two siblings:

On June 30, 1670, when Anne Marie was only ten months old, her mother died at the age of 26. King Louis XIV wanted a male heir to continue the Orléans line and looked for a second wife for his brother Philippe himself. King Louis XIV rejected many potential second brides for his brother before settling on the Protestant Princess Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, known as Liselotte. She was the only daughter of Karl I Ludwig, Elector Palatine and Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel. Liselotte’s paternal grandmother was Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of King James I of England and granddaughter of Mary, Queen of Scots. Liselotte converted to Roman Catholicism and married Philippe on November 19, 1671.

Anne Marie’s father Philippe I, Duke of Orléans; Credit – Wikipedia

Due to the attitude of the court, as well as the homosexual relations of her husband Philippe, which he did not hide, Liselotte devoted much attention to Philippe’s daughters. Liselotte acted as a mother to Anne Marie and her elder sister Marie Louise and maintained correspondence with them throughout their lives. As with his first marriage, Philippe had homosexual affairs but was intent on fulfilling his dynastic responsibility of having children. Philippe and Liselotte had three children who were the half-siblings of Anne Marie:

Anne Marie’s husband Vittorio Amdedeo II, King of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

Always eager to maintain his influence in the Duchy of Savoy which bordered France, King Louis XIV of France offered his niece Anne Marie as a bride to Vittorio Amedeo II, Duke of Savoy, the future King of Sardinia, and he agreed to the match. The proxy marriage of Vittorio Amedeus and Anne Marie took place at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France on April 10, 1684. Anne Marie’s cousin Louis Auguste, Duke of Maine stood in for the groom and King Louis XIV gave Anne Marie a huge dowry of 900,000 livres. Philippe, Duke of Orléans accompanied his daughter as far as Juvisy-sur-Orge, 18 kilometers south of Paris, and then Christine d’Estrées, Comtesse de Lillebonne accompanied Anne Marie to Savoy. Anne Marie and Vittorio Amedeo met at the House of Savoy’s Château de Chambéry where the marriage ceremony was performed by Étienne Le Camus, Archbishop of Grenoble on May 6, 1684. Two days later, the newlyweds made their “Joyous Entry” into Turin.

Anne Marie and Vittoria Amedeo had six children:

Upon arrival at the court of Savoy, Anne Marie fell under the influence of her pro-French mother-in-law Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy-Nemours who had been born at the Hôtel de Nemours in Paris and was a half-first cousin once removed of King Louis XIV of France. The close relationship between his wife and mother was not appreciated by Vittorio Amadeus. When Vittorio Amedus severed ties with France in 1690, Anne Marie and her children along with her mother-in-law left Turin, the capital of Savoy, for a period of time in protest. Vittorio Amedeo had extramarital affairs which Anne Marie quietly accepted. His longest affair, eleven years, was with Jeanne Baptiste d’Albert de Luynes with whom he had two children.

Vittorio Amadeo II and Anne Marie, King and Queen of Sardinia, circa 1723-1728; Credit – Wikipedia

On August 26, 1728, the day before her 59th birthday, at the Villa della Regina in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy, Anne Marie died after a series of heart attacks. She was buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin.

Anne Marie is an important link in the Jacobite succession to the thrones of England and Scotland, and now to the United Kingdom.  In 1688, Anne Marie’s maternal uncle James II, King of England/James VII, King of Scots was deposed. After James II lost his throne, the Jacobite (from Jacobus, the Latin for James) movement formed. The goal of the Jacobites was to restore the Roman Catholic Stuart King James II of England/VII of Scotland and his Roman Catholic heirs to the thrones of England and Scotland.

When the line of the deposed King James II of England died out the Jacobite claims to the British throne descended from the line of Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans, James II’s sister and Anne Marie’s mother. Since Anne Marie’s elder sister had died and had no children and her brother died in childhood, the Jacobite claims descended through Anne Marie. Her great-grandson Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia was the first Jacobite heir from the House of Savoy. All subsequent Jacobite heirs have been descendants of Anne Marie. Although no Jacobite heirs after James II’s son and grandsons made a claim on the British throne, the Jacobite line of succession has proceeded over the years from the House of Savoy to the House of Austria-Este, and to the House of Wittelsbach (Bavaria). It appears in the future, that it will proceed to the House of Liechtenstein.

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

Kingdom of Sardinia Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Anne Marie d’Orléans – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Marie_d%27Orl%C3%A9ans> [Accessed 17 June 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2019. Philippe I, Duke of Orléans. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/philippe-i-duke-of-orleans/> [Accessed 17 June 2021].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/vittorio-amedeo-ii-king-of-sardinia/> [Accessed 17 June 2021].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Anna Maria di Borbone-Orléans – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Maria_di_Borbone-Orl%C3%A9ans> [Accessed 17 June 2021].
  • Jacobite.ca. 2021. The Jacobite Heritage. [online] Available at: <http://www.jacobite.ca/> [Accessed 17 June 2021].
  • Ru.wikipedia.org. 2021. Анна Мария Орлеанская — Википедия. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%9E%D1%80%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F> [Accessed 17 June 2021].

Crown Princess Susan of the Albanians

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

photo: Albanian Royal Court

Crown Princess Susan was the wife of Crown Prince Leka I of the Albanians, the only son of King Zog I and Queen Geraldine. She was born Susan Barbara Cullen-Ward on January 28, 1941 in Waverley, a suburb of Sydney, Australia, one of five children of Alan Cullen-Ward and Phyllis Murray-Prior.

Raised on her family’s sheep farm in New South Wales, Australia, Susan attended the Ladies Presbyterian College in Orange, before attending the University of the Academy of Arts in Sydney, studying art, history and architecture. She returned to teach art at Ladies Presbyterian College and then ran her own interior design company in Sydney. An avid Egyptologist, she received a scholarship to attend Sorbonne University in France. It was there that she first met Crown Prince Leka I, who later invited her to come to Spain where she studied tourism. The couple was engaged in 1974.

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On April 8, 1975, Susan married Crown Prince Leka I in a civil ceremony held in Biarritz, France. A religious ceremony was held the following October in Toledo, Spain where the couple received the blessing of the Muslim, Orthodox, Catholic, and Anglican religious leaders. They had one son, Crown Prince Leka II, born in 1982.

As Crown Princess, Susan was a strong supporter of her husband and his efforts to restore the Albanian monarchy, and to make life better for the Albanian people. She established the Queen Susan Cultural Foundation in the United States, which worked to assist Albanians through medical aid and education. In that role, the Crown Princess traveled extensively throughout Europe and North America to promote and gain support.

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The Royal Family was invited to return to Albania in June 2002. Arriving with her husband, son, and Queen Geraldine, Susan continued her work for improving conditions for the Albanian people and remained steadfast in her unyielding support for her husband’s efforts. Sadly, just two years later, having been diagnosed with lung cancer, Crown Princess Susan died in a village near Tirana on July 17, 2004. She was buried alongside her mother-in-law in the Sharra cemetery, and in 2012, her remains were moved to the newly rebuilt Royal Mausoleum in Tirana, along with her husband and his parents.

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Albanian Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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

Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia, Duke of Savoy

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

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

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

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

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

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Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

Vittorio Amedeo II reigned as King of Sardinia from 1720 – 1730 but he had also reigned as King of Sicily from 1713 – 1720, and was Duke of Savoy from the death of his father in 1675 until his abdication in 1730. Vittorio Amedeo Francesco was born on May 14, 1666, at the Royal Palace in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Piedmont in northern Italy. He was the only child of Carlo Emanuele II, Duke of Savoy and Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy-Nemours. His father’s maternal grandparents were Henri IV, King of France and his second wife Marie de’ Medici. His mother’s maternal great-grandparents were Henri IV, King of France and his mistress Gabrielle d’Estrées. From birth, Vittorio Amedeo was styled as Prince of Piedmont, the traditional title of the heir apparent to the Duchy of Savoy.

The infant Vittoria Amedeo with his parents; Credit – Wikipedia

Carlo Emanuele II, Duke of Savoy died on June 12, 1675, at the age of 40 and nine-year-old Vittorio Amedeo became Duke of Savoy. Marie Jeanne Baptiste served as regent during her son’s minority. She did a capable job, continuing the policies and projects of her husband. Because of her French background – she had been born at the Hôtel de Nemours in Paris and was a half-first cousin once removed of King Louis XIV of France – Marie Jeanne Baptiste promoted French interests.

In 1677, Marie Jeanne Baptiste began the search for a wife for Vittorio Amedeo who would reach his majority on his 14th birthday in 1680. There were several possibilities, but Marie Jeanne Baptiste pushed for her sister’s daughter Infanta Isabel Luísa of Portugal, the only daughter of King Pedro II of Portugal. The marriage was opposed by most of the Savoy court as it meant that Vittorio Amedeo would live in Portugal and his mother would remain in power after his majority. Openly disliking the possible marriage and approaching his majority, Vittorio Amedeo decided to postpone the marriage for two years.

Anne Marie d’Orléans, first wife of Vittoria Amedeo II; Credit – Wikipedia

Always eager to maintain his influence in the Duchy of Savoy which bordered France, King Louis XIV of France offered his niece Anne Marie d’Orléans as a bride. Anne Marie was the daughter of Louis XIV’s only sibling Philippe, Duke of Orléans and his first wife Henrietta of England, the daughter of King Charles I of England and Henrietta Maria, daughter of King Henri IV of France. Vittorio Amedeo agreed to the match. Marie Jeanne Baptiste had not given up her position of regent when her son reached his majority. Now that Vittorio Amedeo was to marry, he gained more power and enacted a kind of coup d’état, forcing his mother to yield her power to him.

The proxy marriage of Vittorio Amedeus and Anne Marie d’Orléans took place at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France on April 10, 1684. Anne Marie’s cousin Louis Auguste, Duke of Maine stood in for the groom and King Louis XIV gave Anne Marie a huge dowry of 900,000 livres. Philippe, Duke of Orléans accompanied his daughter as far as Juvisy-sur-Orge, 18 kilometers south of Paris, and then Christine d’Estrées, Comtesse de Lillebonne accompanied Anne Marie to Savoy. Anne Marie and Vittorio Amedeo met at the House of Savoy’s Château de Chambéry where the marriage ceremony was performed by Étienne Le Camus, Archbishop of Grenoble on May 6, 1684. Two days later, the newlyweds made their “Joyous Entry” into Turin.

Vittorio Amedeo and Anne Marie had six children:

The Duchy of Savoy was a state of the Holy Roman Empire. However, when Vittorio Amedeo’s mother Marie Jeanne Baptiste, who was French, was Regent, the Duchy of Savoy became closely linked with and heavily dependent upon France, more or less becoming a French satellite. Vittorio Amedeo severed this link by joining alliances against France in both the Nine Years War and the War of the Spanish Succession. The Duchy of Savoy was considered a valuable ally in both wars due to its geographical position – a border with southern France – enabling a second front to be opened against France in the south. The Duchy of Savoy relied heavily on foreign subsidies, particularly from England and the Dutch Republic, in both wars to maintain its armies.

As a reward for his aid in the War of the Spanish Succession, Vittorio Amadeo II received the Kingdom of Sicily in 1713 under the Peace of Utrecht which ended the war. In October 1713, Vittorio Amedeo and his wife Anne Marie traveled with a British squadron from Nice to Palermo to take personal possession of their new kingdom. They were crowned King and Queen of Sicily on December 24, 1713, at the Cathedral of Palermo in Sicily. After an eleven-month stay in Sicily, Vittoria Amedeo returned to Turin, in the Duchy of Savoy, leaving a viceroy to represent him and maintain the government in his place.

Coronation of Vittorio Amedeo II as King of Sardinia; Credit – Wikipedia

The Spanish invaded Sicily in 1718 during the War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718 – 1720) in which Spain attempted to recover territories lost due to the 1713 Peace of Utrecht. The Quadruple Alliance (Great Britain, France, Austria, and the Dutch Republic) won the war. Under the conditions of the 1720 Treaty of The Hague, Vittorio Amedeo II was forced to exchange with Austria his Kingdom of Sicily for the less important Kingdom of Sardinia. The island Sardinia was closer to Turin in the Duchy of Savoy than the island of Sicily but it was less rich and less populated.

On August 26, 1728, at the Villa della Regina in Turin, Queen Anne Marie died after a series of heart attacks at the age of 58. She was buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin. Vittorio Amedeo II had extramarital affairs which his wife quietly accepted. His longest affair, eleven years, was with Jeanne Baptiste d’Albert de Luynes with whom he had two children:

Anna Canalis di Cumiana, second wife of Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardina; Credit – Wikipedia

On August 12, 1730, in a private ceremony at the Royal Chapel at the Royal Palace in Turin, Vittorio Amedeo morganatically married Anna Canalis di Cumiana (1680 – 1769), after obtaining the permission of Pope Clement XII. Because the marriage was morganatic, Anna did not become Queen of Sardina but rather was created Marchioness of Spigno. Anna had been his mistress when she was a lady-in-waiting to Vittoria Amedeo’s mother. It is widely believed that Anna’s first child Paola Novarina, born in 1708, was Vittorio Amedeo’s child although Anna’s husband recognized the child as his. After her husband died in 1724, Anna was called back to court and was made a lady-in-waiting to Polyxena, Princess of Piedmont, wife of Carlo Emanuele Prince of Piedmont, the son and heir apparent of Victor Amedeo II. To the surprise and dismay of the court, Vittorio Amedeo II and Anna Canalis di Cumiana made their marriage public on September 3, 1730.

At the same time as the marriage announcement, Vittorio Amedeo abdicated and retired from the royal court. His son succeeded him as Carlo Emanuele III, King of Sardinia. Vittorio Amedeo had favored his eldest son, also named Vittorio Amadeo, who died from smallpox at the age of sixteen. Vittorio Amedeo had neglected Carlo Emanuele’s education except on the military field, where he sometimes had accompanied the father. Vittorio Amadeo II and Anna moved into the Château de Chambéry in Chambéry, Duchy of Savoy, now in France. The couple had a small retinue of servants and Vittorio Amdedo was kept informed of matters of state.

In 1731, Vittorio Amedeo attempted to reclaim the throne, accusing his son of incompetence. Carlo Emanuele III had his father arrested and confined to the Castle of Rivoli in Turin, Duchy of Savoy, now in Italy. However, Anna Canalis di Cumiana was brought to the Fortress of Ceva, which was extremely humiliating because the fortress was used as a reformatory for prostitutes. Eventually, Anna received permission to leave the Fortress of Ceva and go to the Castle of Rivoli to be with her husband.

Basilica of Superga in Turin, Italy, the traditional burial site of the House of Savoy; Credit – Di Paris Orlando – Opera propria, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74180727

On February 5, 1732, Vittorio Amedeo II suffered a stroke, and his health drastically deteriorated. He asked to move to the Castle of Moncalieri near Turin and was transported there on a litter guarded by a company of soldiers. Former King Vittorio Amedeo II of Sardinia died at the Castle of Moncalieri on October 31, 1732, aged 66, and was buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin with his first wife Anne Marie d’Orléans. After her husband’s death, Anna Canalis di Cumiana was confined at the Convent of San Giuseppe di Carignano. She was later moved to the Convent of the Visitation in Pinerolo where she died, aged 88, on April 13, 1769, thirty-seven years after Vittorio Amedeo died. Anna Canalis di Cumiana was buried at the Convent of the Visitation in Pinerolo in a grave without a headstone.

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

Kingdom of Sardinia Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Viktor Amadeus II. – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Amadeus_II.> [Accessed 14 June 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Emmanuel_II,_Duke_of_Savoy> [Accessed 14 June 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Amadeus_II_of_Sardinia> [Accessed 14 June 2021].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Vittorio Amedeo II di Savoia – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vittorio_Amedeo_II_di_Savoia> [Accessed 14 June 2021].

Katharina of Saxe-Lauenburg, Queen of Sweden

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

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

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

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

Katharina had five siblings:

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

Gustav I Vasa, King of Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kingdom of Sweden Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

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

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

Maria Annunciata of the Two Sicilies, Archduchess of Austria

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Annunciata of the Two Sicilies was the second of the three wives of Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria, brother of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, and the mother of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria whose assassination in 1914 sparked World War I.

Maria Annunciata Isabella Filomena Sabasia was born on March 24, 1843, at the Royal Palace of Caserta in Caserta, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, now in Italy. She was the eldest of the four daughters and the fourth of the twelve children of Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies (1810 – 1859) and his second wife Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria (1816 – 1867), daughter of Archduke Karl of Austria, Duke of Teschen and Princess Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg. Maria Annunciata’s paternal grandparents were Francesco I, King of the Two Sicilies and his second wife and first cousin Infanta Maria Isabella of Spain.

Maria Annunciata’s birth family in 1861; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Annunciata had eleven siblings:

Maria Annunciata, on the right with her three sisters, circa 1862; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Annunciata had one-half-brother from her father’s first marriage to Maria Cristina of Savoy:

Maria Annunciata’s half-brother Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Annunciata’s father died in 1859 and her half-brother Francesco II became King of the Two Sicilies. However, his reign was short. He was the last King of the Two Sicilies, as invasions by Giuseppe Garibaldi and Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia brought an end to his rule, as part of Italian unification. After Francesco II was deposed, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Italy, ruled by Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia as Vittorio Emanuele I, the first King of Italy. Maria Annunciata’s mother moved the family to Rome where they were guests of Pope Pius IX at the Quirinal Palace. Soon the family moved to the Farnese Palace which was owned by Maria Annuciata’s family.

Maria Annunciata and Karl Ludwig; Credit – Wikipedia

A year after her family moved to Rome, Maria Annunciata was married to Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria, the third son of Archduke Franz Karl of Austria and Princess Sophie of Bavaria, and the brother of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria. Nineteen-year-old Maria Annunciata married twenty-nine-year-old Karl Ludwig by proxy in Rome on October 16, 1862, and then in person in Venice on October 21, 1862. This was the second marriage for Karl Ludwig. His first marriage was happy but childless. His wife and first cousin Margaretha of Saxony died from typhoid fever while on a trip to Italy after less than two years of marriage.

One day after the wedding, Maria Annunciata suffered an epileptic seizure during mass, which caused quite a concern because it occurred in front of the members of the House of Habsburg. Soon Maria Annunciata’s domineering mother-in-law Sophie realized her daughter-in-law was ill with tuberculosis.

Karl Ludwig with his children after the death of Maria Annunciata, 1873; Credit – Wikipedia

Despite her poor health, Maria Annunciata gave birth to four children including Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the eventual heir to the Austrian throne whose assassination in 1914 sparked World War II:

Karl Ludwig bought a palace on Favoritenstrasse in Vienna, Austria, now called Palais Archduke Karl Ludwig (link in German) and it became the family home. After the birth of her third child, Maria Annuciata’s health worsened and she was not expected to recover. However, because of her strong will to live, she somehow overcame her illness and she attended balls, the theater, and the opera.

Maria Annunciata on her deathbed; Credit – Wikipedia

Maria Annunciata became seriously ill after the birth of her fourth child in 1870. For the last year of her life, she was in agony, and died May 4, 1871, at the age of 28, from tuberculosis. She was buried in the New Crypt in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria, the traditional burial site of the House of Habsburg.

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

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Princess Maria Annunciata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Maria_Annunciata_of_Bourbon-Two_Sicilies> [Accessed 11 June 2021].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Annunziata di Borbone-Due Sicilie – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Annunziata_di_Borbone-Due_Sicilie> [Accessed 11 June 2021].
  • Van der Kiste., John, 2005. Emperor Francis Joseph: Life, Death and the Fall of the Habsburg Empire. London: Sutton Publishing.
  • Wheatcroft, Andrew, 1997. The Habsburgs. London: Penguin Books.

Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Credit – Wikipedia

Karl Ludwig Joseph Maria was born on July 30, 1833, at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria. He was the third of the fours sons and the third of the five children of Archduke Franz Karl of Austria, son of Emperor Franz I of Austria and the second of his four wives Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily, and Sophie of Bavaria, daughter of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and his second wife Caroline of Baden.

 

Karl Ludwig and his brothers: (Left to Right) Karl Ludwig, Franz Joseph, Maximilian, and Ludwig Viktor; Credit – Wikipedia

Karl Ludwig had four siblings:

Karl Ludwig’s mother ensured that he was raised as a very devout Roman Catholic. As a result, he developed religious mania in his later years. In 1855, Karl Ludwig’s brother Emperor Franz Joseph appointed him the Governor of Tyrol. However, he gave up the position in 1861, when the new constitution made the minister of the interior his supervisor. Karl Ludwig thought it was inappropriate for a member of the imperial family to be placed in such a situation. He was more interested in art than politics and the military and served as the patron of several artists’ associations, and enjoyed hosting balls and charity events.

Karl Ludwig’s first wife and first cousin Margaretha of Saxony; Credit – Wikipedia

Karl Ludwig’s mother Sophie was rather domineering and chose all three of his wives, although she died shortly before his third wedding. He married his first cousin Margaretha of Saxony (1840–1858), daughter of King Johann of Saxony and his mother’s sister Amalie Auguste of Bavaria, on November 4, 1856. The marriage was happy but childless and Margaretha died from typhoid fever while on a trip to Italy on September 15, 1858.

Karl Ludwig and his second wife Maria Annunciata; Credit – Wikipedia

Sophie then picked Maria Annunciata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, daughter of Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies and Maria Theresa of Austria, to be her next daughter-in-law. Karl Ludwig and Maria Annunciata married on October 21, 1862. The marriage lasted only eight-and-a-half years as Maria Annunciata died from tuberculosis on May 4, 1871. Karl Ludwig and Maria Annunciata had four children including Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the eventual heir to the Austrian throne whose assassination in 1914 sparked World War II:

Karl Ludwig and his third wife Maria Theresa; Credit – Wikipedia

Sophie’s last pick of a wife for Karl Ludwig was Maria Theresa of Portugal (1855 – 1944), daughter of the deposed King Miguel I of Portugal and Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg. The 17-year-old Maria Theresa married the 39-year-old Karl Ludwig on July 23, 1873, and had two daughters. Maria Theresa survived Karl Ludwig by 48 years, dying on February 12, 1944, at the age of 88.

The Execution of Emperor Maximilian of Mexico by Edouard Manet; Credit – Wikipedia

Through the machinations of Napoleon III, Emperor of the French, Karl Ludwig’s second elder brother Maximilian became Emperor of Mexico. The Liberal forces led by Mexican President Benito Juarez refused to recognize him as Emperor. Three years later, Maximilian was taken into custody. He was court-martialed and sentenced to death, and executed by a firing squad. Karl Ludwig’s eldest brother Emperor Franz Joseph had only one son, Crown Prince Rudolf and now, Karl Ludwig was the second in the line of succession.

Karl Ludwig’s nephew Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1889, Crown Prince Rudolf died by suicide at his hunting lodge Mayerling. Rudolf, the only son of Emperor Franz Joseph, had no sons, so the succession passed to Emperor Franz Joseph’s brother Karl Ludwig and his eldest son Franz Ferdinand. There have been suggestions that Karl Ludwig renounced his succession rights in favor of his son Franz Ferdinand. However, an act of renunciation was never formally signed and Karl Ludwig was never officially designated heir to the throne. He was only three years younger than Franz Joseph and not a realistic choice.

Karl Ludwig; Credit – Wikipedia

Karl Ludwig’s religious mania increased as he aged, and it ultimately caused his death. It was a common sight to see him bless pedestrians from his carriage as he traveled through the streets of Vienna. On May 19, 1896, at the age of 62, Karl Ludwig died from typhoid fever and Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna. His death occurred shortly after returning from a trip to Palestine. Allegedly, he developed typhoid fever after drinking contaminated water from the Jordan River in an episode of religious mania. Karl Ludwig was buried in the New Crypt in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria, the traditional burial site of the House of Habsburg.

The New Crypt in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria; Credit – By Dennis Jarvis from Halifax, Canada – Austria-00835 – Casket Room, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66921958

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

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Karl Ludwig von Österreich – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Ludwig_von_%C3%96sterreich> [Accessed 9 June 2021].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archduke_Karl_Ludwig_of_Austria> [Accessed 9 June 2021].
  • Van der Kiste., John, 2005. Emperor Francis Joseph: Life, Death and the Fall of the Habsburg Empire. London: Sutton Publishing.
  • Wheatcroft, Andrew, 1997. The Habsburgs. London: Penguin Books.

Crown Prince Leka I of the Albanians

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Crown Prince Leka I of the Albanians. photo: Albanian Royal Court

Crown Prince Leka I was born at the Royal Palace in Tirana on April 5, 1939, the only child of King Zog I of the Albanians and Geraldine Apponyi de Nagy-Appony.

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Just two days after his birth, Fascist forces invaded Albania, and the family quickly fled into exile. They settled briefly in France before moving to England where they lived through the end of World War II and eventually moved to Egypt in 1946. During that time, Leka attended the British Boys School and Victoria College in Egypt before graduating from Aiglon College in Switzerland in 1956.

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Upon his 18th birthday in 1957, he formally became Crown Prince of the Albanians, although the monarchy had already been formally abolished several years earlier by the communist regime. When King Zog died in 1961, monarchists declared Leka to be King Leka I, although this title was merely in pretense. Having settled in France, he later moved to Spain in the early 1960s and continued his efforts to bring the monarchy back to Albania. During that time, with the assistance of King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, Leka began working as a commodities broker and established several businesses in the Middle East and Asia. Continuing his quest for the restoration of the monarchy – and the abolishment of the communist regime in Albania – Leka traveled extensively, seeking out support in building up forces to overtake the country. With the support of the Thai army, he began training Albanian volunteers for a potential rebellion.

On April 8, 1975, Leka married Susan Cullen-Ward in a civil ceremony held in Biarritz. The couple had met while studying at the Sorbonne several years earlier, after which Susan moved to Spain at Leka’s invitation. In Toledo, Spain, on October 10, 1975, the marriage was blessed by Muslim, Orthodox, Catholic, and Anglican clergy during a religious ceremony.

They had one son:

Leka first returned to Albania in 1993 but was quickly forced to leave within 24 hours. He returned in 1997 when a referendum regarding the restoration of the monarchy was being held. The referendum failed with only ⅓ of the votes in favor of restoration. Leka publicly questioned and challenged the independence of the election, leading to unrest – “police intervened, gunfire broke out, one person was killed, and Leka fled.” Later, the Albanian president at that time said that the referendum had been “held in the context of flames of the communist rebellion and therefore cannot be considered a closed matter. The Stalinist principle of: ‘you vote, but I count the votes’ was applied in that referendum. But the fact is the Albanians voted massively for their King, but the referendum failed to meet quotas as it was manipulated.” Leka ended up leaving Albania and then was tried and found guilty of sedition for causing the unrest following the failed referendum. He was later pardoned in March 2002, when the Albanian Parliament strove to make amends and officially allowed and invited the former Royal Family to return to the country.

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On June 28, 2002, Leka, along with his wife, his son, and his mother Queen Geraldine, arrived in Albania and were greeted by thousands of supporters. Leka quickly established a public role, becoming an outspoken advocate for national unity and the restoration of the monarchy. He maintained an outspoken voice for rebuilding his country for several years before health issues led him to withdraw from public life in 2006.

On November 30, 2011, Crown Prince Leka I died at the Mother Teresa Hospital in Tirana, Albania. The government declared a National Day of Mourning, and he was given a state funeral, with full military honors. He was initially buried in the Sharra cemetery in Tirana next to his wife and mother. In November 2012, their remains were exhumed and reinterred in the newly rebuilt Royal Mausoleum.

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Albanian Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh, Scotland

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The ruins of the abbey church of Holyrood Abbey; Credit – By Brian Holsclaw from Seattle, WA, USA – 20090513_Edinburgh_034Uploaded by Kurpfalzbilder.de, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9562367

The abbey church of Holyrood Abbey, which this writer has visited, now stands in roofless ruins adjacent to Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland. Rood is a word for the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified and so the name Holyrood is equivalent to Holy Cross. Holyrood Abbey was founded by David I, King of Scots in 1128 as an abbey of the Augustinian Canons Regular. The legend is that David I was inspired to found Holyrood Abbey after seeing a vision of the Holy Cross when attacked by a stag in what is now Holyrood Park.

Holyrood Palace, adjacent to the ruins of the abbey church of Holyrood Abbey; Credit – By XtoF – Own work CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60549142

The abbey guesthouse was used as an occasional residence by medieval Kings of Scots. When James IV, King of Scots made Edinburgh the undisputed capital of Scotland, the abbey guesthouse was developed into a royal residence, Holyrood Palace or the Palace of Holyroodhouse, and after the Reformation, the palace was further expanded. Today it is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland.

David I, King of Scots presented the Holyrood Abbey with a relic of the Holy Cross that had belonged to his mother St. Margaret of Scotland, a granddaughter of Edmund II (Ironside), King of England, who held it on her deathbed.  The relic was placed in a golden reliquary and was known as the Black Rood of Scotland. It was removed from Scotland by King Edward I of England in 1296, along with other Scottish treasures including the Stone of Scone. The Black Rood was returned to Scotland in 1328, however, in 1346, following the Battle of Neville’s Cross during the Second War of Scottish Independence, the Black Rood was taken by the English once again. It remained in Durham Cathedral in Durham, England until the English Protestant Reformation when it was presumably destroyed.

The main west door of the abbey church of Holyrood Abbey with part of Holyrood Palace on the right; Credit – © Howard Flantzer

During the Anglo-Scottish Wars in the reign of King Henry VIII of England, the English sacked the abbey causing great damage to the buildings. In 1559, during the Scottish Reformation, the abbey church suffered much damage when a Protestant mob destroyed the altars and looted the rest of the church. In 1569, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland decided to demolish the east end of the abbey church because of the damage. The abbey church served as the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian) parish church for the Canongate section of Edinburgh. Only the nave was retained, all but two of the windows in the nave were blocked up, and the royal tombs were removed to a new royal burial vault in the south aisle.

In 1687, James VII, King of Scots (also James II, King of England) founded the Order of the Thistle and designated the Holyrood abbey church, where a Presbyterian congregation worshipped, to be the chapel of the new order. The abbey church was converted into a Catholic chapel, as James had converted to Roman Catholicism. A new church, the nearby Canongate Kirk, replaced the abbey church as the local Presbyterian parish church. In 1688, the abbey church was ransacked by a mob, furious with King James’ Roman Catholic allegiance. The Order of the Thistle was left without a chapel until the Thistle Chapel was added to the nearby St. Giles’ Cathedral in 1911.

There was some restoration work done on the abbey church in 1758 – 1760 including the rebuilding of the roof but during a storm in 1768 the roof collapsed, leaving the abbey in its current ruins. Restoration of the abbey church has been proposed several times – in 1835 by architect James Gillespie Graham as a meeting place for the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and in 1906, as a chapel for the Knights of the Thistle but both proposals were rejected.

The ruins of Holyrood Abbey; Credit – © Susan Flantzer,

Coronations at Holyrood Abbey

Most Scottish coronations took place at Scone Abbey or Stirling Castle.

Royal Weddings at Holyrood Abbey

Royal Burials at Holyrood Abbey

Royal Vault in the ruins of Holyrood Abbey; Credit – © Susan Flantzer

Photo Credit – www.findagrave.com

The royal tombs of Scotland suffered much destruction during the Scottish Reformation. Practically all the tombs and the remains were destroyed. (See Unofficial Royalty Scottish Royal Burial Sites.) The few surviving remains are mainly interred at Holyrood Abbey.

Royals originally interred at the abbey church include:

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

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Holyrood Abbey – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holyrood_Abbey> [Accessed 3 April 2021].
  • Historicenvironment.scot. 2021. Holyrood Abbey. [online] Available at: <https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/holyrood-abbey/> [Accessed 3 April 2021].
  • Rct.uk. 2021. Highlights of the Palace of Holyroodhouse – Holyrood Abbey. [online] Available at: <https://www.rct.uk/visit/palace-of-holyroodhouse/highlights-of-the-palace-of-holyroodhouse#/#holyroodabbey> [Accessed 3 April 2021].
  • Sacred-destinations.com. 2021. Holyrood Abbey – Edinburgh, Scotland. [online] Available at: <http://www.sacred-destinations.com/scotland/edinburgh-holyrood-abbey-and-palace> [Accessed 3 April 2021].

Queen Geraldine of the Albanians

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

photo: Albanian Royal Court

Queen Geraldine of the Albanians, the wife of King Zog I, was born Countess Geraldine Margit Virginia Olga Maria Apponyi de Nagy-Appony on August 6, 1915 in Budapest. Her father, Count Gyula Apponyi de Nagy-Appony was from a prominent family of Hungary’s high upper nobility. Her mother, Gladys Steuart, was the daughter of an American diplomat who had served as Consul in Belgium. Geraldine had two siblings – a sister, Virginia, and a brother, Gyula.

When the Austrian Empire fell, the family moved to Switzerland for several years before returning to Hungary in 1921. Three years later, Geradline’s father died and the family moved to France. She began her education at an English school in Menton, France, before attending a Catholic boarding school near Vienna, graduating in Social Sciences and Finance. She excelled at languages, becoming fluent in French, German, Spanish, English, Hungarian, and Albanian. With little of the family’s fortune remaining, Geraldine took several jobs, including working as a typist and a salesperson in a museum gift shop.

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Geraldine first met her future husband, King Zog I of the Albanians, in December 1937. The King, having seen a photo of her, asked one of his sisters to invite Geraldine to a New Year’s Ball where they were introduced. Quickly smitten, the King proposed within days and Geraldine accepted. The couple married on April 27, 1938 in a civil ceremony at the Royal Palace in Tirana. Despite their religious differences – the King was a Muslim while Geraldine was Catholic – the marriage was blessed by all of the religious leaders, including the Pope who had initially refused.

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The new Queen quickly worked to promote causes in Albania, particularly those focused on helping those in need. She facilitated the building of numerous hospitals and orphanages, including the first maternity hospital in Albania. She also was an outspoken proponent of women’s rights within the country. On April 5, 1939, Geraldine gave birth to the couple’s only child, Crown Prince Leka I. Two days later, Italian forces invaded and took control of Albania, and the royal family went into exile. They settled in France for several years before moving to England for the duration of World War II. Geraldine worked alongside her husband in his efforts to bring peace to Albania and the restoration of the monarchy. Following the war, they spent several years living in Egypt before returning to France in 1952.  Sometime after King Zog’s death in 1961, Geraldine moved with her son to Spain, and later Rhodesia, before settling in South Africa by the early 1980s. During this time, she continued to support the Albanian people in every way she could.

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After over 62 years in exile, the Albanian government changed the law in 2002, allowing the Royal Family to return to the country. In June 2002, Queen Geraldine, along with her son and his family, returned home to a massive welcome.

Sadly, just five months later, Queen Geraldine of the Albanians died at a military hospital in Tirana on October 22, 2002. Following a ceremonial funeral, she was buried in the Sharra cemetery there. In November 2012, her remains were exhumed and moved to the newly built Royal Mausoleum in Tirana, along with those of her husband, son, and daughter-in-law.

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Albanian Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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