Category Archives: Royal Relationships

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].

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.

Philip Christoph von Königsmarck, Lover of Sophia Dorothea of Celle, Electoral Princess of Hanover

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Philip Christoph von Königsmarck; Credit – Wikipedia

Count Philip Christoph von Königsmarck, the lover of Sophia Dorothea of Celle, Electoral Princess of Hanover (the wife of the future King George I of Great Britain and the mother of King George II of Great Britain) disappeared from the Leineschloss in the Electorate of Hanover, now in the German state of Lower Saxony, and was never seen again. Born on March 4, 1665, in Stade, then part of the Swedish province of Bremen-Verden-Wildeshausen, now in Lower Saxony, Germany, Philip Christoph was the second of the two sons and the youngest of the four children of Count Kurt Christoph von Königsmarck and Maria Christina von Wrangel. Despite their German name and coming from an old Brandenburg noble family, the family considered themselves Swedish.

Philip Christoph had three siblings:

Philip Christoph’s father Count Kurt Christoph von Königsmarck was a Major General in the Swedish Army and served as Deputy Governor of the Swedish possessions in Germany. In 1671, he left the Swedish Army to serve in the army of Willem III, Prince of Orange (the future King William III of England), and took part in the Dutch campaign against the French. On October 10, 1673, when Philip Christoph was eight-years-old, his father was killed at the age of 39 at the Siege of Bonn by friendly fire from an accidental cannon shot.

Philip Christoph von Königsmarck at an early age; Credit – Wikipedia

During his childhood, Philip Christoph served as a page at the court of Georg Wilhelm, Prince of Celle. Celle was a small principality, now in Lower Saxony, Germany. There he became friends with Princess Sophia Dorothea of Celle, Georg Wilhelm’s only child, who was a year younger than Philip Christoph. At the age of 16, Sophia Dorothea was married to her first cousin, 22-year-old Georg Ludwig, Electoral Prince of Hanover and Hereditary Prince of Brunswick-Lüneburg, the eldest son of Ernst August, Elector of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Sophia of the Palatinate, commonly referred to as Electress Sophia of Hanover. Electress Sophia of Hanover’s mother was Elizabeth Stuart, the second child and eldest daughter of King James VI of Scotland/King James I of England. It was through this descent and the exclusion of Catholics from the British throne, that Sophia Dorothea’s husband Georg Ludwig became King George I of Great Britain when Queen Anne, the last ruler of the House of Stuart, died. However, Sophia Dorothea of Celle was never Queen of Great Britain but she is an ancestor of the British Royal family (and other European royal families) through her son King George II of Great Britain.

After spending some time wandering through Europe, Philip Christoph found himself a wealthy man as the heir of his uncle and elder brother who had both died in battle. In 1688, Philip Christoph went to Hanover where he entered into the service of Sophia Dorothea’s father-in-law Ernst August, Elector of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He took part in a campaign against France and became colonel of Ernst August’s bodyguard. Philip Christoph was regularly present at social events at the court of Hanover.

Sophia Dorothea, Electoral Princess of Hanover in 1686; Credit – Wikipedia

The marriage of Sophia Dorothea and Georg Ludwig (called George hereafter) was happy at first, but soon both George and Sophia Dorothea found affection elsewhere. George fell in love with one of his mother’s ladies-in-waiting, Melusine von der Schulenburg, and Sophia Dorothea fell in love with her childhood friend Philip Christoph von Königsmarck. Their affair started around March 1692. Despite warnings, from her mother and friends, Sophia Dorothea and Philip Christoph wrote letters to each other, met secretly, and planned to escape Hanover together. In 1694, Countess Clara Elisabeth von Platen, the mistress of Ernst August, Elector of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, tried to marry her daughter to Philip Christoph Königsmark but he declined. Because of this insult by Königsmark, Clara Elisabeth revealed his affair with Sophia Dorothea to Elector Ernst August.

On the morning of July 2, 1694, after a meeting with Sophia Dorothea, 29-year-old Philip Christoph von Königsmarck disappeared from the Leineschloss in Hanover and was never seen again. It was widely believed he was secretly murdered that same day. Officially, Philip Christoph von Königsmarck is still a missing person. His disappearance became a state affair and news of his disappearance spread throughout the royal courts of Europe and the general public. Bones were found at Leineschloss Castle during a 2016 renovation project, however, tests proved that some of the bones were from animals and the human bones came from at least five different skeletons. None of the remains have been proven to belong to Philip Christoph von Königsmarck.

Sophia Dorothea with her two children; Credit – Wikipedia

On December 28, 1694, a tribunal of judges and Lutheran Church officials declared the marriage of George and Sophia Dorothea dissolved on the grounds of Sophia Dorothea’s desertion. Meanwhile, 28-year-old Sophia Dorothea had been moved to the Castle of Ahlden in her father’s Principality of Celle. She hoped to be reunited with Königsmarck, whose disappearance had not been made known to her. Finally, Sophia Dorothea was told about the terms of the marriage dissolution. Because she was considered the guilty party, she was not allowed to remarry, would never again see her two children (the 11-year-old future King George II of Great Britain and the 7-year-old future Queen Sophia Dorothea in Prussia, wife of King Friedrich Wilhelm I in Prussia), and would be kept as a prisoner at the Castle of Ahlden for the remainder of her life. The Castle of Ahlden had a guard unit of 40 soldiers with five to ten of them guarding the castle around the clock. Sophia Dorothea had a household consisting of two maids of honor, several maids, and other staff for the household and kitchen, who were all chosen for their loyalty to Hanover.

Castle of Ahlden; Credit – Wikipedia

Although Sophia Dorothea spent 32 years in captivity, she received an income that allowed her to live in the style of a princess and she was able to go for drives in her coach with an escort. Her father refused to visit her but her mother did make visits, and unsuccessfully tried to obtain her release by asking Queen Anne of Great Britain for help. Sophia Dorothea apparently drowned her sorrows in the pleasure of eating, and became quite obese, increasingly suffering from fevers and indigestion. She suffered a stroke in August 1726 and never again left her bed. Sophia Dorothea refused medical attention and food, and died on November 13, 1726, at the age of 60. Her former husband, now King George I of Great Britain, would not allow mourning at the British court and was furious when he learned that his daughter had ordered court mourning in Prussia.

Because the guards at the Castle of Ahlden had no funeral or burial instructions, Sophia Dorothea’s remains were placed in a lead coffin and stored in the castle cellar. In January 1727, orders came from London to bury the remains without any ceremony in the cemetery of Ahlden. However, this was impossible because of weeks of heavy rains and the coffin remained in the castle cellar. Finally, in May 1727, Sophia Dorothea was buried in the middle of the night beside her parents at the Stadtkirche St. Marien (link in German) in Celle. Her former husband King George I died four weeks later after receiving a deathbed letter from Sophia Dorothea cursing him, and their son acceded to the British throne as King George II.

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. 2020. Kurt Christoph Von Königsmarck. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Christoph_von_K%C3%B6nigsmarck> [Accessed 9 May 2020].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Philipp Christoph Von Königsmarck. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philipp_Christoph_von_K%C3%B6nigsmarck> [Accessed 9 May 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Philip Christoph Von Königsmarck. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Christoph_von_K%C3%B6nigsmarck> [Accessed 9 May 2020].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2015. Sophia Dorothea Of Celle, Electoral Princess Of Hanover. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/sophia-dorothea-of-celle-electoral-princess-of-hanover/> [Accessed 9 May 2020].
  • Sv.wikipedia.org. 2020. Philip Christoph Königsmarck. [online] Available at: <https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Christoph_K%C3%B6nigsmarck> [Accessed 9 May 2020].
  • Van der Kiste, John, 2013. The Georgian Princesses. New York: History Press.

Lola Montez, Mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2020

Lola Montez, 1851; Credit – Wikipedia

Lola Montez was a dancer, courtesan, and a mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria. She was born Marie Dolores Eliza Rosanna Gilbert on February 17, 1821, in Grange, County Sligo, Connacht, Ireland. At the time of her birth, all of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Known as Eliza, she was the daughter of a Scotsman, Edward Gilbert, and Eliza Oliver from an Irish country noble family. Eliza’s paternal grandfather was Charles Silver Oliver, a High Sheriff of Cork and a member of Parliament for Kilmallock in County Limerick, Ireland. Eliza’s mother grew up at the family home, Castle Oliver. Eliza’s father was an Ensign in The King’s Own Scottish Borderers, a regiment of the British Army. Eliza’s parents met when her father’s regiment arrived in Grange, Ireland. When Eliza was two-years-old her father was posted to India and Eliza and her mother accompanied him. However, her father died from cholera shortly after arriving in India. Eliza and her mother remained in India and her mother married again to Lieutenant Patrick Craigie.

Eliza Gilbert, circa 1837; Credit – Wikipedia

When Eliza reached school age, she was sent to live with her stepfather’s father Captain John Craigie in Montrose, Scotland. At the age of ten, Eliza was sent to Sunderland, England to live with her stepfather’s sister Catherine Rae. Eliza attended a boarding school that Catherine Rae ran with her husband. She finished her education at a boarding school in Bath, England. To avoid a marriage with the much older judge Sir Abraham Lumley, she ran away with Lieutenant Thomas James. The couple married in 1837. Eliza’s husband was posted to India in 1838 and she accompanied him but the couple separated in 1842.

In 1842, Eliza returned to England and lived in London where she learned the Spanish language and Spanish dances. Using the stage name Maria de los Dolores Porrys y Montez, also known as Lola Montez, she pretended to be a Spanish dancer from Seville, Spain. In June 1843, her true identity was revealed when she was recognized as Mrs. Thomas James. Her career in England was hampered and she left for continental Europe. By this time she was certainly accepting favors from wealthy men in return for sex and was widely regarded as a courtesan.

Lola Montez, 1844; Credit – Wikipedia

Lola Montez traveled across Europe and caused scandals through her affairs and performances. She became famous for her Spider Dance, which involved her shaking imaginary tarantulas out of her clothes and stamping on them. She then raised her skirt so high that the audience could see that she wore no underwear. On September 3, 1843, Lola danced in front of King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia and Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia at the Los Boleros de Cadiz in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia. Her guest appearance in Warsaw caused an uproar. Her dancing caused her to be expelled from Berlin, Warsaw, Reuss-Ebersdorf, and Baden-Baden. After performing in various European cities, Lola settled in Paris, where she was accepted by the Bohemian literary society of the time. She received more notoriety when her lover Alexandre Dujarrier (link in French), editor of the newspaper La Presse was shot to death in a duel in 1845. Heinrich LXXII, Prince Reuss of Lobenstein and Ebersdorf, the father and son writers Alexandre Dumas the Elder and Alexandre Dumas the Younger, and the composer Franz Liszt were among her lovers.

King Ludwig I of Bavaria; Credit – Wikipedia

On October 5, 1846, Lola arrived in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria. She applied for an engagement as a dancer at the Munich Hofbühne but her application was denied. Lola decided to appeal to King Ludwig I of Bavaria and met with him for the first time on October 7, 1846. Soon, she was making guest appearances at the Munich Court and National Theater and within a month, the 25-year-old Lola became the mistress of the 60-year-old Ludwig. The king changed his will to include payments to Lola and provided her with a luxurious residence where he often visited her. Their relationship quickly became known and was met with disapproval by the citizens of Bavaria.

Lola Montez painted for King Ludwig I of Bavaria by Joseph Karl Stieler for the Gallery of Beauties at Nymphenburg Palace in Munich; Credit – Wikipedia

King Ludwig I had a constant stream of mistresses, few of which were kept very private. His wife, born Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen, often left Bavaria in defiance of her husband’s actions and maintained a massive amount of sympathy and support from the Bavarian people. When Ludwig’s relationship with Lola Montez began, Queen Therese refused to back down. She publicly chastised her husband and refused his request to grant Lola the Order of Therese.

Because Lola’s only identification was a passport from the Principality of Reuss-Ebersdorf, King Ludwig I asked his cabinet to grant Lola Bavarian citizenship in 1847. The cabinet refused and all the cabinet ministers resigned. After a new cabinet was formed, Lola was granted Bavarian citizenship which caused riots in Munich. On August 25, 1847, Ludwig’s 61st birthday, Lola was created Countess of Landsfeld and was given a large annuity.

A caricature of Lola Montez wearing a crown and holding a whip in her left hand. Attached to a leash is King Ludwig I of Bavaria, depicted as a dog standing on its hind legs; Credit – Wikipedia

By 1848, because of the revolutionary fervor in Europe, Ludwig I’s reign was coming to an abrupt end. His relationship with Lola and the influence he allowed her to wield also played a role. Facing protests and demonstrations by students and the middle classes, Ludwig ordered the closure of the university. Shortly after, the crowds raided the armory on their way to storm the Munich Residenz, the palace in Munich. Ludwig’s brother Prince Karl Theodor managed to appease the protesters but the damage was done. Ludwig’s family and advisors turned against him and he was forced to sign the March Proclamation, giving substantial concessions toward a constitutional monarchy. Unwilling to rule this way, King Ludwig I abdicated on March 20, 1848, in favor of his son Maximilian II, King of Bavaria.

Lola fled to Switzerland where she hoped Ludwig would join her but he never did. The letters between Lola and Ludwig show that she lived in luxury with the money she had received from Ludwig. Lola continued writing to Ludwig and the letters show that she was mainly concerned with getting more money from him.

Lola returned to London in 1849 and appeared at Covent Garden. Although she had never divorced her first husband Thomas James, Lola married George Trafford Heald, a British Army officer. They fled from England to avoid a bigamy lawsuit. Lola and George lived in France and Spain but within two years, their relationship was falling apart and George reportedly drowned in 1851.

Cartoon of Lola Montez, circa 1852 By DC Johnston; Credit – Wikipedia

Lola set off to make a new start in the United States in 1851, where she was surprisingly successful for a while. In 1852, on Broadway, she played herself in a theater revue, Lola Montez in Bavaria. She toured the east coast until 1853 when she went to San Francisco where her performances created a sensation. In July 1853, Lola married Patrick Hull, a local newspaper reporter, and moved to Grass Valley, California but by August her marriage had failed. Lola remained in Grass Valley, California for nearly two years until she went on tour for two years in Australia where she mostly entertained in gold-mining towns. After she performed her Spider Dance at the Theatre Royal in Melbourne, the newspapers reported that her show was “utterly subversive to all ideas of public morality”  and her show began to suffer financial losses.

Upon returning to New York in 1857, Lola attempted a theatrical comeback that failed. She then arranged with Charles Chauncey Burr, an American journalist, author, and publisher, to deliver a series of lectures Burr had written in the United States and the United Kingdom which allowed her to earn a living.

By 1860, Lola was exhibiting the third stage effects of syphilis. During the summer of 1860, she had symptoms similar to a stroke. In December 1860, Lola developed pneumonia. She died on January 17, 1861, aged 39, in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City. Lola Montez, born Marie Dolores Eliza Rosanna Gilbert, was buried at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York, where her tombstone says: “Mrs. Eliza Gilbert Died Jan. 17, 1861.” The reverse of her tombstone gives more biographical information.

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. 2020. Lola Montez. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lola_Montez> [Accessed 7 April 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Lola Montez. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lola_Montez> [Accessed 7 April 2020].
  • Findagrave.com. 2020. Lola Montez (1821-1861) – Find A Grave Memorial. [online] Available at: <https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/726/lola-montez> [Accessed 7 April 2020].
  • Heichelbech, R., n.d. The Spider Dance That Captivated The World In The 1840S. [online] Dusty Old Thing. Available at: <https://dustyoldthing.com/lola-montez-spider-dance/> [Accessed 7 April 2020].
  • History-is-made-at-night.blogspot.com. 2009. Lola Montez And The Spider Dance. [online] Available at: <http://history-is-made-at-night.blogspot.com/2009/05/lola-montez-and-spider-dance.html> [Accessed 7 April 2020].
  • Mehl, Scott, 2016. King Ludwig I Of Bavaria. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-ludwig-i-of-bavaria/> [Accessed 7 April 2020].

Diane de Poitiers, Mistress of King Henri II of France

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Diane de Poitiers was the royal mistress of King Henri II of France from around 1534 until the King’s death in 1559. During that time, she was considered by most to be the most powerful and influential woman in France, far surpassing the King’s wife, the former Catherine de’ Medici.

Diane de Poitiers – source: Wikipedia

Diane de Poitiers was born on January 9, 1500 at the Château de Saint-Vallier in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France. She was the second child, and eldest daughter, of Jean de Poitiers, Vicomte d’Estoile and Seigneur of Saint-Vallier and his wife, Jeanne de Batarnay.

Following her mother’s death in 1506, Diane was raised in the court of Princess Anne of France (Anne de Beaujeu), the daughter of King Louis XI and sister of King Charles VIII of France, for whom she had served as regent from 1483-1491 when he reached his majority). During this time, Diane received an education typical for young girls in the aristocracy at that time – studying languages, music, and proper etiquette, as well as studying several languages. She also became a skilled huntress – something she enjoyed well into her later years.

In 1515, Princess Anne arranged for Diane to marry Louis de Brézé, Comte de Maulevrier and Seigneur d’Anet, who was nearly 40 years older than her. He was a grandson of King Charles VII of France, and served as a courtier to King François I. The couple had two daughters:

During her marriage, Diane became a lady-in-waiting to Queen Claude of France (mother of Henri II) and later served in the same role to Louise of Savoy (grandmother of Henri II) and Queen Eléanore of France (stepmother of Henri II). Along with her position at court, Diane also became known for her financial independence – something rarely seen for a woman in those times. Widowed in 1531, Diane went to court to retain her husband’s estates and titles in her own right, and not be required to submit them to a male relative as was expected. Impressed by her acumen, King François issued Letters Patent allowing Diane to retain everything until ownership could be established, allowing her to establish complete financial independence.

King Henri II. source: Wikipedia

Through her presence at court, Diane became known to the young Prince Henri. Eighteen years older than the young prince, she made quite an impression on him despite his young age. Despite his marriage in 1533 to Catherine de’ Medici – Diane’s second cousin – the young Prince was smitten with Diane. From their correspondence, it is believed that Diane became his mistress sometime around 1534.

For the next 25 years, Diane de Poitiers would be the King’s closest companion, and many felt she was the most powerful woman in France at the time. Her influence on the King was without match, and he relied heavily on her advice in all official decisions. Such was her position that when foreign royals and leaders would send gifts to the Queen, they would also send gifts to Diane.

Château de Chenonceau. photo: CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=604946

The King, too, showered Diane with gifts. She was created Duchess of Valentinois in 1548, and Duchess d’Étampes in 1553, and was given custody of the French Crown Jewels. He also had the Château d’Anet rebuilt for her (on the site of her late husband’s former château, which was left to her), and gave her the Château de Chenonceau, despite his wife’s desire that she have it for herself.

Diane’s influence and power would come to a complete halt in 1559 after King Henri was critically injured in a jousting tournament. Queen Catherine quickly took control, refusing to allow Diane to see the ailing King, despite his requests for her. After suffering for ten days, the King died on July 10, 1559, of sepsis from his wounds. The Queen quickly took steps to eliminate Diane from the existence she had enjoyed for so many years. She was forced to return the Crown Jewels, give up the Château de Chenonceau in exchange for the Château de Chaumont, and sent into exile. After a brief stay at Chaumont, Diane returned to d’Anet where she lived a relatively quiet life for the next six years.

Tomb of Diane de Poitiers. Photo: Par Binche — Travail personnel, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16697082

In poor health for several years after suffering a fall while out riding, Diane de Poitiers died at the Château d’Anet on April 25, 1566, at the age of 66. Per her wishes, her daughter Louise had a funeral chapel built on the grounds of the château which would serve as Diane’s resting place. However, during the French Revolution, her grave was opened and her remains were thrown into a mass grave. In 2009, her remains were rediscovered and returned to her original tomb at d’Anet the following year.

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.

Baroness Mary von Vetsera, Mistress of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2020

Baroness Mary von Vetsera; Credit – Wikipedia

Baroness Mary von Vetsera was a mistress of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, the only son of Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria and Elisabeth of Bavaria. On January 30, 1889, Mary and Rudolf were found dead by suicide pact, at Rudolf’s hunting lodge Mayerling in the Vienna Woods, which this writer has visited.

Marie Alexandrine von Vetsera was born on March 19, 1871, in Vienna, Austria. Known by the English form of her name, Mary, she was the younger of the two daughters and the third of the four children of Albin von Vetsera, a diplomat in foreign service at the Austrian court, originally from Bratislava, Slovakia, and his wife Helene Baltazzi (link in German), daughter of a wealthy Greek banker. In 1870, Mary’s father was made a Baron (Freiherr in German) by Emperor Franz Joseph and his children were entitled to be styled Baron (Freiherr) and Baroness (Freiin, unmarried daughter)

Mary had three siblings:

  • Baron Ladislaus von Vetsera (1865 – 1881), died at age 16 in the Ringtheater fire
  • Baroness Johanna von Vetsera (1868 – 1901), married Graf (Count) Hendrik von Bylandt-Rheyd, had two children
  • Baron Franz Albin von Vetsera (1872 – 1915), married Gräfin (Countess) Margit Mária von Bissingen und Nippenburg, had three children

Countess Marie Larisch von Moennich (right) with Baroness Mary von Vetsera; Credit – Wikipedia

Mary’s mother Helene made the acquaintance of Countess Marie Larisch von Moennich, niece and confidante of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, and it was through Marie that Helena gained access to the Imperial Court. Countess Marie eventually became a good friend of Mary. Helena even suggested to Crown Prince Rudolf that they should have an affair. Rudolf politely declined. Helene hoped that her daughter Mary would finally enable the Vetseras to break into the high aristocracy.

In 1881, Rudolf married Princess Stéphanie of Belgium, daughter of King Leopold II of the Belgians and Archduchess Marie-Henriette of Austria. The marriage was happy at first, but shortly after the birth of their daughter in 1883, the relationship between Stéphanie and Rudolf began to deteriorate. Rudolf likely infected Stéphanie with a sexually transmitted disease, causing her to become infertile and unable to provide a male heir for the Austrian throne. Both Stéphanie and Rudolf began affairs with other people in the following years and intermittently spoke of divorce.

Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria; Credit – Wikipedia

The affair of Crown Prince Rudolf and Mary was short-lived. On October 14, 1888, Emperor Franz Joseph, Crown Prince Rudolf, and The Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, attended the gala opening of the new Burgtheater in Vienna. The Prince of Wales noticed Mary von Vetsera in the audience and pointed her out to Rudolf. A meeting between Rudolf and Mary was later arranged by Countess Marie Larisch, Empress Elisabeth’s niece and Rudolf’s cousin, who had become Mary’s friend. On November 5, 1888, Countess Marie brought Mary to Rudolf’s rooms at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna and formally introduced them.

Soon many people at the court, including Rudolf’s parents Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth andRudolf’s wife Stéphanie, knew that Rudolf and Mary were having an affair. Rudolf was summoned for a meeting with his father on January 26, 1889. There is no record of the conversation between father and son but court officials reported hearing shouting. It is certainly possible that Rudolf’s affair was a topic of discussion.

Mayerling, Crown Prince Rudolf’s hunting lodge; Credit – Wikipedia

On January 30, 1889, at Mayerling, a hunting lodge in the Vienna Woods that Rudolf had purchased, 30-year-old Rudolf shot 17-year-old Mary and then shot himself in an apparent suicide pact. Rudolf wrote in his farewell letter to his wife Stéphanie: Dear Stéphanie! You are free from my presence and plague; be happy in your way. Be good for the poor little one, who is the only thing left of me.

When the bodies were found, the national security services sealed off the hunting lodge and the surrounding area. An official statement was released saying that Rudolf had died “due to a rupture of an aneurysm of the heart”. It was determined that Mary’s wounds were made by a gunshot at close range. The lethal bullet had penetrated Mary’s upper left skull area and emerged behind the right ear. Mary was right-handed and so there were considerable doubts that she fired the gun herself. Eventually, another statement was released stating that Rudolf had first shot Mary in a suicide pact and then sat by her body for several hours before shooting himself. The police closed their investigations quite quickly, in response to Emperor Franz Joseph’s wishes.

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Citizens of Vienna are shocked to read of the death of Crown Prince Rudolf, 31st January 1889

Mary’s body was quietly taken out of Mayerling in the middle of the night and secretly buried in the village cemetery at nearby Heiligenkreuz. Her mother had a crypt built there and Mary’s remains were put into a splendid copper coffin and reinterred on May 16, 1889. In April 1945, near the end of World War II, Mary’s grave was looted by Soviet soldiers. Initially, the damage was repaired only superficially. On July 7, 1959, Mary’s remains were transferred to a new tin coffin and placed on top of the original copper coffin.

Mary’s grave was desecrated once again. Furniture dealer Helmut Flatzelsteiner, who was obsessed with the Mayerling story, stole Mary’s remains with the help of two assistants on July 8, 1991. Flatzelsteiner arranged for a forensic examination at his own expense. He told the forensic examiners that the remains were those of a relative killed one hundred years earlier who may have been shot in the head or stabbed. When Flatzelsteiner approached a journalist to sell both the story and Mary’s remains, the police became involved. Flatzelsteiner confessed and surrendered Mary’s remains which were subjected to further forensic examination.

The forensic examination determined that the remains were those of an approximately 18-year-old woman who had been buried approximately 115 years earlier. The skull had two bullet holes, the bullet’s entry and the bullet’s exit. Gunshot residue was on the hair. The clothing corresponded to Mary’s era and came from the Viennese stores where the Vetsera family shopped. On October 28, 1993, the remains were buried in a new coffin and the burial site was reinforced to prevent another desecration of the grave.

Baroness Mary Vetsera’s current grave in Heilingenkreuz, Austria. Her remains were desecrated twice and were finally reburied here in 1993; Credit – Von Peterpol48 – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35429380

After Rudolf’s death, Emperor Franz Joseph had the Mayerling hunting lodge converted into a monastery for the nuns of the Discalced Carmelite Order, an order in which members dedicate themselves to a life of prayer. Prayers are still said daily by the nuns for the repose of Rudolf’s soul. Visitors to the monastery may visit the chapel where the position of the main cross is where Rudolf and Mary’s bed was located. This writer has visited both Mayerling and the Imperial Crypt in Vienna where Rudolf and many other Habsburgs are buried.

Mayerling, now a monastery; Photo Credit – Susan Flantzer

The altar in the chapel at Mayerling is on the location of Rudolf’s bedroom; Photo Credit – Susan Flantzer

In 2007, Mary’s original copper coffin was found by accident in the Heiligenkreuz Abbey. It was restored and has been on view in the small museum at the Mayerling monastery.

Mary’s original coffin; Photo Credit – Susan Flantzer

Inscription on Mary’s original coffin; Photo Credit – Susan Flantzer

Various Habsburgs have disputed the accepted version of events that occurred on the night of January 30, 1889. In 2013, Archduke Rudolf, the grandson of Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria, asserted that Crown Prince Rudolf was assassinated by the Freemasons. However, on July 31, 2015, the Austrian National Library released copies of Baroness Mary von Vetsera’s letters of farewell to her mother and other family members. These letters, previously believed to be lost or destroyed, were found in a safe deposit box in an Austrian bank, where they had been deposited in 1926. The letters state clearly that Mary was preparing to die by suicide alongside Rudolf, out of “love”. Mary’s letter to her mother translated into English: Dear Mother, Forgive me for what I did. I could not resist love. In accordance with him, I want to be buried beside him in the cemetery of Alland. I am happier in death than in life. Your Mary

Mary Vetsera’s farewell letter to her mother; 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.

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Mary Vetsera. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Vetsera> [Accessed 4 April 2020].
  • DER SPIEGEL, G., 1980. „Bratfisch Hat Wundervoll Gepfiffen“-DER SPIEGEL 16/1980. [online] Spiegel.de. Available at: <https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-14326746.html> [Accessed 4 April 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Baroness Mary Vetsera. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroness_Mary_Vetsera> [Accessed 4 April 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Mayerling Incident. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayerling_Incident> [Accessed 4 April 2020].
  • Flantzer, S., 2019. Crown Prince Rudolf Of Austria. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/crown-prince-rudolf-of-austria/> [Accessed 4 April 2020].
  • Van Der Kiste, John, 2005. Emperor Francis Joseph; Life, Death And The Fall Of The Habsburg Empire. Thrupp: Sutton Publishing Limited.

Anna Nahowski, Mistress of Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Credit – Wikipedia

Anna Nahowski was the mistress of Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria from 1875 – 1889. Anna never spoke publicly about the affair during her life. She did keep a diary which was released in 1976 after the death of her daughter Helene. The diary revealed the true nature of the relationship between Anna and Franz Joseph.

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Emperor Franz Joseph in 1875

Anna Nowak was born on June 19, 1860, in Vienna Austria. When she was 14 years old, Anna married silk manufacturer Johann Heuduck, a gambler, and an alcoholic. The couple had one child, Carola Heuduck (1877 – 1946). On May 8, 1875, in the early morning, Anna, the not quite 15-years-old, was walking in the park of Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna with her maid. In Anna’s words from her diary, she met an “officer” who “stared at me in amazement and could not see enough”. “My maid told me, this is the emperor.” Emperor Franz Joseph was 45 years old and had many affairs but mostly short-term ones. Every day during her early morning walk, Anna looked for Franz Joseph and he looked for her. Their first kiss occurred on June 26, 1875, in the rain.

Anna continued coming to the park of Schönbrunn Palace to “kiss” the emperor while Anna’s maid served as a lookout. Their encounters became more and more intense. At one point, Franz Joseph wanted their physical relationship to go further and was insulted when Anna refused. It took three years for them to consummate their relationship.

Schönbrunn Palace; Photo Credit – Susan Flantzer.

In 1878, Anna divorced her husband Johann Heuduck who had no idea about her affair with Franz Joseph. From funds given to her by the emperor, Anna deposited a large amount of money in her husband’s bank account. She married again, with Emperor Franz Joseph’s permission, to Franz Nahowski, a railroad official. The money continued to flow and arrangements were made for Anna to move to a villa near Schönbrunn Palace with a secret entrance for Franz Joseph. Anna was told not to wear a bodice when he came and to be “ready in bed”. Nahowski was agreeable with his wife being Franz Joseph’s mistress and with the generous gifts to Anna.

Anna gave birth to three children during her marriage to Franz Nahowski:

  • Anna Nahowski (1883 – 1973)
  • Helene Nahowski (link in German) (1885 – 1976) married composer Alban Berg
  • Franz Joseph Nahowski (1889 – 1942)
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Anna Nahowski in 1885

There were rumors regarding the paternity of all three children. The eldest child, also named Anna, was probably the daughter of Franz Nahowski because she closely resembled him. In 1885, when Anna gave birth to a daughter named Helene, she received 100,000 guldens (worth millions today) from Franz Joseph. In her diary, Anna wrote that Helene did not look like her husband Franz Nahowski. Helene’s photos strongly resembled Franz Joseph as a young man. In Viennese society, it was an open secret that Helene was the daughter of Emperor Franz Joseph.

The paternity of Anna’s son Franz Joseph is more questionable. According to Anna’s diary, her last meeting with the emperor occurred a year before her son was born. However, many believe he was the emperor’s son and Anna’s son himself believed he was the emperor’s son. On August 18, 1930, the hundredth anniversary of Emperor Franz Joseph’s birth, the younger Franz Joseph cut off his left little finger with a razor while at the tomb of Franz Joseph in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna. He left the severed finger “as an atonement” on the emperor’s tomb. The younger Franz Joseph was diagnosed with schizophrenia and remained in the mental asylum for a long period. After his release, he retired to the country house of his sister Helene Berg, where he died in her arms in 1942.

Franz Joseph and Anna’s relationship lasted for fourteen years, overlapping Franz Joseph’s long-standing private relationship with actress Katharina Schratt. While Anna’s relationship with Franz Joseph was entirely sexual, the exact nature of Katharina Schratt’s relationship with him is unclear. Some historians believe that Katharina and Franz Joseph were lovers and others believe their relationship was platonic. Franz Joseph, whose wife was emotionally distant from him and fled from him and her duties at court by frequent traveling, needed someone to support him emotionally. Franz Joseph found the 29-year age gap and the lack of common interests between Anna and himself difficult. Although his affair with Anna lasted until 1889, Franz Joseph found Katharina Schratt a more compatible companion, and their relationship continued until his death in 1916.

In 1889, after Franz Joseph’s only son Crown Prince Rudolf killed his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera and then killed himself, Franz Joseph broke off all contact with Anna. She was summoned to Hofburg Palace in Vienna on March 14, 1889, where she met with Baron von Mayr, General Director of the Habsburg Family Fund. Baron von Mayr informed Anna that she could determine her severance payment “for the fourteen years in the service of the emperor.” She asked for 200,000 guldens (millions of dollars today) and in return, she had to sign the following statement: “I hereby confirm that I received 200,000 guldens as a gift from His Majesty the Emperor today. I also swear that I will remain silent at all times about the relationship with His Majesty.”

Because of the payments from Emperor Franz Joseph, Anna’s children grew up in prosperity.  Anna Nahowski died in Vienna, Austria on March 23, 1931, at the age of 70. She was buried at Hietzing Cemetery (link in German) in Vienna, Austria, adjacent to Schönbrunn Palace. Katharina Schratt was buried in the same cemetery when she died in 1940.

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Anna Nahowski. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Nahowski> [Accessed 2 April 2020].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Helene Berg. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helene_Berg> [Accessed 2 April 2020].
  • DER SPIEGEL, G., 1986. „Er Zog Mich Mit Gewalt Nach Meinem Bett“-DER SPIEGEL 45/1986. [online] Spiegel.de. Available at: <https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-13520215.html> [Accessed 2 April 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Anna Nahowski. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Nahowski> [Accessed 2 April 2020].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2020. Anna Nahowski. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Nahowski> [Accessed 2 April 2020].
  • Redaktion, M., 2015. Helene Berg. [online] Mugi.hfmt-hamburg.de. Available at: <https://mugi.hfmt-hamburg.de/artikel/Helene_Berg.html> [Accessed 2 April 2020].
  • Sternenkaiserin. 2018. Kaiser Franz Joseph Und Die Frauen. [online] Available at: <https://sternenkaiserin.com/tag/uneheliche-kinder-kaiser-franz-joseph/> [Accessed 2 April 2020].
  • Van Der Kiste, John, 2005. Emperor Francis Joseph; Life, Death And The Fall Of The Habsburg Empire. Thrupp: Sutton Publishing Limited.

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.

Gabrielle d’Estrées, Mistress of King Henri IV of France

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Gabrielle d’Estrées.source: Wikipedia

Gabrielle d’Estrées was the mistress of King Henri IV of France from 1591 until her death in 1599. In addition to being his mistress, she was one of his closest confidantes and advisers and was instrumental in the King’s renunciation of Protestantism and conversion to Catholicism.

She was born in 1573 at the Château de Cœuvres in Picardy, France, one of 11 children of Antoine d’Estrées, Marquis de Cœuvres, and his wife Françoise Babou de La Bourdaisière.

Gabrielle was first introduced to King Henri in the fall of 1590, and he was quickly smitten with her. However, she resisted for many months before becoming his mistress the following year. The King was married to Marguerite of Valois, although the marriage was not a close or happy one. On June 8, 1592, in a marriage arranged by Henri – strictly for appearance – Gabrielle was married to Nicolas d’Amerval. She was the Henri’s constant companion, and the two were very publicly affectionate with each other.

King Henri IV of France. source: Wikipedia

Henri found Gabrielle to be quite intelligent and relied heavily on her advice, particularly on the issue of religion. A devout Catholic, Gabrielle encouraged Henri to convert to Catholicism as a way to end the religious wars and appease the Catholic League. He formally converted in July 1593, and was then finally able to be crowned in Chartres Cathedral the following February. He also arranged for Gabrielle’s marriage to be annulled.

Gabrielle and Henri had three children:

Soon after the birth of their first child, Henri formally recognized and legitimized him and made Gabrielle his official mistress. In March 1596, he purchased the Château de Montceaux as a gift for Gabrielle and gave her the title Marquise de Monceaux. The following year, he also created her Duchess de Beaufort, making her a peeress of France and solidifying her position at court. Disliked by many in the French aristocracy, Gabrielle continued to be Henri’s closest confidante and advisor and he used her connections to help ease the religious tensions that persisted at the time. Following the Edict of Nantes in 1598, Gabrielle and Henri’s sister worked to ease the objections of both the Catholics and the Huguenots to allow more religious freedom in France.

Château de Montceaux. source: Wikipedia

In March 1599, King Henri announced his intention to have his marriage to Marguerite of Valois annulled so he could marry Gabrielle. He applied to the Pope for an annulment, and so confident in the expected decision, Henri gave his Coronation Ring to Gabrielle. Sadly, a marriage would not happen. Pregnant at the time, Gabrielle suffered an attack of eclampsia on April 9, 1599, while in Paris. Henri was informed and began his return to Paris from the Château de Fontainebleau the following day. However, it was too late. Gabrielle d’Estrées, Duchess of Beaufort and Marquise of Montceaux, died in Paris on April 10, 1599.

Grief-stricken, King Henri decreed that she be given the funeral of a Queen, and wore all black while he was in mourning, something that had never been done before in the French royal family. Gabrielle’s funeral was held at the Church of Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois, with her coffin traveling in a procession that included princes, princesses, and many of the highest nobility of France. Following the funeral, her remains were interred in the Notre-Dame-La Royale church at Maubuisson Abbey on the outskirts of Paris, where her sister was serving as Abbess at the time.

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

Katharina Schratt, Confidante of Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Katharina Schratt; Credit – Wikipedia

In December 1873, Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria and his wife Empress Elisabeth attended a gala performance of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew at the Stadttheater (link in German) in Vienna, Austria. No one could have foreseen that Katharina Schratt, the actress playing the female lead role, whom Franz Joseph saw for the first time that evening, would become an important person in his life.

Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria in 1885; Credit – Wikipedia

Katharina Schratt had a long-standing private relationship with Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria, however, the exact nature of their relationship is unclear. Some believe that Katharina and Franz Joseph were lovers. Others believe that their relationship was platonic and that Franz Joseph, whose wife was emotionally distant from him and fled from him as well as her duties at court by frequent traveling, needed someone to support him emotionally. Franz Joseph had to deal with the violent deaths of relatives. His brother Emperor Maximilian of Mexico was executed by a firing squad, his only son Crown Prince Rudolf killed his mistress and himself, his wife Empress Elisabeth was assassinated by being stabbed, and the assassination in 1914 of his nephew Archduke Franz Ferdinand who had become his heir after his son’s suicide, sparked the beginning of World War I. Certainly, Katharina’s emotional support helped Franz Joseph to deal with all these tragedies. Katharina always maintained the strictest discretion regarding her relationship with Franz Joseph.

Born on September 11, 1853, in Baden bei Wien, Austria, Katharina Schratt was the only daughter and the second of the three children of paper and office supplies merchant Anton Schratt. Katharina’s older brother was Heinrich Schratt (1851-1940) and her younger brother was Rudolf Schratt (1860-1952). Katharina fell in love with the theater at a young age. Her parents tried to dissuade her, even sending her away to a boarding school. Nothing worked and they finally relented and allowed Katharina to attend Eduard Kirschner’s Theater Academy in Vienna.

Embed from Getty Images 

At the age of seventeen, Katharina made her acting debut in her hometown as a guest actress with the Vienna Theater Academy. In 1872, she obtained her first permanent position with the Königliches Hoftheater (link in German) in Berlin‎, Kingdom of Prussia where she achieved much success in a short period. She soon received an offer from the Stadttheater (link in German) in Vienna. Her performances there made her a leading lady on the Viennese stage. In the spring of 1879, Katharina married Hungarian diplomat Baron Miklós Kiss de Ittebe. The couple had a son Anton (1880–1970), and eventually separated but never divorced.

Katharina had a long and distinguished acting career and became one of the most popular actresses of her time in Austria. After appearing on the stage in New York City, she returned to Vienna in 1883 and joined the Burgtheater in Vienna, one of the most important stages in Europe. Katharina remained with the Burgtheater until 1900, when she disagreed with director Paul Schlenther (link in German), terminated her contract, and retired at the age of 47.

Katharina Schratt in her debut at the Burgtheater as Lorle in “Dorf und Stadt” on November 10, 1883; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1883, Katharina was presented to Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth after a performance at the Burgtheater. Further meetings between Katharina and Franz Joseph were arranged by Empress Elizabeth who felt remorse that her constant absence from the court deprived her husband of contact with women. Elisabeth had difficulties with the rigidity of the Austrian court and did not get along with Imperial Family members. Although Franz Joseph loved Elisabeth, she felt emotionally distant from her husband and fled from him as well as her duties at court, by frequent traveling. Elisabeth not only tolerated her husband’s relationship with Katharina but even seemed to encourage it. Except for short periods – a brief time after the assassination of Empress Elisabeth in 1898 and a disagreement between Franz Joseph and Katharina in 1900-1901, the relationship lasted until Franz Joseph died in 1916.

Katharina Schratt, circa 1900; Credit – Wikipedia

Katharina’s relationship with Franz Joseph garnered her a generous lifestyle. Her debts were paid off, she was showered with jewelry and she became the owner of a mansion on Vienna’s Gloriettegasse, near Schönbrunn Palace, and a mansion in the spa town of Bad Ischl. When her husband died in 1909, Katharina inherited the Palais Königswarter (link in German), a three-story palace on Vienna’s Ringstrasse, just across from the Vienna State Opera.

In 1902, Katharina returned to the stage at the Deutsches Volkstheater in Vienna portraying Franz Joseph’s great-great-grandmother Empress Maria Theresa. The journalist Karl Kraus wrote that Katharina portraying an Empress was the “summit of tastelessness”. Franz Joseph and Katharina had always taken care not to disclose their relationship but now she was seen to have left the limits of good taste. Even Franz Joseph was astounded. The play had a short run and Katharina never stepped on the stage again.

Katharina Schratt and Emperor Franz Joseph, circa 1910; Credit – Wikipedia

Katharina was a great support to Franz Joseph during the last years of his life which occurred amid the tumult of the assassination of his heir Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 and the first two years of World War I. Katharina last saw Franz Joseph two days before his death, which occurred on November 21, 1916, and she knew it would be the last time she would see him alive. Having received a phone call, informing her that Franz Joseph had died, Katharina was shocked to receive an invitation to Schönbrunn Palace from Emperor Karl I, Franz Joseph’s nephew and successor. Karl respected the three decades of his uncle’s close relationship with Katharina. The new emperor led Katharina to Franz Joseph’s deathbed where she laid two white roses on Franz Joseph’s chest.

Katharina Schratt in the silent film Der Ochsenkrieg; Credit – https://www.moviepilot.de/movies/der-ochsenkrieg/bilder/803462

After the death of Franz Joseph, Katharina lived at the Palais Königswarter, the palace she had inherited from her husband. She made one last foray into the world of acting. In 1920, she appeared in the silent film Der Ochsenkrieg (The War of the Oxen) (link in German), a German silent film directed by Franz Osten, made by Bavaria Film at the company’s Munich studios, and based on the 1914 historical novel The War of the Oxen by Ludwig Ganghofer, set against the backdrop of the War of the Oxen in the 1420s.

In the 1930s, Katharina was harassed by journalists wanting her to discuss her relationship with Franz Joseph and by book companies wanting her to write her memoirs. She always replied, “I’m an actress, no writer, and have nothing to say because I’ve never been a Pompadour or a Madame de Maintenon”, referring to two mistresses of French kings. In her later years, Katharina became deeply religious. Every day she visited the tombs of Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna.

Katharina Schratt died on April 17, 1940, at the age of 86. She was buried at Hietzing Cemetery (link in German) in Vienna, Austria, adjacent to Schönbrunn Palace.

Grave of Katharina Schratt; Credit – Von Andreas Faessler – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30752834

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. 2020. Katharina Schratt. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katharina_Schratt> [Accessed 1 April 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Katharina Schratt. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katharina_Schratt> [Accessed 1 April 2020].
  • Pl.wikipedia.org. 2020. Katharina Schratt. [online] Available at: <https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katharina_Schratt> [Accessed 1 April 2020].
  • Ru.wikipedia.org. 2020. Шратт, Катарина. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A8%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%82,_%D0%9A%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0> [Accessed 1 April 2020].
  • Van Der Kiste, John, 2005. Emperor Francis Joseph; Life, Death And The Fall Of The Habsburg Empire. Thrupp: Sutton Publishing Limited.

King Christian IX of Denmark: Children, Grandchildren, Great-Grandchildren and Notable Descendants

by Susan Flantzer

King Christian IX with his family in the Garden Hall of Fredensborg Palace in 1883 by Laurits Tuxen; Credit – Wikipedia

King Christian IX of Denmark and Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel had six children and 39 grandchildren. Their grandchildren sat upon the thrones of Denmark, Greece, Norway, Russia, the United Kingdom. They are the ancestors of six of the ten current European monarchs: King Philippe of Belgium, King Frederik X of Denmark, Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, King Harald V of Norway, King Felipe VI of Spain, King Charles III of the United Kingdom, and two former monarchs, the late King Michael of Romania and the late King Constantine II of Greece. See Wikipedia: Monarchs descended from King Christian IX.

King Christian IX and his family in 1862 (Front: Dagmar, Valdemar, Queen Louise, Thyra, Alexandra; Back: Frederik, King Christian, Vilhelm); Credit – Wikipedia

However, King Christian IX of Denmark was not born destined to be a king. King Christian IX was born a German prince, the sixth child and fourth son of Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg- Glücksburg and Princess Louise Caroline of Hesse-Kassel, on April 8, 1818, at Gottorp Castle near the town of Schleswig in the Duchy of Schleswig, now in Germany.

Christian married his second cousin Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel, the daughter of Prince Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel and Princess Charlotte of Denmark. Both Christian and Louise were great-grandchildren of King Frederik V of Denmark. Their descents from King Frederik V are below.

King Frederik V of Denmark married Princess Louisa of Great Britain (1st wife) → Princess Louise of Denmark married Prince Charles of Hesse-Kassel → Princess Louise Caroline of Hesse-Kassel married Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg → King Christian IX of Denmark

King Frederik V of Denmark married Duchess Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (2nd wife) → Frederik, Hereditary Prince of Denmark married Duchess Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin → Princess Charlotte of Denmark married Prince Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel → Louise of Hesse-Kassel

So how did Christian become King of Denmark? When King Christian VIII, the son of Frederik, Hereditary Prince of Denmark, died in 1848, he was succeeded by his son King Frederik VII, who had married three times but had no children, and this resulted in a succession crisis. Louise, Christian IX’s wife, had lived in Denmark from the time she was three years old. She was a niece of King Christian VIII of Denmark and a closer heir than her husband. Women could inherit the Danish throne only if there were no male heirs (Semi-Salic Law), and Louise and her mother Charlotte of Denmark both rescinded their succession rights to Christian, Louise’s husband, in 1851. The Act of Succession of 1853 officially made Christian the heir of King Frederik VII, and he became king in 1863 when King Frederik VII died.

Christian IX and his wife Louise were as much the “Grandparents of Europe” as were Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Christian and Louise had 39 grandchildren and their grandsons included Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia, King Constantine I of Greece, King George V of the United Kingdom, King Christian X of Denmark and King Haakon VII of Norway. Over the years, numerous large family reunions were held at Fredensborg Palace in Denmark with children, in-laws, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

A story has been told about King Christian IX. Whether it is true or not, it illustrates his relationship with other European monarchies:

One day, Christian IX and his son Vilhelm (George I of Greece) and the husbands of two of his daughters (Alexander III of Russia and the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII of the United Kingdom) went for a walk. They encountered a country gentleman who wondered who they were, thinking they were guests of some local squire. “I am your king,” explained Christian. “This is my son, the King of Greece, and this is my son-in-law, the Emperor of Russia, and my other son-in-law, the Prince of Wales.” The man was not impressed and said, “All right, I’ll tell you who I am. I am Jesus Christ!”

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All of King Christian IX’s children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren are listed below. In addition, notable great-great-grandchildren and great-great-great-grandchildren are also included.  Monarchs and consorts from former monarchies and current monarchies, along with current heirs, who are King Christian’s descendants are in bold. The links below are either from Unofficial Royalty or Wikipedia. Not all people have Wikipedia links.

Frederik VIII and his wife with their four eldest children by Elfelt, bromide postcard print, (circa 1877), NPG x74398 © National Portrait Gallery, London

1) King Frederik VIII of Denmark (1843-1912) married (1869) Princess Louise of Sweden (1851-1926), had four sons and four daughters

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Embed from Getty Images 
Alexandra and her husband with their children, circa 1880

2) Princess Alexandra of Denmark (1844 – 1925) married (1863) King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (1841 – 1910), had three sons and three daughters

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King George and Queen Olga with six of their children, circa 1890; Credit – Wikipedia

3) Prince Vilhelm of Denmark, later King George I of Greece (1845–1913) married (1867) Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna of Russia (1851-1926), had five sons and three daughters

Male-line descendants below of King Christian IX of Denmark also who held the title Prince or Princess of Greece also held the title of Prince or Princess of Denmark and are traditionally referred to as Prince or Princess of Greece and Denmark.

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Empress Maria Feodorovna and her husband with their five surviving children; Credit – Wikipedia

4) Princess Dagmar of Denmark, Maria Feodorovna, Empress of All Russia (1847-1928) married (1866) Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia (1845–1894), had four sons and two daughters

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Thyra and her husband with their six children; Credit – Wikipedia

5) Princess Thyra of Denmark (1853–1933), married (1878) Crown Prince Ernst August of Hanover, 3rd Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale (1845-1923), had three sons and three daughters

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Valdemar and his wife with their five children; Credit – Wikipedia

6) Prince Valdemar of Denmark (1858-1939) married (1885) Princess Marie of Orléans (1865-1909), had four sons and one daughter

  • Prince Aage, Count of Rosenborg (1887-1940), born Prince Aage of Denmark, after marrying without the monarch’s consent, he lost his succession rights and his royal style and the title Prince of Denmark, married (1914) Matilda Calvi Dei Conti di Bergolo (1885-1949), had one son, divorced
    • Valdemar, Count of Rosenborg (1915-1995) married (1949) Baroness Floria d’Huart Saint-Mauris (1925-1995), no children
  • Prince Axel of Denmark (1888-1964), married (1919) Princess Margaretha of Sweden (1899-1977), had two sons
    • Prince George Valdemar of Denmark (1920-1986), married (1950) Anne Bowes-Lyon (maternal first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, no children
    •  Count Flemming Valdemar of Rosenborg (1922-2002), born Prince Flemming Valdemar of Denmark, after marrying without the monarch’s consent, he lost his succession rights and his royal style and title, married (1949) Alice Nielson (1924-2010), had three sons and one daughter
  • Prince Erik, Count of Rosenborg (1890-1950), born Prince Erik of Denmark, after making an unequal marriage, he lost his succession rights and the title Prince of Denmark, he did retain his style His Highness, married (1924) Lois Frances Booth (1897-1941), had one son and one daughter, divorced
    • Countess Alexandra  of Rosenborg (1927-1992) married (1951) Ivar Emil Vind-Röj (1921-1977), had one daughter and two sons
    • Count Christian of Rosenborg (1932-1997), married (1962) Karin Lüttichau, had one son and one daughter
  • Prince Viggo, Count of Rosenborg (1893-1970), born Prince Viggo of Denmark, after marrying without the consent of the monarch, he lost his succession rights and his royal style and the title Prince of Denmark, married (1924) Eleonor Green (1895-1966), no children
  • Princess Margrethe of Denmark (1895-1992) married (1921) Prince René of Bourbon-Parma (1894-1962), had three sons and one daughter
    • Prince Jacques of Bourbon-Parma (1922-1964) married (1947) Birgitte von Holstein-Ledreborg, Countess of Holstein-Ledreborg, had  three children
    • Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma (1923-2016) married (1948) former King Michael I of Romania (1921-2017), had five daughters
    • Prince Michel of Bourbon-Parma (1926-2018) married (1) (1951) Princess Yolande de Broglie-Revel, had three daughters and two sons, divorced; married (2) (2003) Princess Maria Pia of Savoy, no children
    • Prince André of Bourbon-Parma (1928-2011) married (1960) Marina Gacry, had  three children

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First Cousins: King Henry VIII of England

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

King Henry VIII of England (1491 – 1547)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

King Henry VIII was the third child and the second son of King Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York. His paternal grandparents were Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond and Lady Margaret Beaufort. His maternal grandparents were King Edward IV of England and Elizabeth Woodville. Henry and his siblings represented the merging of the Lancasters and the Yorks who fought for power during the Wars of the Roses. By 1483, Henry VIII’s father, Henry Tudor, was the senior male Lancastrian claimant remaining. Henry VIII’s mother, Elizabeth of York, was the eldest daughter of the Yorkist King Edward IV.

Upon the death of his elder brother Arthur, Prince of Wales, eleven-year-old Henry became the heir to the throne. He succeeded to the throne at the age of 17 upon the death of his father. Henry is renowned for having six wives: Catherine of Aragon (divorced, mother of Queen Mary I), Anne Boleyn (beheaded, mother of Queen Elizabeth I), Jane Seymour (died due to childbirth complications, mother of King Edward VI), Anne of Cleves (divorced), Catherine Howard (beheaded), and Catherine Parr (survived).

Perhaps the most consequential event of Henry VIII’s reign was his break with the Roman Catholic Church which was to lead to the Protestant Reformation in England and the establishment of the Church of England.

Henry VIII has no paternal aunts and uncles because his father King Henry VII had no siblings. Therefore, King Henry VIII had no paternal first cousins. Henry shared his cousins with his siblings Arthur, Prince of Wales; Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots; Mary Tudor, Queen of France, Duchess of Suffolk and Edmund Tudor, Duke of Somerset; and Katherine Tudor who both died in infancy.

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Maternal Aunts and Uncles of King Henry VIII: Children of King Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville

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Maternal First Cousins of King Henry VIII: Children of Cecily of York, Viscountess Welles and John Welles, 1st Viscount Welles

  • Elizabeth Welles (circa 1489 – 1498), died in childhood
  • Anne Welles (circa 1491 – circa 1499), died in childhood

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Maternal First Cousins of King Henry VIII: Children of Anne of York and Thomas Howard (later 3rd Duke of Norfolk)

  • Thomas Howard (circa 1496 – 1508), died in childhood

Anne of York and Thomas Howard probably had four children but their only child known for certain was Thomas. Thomas Howard was childless upon Anne’s death so it is surmised all their children had died.

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Maternal First Cousins of King Henry VIII: Children of Catherine of York, Countess of Devon and William Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon

Henry Courtenay, second from the left, in a procession of the Knights of the Garter

Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter, 2nd Earl of Devon (circa 1498 – 1539)

When Henry VIII became king, his cousin Henry Courtenay became part of the circle of his personal friends and favorites. Henry became a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber which gave him unrestricted access to King Henry VIII. He was made a member of the Privy Council, a Knight of the Order of the Garter, the Constable of Windsor, and granted the title of Marquess of Exeter.

Henry first married Elizabeth Grey, Viscountess Lisle, the only child and sole heiress of John Grey, 2nd Viscount Lisle and Muriel Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk. Elizabeth died soon after the marriage. Henry’s second marriage was to Gertrude Blount, daughter of William Blount, 4th Baron Mountjoy. The couple had two sons.

After the Reformation, Henry’s second wife Gertrude remained Catholic and Henry had Catholic leanings. In 1538, there was a supposed attempt to overthrow Henry VIII and replace him with Henry Courtenay. Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s chief minister and Courtenay’s political rival, convinced Henry VIII that Courtenay was a part of it. There are strong suggestions that Cromwell exaggerated the conspiracy for political purposes. There is no evidence to suggest that Courtenay had the means to or intended to rebel against King Henry VIII. The charges brought against him were based on the correspondence he had with Cardinal Reginald Pole, a Yorkist claimant to the English throne, and the testimony of Reginald’s brother Geoffrey Pole, who was then pardoned of all wrong-doing. Reginald and Geoffrey’s mother was Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury was the daughter of George, Duke of Clarence and niece of King Edward IV and King Richard III

Henry Courtenay and his son Edward were both arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Henry was found guilty and executed by sword on Tower Hill. His titles and lands were forfeit. His son remained imprisoned for fifteen years until the accession of Queen Mary I when she ordered his release. 67-year-old Margaret Pole, a maternal first cousin once removed of King Henry VIII, was brutally executed for conducting supposed treasonable correspondence with her son Cardinal Pole after being imprisoned in the Tower of London for nearly three years.

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Edward Courtenay (circa 1497 – 1502), died in childhood

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Margaret Courtenay, Baroness Herbert (circa 1499 – before 1526)

Margaret married Henry Somerset, 2nd Earl of Worcester, son of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester and Elizabeth Herbert, 3rd Baroness Herbert but the marriage was childless. There is evidence that Margaret was in attendance to her four-year-old first cousin once removed Mary, the future Queen Mary I, in 1520. Margaret appears to have died in the 1520s but there is no specific date.

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Works Cited

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