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King Charles I of England; Credit – Wikipedia 

January 30, 1628 – Birth of George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, favorite of King Charles II of England
George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and his brother Lord Francis Villiers were brought up in the household of King Charles I with Charles I’s sons, the future King Charles II and the future King James II. George and his brother Francis actively supported and fought with the Royalists during the English Civil War. After the death of his brother in a battle near Kingston upon Thames, George Villiers fled England and took refuge like many other royalists in the Netherlands. After the restoration of King Charles II, George held several positions including Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Minister of State, and Master of the Horse. His endeavor to influence English politics was stymied by the Lord Chancellor Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon and in 1667, George took an active part in the overthrow of Hyde. He then played an important role in the group of five royal advisors that called itself the CABAL, formed from the letters of its members’ names. George was one of the Restoration rakes which included John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, Sir Charles Sedley, and Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset. Following the example of King Charles II, they distinguished themselves in drinking, sex, and witty conversation.
Unofficial Royalty: George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham

January 30, 1649 – King Charles I of England is beheaded for treason and other high crimes on a scaffold outside the Palace of Whitehall in London, England; buried at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England
During the English Civil War, Charles I was accused of treason against England by using his power to pursue his personal interest rather than the good of England. A High Court of Justice was appointed to try Charles for high treason in the name of the people of England.   He was declared guilty and sentenced to death. On the day of his execution, Charles walked the short distance from St. James’ Palace to the Palace of Whitehall where a scaffold had been built outside the Banqueting House. From the first floor of the Banqueting House, Charles stepped onto the scaffold from a window. Before his execution, Charles delivered a speech. After a conversation with the executioner which was recorded by an eyewitness (see the article about the execution below), Charles stretched out his hands, and the executioner, with one blow, severed his head from his body.
Unofficial Royalty: Execution of Charles I, King of England
Unofficial Royalty: King Charles I of England

January 30, 1730 – Death of Peter II, Emperor of All Russia in Moscow, Russia; buried at the Cathedral of the Archangel in the Moscow Kremlin
In 1725, Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia died at the age of 52 from a bladder infection without naming a successor. A coup arranged by Prince Alexander Menshikov proclaimed Catherine, Peter’s second wife, the ruler of Russia. Catherine I’s reign was only two years and even before her death, it was clear that the inheritance of Peter the Great’s grandson Peter could not be denied. Menshikov began to see this during the end of Catherine I’s reign. Through his efforts, Peter was named Catherine’s heir apparent, even though Catherine had two daughters of her own. In 1727, 43-year-old Catherine I, Empress of All Russia died of tuberculosis and 11-year-old Peter became Emperor of All Russia.  On a frigid day, Peter II attended a parade. When he returned to the palace, he had a fever that developed into smallpox.  On January 30, 1730, the delirious Peter ordered his sleigh to be readied so he could go see his sister Natalia who had died a little more than a year earlier. Fourteen-year-old Peter died a few minutes later.
Unofficial Royalty: Peter II, Emperor of All Russia

January 30, 1757 – Birth of Luise of Hesse-Darmstadt, Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, wife of Karl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany
Full name: Luise Auguste
Luise was the daughter of the daughter of Ludwig IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and Caroline of Zweibrücken. In 1775, she married Karl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and the couple had four children. The arranged marriage was purely dynastic and there was not much love between the two. During the Napoleonic Wars, when French forces advanced on Weimar in 1806, Luise stood firm and remained there while most of the family fled or were off fighting in the war. She personally stood up to Napoleon himself and to protect Weimar and its people from the fighting. Her efforts were successful, and Weimar remained mostly untouched. Several years later, at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Luise’s efforts ensured that the duchy did not have to cede any territory, and was instead elevated to a Grand Duchy.
Unofficial Royalty: Luise of Hesse-Darmstadt, Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

January 30, 1815 – Birth of Sir William Jenner, 1st Baronet, Queen Victoria’s Physician-in-Ordinary from 1861 – 1890, in Chatham, Kent, England
Jenner took an interest in pathology, particularly in typhus and typhoid fever. Through his work, Jenner confirmed in 1849 that typhus and typhoid fever were two distinct diseases with very different causes. His work on the subject earned him an international reputation and made a huge impact on public health. With the importance of Jenner’s pathology work, his career quickly progressed. He taught pathological anatomy at the University College of London and became a staff doctor at University College Hospital. In 1861, his fame reached Queen Victoria who appointed him her Physician-Extraordinary. Jenner was one of the doctors who treated Prince Albert during his final illness. Despite his failure to save Albert, Jenner made a favorable impression on Queen Victoria, who appointed him her Physician-In-Ordinary in 1862. Queen Victoria and Jenner became lifelong friends, and in 1868, she created Jenner a Baronet. In December 1878, Jenner went to Darmstadt to attend Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine, Queen Victoria’s daughter who had become ill with diphtheria while nursing her family, also ill with the disease. Sadly, Alice died seventeen years to the day of her father’s death. In 1890, Jenner was forced to retire from his position as Physician-In-Ordinary due to ill health. He went to live at his estate, Greenwood in Durley, Hampshire, England, where he died at the age of 83.
Unofficial Royalty: Sir William Jenner, 1st Baronet

January 30, 1889 – Death by suicide pact of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria and Baroness Mary von Vetsera at Mayerling, Austria; Rudolf was buried at the Capuchin Church in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna, Austria; Mary was secretly buried in a cemetery in Heiligenkreuz, Austria
Crown Prince Rudolf was the only son of Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria and his wife Elisabeth of Bavaria (Sisi). Rudolf married Princess Stéphanie of Belgium, daughter of King Leopold II of the Belgians, and they had one daughter. The marriage was happy at first, but shortly after the birth of their daughter, the relationship between Stéphanie and Rudolf began to deteriorate. Rudolf likely infected Stéphanie with a sexually transmitted disease, causing her to be 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. On January 30, 1889, at Mayerling, a hunting lodge in the Vienna Woods, 30-year-old Rudolf shot his 17-year-old mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera, and then shot himself in an apparent suicide plot.
Unofficial Royalty: Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria
Unofficial Royalty: Baroness Mary von Vetsera, Mistress of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria

January 30, 1894 – Birth of Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria in Sofia, Bulgaria
Full name: Boris Klemens Robert Maria Pius Ludwig Stanislaus Xaver
Boris was the Tsar of the Kingdom of Bulgaria from 1918 until his death.  In 1930, he married Princess Giovanna of Italy and the couple had two children. With the outbreak of World War II, Boris tried to retain Bulgaria’s neutrality. After the threat of a German invasion, and with the promise of regaining territory formerly ceded to Greece, Boris signed a treaty aligning Bulgaria with the Axis powers.  In 1941, Boris signed into law the Law for Protection of the Nation, which imposed restrictions on Jewish Bulgarians. Despite signing the law, Boris helped to prevent the forced deportation of the Bulgarian Jews. In August 1943, Boris was summoned to a meeting with Hitler, who wanted Boris to deport Bulgarian Jews, and to declare war on Russia – both of which Boris strongly refused to do, making Hitler furious. Just weeks later, 49-year-old Boris died. The circumstances of his death remain mysterious, with many believing that Boris had been poisoned because of his refusal to concede to the demands of the Nazis.
Unofficial Royalty: Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria

January 30, 1953 – Death of Ernst August III of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick at Marienburg Castle in Hanover, Germany; buried in front of the Mausoleum in Herrenhausen Gardens in Hanover, Germany
The son of Ernst August II, Crown Prince of Hanover and Princess Thyra of Denmark, Ernst August was the last reigning Duke of Brunswick, abdicating on November 8, 1918. He was also the pretender to the throne of Hanover. In 1913, Ernst August married Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia, the only daughter of Wilhelm II, German Emperor, King of Prussia. The wedding was one of the last large gatherings of European royalty before World War I began the following year, attended by 1,200 guests. The couple had five children. After his abdication in 1918, Ernst August and his family were able to remain in Hanover. He lived his remaining years at his various properties, including Cumberland Castle in Gmunden, Austria, Marienburg Castle in Hanover, Germany, and Blankenburg Castle in Harz, Germany. Ernst August III of Hanover, the last Duke of Brunswick died at the age of 66.
Unofficial Royalty: Ernst August III of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick

January 30, 1962 – Birth of King Abdullah II of Jordan in Amman, Jordan
King Abdullah II of Jordan is the eldest son of King Hussein I of Jordan and his second wife Antoinette Gardiner (Princess Muna). In 1993, Abdullah married Rania al-Yassin and the couple had four children. On February 7, 1999, Abdullah became King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, upon the death of his father. Just two weeks earlier, King Hussein had stripped his brother Prince Hassan of the title of Crown Prince and named Abdullah as his successor. King Abdullah II has continued his father’s legacy, working toward peace in the region and making the welfare of the Jordanian people a top priority.
Unofficial Royalty: King Abdullah II of Jordan

January 30, 1968 – Birth of King Felipe VI of Spain at the Nuestra Señora de Loreto Clinic   in Madrid, Spain
Full name: Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y de Grecia
King Felipe VI is the only son of King Juan Carlos of Spain and his wife Queen Sofia, born Princess Sophia of Greece. He is a descendant of Queen Victoria through both his father and his mother. In 1992, Felipe was a member of the Spanish Olympic Sailing Team at the Barcelona Summer Olympics. He was the flag bearer at the Opening Ceremonies and his Soling Class sailing team finished in sixth place. In 2004, Felipe married journalist Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano and the couple has two daughters. Felipe became King of Spain upon the abdication of his father in 2014.
Unofficial Royalty: King Felipe VI of Spain

January 30, 1993 – Death of Alexandra of Greece and Denmark, Queen of Yugoslavia in Sussex, England;  initially buried in the Royal Burial Grounds at Tatoi Palace in Greece with her parents, in 2013, her remains were returned to Serbia where they were re-buried in the Royal Mausoleum at Oplenac in Serbia
Alexandra was the posthumous child of King Alexander of Greece who had died five months before her birth from septicemia caused by an infected monkey bite, and Aspasia Manos. In 1944, she married King Peter II of Yugoslavia who was living in exile in London, England, and the couple had one son. The following year, the Yugoslav monarchy was abolished and King Peter II was formally deposed. The marriage was increasingly strained, with constant struggles to find sources of income and Peter’s numerous affairs. Alexandra and Peter eventually went their separate ways. He settled permanently in the United States while she returned to her mother’s home in Venice, Italy. After the death of her mother, Alexandra moved to the United Kingdom and would live there until her death, from cancer at the age of 72.
Unofficial Royalty: Alexandra of Greece and Denmark, Queen of Yugoslavia

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© Unofficial Royalty 2024

Frederik Hendrik, Prince of Orange; Credit – Wikipedia

January 29, 1584 – Birth of Frederik Hendrik, Prince of Orange in Delft, Holland, Dutch Republic, now in the Netherlands
Frederik Hendrik was the only child of Willem I (the Silent), Prince of Orange and his fourth wife, French Huguenot Louise de Coligny. Louise’s father, Gaspard II de Coligny, was a French nobleman and admiral but is best remembered as a leader of the Huguenots (French Calvinist Protestants). He was killed during the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in 1572 when thousands of Huguenots were murdered. In 1625, Frederik Hendrik became Prince of Orange upon the death of his elder half-brother Maurits, Prince of Orange. That same year Frederik Hendrik married Princess Amalia of Solms-Braunfels. They had nine children including Willem II, Prince of Orange who married Mary, Princess Royal, eldest daughter of King Charles I of England. Their one child was Willem III, Prince of Orange, later King William III of England. Frederik Hendrik ruled the Dutch Republic for 22 years. His reign is included in the era known as the Dutch Golden Age in which Dutch trade, science, military, and art were among the most acclaimed in the world.
Unofficial Royalty: Frederik Hendrik, Prince of Orange

January 29, 1601 – Death of Louise de Lorraine-Vaudémont, Queen of France, wife of King Henri III of France, at the Château de Moulins in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France, first buried at the Convent of Capuchins in Paris,  in 1805, her remains were reburied at the Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris, France
In 1575, Louise married King Henri III of France. Shortly after her marriage, Louise suffered a miscarriage with complications and she never had children. However, Louise and Henri did not give up on the idea of ​​having children.  They went on many pilgrimages and took thermal cures in the hope of having an heir. Despite Henri’s affairs, Louise and Henri both loved each other and Louise did an admirable job with her duties as Queen of France. Their marriage lasted fourteen years until King Henri III was assassinated. After the assassination of Henri III in 1589, Louise became permanently depressed, always dressed in white, the traditional mourning color of French queens, and was nicknamed the “White Queen.”  On January 29, 1601, Louise died at the age of 47.
Unofficial Royalty: Louise de Lorraine-Vaudémont, Queen of France

January 29, 1749 – Birth of King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark
Christian VII was the only surviving son of King Frederik V of Denmark and Norway and his first wife Princess Louisa of Great Britain and a grandson of King George II of Great Britain. In 1766, Christian succeeded to the Danish and Norwegian thrones after the early death of his father at age 42. That same year he married his first cousin Princess Caroline Matilda of Wales, daughter of Christian’s deceased maternal uncle Frederick, Prince of Wales. The couple had two children, but it is probable that Christian was not the father of Louise Auguste. Because of Carolina Matilda’s affair with Christian’s physician Johann Friedrich Struensee, Struensee was beheaded and 20-year-old Caroline Matilda lost her title of Queen and was forcibly separated from her children whom she never saw again. She was sent to Celle in her brother’s Kingdom of Hanover and lived the rest of her life at Celle Castle. Christian VII’s reign was marked by mental illness and for most of his reign, he was only nominally king. His half-brother Hereditary Prince Frederik was regent of Denmark from 1772-1784. From 1784 until Christian VII’s death, Christian’s son, later Frederik VI, acted as regent. On March 13, 1808, King Christian VII died from a stroke at the age of 59.
Unofficial Royalty: King Christian VII of Denmark

January 29, 1817 – Death of Heinrich XIII, 2nd Prince Reuss of Greiz in Greiz, Principality of Reuss-Greiz, now in Thuringia, Germany; buried at the Stadtkirche St. Marien, now in Greiz, Thuringia, Germany
Heinrich was the son of Heinrich XI, 1st Prince Reuss of Greiz and his first wife Countess Conradine Reuss of Köstritz. In 1786, he married Princess Wilhelmine Luise of Nassau-Weilburg and the couple had three sons. Upon the death of his father in 1800, Heinrich XIII succeeded as 2nd Prince Reuss of Greiz. In 1802, a large fire destroyed much of Greiz, the capital of the Principality of Reuss-Greiz. Approximately 430 buildings were destroyed. Many other buildings were demolished to prevent the fire from spreading. Heinrich XIII oversaw the rebuilding of Greiz in the neoclassical style. Heinrich XIII, 2nd Prince Reuss of Greiz died on January 29, 1817, aged 69.
Unofficial Royalty: Heinrich XIII, 2nd Prince Reuss of Greiz

January 29, 1820 – Death of King George III of the United Kingdom at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England; buried at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England
King George III is the longest-reigning British king, having reigned for 59 years, 96 days. His length of reign is surpassed only by two queens, both his descendants, his granddaughter Queen Victoria and his great-great-great-great-granddaughter Queen Elizabeth II. George established himself as one of the more popular Hanoverian kings.  He was admired for his respectable private life and gained sympathy for his illness.  He inherited the family’s love of music and was a patron of the arts and sciences.  George was very interested in agriculture and his creation of model farms at Windsor earned him the nickname “Farmer George” which he adored. The only disruption in his family’s domestic lives was George’s attacks of illness. There has been speculation that King George suffered from porphyria. George became so ill that it was necessary for Parliament to pass the Regency Act of 1811. The Prince of Wales, the future King George IV, acted as Regent until his father died in 1820.
Unofficial Royalty: King George III of the United Kingdom

January 29, 1844 – Death of Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha at Schloss Friedenstein in Gotha, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, now in Thuringia, Germany; initially buried in the crypt of the Church of St. Moritz in Coburg, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, now in Bavaria, Germany; in 1860, his remains were re-interred in the Ducal Mausoleum in Glockenberg Cemetery in Coburg
In 1806, Ernst succeeded his father Franz Friedrich Anton as Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. Ernst was long content with bachelorhood until his mother insisted he marry to provide the duchy with heirs. In 1817, Ernst married Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. The couple had two sons including Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria. Ernst and Louise soon grew apart due to Ernst’s infidelities. After discovering Louise’s affair with her chamberlain in 1824, Ernst forced Louise out of the duchy. She was exiled and permanently cut off from her children. The couple was officially divorced in 1826 and Louise died of cancer in 1831. In 1825, while Ernst and Louise’s divorce proceedings were occurring, Friedrich IV, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Louise’s uncle, died without an heir. This necessitated a rearrangement of the Ernestine duchies. Ernst received Gotha and ceded Saalfeld to Saxe-Meiningen. He subsequently became Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. In 1832, Ernst married his niece Marie of Württemberg, the daughter of his sister Antoinette. The couple had no children and had little in common, but Marie had a loving relationship with her stepsons who were also her first cousins. Ernst died on January 29, 1844, at the age of 60.
Unofficial Royalty: Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

January 29, 1850 – Birth of Marie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, 3rd wife of Friedrich Franz II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, in Raben Steinfeld, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, now in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
Full name: Marie Karoline Auguste
In 1868, Marie married the widowed Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II of Mecklenburg-Schwerin as his third wife. She was just 18 years old while Friedrich Franz was 45. They had four children together. Through their son Heinrich, who married Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, Marie and her husband are ancestors of the Dutch royal family.
Unofficial Royalty: Marie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

January 29, 1860 – Death of Stéphanie de Beauharnais, Grand Duchess of Baden, wife of Karl, Grand Duke of Baden, in Nice, France; buried St. Michael’s Church in Pforzheim, Grand Duchy of Baden, now in Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Stéphanie was from the same family as the first husband of Napoleon’s wife Josephine, Alexandre, Vicomte de Beauharnais. Alexandre had been guillotined during the French Revolution. After the death of Stéphanie’s mother, Napoléon brought her to Paris and placed her under the care of his wife Joséphine. After becoming Emperor in 1804, Napoléon sought to strengthen alliances with several of the European dynasties by arranging several marriages of his extended family. One of these marriages was between Stéphanie and the future Karl I, Grand Duke of Baden in 1806. Before the marriage, Napoléon adopted Stéphanie and elevated her to an Imperial Highness and French Princess. Through the marriages of her children, Stéphanie’s descendants include the former Kings of Romania and Yugoslavia, as well as the royal families of Belgium, Luxembourg, and Monaco. Stéphanie survived her husband by more than 41 years, dying at the age of 71.
Unofficial Royalty: Stéphanie de Beauharnais, Grand Duchess of Baden

January 29, 1870 – Death of Leopoldo II, Grand Duke of Tuscany in Rome, Papal States, now in Italy; buried at the Imperial Crypt in Vienna, Austria
Upon his father’s death on June 18, 1824, Leopoldo became Grand Duke of Tuscany. In 1859, the Grand Ducal family was forced to flee Florence because of the wars caused by the Italian unification movement, and the family took refuge in Austria. On July 21, 1859, Leopoldo II abdicated in favor of his son Ferdinand IV who was Grand Duke of Tuscany in name but never really reigned. The Grand Duchy of Tuscany was annexed to the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1860, as a part of the unification of Italy. In 1861, Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy. The former Grand Ducal Family of Tuscany settled in the Kingdom of Bohemia, then part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire ruled by Leopoldo’s Austrian Habsburg relatives. In November 1869, Leopoldo and his wife made a pilgrimage to Rome, and Leopoldo died there on January 29, 1870, at the age of 72.
Unofficial Royalty: Leopoldo II, Grand Duke of Tuscany

January 29, 1887 – Birth of Prince August Wilhelm of Prussia, son of Wilhelm II, German Emperor, at the Potsdam City Palace in Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany
Full name: August Wilhelm Heinrich Günther Viktor
August Wilhelm was the son of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia and Princess Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein. In 1908, August Wilhelm married his first cousin, Princess Alexandra Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. The marriage ended 12 years later, and August Wilhelm was given full custody of their son. August Wilhelm became involved with the Nazi Party, much to the dislike of his family. After World War II, he was arrested by US forces for being a Nazi. In 1948, August Wilhelm was finally sentenced to 2-½ years of hard labor but was considered to have already served his sentence and he was released. However, just after his release, new charges were filed and another arrest warrant was issued from a court in Potsdam, East Germany, which was now in the Soviet zone. He was never physically arrested because he soon became seriously ill and died.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince August Wilhelm of Prussia

January 29, 1906 – Death of King Christian IX of Denmark at Amalienborg Palace, Copenhagen, Denmark; buried at Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark
Not born destined to be a king, King Christian IX was the father of King Frederick VIII of Denmark, King George I of Greece, Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom, and Empress Marie Feodorovna of Russia. He was as much the “grandfather of Europe” as Queen Victoria was the “grandmother”. His grandchildren sat upon the thrones of Denmark, the United Kingdom, Russia, Greece, and Norway. He is the ancestor of six of the ten current European monarchs: Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom (and her husband Prince Philip), Queen Margrethe of Denmark, King Harald of Norway, Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, Philippe, King of the Belgians, and King Felipe VI of Spain. The late former King Michael of Romania and the former King Constantine of Greece are also among his many descendants.
Unofficial Royalty: King Christian IX of Denmark

January 29, 1912 – Death of Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife, husband of Louise, Princess Royal (daughter of King Edward VII), in Aswan, Egypt; buried at the Private Chapel, Mar Lodge Mausoleum in Braemar, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Duff as he was called, was the only son of James Duff, 5th Earl Fife and Lady Agnes Hay. In 1889, in the Private Chapel of Buckingham Palace, Duff married Princess Louise, eldest daughter of the then Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII). Louise and Duff were third cousins via their mutual descent from King George III. Duff’s descent was via the future King William IV’s long-time relationship with actress Dorothea Jordan by whom he had ten children who married into the British aristocracy. The couple had three children but their only son was stillborn. Despite their age difference, the couple was well-matched and settled down to a life of country pursuits with the Duff managing his Scottish estates and Louise becoming an expert at salmon fishing. While sailing to Egypt, Duff and his family were shipwrecked off the coast of Morocco. The family all survived but the Duke developed pleurisy, which may have been a result of the shipwreck, and died.
Unofficial Royalty: Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife

January 29, 1970 – Death of Thelma Furness, Viscountess Furness, mistress of King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, in New York, New York; buried next to her twin sister Gloria Vanderbilt at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California
Thelma was the identical twin sister of Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, the mother of Gloria Vanderbilt who was a fashion designer, and artist, and the mother of CNN news anchor Anderson Cooper.
Unofficial Royalty: Thelma Furness, Viscountess Furness, mistress of King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom

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© Unofficial Royalty 2024

King Henry VII of England; Credit – Wikipedia

January 28, 1457 – Birth of King Henry VII of England at Pembroke Castle, Wales
King Henry VII was the son of Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, who died three months before his son’s birth, leaving a 13-year-old pregnant widow Lady Margaret Beaufort. Henry’s father Edmund Tudor was the eldest child of Owen Tudor and Catherine of Valois, widow of King Henry V of England. His mother Lady Margaret Beaufort was the only child of John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset and Margaret Beauchamp of Bletso. Through her father, Lady Margaret was a descendant of King Edward III of England. At the time of Henry’s birth, the Wars of the Roses, the fight for the English throne between the House of Lancaster and the House of York, was two years old. His mother was a descendant of the House of Lancaster. In 1470, after the Lancastrian King Henry VI was murdered in the Tower of London, Henry’s uncle Jasper Tudor left England for France and took his nephew Henry with him to keep him safe. In 1485,  Henry Tudor sailed to Wales with a small French and Scottish force. He then marched towards England accompanied by his uncle Jasper Tudor and John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford. On August 22, 1485, at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the last king of the House of York and the Plantagenet dynasty, King Richard III of England, lost his life and his crown. The battle was a decisive victory for the House of Lancaster, whose leader 28-year-old Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, became the first monarch of the House of Tudor. In 1486, King Henry VII married Elizabeth of York, King Edward IV’s eldest child, thereby uniting the House of York and the House of Lancaster. Henry and Elizabeth had seven children including King Henry VIII of England. Through their daughter Margaret Tudor, they are the ancestors of the British royal family and many other European royal families.
Unofficial Royalty: King Henry VII of England

January 28, 1547 – Death of King Henry VIII of England at Whitehall Palace in London, England; buried at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England
Henry VIII was the son of King Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York, daughter of King Edward IV of England. Henry and his siblings represented the merging of the Lancasters and the Yorks who fought for power during the Wars of the Roses. King Henry VIII is famous for having six marriages. All three of his surviving children became monarchs of England. Henry’s disagreement with Pope Clement VII about an annulment for his first marriage to Catherine of Aragon led Henry to initiate the English Reformation, creating an independent Church of England, free from the pope’s authority. Henry expanded royal power during his reign. He frequently used charges of treason and heresy against those who disagreed with him. Those accused were often executed without a formal trial through bills of attainder. Many of Henry’s political goals were achieved through the work of his chief ministers, some of whom were banished or executed when they fell out of his favor.  As he aged, Henry became severely overweight and his health suffered. His health issues certainly hastened his death at the age of 55. Henry had made plans for a magnificent tomb, but they were never carried out. He was buried in a vault at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in Windsor, next to Jane Seymour, the wife who gave him a son. In 1649, the remains of the beheaded King Charles I were buried in Henry and Jane’s vault.
Unofficial Royalty: King Henry VIII of England

January 28, 1768 – Birth of King Frederik VI of Denmark and Norway at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark
Frederik VI was the only son and the eldest of the two children of King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway and his and Caroline Matilda of Wales, sister of King George III of the United Kingdom. Frederik’s father King Christian VII suffered from mental illness. His ill-treated mother Caroline Matilda had an affair with physician Johann Friedrich Struensee. After the affair was discovered Struenss was executed and Caroline Matilda was imprisoned in a castle and never saw her children again. In 1790, Frederik married his cousin Princess Marie of Hesse-Kassel. Frederik and Marie had eight children but unfortunately, six of them, including two boys, died in infancy. Only two daughters survived and both daughters had childless marriages. In 1808, 1808, Frederik became king upon the death of his father. After the French defeat in the Napoleonic Wars in 1814 and the loss of Norway, Frederik became more authoritarian and reactionary, giving up his former liberal ideas.
Unofficial Royalty: King Frederik VI of Denmark

January 28, 1845 – Death of Elizabeth Mikhailovna of Russia, Duchess of Nassau, first wife of Adolphe of Nassau, the future Grand Duke of Luxembourg, in childbirth at Castle Biebrich in Wiesbaden, Duchy of Nassau, now in Hesse, Germany; buried at the Russian Orthodox Church of Saint Elizabeth in Wiesbaden
Elizabeth was the daughter of Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich of Russia and Princess Charlotte of Württemberg (Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna). Her paternal grandparents were Paul I, Emperor of All Russia and his second wife Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg (Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia). In 1844, 17-year-old Elizabeth married 26-year-old Adolphe, Duke of Nassau, the future Grand Duke of Luxembourg. The couple was delighted when Elizabeth soon became pregnant with their first child, but the happiness did not last. On January 28, 1845, after a very difficult labor, 18-year-old Elizabeth died giving birth to a daughter who did not survive the birth. With the blessing of Elizabeth’s uncle Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia, the grief-stricken Adolphe used Elizabeth’s dowry to build the Russian Orthodox Church of Saint Elizabeth in Wiesbaden where Elizabeth and her daughter are buried.
Unofficial Royalty: Elizabeth Mikhailovna of Russia, Duchess of Nassau

January 28, 1855 – Death of Adelheid of Austria, Queen of Sardinia, first wife of Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia, later King of Italy, at the Royal Palace in Turin, Kingdom of Sardinia, now in Italy; buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin
In 1842, Adelheid married Vittorio Emanuele of Sardinia, Duke of Savoy, son of Carlo Alberto,  King of Sardinia. At the time of her marriage, Adeleheid’s husband Vittorio Emanuele was heir to the Sardinian throne. The couple had eight children including Umberto I, the future King of Italy, and Maria Pia who married King Luís I of Portugal. In 1849, Adelheid became Queen of Sardinia following her father-in-law’s abdication and her husband’s accession to the throne. However, she died before her husband became King of Italy. Just days after giving birth to her last child, Adelheid fell ill after attending the funeral of her mother-in-law. She died four days later at the age of 32.
Unofficial Royalty: Adelheid of Austria, Queen of Sardinia 

January 28, 1919 – Execution of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia, son of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia, and three other Grand Dukes of Russia, by a firing squad at the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, Russia
On January 28, 1919, Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich (58 years old), Grand Duke Dmitri Konstantinovich (58 years old), and two brothers, Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich (59 years old) and Grand Duke George Mikhailovich (55 years old) were taken to the courtyard of the Fortress of Peter and Paul in St. Petersburg, Russia and executed by a firing squad. The four Grand Dukes were all first cousins as their fathers were all sons of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia. They were the last of the eighteen Romanovs killed as a result of the Russian Revolution. Their remains have not been found.
Unofficial Royalty: January 28, 1919 – Execution of Four Grand Dukes
Unofficial Royalty: Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia
Unofficial Royalty: Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia
Wikipedia: Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich of Russia
Wikipedia: Grand Duke Dmitri Konstantinovich of Russia

January 28, 1941 – Birth of Crown Prince Susan of the Albanians, wife of Crown Prince Leka I of the Albanians, born Susan Barbara Cullen-Ward on January 28, 1941, in Waverley, a suburb of Sydney, Australia
An avid Egyptologist, Susan received a scholarship to attend Sorbonne University in France. It was there that she met Crown Prince Leka I of Albania, who later invited her to come to Spain where she studied tourism. The couple married in 1975 and had one son. After living in exile since 1939, the royal family was invited to return to Albania in June 2002. Arriving with her husband, son, and mother-in-law 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, she died after having been diagnosed with lung cancer.
Unofficial Royalty: Crown Prince Susan of the Albanians

January 28, 1950 – Birth of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain, in Riffa, Bahrain
King Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa of Bahrain is the eldest son of Emir Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa of Bahrain and his wife, Hessa bint Salman Al Khalifa. Hamad was a driving force in the establishment of the Bahrain Defense Force and was appointed Commander-in-Chief. He later served as Minister of Defense and as Deputy Head of the Al Khalifa Family Council. An avid helicopter pilot, Hamad was instrumental in establishing the Bahrain Air Force. Upon his father’s death on March 6, 1999, he became the Emir of Bahrain. Three years later, in 2002, he elevated the Emirate to a Kingdom and proclaimed himself the first King of Bahrain.
Unofficial Royalty: King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain

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Wilhelm II, German Emperor, King of Prussia; Credit – Wikipedia

January 27, 1708 – Birth of Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna of Russia, daughter of Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia and Catherine I, Empress of All Russia, mother of Peter III, Emperor of All Russia in Moscow, Russia
Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna was one of three of the fourteen children of Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia to survive childhood. In 1725, Peter the Great died without naming an heir. Some historians speculate that Peter the Great wanted to declare Anne Petrovna as his heir. A coup arranged by Peter’s best friend Prince Alexander Menshikov proclaimed Peter the Great’s second wife (and Anna’s mother) Catherine the ruler of Russia. Later in 1725, Anna Petrovna married Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp. In 1728, Anna gave birth to a son who was named Karl Peter Ulrich. Sadly, Anna died three months later, on May 4, 1728, at the age of 20. Anna’s son Karl Peter Ulrich succeeded her younger sister Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia as Peter III, Emperor of All Russia. However, the reign of Peter III lasted only six months. He was deposed by his wife, born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, who reigned as Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia, and then murdered.
Unofficial Royalty: Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna of Russia

January 27, 1763 – Death of Anton Ulrich, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen in the Free City of Frankfurt, now in Hesse, Germany; buried in the Castle Church at Elisabethenburg Palace in Meiningen, Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen, now in Thuringia, Germany
In 1711, Anton Ulrich had secretly married Philippine Elisabeth Caesar, a lady-in-waiting to his elder sister. The marriage was morganatic and was met with great disapproval from his family. Anton Ulrich and Philippine Elisabeth had ten children who were not eligible to succeed to the throne. Philippine Elisabeth Caesar died in 1744.  In 1746, Friedrich Wilhelm, Anton Ulrich’s brother who had jointly reigned with him, died, and Anton Ulrich was now the only Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. His relatives had already been discussing the division of Saxe-Meiningen after his death due to the lack of heirs. However, Anton Ulrich married Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Philippsthal, who was forty-three years younger, and the couple had eight children. After a reign of nearly 17 years, Anton Ulrich died at the age of 76.
Unofficial Royalty: Anton Ulrich, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen

January 27, 1773 – Birth of Prince Augustus, Duke of Sussex, son of King George III of the United Kingdom, at Buckingham Palace in London, England
Full name: Augustus Frederick
Prince Augustus, Duke of Sussex is infamously known for making two marriages in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act 1772. In 1793, a very pregnant Miss Augusta Murray and Mr. Augustus Frederick (the Duke of Sussex). Augusta gave birth to a son a month later. King George III was greatly angered by the marriage, and it was declared null and void in August 1794. Despite this, Augustus and Augusta continued to live together. Another child, a daughter was born in 1801. The two children, who were deemed illegitimate, used the last name D’Este as both their parents were descendants of the House of Este. After the death of Augusta in 1830, Augustus married again in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act, to a widow, Lady Cecilia Buggin. Because marriage was not considered legal, Cecilia could not take the style and title Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex, so instead, she assumed the surname Underwood, her mother’s maiden name, and was known as Lady Cecilia Underwood. The couple lived at Augustus’ apartments in Kensington Palace. Despite all of this, Augustus was respected by his niece Queen Victoria. He was given the honor of giving her away at her wedding. As a token of her gratitude, Queen Victoria created Augustus’ wife Cecilia Duchess of Inverness in her own right in 1840.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Augustus, Duke of Sussex

January 27, 1805 – Birth of Maria Anna of Bavaria (twin sister of Sophie Friederike below), Queen of Saxony, 2nd wife of King Friedrich August II of Saxony, in Munich, Electorate of Bavaria, now in Bavaria, Germany
Full name: Maria Anna Leopoldine Elisabeth Wilhelmine
In 1833, Maria Anna, a daughter of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, married Crown Prince Friedrich August of Saxony but they had no children. Three years later, she became Queen of Saxony upon her husband’s accession to the throne. Maria Anna founded a women’s association to help combat the famines which were plaguing parts of Saxony. This association continued to exist until the early 1930s.  In 1854, King Friedrich August II was killed in an accident while traveling in Tyrol, Austria. Queen Maria Anna had a chapel built on the site which was dedicated a year later. She survived her husband by 23 years, dying at the age of 72.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Anna of Bavaria, Queen of Saxony

January 27, 1805 – Birth of Sophie Friederike of Bavaria (twin sister of Maria Anna above), Archduchess of Austria, wife of Archduke Franz Karl of Austria, mother of two emperors: Franz Joseph I of Austria and Maximilian I of Mexico, the grandmother of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria whose assassination sparked World War I and great-grandmother of Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria, in Munich, Electorate of Bavaria, now in Bavaria, Germany
Full name: Sophie Friederike Dorothea Wilhelmine
The daughter of the first King of Bavaria, Maximilian I Joseph, Sophie was the mother of two emperors: Franz Joseph I of Austria and Maximilian I of Mexico, the grandmother of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria whose assassination sparked World War I, and the great-grandmother of Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria.  Sophie never recovered from the 1867 execution of her son Maximilian and she withdrew from public life.
Unofficial Royalty: Sophie Friederike of Bavaria, Archduchess of Austria

January 27, 1836 – Death of Wilhelmine of Baden, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine wife of Ludwig II, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, in Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine, now in Hesse, Germany; buried in the Altes Mausoleum in the Rosenhöhe in Darmstadt
In 1804, Wilhelmine married her first cousin, the future Ludwig II of Hesse and by Rhine, and they had five children including Prince Alexander whose morganatic marriage created the Battenberg/Mountbatten family, and Marie who married Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia. Wilhelmine’s marriage was never happy, and she separated from her husband after the birth of their first three children. Wilhelmine had a large garden built on a hill in Darmstadt called the Rosenhöhe. She added several buildings, including a summer residence and a tea house. When her daughter Elisabeth died, Wilhelmine decided to have a mausoleum built in the park instead of using the traditional grand ducal tomb in the Darmstadt Stadtkirche. It is because of this that the Rosenhöhe has become the traditional burial site for the Grand Ducal Family.
Unofficial Royalty: Wilhelmine of Baden, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine

January 27, 1844 – Death of Cecilia of Sweden, Grand Duchess of Oldenburg, third wife of Grand Duke August I of Oldenburg, after delivering her third child, in Oldenburg, Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, now in Lower Saxony, Germany; buried in the Grand Ducal Mausoleum in Saint Gertrude’s Cemetery in Oldenburg
Cecilia was not yet two years old when her father was deposed as King of Sweden in 1809. The family moved to Baden, and her parents divorced three years later. Cecilia met her future husband. Grand Duke August stopped in Baden during his travels, and within just an hour of conversation, he asked for her hand in marriage. Cecilia then moved to Vienna, where her brother was serving in the court of the Austrian Emperor Franz I. There, on May 5, 1831, Cecilia and August were married. Cecilia died on January 27, 1844, just days after giving birth to her youngest son.
Unofficial Royalty: Cecilia of Sweden, Grand Duchess of Oldenburg

January 27, 1859 – Birth of Wilhelm II, German Emperor, King of Prussia,  at the Crown Prince’s Palace in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany
Full name: Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albrecht
A grandson of Queen Victoria, Wilhelm was the last German Emperor and the last King of Prussia. In 1881, Wilhelm married Princess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein. The couple had six sons and one daughter. Wilhelm was very militaristic and wanted to increase the strength of Germany’s armed forces, particularly the German Imperial Navy which he wanted to be the equal of the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy. Although Wilhelm appeared to have some doubts after the assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914, in Sarajevo, Serbia, Wilhelm incited Austria-Hungary to take revenge against Serbia for the assassination. Events worsened throughout July 1914 resulting in the beginning of World War I in August 1914. Years before the start of World War I, Germany had developed the Schlieffen Plan, a one-front war-winning offensive against France which was the thinking behind the German invasion of France and Belgium on August 4, 1914. After the German Empire’s loss, Wilhelm abdicated on November 9, 1918. A day later, he crossed the border by train and went into exile in the Netherlands, never to return to Germany. Wilhelm purchased Huis Doorn, a small manor house outside of Doorn, a small town near Utrecht in the Netherlands.
Unofficial Royalty: Wilhelm II, German Emperor, King of Prussia

January 27, 1958 – Death of Prince Oskar of Prussia, son of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia, in Munich, Germany; buried at Hohenzollern Castle, in Bisingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
In 1914, Oskar married Countess Ina-Marie von Bassewitz. As the marriage was considered morganatic, the bride could not take her husband’s style and title. Instead, four days before the wedding, Ina-Marie was created Countess von Ruppin. The couple had four children. Several years later, in November 1919, the marriage was decreed dynastic, and Ina-Marie and her children were elevated to HRH Prince/Princess of Prussia as of June 1920. From 1926 until his death in 1958, Oskar served as Master of Knights of the Johanniterorden (Order of Saint John) – an ancient order that has been a favorite of the Hohenzollerns. He is credited with saving the order from extinction at the hands of the Nazi regime. Prince Oskar suffered from declining health for the last few years of his life and died of stomach cancer in a clinic in Munich, Germany on January 27, 1958, at the age of 69.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Oskar of Prussia

January 27, 1971 – Death of Adelheid of Schaumburg-Lippe, Duchess of Saxe-Altenburg, wife of Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg, in Ballenstedt, Germany; buried in the Mausoleum Garden at Schloss Bückeburg, the traditional burial site of the Princely Family of Schaumburg-Lippe, in Bückeburg, Lower Saxony, Germany
In 1898,  Adelheid married the future Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg and the couple had four children. In 1908, Adelheid became the last Duchess of Saxe-Altenburg when her husband succeeded his father as Duke. Their reign, however, would be relatively short-lived. Her husband was forced to abdicate on November 13, 1918, when the German Empire was abolished. Following the abdication, Adelheid felt that she no longer had to endure her husband’s affairs and the shame it brought to her marriage. The couple separated and was divorced on January 17, 1920. After remaining mostly out of the public eye for the rest of her life, Adelheid died in Ballenstedt, East Germany, on January 27, 1971, at the age of 95.
Unofficial Royalty: Adelheid of Schaumburg-Lippe, Duchess of Saxe-Altenburg

January 27, 2001 – Death of Queen Marie José of  Italy, born Marie José of Belgium, wife of King Umberto II of Italy, in Geneva, Switzerland; buried at the Cistercian Abbey of Hautecombe in Saint-Pierre-de-Curtille, France
Marie José was the youngest child and only daughter of Albert I, King of the Belgians and Elisabeth in Bavaria. She married Crown Prince Umberto of Italy, Prince of Piedmont, the son of King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy. After World War II, King Victor Emmanuel III abdicated on May 9, 1946. Marie José and her husband became the new King and Queen of Italy, however, their reign was short-lived. A referendum was held on June 2, 1946,  with the majority voting to abolish the monarchy. Accepting the will of the people, Umberto and Marie José left Italy on June 13, 1946, and were barred under the terms of the new constitution from returning to Italian soil. They settled in Portugal, but soon separated, with Marie José and her children then living in Switzerland. In 1992, she sold her home in Switzerland and spent the next few years living with her daughter Marie-Béatrice in Mexico. She returned to Switzerland in 1996, and on January 27, 2001, 94-year-old Queen Marie José of Italy passed away in Geneva, Switzerland
Unofficial Royalty: Marie José of Belgium, Queen of Italy

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King Carl XIV Johan of Sweden and Norway, Credit – Wikipedia

January 26, 1763 – Birth of King Carl XIV Johan of Sweden and Norway, born Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte in Pau, France
King Carl XIV Johan of Sweden was born Jean Baptiste Bernadotte in Pau, France. He joined the military, where he quickly stood out for his courage and leadership. During the French Revolution, he rose quickly through the ranks, attaining the rank of Brigadier General in 1794. In 1798, he married Bernardine Eugénie Désirée Clary, whose sister Julie Clary was married to Napoleon’s brother, Joseph Bonaparte. Désirée had previously been engaged to Napoleon. Jean and Désirée had one son, the future King Oscar I of Sweden, born Joseph François Oscar Bernadotte. In 1804, Napoleon was proclaimed Emperor of France and appointed Bernadotte as a Marshal of France. In 1810, just as Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte was about to start a new position as governor of Rome, the Swedish Riksdag elected him heir to the childless King Carl XIII of Sweden. The Riksdag wanted a soldier as the king because of their worries over Russia. In addition, Bernadotte was popular in Sweden because of his considerate treatment of Swedish prisoners during the recent war with Denmark. Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte became king in 1818 upon the death of King Carl XIII. He reigned as King Carl XIV Johan and started the House of Bernadotte which still reigns in Sweden.
Unofficial Royalty: King Carl XIV Johan of Sweden

January 26, 1876 – Death of Amélie of Leuchtenberg, Empress of Brazil, second wife of Emperor Pedro I of Brazil/King Pedro IV of Portugal, in Lisbon, Portugal; buried first in the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora in Lisbon, since 1982 buried in the Ipiranga monument in São Paulo, Brazil
Amélie was the daughter of Eugène de Beauharnais (son of Empress Jospéhine, the first wife of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, from her first marriage) and Princess Augusta of Bavaria. Because of a political and economic crisis, her husband Emperor Pedro I of Brazil abdicated his throne in favor of a daughter from his first marriage. Pedro, Amélie, and their daughter Maria Amélie returned to Portugal. Both Pedro and his daughter Maria Amélie died from tuberculosis.  Amélie financed the construction of a hospital to treat patients with lung diseases in Funchal on the island of Madeira in Portugal called the Hospício da Princesa Dona Maria Amélie which is still in existence. After Amélie died at the age of 60 in Lisbon, Portugal, the Hospício da Princesa Dona Maria Amélia was handed over to her sister Queen Joséphine of Sweden, and according to the terms of Amélie’s will, it is owned and administered by the Swedish Royal Family. King Carl XVI Gustaf, Queen Silvia, and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden have visited the hospital.
Unofficial Royalty: Amélie of Leuchtenberg, Empress of Brazil

January 26, 1947 – Death of Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Duke of Västerbotten, eldest son of King Gustaf VI Adolf and father of King Carl XVI Gustaf, in a commercial airplane crash at the Kastrup Airport in Kastrup, Denmark, near Copenhagen; buried at the Royal Cemetery at Haga Park in Solna, Sweden
Prince Gustaf Adolf was the father of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and would have himself become King of Sweden had he not died tragically in an airplane crash at the age of 40. In 1931, Gustaf Adolf married Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the daughter of Prince Carl Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, a grandson of Queen Victoria. The couple had four daughters and one son, the future King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. Prince Gustaf Adolf was killed in a commercial airplane crash on January 26, 1947, at the Kastrup Airport in Kastrup, Denmark, near Copenhagen. He was returning from a hunting trip and a visit to Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands. The plane had landed at Kastrup for a routine stop before continuing to Stockholm. After taking off, the plane climbed to an altitude of only 150 feet, stalled, and plummeted nose-first to the ground, where it exploded upon impact. All 22 people aboard the plane were killed. Gustaf Adolf’s only son, nine-month-old Carl Gustaf, became second in the line of succession and would succeed his grandfather, King Gustaf VI Adolf, in 1973.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Duke of Västerbotten

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Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt, Grand Duchess Natalia Alexeievna of Russia; Credit – Wikipedia

January 25, 1477 – Birth of Anne, Duchess of Brittany, Queen of France, wife of King Charles VIII of France and second wife of King Louis XII of France, at the Château des ducs de Bretagne in Nantes, Duchy of Brittany, now in France
Anne, Duchess of Brittany in her own right, is the only woman to have been Queen Consort of France twice. She was the wife of King Charles VIII and the second of the three wives of King Louis XII. Anne was the daughter of François II, Duke of Brittany. Upon the death of her father in1488, Anne became the Duchess of Brittany in her own right. In 1491, Anne married King Charles VIII of France. Anne and Charles had seven children but none survived. King Charles VIII died unexpectedly from a head injury in 1498. Because he had no surviving children, Louis, Duke of Orléans succeeded him as King Louis XII of France. Anne returned to Brittany and began taking steps to ensure the independence of her duchy. Louis XII did not want this to happen and so he had his 24-year childless marriage to Charles VIII’s sister Jeanne of France annulled and married Anne of Brittany in 1499. They had four stillborn sons and three miscarriages but they did have two daughters who survived to adulthood. After Anne’s death, the 52-year-old King Louis XII, still seeking a son to succeed him, married 18-year-old Mary Tudor, the younger sister of King Henry VIII of England, but Louis XII died three months after the marriage.
Unofficial Royalty: Anne, Duchess of Brittany, Queen of France

January 25, 1559 – Death of King Christian II of Denmark, Norway and Sweden in captivity at Kalundborg Castle in Denmark; buried at Saint Canute’s Cathedral in Odense, Denmark
Nicknamed Christian the Tyrant, Christian II was King of Denmark and Norway from 1513 until 1523 and also King of Sweden from 1520 until 1521. From 1513 to 1523, he was the joint ruler of the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein with his paternal uncle Frederik, the future King Frederik I of Denmark and Norway. In 1523, Christian II was forced to abdicate and was exiled. After trying to reclaim the throne in 1531, Christian was imprisoned, first in Sønderborg Castle and then at Kalundborg Castle, for the last twenty-seven years of his life. He died at Kalundborg Castle at the age of 77.
Unofficial Royalty: King Christian II of Denmark

January 25, 1661 – Birth of Prince Antonio I of Monaco in Paris, France
Antonio I, Prince of Monaco was the elder of the two sons and the eldest of the six children of Louis I, Prince of Monaco. In 1688, Antonio married Marie of Lorraine, the daughter of Louis of Lorraine, Count of Armagnac. Antonio and Marie had six daughters but only two survived to adulthood.  In 1701, upon the death of his father, Antonio became the Sovereign Prince of Monaco. He reigned for thirty years until he died on February 20, 1731, at the age of 70. Antonio I was succeeded by his eldest daughter Louise Hippolyte who had a very short reign of ten months. She died from smallpox at the age of 34, on December 29, 1731.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Antonio I of Monaco

January 25, 1755 – Birth of Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt, Grand Duchess Natalia Alexeievna of Russia, first wife of Paul I, Emperor of All Russia, in Prenzlau, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany
Full name: Wilhelmine Luise
The daughter of Ludwig IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, in 1773, Wilhelmine married Grand Duke Paul Petrovich (the future Paul I, Emperor of All Russia), the son and heir of Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia. After her marriage, she was known as Grand Duchess Natalia Alexeievna. After two-plus years of marriage, Natalia became pregnant. Sadly, she died at the age of 20 after six days of agonizing labor. Her child, a son, also died.
Unofficial Royalty: Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt, Grand Duchess Natalia Alexeievna of Russia

January 25, 1858 – Wedding of Victoria, Princess Royal, daughter of Queen Victoria, and the future Friedrich III, German Emperor at the Chapel Royal, St. James Palace in London, England
Victoria, Princess Royal and Prince Friedrich of Prussia, the future Friedrich III, German Emperor and King of Prussia, became engaged on September 29, 1855, but the engagement was not publicly announced until May 17, 1856. Because Vicky was so young, her parents decreed that the wedding would have to wait until Vicky was 17-years-old. They were married at the Chapel Royal of St. James’s Palace in London, England on January 25, 1858. The couple had eight children and the Greek, Prussian, Romanian, Serbian, and Spanish royal families descended from this marriage.
Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of Victoria, Princess Royal and Friedrich III, German Emperor, King of Prussia

January 25, 1900 – Death of Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein, wife of Friedrich VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, in Dresden, Kingdom of Prussia; buried in the Ducal Graveyard in Primkenau, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Przemków, Poland
Adelheid’s mother was Princess Feodora of Leiningen, the elder half-sister of Queen Victoria and therefore Adelheid was Queen Victoria’s niece. In 1856, Adelheid married the future Friedrich VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein. They had seven children including Princess Auguste Viktoria who married Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia. Soon after her husband’s death in 1880, and her eldest daughter’s marriage in early 1881, Adelheid retired from public life, settling in Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony, now in the German state of Saxony, where she spent her time painting and enjoying the arts. She died on January 25, 1900, in Dresden at the age of 64.
Unofficial Royalty: Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein

January 25, 1978 – Birth of Princess Charlene of Monaco, wife of Prince Albert II of Monaco, born Charlene Lynette Wittstock in Bulawayo, Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe
Charlene competed for the South African national swimming team. In the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, she competed in the 4 X 100-meter medley and the team came in fifth place. She planned to compete in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, but could not due to a shoulder injury. In June 2000 at the Marenostrum International Swimming Meet in Monaco, Charlene first met Prince Albert II of Monaco who presided over the meet. Prince Albert was also an Olympian having competed in bobsledding in five Winter Olympics. For the next five years, the couple periodically dated privately. At the Opening Ceremonies for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, their relationship went public. Charlene and Albert married in a civil ceremony on July 1, 2011, in the Throne Room of the Prince’s Palace, and then in a religious ceremony on July 2, 2011, in the courtyard of the Prince’s Palace. Prince Albert and Princess Charlene have two children, boy and girl twins.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Charlene of Monaco

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King Gustav II of Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

January 24, 1712 – Birth of Friedrich II (the Great), King of Prussia at the Berlin City Palace in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany
King Friedrich II of Prussia, best known as Frederick the Great, was the son Friedrich Wilhelm I, King in Prussia and Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, daughter of King George I of Great Britain. In 1733, Friedrich married Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern, but they spent most of their lives separated, seeing each other only a handful of times after he became King. They had no children, and upon becoming King in 1740, Friedrich named his brother Augustus as Crown Prince. Augustus predeceased Friedrich so his son succeeded as King Friedrich Wilhelm II. Aside from his promotion of the arts, Friedrich proved himself a skilled military commander and is attributed with great advancements in his kingdom.
Unofficial Royalty: Friedrich II (the Great), King of Prussia

January 24, 1746 – Birth of King Gustav III of Sweden at the Wrangel Palace on Riddarholmen islet in Gamla Stan, the old town of Stockholm, Sweden
King Gustav III of Sweden is best known for being mortally wounded during a masked ball at the Royal Opera House in Stockholm, Sweden, and dying thirteen days later. The incident was the subject of Giuseppe Verdi’s 1859 opera Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball). Gustav was the eldest son of King Adolf Frederik of Sweden and Louisa Ulrika of Prussia, daughter of King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia and Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, daughter of King George I of Great Britain. In 1766, Gustav married Princess Sophia Magdalena of Denmark and the couple had one surviving son. Gustav became King of Sweden upon the death of his father in 1771. In 1772, Gustav arranged for a coup d’état known as the Revolution of 1772 or Coup of Gustav III. The coup d’état reinstated an absolute monarchy and ended parliamentary rule. The Russo-Sweden War and the implementation of the Union and Security Act in 1789, which gave the king more power and abolished many of the privileges of the nobility, contributed to the increasing hatred of Gustav III, which had existed among the nobility since the 1772 coup. In the winter of 1791-1792, a conspiracy was formed within the nobility to kill the king and reform the government. Read more about the assassination in the link below.
Unofficial Royalty: King Gustav III of Sweden
Unofficial Royalty: Assassination of Gustav III, King of Sweden

January 24, 1779 – Birth of Louise of Baden, wife of Alexander I, Emperor of All Russia, in Karlsruhe, Grand Duchy of Baden, now in Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Full name: Louise Maria Auguste, known as Elizabeth Alexeievna after marriage
Louise was the daughter of Karl Ludwig, Hereditary Prince of Baden and Amelia Frederica of Hesse-Darmstadt. Louise, herself an empress, had seven siblings which included two queens, a grand duchess, a duchess, and a grand duke. Collectively, Louise’s siblings are ancestors of several royal families. In 1793, Louise married the future Alexander I, Emperor of All Russia. Both Elizabeth Alexeievna and her husband had affairs and their marriage produced no surviving children.
Unofficial Royalty: Louise of Baden, Empress Elizabeth Alexeievna of Russia

January 24, 1840 – Birth of Julia Abercromby, Baroness Abercromby, Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria, in Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
Born The Honorable Julia Haldane-Duncan, she was the eldest child of Adam Haldane-Duncan, 2nd Earl of Camperdown and married George Abercromby, 4th Baron Abercromby. She was an accomplished painter and had taken lessons from Mrs. Clarendon Smith of the Institute of Watercolours. During her service, Julia was asked to paint the first official portrait of Queen Victoria for the National Portrait Gallery, fulfilling a request made by the gallery in 1867. She painted a watercolor portrait, based on an original painting by von Angeli. It was reported to be one of Queen Victoria’s favorite portraits of herself. In later years, she exhibited some of her work at the Royal Academy in 1898. Today, her paintings are included in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery, Balliol College, Oxford, and the Britannia Royal Naval College.
Unofficial Royalty: Julia Abercromby, Baroness Abercromby

January 24, 1904 – Death of Friedrich I, Duke of Anhalt in Ballenstedt, Duchy of Anhalt, now in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany; first buried in the Dessau Mausoleum in Dessau, Duchy of Anhalt, now in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. In 1958, his remains, along with the other former royals in the Dessau Mausoleum, were moved secretly by night for political reasons (Dessau was then in Communist East Germany) to an unmarked mass grave in the Ziebigk Cemetery in Dessau. In 2019, Friedrich’s remains were moved a second time and reinterred in the Marienkirche in Dessau, the traditional burial site of the Dukes of Anhalt-Dessau dating back to the 15th century. The Marienkirche was destroyed during World War II and has since been rebuilt.
In 1854, Friedrich married Princess Antoinette of Saxe-Altenburg. They had six children including two Dukes of Anhalt. Before he became Duke of Anhalt, Friedrich had a military career. He served on the staff of his brother-in-law, Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia, during the Second Schleswig War and also served during the Franco-Prussian War, taking part in the Siege of Toul and battles at Beaumont and Sedan. In January 1871, he was present at the Palace of Versailles for the proclamation of King Wilhelm I of Prussia as the German Emperor. The day after suffering a stroke, Friedrich, aged 73, died in Ballenstedt, Duchy of Anhalt, now in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, on January 24, 1904.
Unofficial Royalty: Friedrich I, Duke of Anhalt

January 24, 1924 – Death of former Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde of Luxembourg at Hohenburg Castle in Bavaria, Germany; buried at Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Marie-Adélaïde was the eldest of the six daughters of Grand Duke Guillaume IV of Luxembourg. At the time, female succession was not allowed in Luxembourg but Grand Duke Guillaume IV changed that. In 1912, when her father died, Marie-Adélaïde became the first reigning Grand Duchess of Luxembourg. In the early days of World War I, Germany violated the neutral stance of Luxembourg and invaded the country. Marie-Adélaïde issued a formal protest, but this was not effective in preventing the military occupation by Germany. Marie-Adélaïde developed a rather friendly relationship with the Germans, including hosting Wilhelm II, German Emperor at the palace. This led to her unpopularity in Luxembourg and eventually to her abdication in favor of her sister Charlotte on January 14, 1919. After her abdication, Marie-Adélaïde entered a Carmelite convent in Modena, Italy. Eventually, she became a nun, joining the Little Sisters of the Poor in Rome, taking the name Sister Marie of the Poor. Her health began to worsen so she left the convent and settled at Hohenburg Castle in Bavaria, Germany where she died of influenza on January 24, 1924, at the age of 29.
Unofficial Royalty: Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde of Luxembourg

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Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

January 23, 1516 – Death of King Ferdinand II of Aragon in Madrigalejo, Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain; buried in the Royal Chapel in the Cathedral of Granada in Spain
Ferdinand was the husband of Queen Isabella I of Castile and the father of Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of King Henry VIII of England. He was the king of Aragon from 1479 until his death in 1516. As the husband of Queen Isabella I of Castile, he was also the king of Castile from 1475 to 1504 (as Ferdinand V). He reigned jointly with Isabella over a dynastically unified Spain and together they are known as the Catholic Monarchs.
Unofficial Royalty: King Ferdinand II of Aragon

January 23, 1688 – Birth of Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden at Stockholm Palace in Stockholm, Sweden
The daughter of Karl XI, King of Sweden and Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark, Ulrika Eleonora, Queen of Sweden, in her own right, succeeded her unmarried brother Karl XII, King of Sweden in 1718 and reigned for two years before abdicating in favor of her husband Friedrich of Hesse-Kassel who reigned as Fredrik I, King of Sweden. Ulrika and her husband had no children. After Ulrika abdicated, although she had an interest in affairs of state, she withdrew from all visible participation in them, occupying herself with reading, charity, and her many friends. Ulrika Eleonora died from smallpox at the age of 53. Her husband Fredrik I, King of Sweden survived her by ten years.
Unofficial Royalty: Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden

January 23, 1724 – Birth of Sophie Antonia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, wife of Ernst Friedrich of Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, in Wolfenbüttel, in the Principality of Wolfenbüttel, now in Lower Saxony, Germany
Sophia Antonia was the wife of Ernst Friedrich, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and the great-grandmother of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert. She had connections to several royal families. She was the paternal aunt of Ivan VI, Emperor of All Russia, first cousin of Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria, and Queen of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia, and first cousin of Peter II, Emperor of All Russia. Because she was related to many royal families, Sophie Antonia was considered as a bride for several princes. However, she was not considered attractive which resulted in the failure of many marriage negotiations. In 1749, she married Ernst Friedrich, the future Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. The couple had seven children but only three survived childhood.
Unofficial Royalty: Sophie Antonia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld

January 23, 1820 – Death of Edward, Duke of Kent, son of King George III of the United Kingdom and father of Queen Victoria, at Sidmouth, Devon, England; buried at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England
Edward was the fourth son and the fifth of the fifteen children of King George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Julie de Montgenêt de Saint-Laurent was his mistress from 1790 – 1818 and accompanied him wherever he went until when he married. In November 1817, the death in childbirth of Princess Charlotte of Wales, the only legitimate grandchild of King George III, necessitated the marriages of the unmarried sons of George III to provide an heir to the throne. Edward’s mistress Julie is said to have read the news of Edward’s engagement in the newspaper while seated at the breakfast table and reacted with violent hysterics. Edward was genuinely attached to her and deeply upset at their forced separation. On May 29, 1818, 50-year-old Edward married 32-year-old Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. The future Queen Victoria, their only child, was born at Kensington Palace on May 24, 1819.  Toward the end of 1819, Edward leased Woolbrook Cottage in Sidmouth, a town on the English Channel, due to the need to economize. In early January, Edward caught a cold and within days, the cold worsened, he became feverish and delirious and developed pneumonia. His condition was aggravated by the bleeding and cupping. Edward became increasingly weaker and died on January 23, 1820, just six days before his father, King George III died.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Edward, Duke of Kent

January 23, 1874 – Wedding of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, Duke of Saxe-Coburg  and Gotha and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia
During a family holiday in 1868 in Hesse, Alfred and Maria first met. They met again in 1871 and 1873 when Alfred proposed. Despite the misgivings of both Maria’s parents and Alfred’s mother, the couple was married on January 23, 1874, at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia. Upon their return to London, they took up residence at Clarence House in London, and Eastwell Park in Kent, which they leased until 1893.
Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, Duke of Saxe-Coburg  and Gotha and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia

January 23, 1891 – Death of Prince Baudouin of Belgium at the Palace of the Count of Flanders in Brussels; buried at the Church of Our Lady of Laeken
Baudouin was the son of Philippe, Count of Flanders, the second son of Leopold I, King of the Belgians. He was considered the heir of his uncle Leopold II, King of the Belgians who had no living male heirs. In early 1891, Baudouin became ill with influenza that had made its way through most of his family members. He likely caught the illness from his sister Henriette, whom he insisted on visiting during her illness despite warnings from doctors. Although at first, he appeared to be weathering the illness better than his sister, Baudouin’s condition suddenly deteriorated on January 22, 1891. He died early the following morning at the age of 21. The country of Belgium was plunged into mourning for their promising prince. Parliament was adjourned, theaters and libraries were closed, and mourning was ordered until the beginning of the spring. His younger brother later became Albert I, King of the Belgians.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Baudouin of Belgium

January 23, 1896 – Birth of Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg at Berg Castle in Luxembourg
Full name: Charlotte Adelgonde Élise/Elisabeth Marie Wilhelmine
Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg was the sovereign from January 14, 1919, until November 12, 1964, when she abdicated in favor of her son Jean. During World War II, Germany invaded Luxembourg, and Charlotte and her family spent most of the war in the United States. Charlotte returned to her homeland, and the family took up residence at Fischbach Castle, which had suffered significantly less damage than the other royal properties – Berg Castle and the Grand Ducal Palace. Her focus now became rebuilding Luxembourg and bringing the tiny nation to a more prominent profile in Europe. Through the remainder of her reign, she entertained world leaders and paid visits to many others. Her efforts to gain Luxembourg a place on the world’s stage were successful.
Unofficial Royalty: Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg

January 21, 1923 – Birth of Prince Andrew Romanov in London, England
Andrew was the son of Prince Andrei Alexandrovich of Russia and his first wife Duchess Elisabetta Sasso-Ruffo Di Sant Antimo from the Italian noble House of Ruffo di Calabria. Andrew’s paternal grandparents were Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia (grandson of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia) and Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia (daughter of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia and sister of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia). Known as Andrew Romanoff after he came to the United States in 1949, he was one of the disputed pretenders to the Headship of the Russian Imperial Family from 2016 – 2021.
Unofficial Royalty: Andrew Romanoff, born Prince Andrew Romanov

January 23, 1952 – Death of Natalia Sergeyevna Sheremetyevskaya, Countess Brasova, morganatic wife of Grand Duke Michael of Russia, son of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia, at the Laënnec, a charity hospital in Paris, France; buried in Passy Cemetery in Paris, France
Natalia was the lover and then the morganatic wife of Grand Duke Michael of Russia, brother of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia. After the birth of a son named George after Michael’s deceased brother, Natalia and her first husband were divorced. Nicholas II issued a decree giving George the surname Brasov after Michael’s estate at Brasov, granted Natalia permission to use the surname Brasova, and allowed her to live with Michael at his estate Brasovo.  When Michael and Natalia were secretly married without Nicholas II’s permission, Nicholas stripped Michael of his military rank, froze all his assets in Russia, seized control of his estates, and banished him from Russia. Eventually, Michael was allowed to return to Russia, his son George was legitimized and created Count Brasov but neither he nor his descendants could be in the line of succession. At the same time, Natalia was created Countess Brasova. Michael and his secretary were killed during the Russian Revolution and their bodies were never found. Natalia, her daughter from her first marriage, and her son George were able to escape Russia. Natasha was able to use money in Michael’s bank accounts in Paris and Copenhagen, and also started selling her jewelry. George died in a car accident at the age of 20. By the time World War II started, Natasha was nearly broke and living in a one-room attic apartment in Paris. In 1951, Natasha found out she had cancer and her landlady evicted her. She was taken to the Laënnec, a charity hospital in Paris, France, where she died on January 23, 1952, at the age of 71.
Unofficial Royalty: Natalia Sergeyevna Sheremetyevskaya, Countess Brasova

January 23, 1957 – Birth of Princess Caroline of Monaco, Princess of Hanover at the Prince’s Palace in Monaco
Full name: Caroline Louise Marguerite
Caroline is the eldest of the three children of Rainier II, Prince of Monaco and Grace Kelly. In 1978, she married Philippe Junot, a Frenchman seventeen years her elder. The marriage ended in divorce in 1980. In 1983, Caroline married Italian businessman Stefano Casiraghi. Tragically, Stefano was killed in a speedboat accident in 1990 just off the coast of Monaco. The couple had three children. In January 1999, on her birthday, Caroline married Prince Ernst August of Hanover. Ernst August is the pretender to the throne of the former Kingdom of Hanover. While initially very happy, the couple now leads separate lives. Caroline and their daughter live primarily in Monaco, while her husband remains at his homes in Germany. Caroline regularly attends important social events in Monaco related to the Monégasque Princely Family. Due to her commitment to philanthropy and arts, Caroline was named a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador in 2003.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Caroline of Monaco, Princess of Hanover

January 23, 1998 – Death of Prince Friedrich Josias of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Head of the Ducal Family of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and titular Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 1954 until his death, in a hospital in Amstetten, Austria, buried in the family cemetery in the forest of Schloss Callenberg in Coburg, Bavaria, Germany.
The Head of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 1954 until his death in 1998, Friedrich Josias was born just three weeks after his father Charles Edward was deposed as Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha after the end of World War I. Through his father, Friedrich Josias was a great-grandson of Queen Victoria. In 1942, Friedrich Josias married his first cousin Countess Viktoria-Luise of Solms-Baruth The couple divorced in 1946 but they had one son who succeeded his father as the Head of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. During World War II, Friedrich Josias was an adjutant to Field Marshal Erwin Rommel who was in charge of the German campaign in North Africa and on the staff of General Hermann von Hanneken, the supreme commander of the German forces in Denmark. In May 1945, Friedrich Josias was captured by British forces in Denmark and remained in captivity until he was released that autumn when he returned to Coburg. In 1948, Friedrich Josias married  Denyse Henriette de Muralt  The couple divorced in 1964 and had three children. He made a third marriage in 1964 to Katrin Bremme but they had no children. During the last years of his life, Friedrich Josias was in ill health and his son Andreas took over many of his duties. He died on January 23, 1998, in a hospital in Amstetten, Austria at the age of 79.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Friedrich Josias  of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

January 23, 2015 – Death of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, buried at the Al-Oud Cemetary in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Abdullah bin Abdulaziz was proclaimed the sixth King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on August 1, 2005, upon the death of his half-brother King Fahd bin Abdulaziz. Throughout his life, King Abdullah had a love of the desert and a love of horsemanship. He was a breeder of pure Arabian horses and the founder of the equestrian club in Riyadh. Another lifelong passion is reading which he considered very important. He established two libraries, the King Abdulaziz Library in Riyadh, and one in Casablanca, Morocco. King Abdullah died on January 23, 2015, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the age of 90, three weeks after being hospitalized for pneumonia. He was succeeded by his 79-year-old half-brother Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the current King of Saudi Arabia.
Unofficial Royalty: King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia

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Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom; Credit – Wikipedia

January 22, 1557 – Death of Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, second of the three husbands of Margaret Tudor, at Tantallon Castle near North Berwick, East Lothian, Scotland; his burial information is uncertain, may have been buried in Abernethy, Perthshire, Scotland
Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, a Scottish nobleman active during the reigns of James V, King of Scots and Mary, Queen of Scots, was a leader of the Anglophile faction in Scotland in the early decades of the 16th century, seizing power several times. However, by the later part of his life, Archibald was once again a Scottish patriot. Through their daughter Margaret Douglas, Archibald and Margaret Tudor are the grandparents of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, the first cousin and second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, the great-grandparents of James VI, King of Scots, later also James I, King of England, and the ancestors of the British royal family and most other European royal families.
Unofficial Royalty: Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus

January 22, 1592- Death of Elisabeth of Austria, Queen of France, wife of King Charles IX of France, in Vienna, Austria; buried first in the Convent of Poor Clares, Mary, Queen of Angels in Vienna, Austria, re-interred in 1782 in the Ducal Crypt at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna
Elisabeth was the daughter of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor. In 1570, she married King Charles IX of France. Elisabeth gave birth in 1572 to her only child, a daughter Princess Marie Elisabeth, who lived for only six years. In 1574, Elisabeth’s husband Charles IX died at the age of 23 from tuberculosis. Widowed at the age of 20, Elisabeth was determined to return to Vienna. Having provided no male heirs to the French throne, her future life at the French court alongside her mother-in-law Catherine de Medici was a dismal prospect. In 1580, Elisabeth bought some land in Vienna and founded the Convent of Poor Clares, Mary, Queen of Angels, also known as the Queen’s Monastery, and retired there. Elisabeth devoted the rest of her life to the practice of piety, caring for the poor, and nursing the sick. On January 22, 1592, Elisabeth died of pleurisy at the age of 37.
Unofficial Royalty: Elisabeth of Austria, Queen of France

January 22, 1674 – Birth of Dorothea Maria of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen, first wife of Ernst Ludwig I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, in Gotha, Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, now in Thuringia, Germany
In 1704, Dorothea Maria married her first cousin Ernst Ludwig I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. They had five children including two Dukes of Saxe-Meiningen. The marriage was a happy one, and both shared the same interests in music and the arts. She devoted much of her time to charitable works, in particular supporting the orphanage in Meiningen. Dorothea Maria died, aged 39, on April 18, 1713.
Unofficial Royalty: Dorothea Maria of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen

January 22, 1797 – Birth of Archduchess Maria Leopoldina of Austria, Empress of Brazil, Queen of Portugal, wife of Pedro I of Brazil/Pedro IV of Portugal, at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria
Full name: Caroline Josepha Leopoldina Franziska Ferdinand
Maria Leopoldina was the daughter of Emperor Franz I of Austria and the second of his four wives, Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily. In 1817, Maria Leopoldina married Pedro, Crown Prince of Portugal and Prince of Brazil.  At that time, Brazil was ruled as a kingdom united with Portugal.  In 1807, the Portuguese royal family had moved to Brazil to escape the Napoleonic invasion and had remained in Brazil where Rio de Janeiro became the de facto capital of the Portuguese Empire. Maria Leopoldina and Pedro had seven children including Queen Maria II of Portugal. Pedro was quite uneducated and the intelligent and well-educated Leopoldina quickly gained influence over her husband. Pedro discussed all government affairs with her and usually followed her advice. In August 1822, Pedro appointed Leopoldina Regent while he went on a political trip. While Pedro was away, Leopoldina received news that Portugal was about to take action, and without waiting for Pedro’s return, met with the Council of State and signed the Decree of Independence, declaring Brazil independent from Portugal. Pedro I was declared Emperor of Brazil. 29-year-old Leopoldina died at the Palacio de São Cristovão on December 11, 1826, from puerperal fever (childbed fever) after a miscarriage.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Leopoldina of Austria, Empress of Brazil

January 22, 1831 – Birth of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, husband of Princess Helena of the United Kingdon, at Augustenborg Palace in Augustenborg, Denmark
Full name: Friedrich Christian Karl August
Prince Christian was the son of Christian August II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg and Countess Louise Sophie of Danneskiold-Samsøe. While attending the University of Bonn, Christian became close friends with the future German Emperor Friedrich III. This friendship would serve him well in later years, as Friedrich’s wife Victoria, Princess Royal was the elder sister of Christian’s future wife Helena. Christian and Helena first met each other on a visit to Coburg in the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Despite the fifteen-year age difference, they were drawn to each other. They were married in 1866 and made an agreement with Queen Victoria was that they would live in the United Kingdom, in close proximity to The Queen. Christian and Helena had five children. In 1916, he and Helena celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary – the first in the British royal family since King George III and Queen Charlotte.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein

January 22, 1858 – Death of Ludwig II, Grand Duke of Baden, in Karlsruhe, Grand Duchy of Baden, now in Baden-Württemberg, Germany; buried in the Karlsruhe Stadtkirche, after World War II, his remains were moved to the Grand Ducal Chapel in the Pheasant Garden in Karlsruhe
Ludwig was the eldest surviving son of Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden and Sofia of Sweden.  As Ludwig got older, signs of mental illness began to show, and in March 1852, he was diagnosed as having a non-curable mental disorder. The following month, Ludwig’s father died and he succeeded as Grand Duke of Baden. However, because of his illness, his brother Friedrich served as Regent during Ludwig’s brief four-year reign.
Unofficial Royalty: Ludwig II, Grand Duke of Baden

January 22, 1872 – Birth of Prince Nicholas of Greece, son of King George I of Greece, at the Royal Palace in Athens, Greece
In 1902, Nicholas married his second cousin Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia, the daughter of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia (a son of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia) and Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Nicholas and Elena had three daughters including Princess Marina who married Prince George, Duke of Kent. Because of the political situation in Greece, members of the Greek royal family, including Nicholas and his wife, were often in exile. The Greek monarchy was restored in 1935, and the following year, Nicholas and Elena returned to Greece. Having suffered from declining health for several years, Prince Nicholas died in 1938 due to atherosclerosis.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Nicholas of Greece

January 22, 1901 – Death of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, England; buried at the Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore in Windsor, England
Queen Victoria had enjoyed good health throughout her life, but in the last year of her life, she suffered from indigestion, insomnia, weight loss, and some difficulty with speaking, reading, and writing. Rheumatism made it difficult to walk and cataracts made it difficult to see. On December 18, 1900, she traveled to Osborne House on the Isle of Wight for the last time. The journey exhausted her, but after a few days, she seemed somewhat recovered. However, by January 16, 1901, it was obvious that Queen Victoria’s life was drawing to an end. She died at Osborne House on January 22, 1901, surrounded by her family. Her funeral was held at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, and she was interred beside Prince Albert in the Frogmore Mausoleum in Windsor Great Park.
Unofficial Royalty: Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

January 22, 1954 – Death of Princess Margaret of Prussia, granddaughter of Queen Victoria, at Schloss Kronberg (formerly Schloss Friedrichshof) in Taunus, Hesse, Germany and was buried  in the family cemetery of the House of Hesse there
Known as Mossy, she was the daughter of Friedrich III, German Emperor, King of Prussia and Victoria, Princess Royal. In 1893, Mossy married Prince Friedrich Karl of Hesse, known as Fischy. They had six sons including two sets of twins. Two of their sons were killed in action during World War I and one was killed in action during World War II. In 1925, Fischy’s brother abdicated as the head of the House of Hesse and was succeeded by Fischy. Even though Germany had done away with royal titles, Fischy was styled as Landgrave of Hesse, and Mossy was styled as Landgravine of Hesse. Fischy died on May 28, 1940, at the age of 72. Mossy survived her husband by nearly fourteen years, dying  on January 22, 1954, at the age of 81
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Margaret of Prussia, Landgravine of Hesse

January 22, 1963 – Death of Nadejda Mikhailovna de Torby, Marchioness of Milford Haven, daughter of Grand Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich of Russia, wife of George Mountbatten, 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven, in Cannes, France; buried at Bray Cemetery in Bray, Berkshire, England
Nadejda was the daughter of Grand Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich of Russia, a grandson of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia, and his morganatic wife Countess Sophie von Merenberg. As her parents’ marriage was morganatic, her father was stripped of his position at the Imperial Court and banished from Russia for the rest of his life. By the time she was four years old, Nadejda’s family had settled in England, but they also spent part of the year at their villa in Cannes, France. The family became prominent members of British society and developed friendships with several members of the British Royal Family. It was through these friendships that Nadejda met her future husband, Prince George of Battenberg, later 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven, and the uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Nadejda and George married in 1916 and had two children. Nadejda was widowed when her husband succumbed to bone marrow cancer in 1938. She survived her husband by twenty-five years, dying at the age of 67.
Unofficial Royalty: Nadejda Mikhailovna de Torby, Marchioness of Milford Haven

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.

© Unofficial Royalty 2024

King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway; Credit – Wikipedia

January 21, 1705 – Death of Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen in Prussia, second wife of King Friedrich I of Prussia, in the Electorate of Hanover, now in Lower Saxony, Germany; buried at the Berlin Cathedral in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany
Sophia Charlotte was the daughter of Ernst August, Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Sophia of the Palatinate. Her mother was named heiress-presumptive the British throne under the Act of Settlement 1701, and it would be Sophie Charlotte’s eldest brother who would become King George I of Great Britain in 1714. In 1684, she married the future King Friedrich I in Prussia. The marriage was not a happy one. Several years after having given birth to her two children, Sophie Charlotte retired to private life. She indulged in her love of the arts, philosophy, and theology. She surrounded herself with some of the leading minds of the day, including Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, a prominent mathematician and philosopher. Sophie Charlotte died of pneumonia at the age of 36, while visiting her mother in the Electorate of Hanover.
Unofficial Royalty: Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen in Prussia

January 21, 1793 – Execution of King Louis XVI of France at the Place de la Révolution in Paris, France; originally buried in a mass grave near the location of today’s La Madeleine Church in Paris, reburied at the Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris
During the French Revolution, Louis XVI was arrested and imprisoned in the Temple in Paris. Five weeks later, on September 21, the National Assembly declared a Republic, abolishing the monarchy, and stripping the King and his family of all their titles and honors. The former King of France was now known as Citizen Louis Capet. The King was brought to trial in December 1792, with 33 charges lodged against him, and he was found guilty on January 15, 1793. The following day, the National Convention, by a narrow margin, voted in favor of execution. On the morning of January 21, 1793, Louis made his final confession and attended Mass. He then traveled by carriage through the streets of Paris, to the Place de la Révolution (now the Place de la Concorde) where he was beheaded by guillotine. His body was taken to the Madeleine Cemetery, where a brief memorial service was held. His remains were dumped from their coffin into a grave, with his severed head placed at his feet. Years later, in 1815, on the anniversary of his execution, Louis XVI’s remains, along with those of his wife who was also executed, were reinterred at the Basilica of Saint-Denis.
Unofficial Royalty: Executions of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, King and Queen of France
Unofficial Royalty: King Louis XVI of France

January 21, 1796 – Birth of Marie of Hesse-Kassel, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, wife of Grand Duke Georg of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, in Hanau, Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, now in Hesse, Germany
Full name: Marie Wilhelmine Friederike
In 1817, Marie married Grand Duke Georg of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. They had four children including Friedrich Wilhelm, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz who married Queen Victoria’s husband Princess Augusta of Cambridge. A talented painter, Marie often painted copies of famous paintings. Many were used as altarpieces in churches in the grand duchy, including the town churches in Schönberg and Neustrelitz, both of which still exist. Just three months after the death of her husband, Marie died at the age of 67.
Unofficial Royalty: Marie of Hesse-Kassel, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

January 21, 1829 – Birth of King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway at the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Sweden
Full name: Oscar Fredrik
Oscar was the third of the four sons of King Oscar I of Sweden and Norway. In 1857, he married Princess Sophia of Nassau and the couple had four sons. Upon his father’s death in 1859, Oscar became Crown Prince and heir of his elder brother King Karl XV, who had no living male heirs. Oscar became King of Sweden and Norway in 1872, upon his brother’s death. In 1905, King Oscar II formally renounced his claim to the Norwegian throne, with Sweden finally recognizing Norway as an independent constitutional monarchy. Oscar’s great-nephew, Prince Carl of Denmark (a grandson of Oscar’s elder brother King Karl XV), was elected King of Norway, taking the name Haakon VII. Ironically, Haakon’s son Olav married the daughter of Oscar’s son Prince Carl of Sweden, and today it is Oscar’s great-grandson, King Harald V, who sits on the Norwegian throne. Through his children, Oscar II’s descendants currently occupy the thrones of Sweden, Norway, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Soon after the end of the union with Norway, King Oscar’s health began to decline. He died at the age of 78.
Unofficial Royalty: King Oscar II of Sweden

January 21, 1836 – Death of Maria Cristina of Savoy, Queen of the Two Sicilies, first wife of Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies, in Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, now in Italy; buried at the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples
Maria Cristina was the daughter of Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia and Maria Theresa of Austria-Este. In 1832, she married Ferdinando II, King of Two Sicilies. Maria Cristina was shy, modest, reserved, and a very devout Catholic. During the short time that she was Queen of the Two Sicilies, Maria Cristina managed to prevent the carrying out of all death sentences. She was called “the Holy Queen” for her deep religious devotion. She endured her nearly constant illnesses with patience and piety and was popular with the people for her charity, modesty, and humility. On January 21, 1836, five days after giving birth to her only child, the future Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies, 23-year-old Maria Cristina died from childbirth complications. In 1859, a cause for the canonization of Maria Cristina as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church was opened. In 1872, Maria Cristina was declared to be a Servant of God and in 1937, she was declared a Venerable Servant of God. In 2013, Pope Francis authorized a decree recognizing a miracle due to her intercession and approved Maria Cristina’s beatification. She is known in the Roman Catholic Church as Blessed Maria Cristina of Savoy and is one step away from canonization as a saint. On January 25, 2014, the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples, Italy, the burial site of Maria Cristina, was the site of her beatification ceremony. Several thousand people attended the ceremony including the two branches of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Cristina of Savoy, Queen of the Two Sicilies

January 21, 1846 – Death of Francesco IV, Duke of Modena and Reggio at the Ducal Palace in Modena, Duchy of Modena, now in Italy; buried at the Church of San Vincenzo in Modena, Duchy of Modena, now in Italy
Francesco was the son of Maria Beatrice d’Este, the heiress of Modena and Reggio and Archduke Ferdinand Karl of Austria, son of Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Theresa, in her own right Archduchess of Austria, and Queen of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. Francesco’s paternal grandfather Ercole III d’Este, Duke of Modena and Reggio had been deposed by Napoleon Bonaparte. Francesco regained the Duchy of Modena and Reggio as Francesco IV in 1814, after the fall of Napoleon. In 1812, 1812, 33-year-old Francesco married his 20-year-old niece Maria Beatrice of Savoy and they had four children. While Francesco’s grandfather Ercole III reigned the Duchy of Modena and Reggio as an enlightened monarch, Francesco’s reign was more autocratic. Francesco died on January 21, 1846, aged 66.
Unofficial Royalty: Francesco IV, Duke of Modena and Reggio

January 21, 1869 – Birth of Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin, favorite of the family of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia, in Pokrovskoye, Siberia, Russia
Rasputin was the son of father Yefim Yakovlevich Rasputin, a peasant farmer and a coachman, and Anna Vasilievna Parshukova. Like most Siberian peasants, Rasputin was not formally educated and he remained illiterate until his early adulthood. In February 1887, Rasputin married Praskovya Feodorovna Dubrovina, a peasant girl. They had seven children but only three survived to adulthood. In 1897, Rasputin developed a renewed interest in religion and spent the next several years as a strannik, a holy wanderer or pilgrim. By the early 1900s, Rasputin had developed a circle of followers in Siberia and local church officials gave him a letter of recommendation to the rector of the St. Petersburg Theological Seminary. In St. Petersburg, Rasputin met church official Archimandrite Theofan. It was through Theofan that Rasputin attracted some of his early and influential followers in St. Petersburg. Rasputin formed friendships with several members of the aristocracy, including the sisters Princess Militsa and Princess Anastasia of Montenegro, who had both married into the Russian Imperial Family and were instrumental in introducing Rasputin to Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia and his family.
Unofficial Royalty: Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin

January 21, 1940 – Death of Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark, son of King George I of Greece, in Athens, Greece; buried at the Royal Cemetery, Tatoi Palace, Greece
Christopher was the only one of his parents’ eight children born outside of Greece. His birth was a surprise, as his eldest sibling was 20 years old at the time of Christopher’s birth. Christopher was offered the thrones of Lithuania, Albania, and Portugal, all of which he refused. Christopher believed a throne should be accepted only when the prospective ruler was seriously dedicated to the idea of leading a country. Christopher did not believe himself to be sufficiently up to the challenge. In 1920, Christopher married Nancy Stewart Worthington Leeds, an American widow, known as Princess Anastasia after her marriage. Anastasia was diagnosed with cancer not long after the wedding and died in London in 1923. Six years later, Christopher married French Princess Francoise of Orleans, and they had one son. Christopher died on January 21, 1940,  at the age of 51, after suffering several weeks with a lung abscess.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark

January 21, 1967 – Death of Dorothea of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein, wife of Ernst Gunther, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, at Schloss Taxis in Dischingen, Germany; buried at St. Augustine’s Catholic Church in Coburg, Bavaria, Germany
In 1898, Dorothea married Ernst Günther, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein. Upon his father’s death in 1880, Ernst Günther had inherited his father’s title. However, just like his father before him, the title was merely in pretense, as the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein had been annexed by Prussia following the Austro-Prussian War in 1866. Dorothea and Ernst Günther had no children. Widowed in 1921, Dorothea survived her husband by nearly 46 years, dying at the age of 86.
Unofficial Royalty: Dorothea of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein

January 21, 1984 – Death of Archduke Gottfried of Austria in Bad Ischl, Austria; buried in the parish cemetery of Sankt Gilgen in Salzburg, Austria
Archduke Gottfried of Austria was the Pretender to the former Grand Ducal throne of Tuscany from 1948 until his death in 1984.
Unofficial Royalty: Archduke Gottfried of Austria

January 21, 1991 – Death of  Princess Ileana of Romania, Archduchess of Austria-Tuscany at the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration she founded in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania; buried in the Cemetery of the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration
Ileana was the daughter of King Ferdinand I of Romania and Princess Marie of Edinburgh, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. In 1931, she married Archduke Anton of Austria, Prince of Tuscany. Ileana’s brother King Carol II of Romania banished the couple from the country, claiming that the Romanian people would never tolerate a Habsburg living on Romanian soil. They settled at Castle Sonnenburg, just outside of Vienna, Austria and the couple had six children. After World War II, Ileana and her husband lived in Argentina before purchasing a house in Massachusetts, to allow for proper schooling for the children. Ileana and  Anton divorced in May 1954, and Ileana remarried a month later, to Dr. Stefan Issarescu. This marriage would also end in divorce. In 1961, Illeana entered an Orthodox monastery in France, eventually becoming a nun, and taking on the name Mother Alexandra. Returning to the United States, she founded a monastery in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, and served as abbess. She retired from her position as abbess in 1981 but remained at the monastery for the remainder of her life. Princess Ileana, Mother Alexandra, died on January 21, 1991, at the age of 82, after suffering a fall and two major heart attacks.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Ileana of Romania

January 21, 2004 – Birth of Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway, daughter of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, at the Rikshospitalet University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
Ingrid Alexandra is the elder of the two children of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and his wife Crown Princess Mette-Marit (née Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby), and one of the five grandchildren of King Harald V of Norway. In 1990, Norway adopted absolute primogeniture whereby the crown goes to the eldest child regardless of gender. This means that Princess Ingrid Alexandra is second in the line of succession to the throne of Norway behind her father and is expected to become the reigning Queen of Norway.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway

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