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Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia; Credit – Wikipedia
November 24, 1273 – Birth of Alfonso, Earl of Chester, son of King Edward I of England, at Bordeaux, France
Alfonso was the third son and ninth child of Edward I and Eleanor of Castile and was named for his mother’s half-brother King Alfonso X of Castile and León. His two elder brothers had died so Alfonso was the heir apparent to the throne. Alfonso died at age 11 at Windsor Castle and was buried at Westminster Abbey near the shrine of Edward the Confessor. Had he survived his father, England would have had a King Alfonso.
Unofficial Royalty: Alfonso, Earl of Chester
November 24, 1326 – Execution of Hugh de Despenser the Younger, favorite of King Edward II of England, in Hereford, England; partially buried at the family’s Gloucestershire estate and at Hulton Abbey in Abbey Hulton, Staffordshire, England
Hugh Despenser the Elder became King Edward II’s chief administrator, marking the beginning of the Despensers’ increased prominence at court. His son Hugh Despenser the Younger became royal chamberlain in 1318. He then maneuvered himself into the affections of King Edward II and displaced his current favorite Roger d’Amory. Hugh Despenser the Younger made many enemies among the nobility of England. After the overthrow of King Edward II, Hugh Despenser the Younger was charged with high treason and hanged, drawn, and quartered.
Unofficial Royalty: Hugh de Despenser the Younger, favorite of King Edward II of England
November 24, 1715 – Death of Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp, Queen of Sweden, wife of King Karl X of Sweden, in Stockholm, Sweden; buried at Riddarholmen Church in Stockholm, Sweden
In 1654, the day after her eighteenth birthday, Hedwig Eleonora married King Karl X Gustav of Sweden. The couple had one son Karl XI, King of Sweden who became king at the age of four after his father died from influenza and pneumonia. Karl X Gustav left specific instructions in his will for the regency of his son. Hedwig Eleonora was to be Regent of Sweden and her son’s guardian until he reached his majority. After the death of her husband, Hedwig Eleonora was the dowager queen for 55 years. She remained visible in Swedish politics and society until her death. Hedwig Eleonora survived her husband by fifty-five years and her son by eighteen years, dying at the age of 79.
Unofficial Royalty: Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp, Queen of Sweden
November 24, 1724 – Birth of Maria Amalia of Saxony, Queen of Spain, wife of King Carlos III of Spain, at Dresden Castle, in Dresden, Electorate of Saxony, now in the German state of Saxony
Full name: Maria Amalia Christina Franziska Xaveria Flora Walburga
Maria Amalia of Saxony was the wife of King Carlos III of Spain who also was King Carlo VII of Naples from 1735 – 1759 and King Carlo V of Sicily from 1734 – 1759. The couple had thirteen children but only seven survived childhood. Maria Amalia’s husband became King of Spain after the death of his childless half-brother Fernando VI, King of Spain in 1759. Maria Amalia had lived in her husband’s Italian kingdoms for twenty-one years and did not like Spain. On September 27, 1760, a year after arriving in Spain, 35-year-old Maria Amalia died from tuberculosis.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Amalia of Saxony, Queen of Spain
November 24, 1724 – Death of Ernst Ludwig I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen in Meiningen, Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen, now in Thuringia, Germany; buried in the Church at Elisabethenburg Palace in Meiningen
In 1706, Ernst Ludwig succeeded his father Bernhard I, as Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. He married twice but only his first marriage to his first cousin Dorothea Maria of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg produced children – five children including two sons who became Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. Ernst Ludwig’s attempts at political reform were ineffective, and he ended up putting his focus back into the arts, composing numerous hymns, and expanding his collection of musical compositions. Several years before his death, he wrote the lyrics for the hymns at his own funeral, with the music composed by Johann Ludwig Bach. Ernst Ludwig died at the age of 52.
Unofficial Royalty: Ernst Ludwig I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
November 24, 1741 – Death of Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden at Wrangel Palace in Riddarholmen, Stockholm, Sweden; buried at Riddarholmen Church in Stockholm, Sweden
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
November 24, 1745 – Birth of Maria Luisa of Spain, daughter of Carlos III, King of Spain, wife of Pietro Leopoldo I, Grand Duke of Tuscany also Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor at the Palace of Portici, Naples in the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily, now in Italy
In 1764, Maria Luisa married the future Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor/Pietro Leopoldo I, Grand Duke of Tuscany who was the son of Empress Maria Theresa, in her own right Archduchess of Austria, Queen of Hungary, Queen of Croatia, and Queen of Bohemia, and Francis Stephen, Holy Roman Emperor, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Duke of Lorraine. Maria Luisa and Leopold had sixteen children. Leopold was elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1790 after the death of his childless brother Joseph. Maria Luisa became Holy Roman Empress, Queen of Hungary, and Queen of Bohemia. Because his elder brother Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor had no children, Leopold became the founder of the main line of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Luisa of Spain, Grand Duchess of Tuscany
November 24, 1785 – Death of Friederike of Württemberg, Princess of Holstein-Gottorp, wife of the future Peter I, Grand Duke of Oldenburg, in Vienna, Austria; initially buried in the chapel at Eutin Castle in Schleswig-Holstein, in 1790 her remains were moved to the newly built Ducal Mausoleum in Saint Gertrude’s Cemetery in Oldenburg, Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, now in Lower Saxony, Germany
At just 15 years old, Friederike married Prince Peter of Holstein-Gottorp (later Duke Peter I of Oldenburg) on June 6, 1781. The marriage was promoted by her sister Sophie, who was married to the future Paul I, Emperor of All Russia, and was intended to help strengthen the relationship between Württemberg and Russia. Friederike and Peter had two surviving children. Several weeks after having given birth to a stillborn son, Friederike died at the age of 20.
Unofficial Royalty: Friederike of Württemberg, Princess of Holstein-Gottorp
November 24, 1825 – Birth of Countess Julia Hauke, Princess of Battenberg, morganatic wife of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine, in Warsaw, Poland
Full Name: Julia Teresa Salomea
Julia Hauke was the wife of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine, the founder of the Battenberg/Mountbatten branch of the Grand Ducal family of Hesse and by Rhine. As her marriage was morganatic, Julia did not become a Princess of Hesse and by Rhine. Instead, her brother-in-law, Grand Duke Ludwig III of Hesse and by Rhine, created her Countess of Battenberg, with the style Illustrious Highness. Her children took their titles from her, becoming Counts and Countesses of Battenberg. Seven years later, the Grand Duke elevated Julia and her children to the rank of Prince/Princess, with the style Serene Highness. However, they remained ineligible for the Grand Ducal throne. Julia and Alexander’s son Henry married Queen Victoria’s daughter Princess Beatrice and through this marriage, they are ancestors of the Spanish royal family. Their son Louis married Queen Victoria’s granddaughter Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine. Louis and Victoria were the grandparents of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and the future monarchs of the United Kingdom will be their descendants.
Unofficial Royalty: Countess Julia Hauke, Princess of Battenberg
November 24, 1848 – Death of William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (Lord Melbourne), Queen Victoria’s first Prime Minister, at Brocket Hall, his country home near Hatfield in Hertfordshire, England; buried at St. Etheldreda Church in Old Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England
In June 1837, King William IV died and was succeeded by his 18-year-old niece Queen Victoria. Victoria never knew her father Prince Edward, Duke of Kent as he died when she was eight months old. Lord Melbourne was her first Prime Minister. In Queen Victoria, Melbourne had the child, the companion, and the affection he craved. In Melbourne, Queen Victoria had the father figure she never had. Their close relationship was founded in Melbourne’s responsibility for tutoring the young queen in the world of politics and instructing her in her role but the relationship was much deeper. Queen Victoria came to regard Lord Melbourne as a mentor and personal friend and he was given a private apartment at Windsor Castle. He resigned as Prime Minister in August 1841 after a series of parliamentary defeats. Melbourne and Queen Victoria said a private goodbye on the terrace at Windsor Castle. Victoria cried and Melbourne told her, “For four years I have seen you daily and liked it better each day.” In October 1842, Melbourne suffered a stroke which considerably weakened him. He lived out his life at Brocket Hall, his country home near Hatfield in Hertfordshire, England where he died at the age of 69.
Unofficial Royalty: William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne
November 24, 1916 – Death of Adelheid-Marie of Anhalt-Dessau, second wife of Grand Duke Adolphe of Luxembourg, in Königstein im Taunus, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Hesse, Germany; buried with her husband at the burial chapel of Schloss Weilburg, the former residence of the House of Nassau and Dukes of Nassau-Weilburg, in Weilburg, Kingdom of Prussia, now in the German state of Hesse
Through their mothers who were sisters, Adelheid-Marie was the first cousin of King Frederick VIII of Denmark, Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom, King George I of Greece, Empress Marie Feodorovna of Russia, Crown Thyra Princess of Hanover, and Prince Valdemar of Denmark. Adelheid-Marie married the future Grand Duke Adolphe of Luxembourg in 1851. The couple had two surviving children including Guillaume IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Adelheid-Marie died at the age of 82.
Unofficial Royalty: Adelheid-Marie of Anhalt-Dessau, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg
November 24, 1960 – Death of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia, daughter of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia, in Toronto, Canada; buried at York Cemetery in Toronto, Canada
Olga, the sister of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia, was in an unsuccessful marriage with Duke Peter Alexandrovich of Oldenburg. At a military review, Olga saw a tall, handsome man in the uniform of the Blue Cuirassier Guards, Nikolai Alexandrovich Kulikovsky from a minor noble family, and their eyes met. Olga’s brother Grand Duke Michael arranged for Nikolai and his sister Olga to meet. After years of turmoil with Olga begging for a divorce and then asking her brother Nicholas II for permission to marry Nikolai, the couple was finally married in 1916. Olga and Nikolai had two sons. Olga, Nikolai, and their two sons managed to leave Russia after the Russian Revolution. After living in Denmark, the family moved to Ontario, Canada where Nikolai died in 1958. After her husband’s death, Olga became increasingly infirm. Unable to care for herself, Olga stayed in the Toronto apartment of Russian émigré friends, Konstantin and Sinaida Martemianoff. On November 21, 1960, Olga slipped into a coma and the last Grand Duchess of Russia died on November 24, 1960, at the age of 78. Olga was buried next to her husband Nikolai at York Cemetery in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Unofficial Royalty: Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia
November 24, 2001 – Death of Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark, Princess of Hesse, Princess of Hanover, sister of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in a nursing home in Munich, Germany; buried in the cemetery in Schliersee, Germany
Sophie married twice, both descendants of Queen Victoria as she was. Her first husband was Prince Christoph of Hesse, the son of Prince Friedrich Karl of Hesse and Princess Margarete of Prussia, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Prince Christoph was killed in a plane crash during World War II. Her second husband was Prince Georg Wilhelm of Hanover, the son of Ernst August III, Duke of Brunswick, a descendant of King George III through his son Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover and Duke of Cumberland, and Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia, the only daughter of Wilhelm II, German Emperor who was a grandson of Queen Victoria. Sophie visited her brother Prince Philip often. In 1964, she was named one of the godparents of Philip’s youngest son Prince Edward. In 1994, Sophie and Philip traveled to Jerusalem, where their mother, born Princess Alice of Battenberg, was posthumously honored as Righteous Among the Nations for her efforts to help Jewish families during World War II. In the summer of 2001, with her health failing, Sophie moved to a nursing home in Munich, where she died at the age of 87.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark, Princess of Hesse, Princess of Hanover
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